Expect a call from McHenry?

I found today's letter in the Times very interesting. Perhaps McHenry should spend his valuable time figuring out how to fix the mess vs trying to defend the mess to people who write about it. I guess we see from this letter indicating she received a call in response to her letter in 2006 that things have gone from bad to worse. Would you be surprised if McHenry called you?

Letter to the Editor
Article Launched: 10/17/2008 12:00:00 AM PDT

School board picks
On a Friday in June of 2006, my letter to the editor stated that the superintendent of the Mt. Diablo Unified School District was incompetent.
I received a call from Superintendant Gary McHenry early Saturday morning instructing me to check my facts. I had my facts straight then, and I have them straight now.
Millions of dollars in legal fees spent without board approval, numerous payroll errors, a lack of department oversight, huge penalties payable to the IRS, highly qualified teachers leaving the district, top-down mandates with no employee input or collaboration, and unsuccessful contract negotiations with employees are but a few parts of McHenry's legacy.
"I think there is a tremendous amount of trust between the district and teachers," stated April Treece at the Pleasant Hill Forum for MDUSD candidates. Is she in La La Land? She continues to assert she has held the superintendent accountable for his ineffective management of the district. Who is she trying to fool, the trusting electorate of La La Land?
I am weary of absurd excuses and inane double-speak. Join me and vote for Sherry Whitmarsh and Gary Eberhart. We need MDUSD Board members who are not afraid of hurting McHenry's feelings.
Marilyn Hoffacker
Concord

"Fix MDUSD; elect Eberhart and Whitmarsh"

That, today, is the headline of a recent Letter to the Editor of the Contra Costa Times by Dorothy Englund. If you haven't seen it yet, here you go:

FIX MDUSD - click for article

Then be sure to leave your comments there on the Times site so that even more of the public may be aware of the conversation happening all around them here:

FORUM to discuss "FIX MDUSD"


You can also read MisterWriter's take here: CCTimes Letters to Editor


Also, for more on the campaign for CHANGE in our district, visit: www.CHANGEMDUSD.com

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Times Reports on the MDUSD Disaster in the making

I do believe that this is just the tip of the iceberg, read from the Times , sure to be in your morning paper. Should be front page and I hope the Times and other publications will issue their own investigations into this matter:

Excerpted from: CCTIMES: Mt. Diablo school district Reaches Settlement in Dispute . . .

The legal firm of Miller Brown and Dannis will pay the district $56,011 for charges billed between 1999 and 2008, based on contracts that were never approved by the board. An outside investigation found that Superintendent Gary McHenry did not bring the firm's contract to the board for annual approval after the 1999-2000 school year because he believed it rolled over every year, said board president April Treece.

"The board was aware at all times that the law firm was providing our legal services, but we did not have a contract," Treece said. "The superintendent brought it to the board (last October), when it became clear that it should be approved on an annual basis."

MDEA got it wrong? April Treece a "successful" board member

So MDEA has it wrong - so says Judy Moon of Clayton in her commentary published tonight on CCTimes.com. You can see it HERE.

Ms. Moon explains:
"In the November election for the Mt. Diablo Unified School District Board of Education, MDEA has chosen not to endorse April Treece, a longtime and successful board member. Based on her personal record and performance, their choice is not in the best interest of students or the school district. "

"We all deserve to have ethical support possible by individuals willing to stand for what is wrong, willing to risk for what is right and openly demanding a standard of integrity from those who speak for us."


Stand for what is wrong? Maybe that is what IS wrong.

Just as Ms. Moon suggests, I too challenge you to research Ms. Treece's record and base your choice on what she has done. (or not)

I will do just that . . . and I would urge a vote in November for Gary Eberhart and Sherry Whitmarsh to drive this district forward - in the right direction. To stand up for what is RIGHT. See their campaign statements here: http://mdusdelect.blogspot.com/

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