At Wednesday’s school board meeting I spoke to the board when president Dawn Adams asked for communication from the community. I stated that some Kennewick residents are disappointed and puzzled by the appointment of a school board candidate to fill the vacated board position. The complaint is that this appointment appears to be based on politics and not on merit. My request was to meet with school board members to help me understand their decision so I could report facts, not speculation to people who read this blog.
Adams responded immediately saying she has heard no complaints about their appointment. She explained that the board had made no requirement limiting applicants to non-school board candidates. So the board went into executive session and made their decision.
This answer did not bring clarity to the selection criteria or speak to the issues of impartiality or fairness. Other observers have questioned the merit of this appointment in light of the qualifications of the other applicants. I believe the board had to know people in this community would question their motivation to appoint a school board candidate. People I spoke with after the board meeting expressed their belief that Adams, Lynn Fielding and Heather Kintzley made this appointment “because they can”.
While this is true, there must be more to this decision. Brian Brooks can’t simply be a man off the street who, through serendipity, fell into a position of advantage. The facts of this appointment need to be made available to the community.
There is speculation of a special relationship as neighbors, friends or church associates which might be sufficient to bias board decision making. What is known is Brooks loves the reading goal, favors the 5% reserve fund, is comfortable with data and is willing to learn. His platform mirrors that of the board majority.
In school board matters, fairness or impartiality are not required. Kennewick voters have given Adams, Fielding and Kintzley the authority to make decisions; therefore they do. Sometimes, it appears, because they can influence the outcome of an election.
It’s disappointing that the Kennewick School Board is as loaded as it is. Really, KSD citizens get what they deserve by not caring. This is a problem generally in American society where people abdicate their own power to those who claim they will “take care of you.” What you get is leaders who confidently advance their own agendas, rather than supporting the needs of those they represent. It’s “all for the kids,” right? Wrong. It’s all about the money and control.
Same as it ever was.
Working within the system doesn’t work anymore (if it ever did). Those who don’t like the KSD Board should be making noise and agitating at every meeting – Thanks, Tom, for setting the right example. Fact is, there are plenty of pissed-off parents, they just need to be mobilized.
I think it would behoove you to learn more about the people you are talking about before you go making these types of remarks. I take exceptional offense to your insinuations that I am somehow in league with Dawn Adams and Lynn Fielding. I have always been, and will always be, and independent thinker, and I make my own decisions. The discussions that go on during executive session are privileged, and for a reason. However, I will tell you that the discussion regarding an appointment to fill Wendy London’s vacated seat did not play out as you imagine that it did, and that three out of four of the existing board members did not initially agree on which candidate to appoint. It appears that you are purposefully looking for nefarious meaning behind every decision we make, and that, in my opinion, is poisonous to the process since you have no compunction about casting aspersions without knowing what is really happening. Perhaps before you lump me in with those with whom you decide I am closely aligned, you will take the time to learn about who I am as a mother, a citizen, a woman, and a professional. Your failure to take the time to learn about me before castigating me reveals where the true bias lies.
@Heather Kintzley:
What a pompous reply! Why hide behind such florid writing? You have very thin skin and your odd defensiveness does nothing to further your case. I hope your “profession” isn’t law.
Wow, that was sad. You’re a public figure: maybe a visible job like being on the school board isn’t for you. Your response was what was truly poisonous (and immature). Do you really think you are above criticism? Maybe it’s time to find another hobby: the citizens of the Kennewick School District are fed up with people like you.
Look for my Open Letter to Kennewick School Board member Heather Kintzley to be published 8/28.