.....Sorry to be so late with this, but, what with cat boxes and such, well, I’ve got my priorities......The meeting was supposed to start at 7:00, but the board seemed to be struggling with something intense in closed session, and so we waited. All indications are that the hot topic on the 3rd floor was ATEP.
.....Some time after 8:00, the trustees finally appeared.
.....No actions were announced, which surprised me.
.....Wagner’s invocation focused on the recent violence at Northern IU. During his board report, Williams, too, laid it on thick like he does: we’ve got to get off the dime and step up security on the campuses, he said.
.....Hysteria. Red meat tossage.
.....Wagner moved up the mysterious “Public Hearing” re ATEP. The Board is requesting “a waiver from the Board of Governors” of Education Codes. They made a resolution to that effect.
.....Naturally, these heroes of democracy made no effort whatsoever to explain what that all meant. Gosh, thanks. You’re doing a hell of a job. I considered raising my hand, but they had a cop up there, and I didn’t wanna get shot.
.....Then they turned to the night’s “discussion item”: technical education programs at the three campuses. Serban, Vurdien, and Justice did a good job with this, I suppose, given the “I’d rather be home watching Mythbusters” spirit that enveloped the building. Or just me. (Nope, not just me.) Rajen explained about rapid prototyping and some soldier’s skull. Briefly, we were riveted.
.....Sparks fly when trustees pull items from the consent calendar, but not so much this night. Mostly, Padberg (and Wagner) pulled items regarding expenses at ATEP.
.....One item concerned approval of “$226,00.00” (note the typo) for some consultants. Trustee FUENTES was very perturbed by this expense. He said:It is a pathetic thing that local government has come to a point where one agency of local government…are put in a position…[when] this level of money has to be spent for consultants…to advocate a position to another element of government…there is something wrong with our system…this is an example of it…example of the trough at which consults feed… why we have the growth of government even at the local level….”Somehow, one got the feeling that this discussion about consultants had everything to do with the discussion that had just occurred during closed session. The item passed. According to Fuentes, our “team” (i.e., Mathur and co.) needed the approval.
.....Later, during discussion of revised board policies, Padberg and others complained that, what with 15 or twenty policies passing under the noses per meeting, there was a danger of rubber-stamping. That was sorta interesting, I guess.
.....More later. Gotta go teach!
