January 4, 2007 Winter Organization Meeting of the Toledo Board of Education

The message was unity, but their actions were a slap in the face of cooperation and a rebuke of their responsibilities as elected officials. As has been the case for many years, a majority of the Toledo Board of Education embraced the status quo despite the November 2005 message from voters that they wanted change.

As the meeting got underway (it was delayed about 15 minutes waiting for Larry Sykes to arrive) Robert Torres nominated Deborah Barnett for president with a second by Darlene Fisher. Both Fisher and Torres offered their support to Barnett during discussion of her nomination. The Board voted 5-0 to elect Barnett as president.

While there was discussion of a pledge of unity, it was obvious that at least two board members had never seen the pledge. Nonetheless, it appears that all 5 board members signed the pledge. We believe the pledge was not about unity but an attempt to get board members that may have dissenting views to conform to a standard that in our opinion borders on censorship. It also looks like the pledge will be used by the 3 for Children coalition formed by Larry Sykes, Steven Steel and Barnett (see the June 8, 2006 and June 30, 2007 entries on our home page) to chastise, bully and perhaps sanction any member who disagrees publicly with the action of the majority of the board.

The board then took nominations for vice president. Torres was nominated first by Fisher with a second by Torres. Steel was also nominated by Sykes with a second by Steel. Discussion of these nominations then showed that unity was not about accepting the views and concerns of all the board members but was about formalizing the 3 for Children coalition formed in June 2007. While Fisher may have been president during this time, this working majority controlled board business and seemed intent on undermining and overwhelming Fisher about every conceivable issue or action she took. Sykes made a number of unproven accusations against Torres about missing meetings and being unreliable. The board then voted 2 for and 3 against the Torres nomination with only Fisher and Torres voting yes.

Steel’s nomination was then discussed. Fisher brought up Steel’s conflict of interest and asked Steel to clarify the concerns. Steel never answered the question but he did say that “I am not the only member of this board that has a conflict of interest. There are four other members of this board that have had to abstain from votes.” Steel is right about himself, Sykes, Barnett and Torres having conflicts, but Steel is the only member where his family will personally benefit from his votes on the TFT contract and levy. Steel was selected by a vote of 3 -2 as vice president with Barnett, Steel and Sykes voting yes.

Committee assignments were also dictated by the 3 for Children coalition. Fisher asked to remain on the finance committee citing the need to maintain continuity and that after a year she was just getting a good understanding of the issues and challenges. Torres offered to swap committee assignments with Fisher but President Barnett said NO. It is interesting to note that at the 2006 winter organizational meeting Barnett and Sykes had issues with the committees they were assigned and asked to swap committee assignments. Fisher who was president at the time was amenable to the change. Barnett seemed intent on keeping the ever questioning Fisher off a key committee at a time of fiscal crisis.

There appeared to be no consultation with Torres and Fisher on the issue of committee assignments.

Sykes was selected as the chair of the finance committee. Sykes who is employed by 5/3 Bank has had to abstain from any votes concerning banking relationships and investments but he has continually been allowed to serve on the finance committee where these decisions are discussed, deliberated and all but approved given the lack of information made available to the other board members about committee activities and discussions. In our opinion, it was Sykes that should have been reassigned and Fisher should have remained on the finance committee.

Unity seems the current buzz word being used by the 3 for Children coalition to confuse and obfuscate the public once again. Torres and Fisher attempted to reach out and establish a working relationship. The 3 for Children coalition instead appeared intent on assuring that there would be no compromise and that unity was nothing more than a five letter word.