Economy in Shambles, Foreclosures Up, but Culver Gets 2%

How's your forecast for a raise?
Sorry...didn't mean to pour salt in a gaping wound.

Tomorrow, Dr. Culver the Sun Prairie School Board will officially throw nearly $3,000 of new salary money at Dr. Culver.  Geee...we wonder how many hours of RTI assistance that just killed.

Oh...theres' nothing you can do about it.  These things are carefully crafted behind closed doors and not put on the agenda until there certain there's at least 4 votes.  And, sadly, the other 3 board members--even if they disagree--will vote "Yes" as well.  Decorum, you know.  Gotta stand as one.  Even if the one is doing some pretty silly things.

We know Caren Diedrich supports this raise.  She can barely contain her zeal about him.  She'll even support his Mandarin Chinese plans.
Jim McCourt and John Whalen are also unabashed Culver groupies.  So they'll vote "Yes".
Terry Shimek, that affable, flipflopping dozer at the board table also believes that Culver is a "CEO" and we compensate CEOs handsomely in this world, don't we.  Of course, as a banker, we expect nothing less than that from Shimek.

So there are the 4 definitive votes.  Where do the others lie?  Does it really matter?
Of course, we have no idea how they feel on the subject, but we're betting that the 3 of them (Camber-Davidson, Weber, and Welke) aren't all that fond of doling out a 2% increase to Culver in light of the economy.  Especially this close to the annual meeting.

YOU know...decorum

You know, SPASD is not exactly some great beacon of hope or shining example, either.  Sure, there are most definitely some bright spots.  Kinda like when you drag the Holiday lights out each year, there are some bulbs that still burn brightly, others that have dimmed a bit, and still others that are completely shot.  McCourt likes to say that "we're falling behind" other districts.  He's right, of course...but not for the reasons he likes to cite.  A "company" only fares as well as its CEO leads.  And , while Culver's a nice guy and got us this far, the path down which he appears to be "leading" the district seems to be diverging from what this community wants--or needs.

What Will  Camber-Davidson, Weber, and Welke DO
Well, we can tell you right now they won't be pleased with us for putting them on the spot.  YOU KNOW...Decorum.  But decorum doesn't fix what's broken.  Decorum has done nothing but get in the way of progress.  People need to be free to speak their mind.  School board members simply voting the same way on any issue for the sake of "team unity" (decorum) only makes us DeForest.

So...even if Camber-Davidson, Weber, and Welke disagree with giving Culver a 2% increase (and, right or wrong,  we believe that to be the case) it will be difficult for them to say so publicly with a "NO" vote.  That is the singular most difficult thing for a public official to do.

And why should they put themselves "out there"?  If the motion already has enough votes to pass, that's just making yourselves into low hanging fruit...right?  So is the issue board members not voting they way the really feel?  Or is the real problem Terry Shimek, King of Waffles?  We wonder how Shimek would vote on this issue if 100 taxpaying community members gave them a piece of their mind.

You see...the problem is that school board members (collectively) don't really vote the way the people who elected them would prefer.  THAT is the problem.  People elected to represent the people don't vote the way the people who elected them would vote.