Saturday, June 19, 2010

Terry Shimmerek...Captain Administration Affirmative

OK....after this past week, how can one NOT notice the uncanny ability of Terry Shimek to constantly waver in what he supports...or does not support?

He claims (largely falling on deaf ears) to be a fiscal conservative, yet supports nearly every spending initiative brought forth by administration.

He wants to tackle the "800- lb gorilla" (personnel costs) but doesn't want to talk about it. And he usually abstains from any personnel cost votes because his wife is a teacher. But...it's only a conflict of interest if his vote SUPPORTS a raise which his wife would receive...right? He could vote "NO" without conflict...right? Not gonna happen, folks.

The, finally---when he has a chance for a defining moment--- he WAVERS FROM HIS VERBAL COMMENTS and becomes the deciding vote on hiring yet another overpaid administrator (another assistant principal for a new high school with one less grade). Where was the fiscal conservative there? Administrative personnel costs are like a lot of STDs...forever.

In yet another defining Shimek moment, he recently voted (part of a 5-2 vote) to reduce the initial salary for the Pool Manager from $45,000 to $40,000. That would be the fiscal conservative. Of course...we know now the vote didn't end there. THEN, in a completely flip flop, once he got behind closed doors-and outside the public eye--he CHANGED HIS VOTE (along with the newly crowned Flip Flop Queen, Caren Diedrich) and voted to authorize administration to offer UP TO $54,000 for said Pool Manager. So...Terry...$45,000 was too much in public, but in private, $54,000 was not? Or are you just a little dyslexic? Alrighty then...behind closed doors, Shimek again reverts to his alter-ego, Captain Administration Affirmative.

He claims to be concerned about safety, yet this past Monday night vocally refused to support the one-time $60K initiative to hire a second Police Liaison Officer (PLO) for this coming year. This coming after he initially spoke in favor of spending money on Ashley Field, and later supported $88K for 8 traffic safety simulators. So...Shimek is concerned about safety of the students outside the school in cars...but in the school....not so much?

Shimek feels that all the many cameras and Youth Advocates --oh, and another assistant principal--provide enough safety in the schools. Newsflash, Terry....how many of the expulsion hearings you attended over the past 2 years involved acts of violence that weren't thwarted by cameras, administration, or Youth Advocates? Here's another newsflash, Terry....the PLO offers something that cameras, Youth Advocates, and administration cannot: restraint. ONLY the PLO can physically restrain a student who is so out of control that others are endangered. And don't tell us that doesn't happen. We know better. And so do you.

Terry Shimek has gone AWOL. In his place, we have an administration loving pod person who wavers and shimmers. The dictionary defines "shimmer" as " To appear as a wavering or flickering image, as in a reflection on water or through heat waves in air.".

Perfect. we have a name for this pod person. call him Terry Shimmerek.