Month: March 2018

That was quick….

Yesterday afternoon rumors were flying that Bay Waveland School Superintendent Vikki Landry would be resigning and sure enough it came to pass:

Bay-Waveland Schools superintendent resigns without explanation ~ Cassandra Favre

Slabbed had this bit of news last night on Twitter as well:

Meantime School Board Trustee Mark Kidd of Waveland told Cassandra some whoppers implying the School Board is somehow, just now, becoming politicized.

At the end of the meeting, Kidd spoke on the events that transpired during the meeting.

“One thing about the school board is that it shouldn’t be political, but it’s getting that way,” Kidd said. “It’s a shame, really, what some of them are doing. Some of them have their own political agenda. I was really surprised what they were looking at trying to do. We’ve got really good people that work for our school district.”

From the outside looking in my impression was Trustee Bell got on fairly well with Trustee Favre right up to the point where Kidd was elected to the Board to succeed Sherry Ponder. Mr. Kidd’s arrival on the school board scene also times up pretty well to screwy things occurring like sanctioning nepotism in the Central Office and cutting classroom teachers while adding Central Office Administrators. Politics does make for some strange bedfellows.

In any event the hot political rumor is that Mr. Kidd is just using the Bay Waveland School Board as a place to pass time while he waits for the next municipal elections in Waveland. Kidd ran for Mayor last go round and lost to current Mayor Mike Smith. Prior to that Kidd was an Alderman, having beat Charles Piazza for the seat by a coin toss due to a tie vote. Piazza is the incumbent Alderman setting up a rematch should Kidd run for Waveland Alderman as expected. Waveland Municipal elections are scheduled for later this year. Continue reading “That was quick….”

Other Voices | Tom Callaghan: Trump – Too Big for the Job

Posted on March 12, 2018

Henry David Thoreau famously observed “Most men live lives of quiet desperation.” After 14 months in office Donald Trump has demonstrated one thing for sure…he ain’t “most men”.

The things that have burdened and constrained all of our previous presidents are, for Trump, inapplicable. We’re talking about things like facts, truthfulness, study, consultation with experts, and thoughtful implementation of policy.

Trump is way too big for that Mickey Mouse. Those are the kind of things “low energy” Jeb Bush or “crooked” Hillary or “little” Marco Rubio or “lying” Ted Cruz would be doing if they could have beaten Trump. But they couldn’t. They didn’t have the Trump formula..the Trump magic.

So what is the Trump formula? First, know yourself and know what has always worked for you. Second, never apologize, never admit a mistake, and never let them see you sweat. Third, talk like a winner…use superlatives…”disaster…it’s going to stop…best in history.” Fourth, protect the Trump brand, trust your gut, and fight to win every news cycle.

Its working so well that it leaves him almost nothing to do. He blocks out three hours every weekday morning for what the schedule refers to as “Executive Time”. Trump uses that time to watch FOX and get affirmation. Continue Reading……..

Good Reason or Racism? Public Service or Public Display?

Knowing the difference is the entirety of the context behind the last night’s Bay Waveland School District Trustee discussion and vote at the Bay City Council meeting. First we have this:

Black official called N-word in letter read aloud at controversial Bay City Council meeting ~ Paul Hampton

Paul’s rendition of the events involving last night’s City Council meeting is spot on. Councilman Reed did read such a letter. My thought on that subject comport to those of Alice and Michelle. I had another councilman bring up receiving a nasty gram or two on this subject just like when Mrs. Arnold was appointed last July with Councilman Seal bringing up such an instance. Nasty grams and school board appointments have that time honored pattern in the Bay. So much effort for so little per diem indeed.

Folks, Hancock County got to watch the Courtney Thomas library drama unfold last year, so predicting a bad spinoff show for this year’s spring season for the school board seat involving Momma was a no brainer as was predicting it’s cancellation. That said it takes both talent and dedication to alienate both the Hancock County Board of Supervisors and the Mayor of the County’s largest City.

In any event, for all the posturing we saw at last night’s meeting, the City Council members that were very critical of the Mayor’s choice of Ms. Lathrop didn’t seem to want to discuss any of the Mayor’s reasons for letting Ms. Thomas go after two years of service and replacing her with Ms. Lathrop. I reckon it was easier to play the race card than to discuss actual issues. Voting against Ms. Lathrop’s appointment were Councilmen Reed and Zimmerman with Councilman Seal attempting to have it both ways.

Finally, I’ll tackle the reason why the Bay Waveland School Board maintained diversity with Ms. Lathrop’s appointment despite the fact she replaces an African American since it is a hot potato. Continue reading “Good Reason or Racism? Public Service or Public Display?”

On Tap Tonight: A New School Board Trustee

The Lady that will be appointed – her name was dropped a couple of time in comments here, I’m sure she will make a fine trustee.

As for outgoing Trustee Joan Thomas, her goose was cooked by her own hand, almost one year ago to the day:

Siblings working for Bay school district an ethical concern, says commission – Justin Vicory

Either the superintendent or the business manager of Bay St. Louis–Waveland School District — who are brother and sister — should resign from office to avoid the appearance of nepotism, a Mississippi Ethics Commission opinion says.

Yet the majority of Bay–Waveland School Board members disagreed, and recently voted 4 to 1 to approve an additional 18-month contract for business administrator John McCraw, as well as a contract for Superintendent Vikki Landry, his sister.

And the so called Chinese firewall the high priced lawyers constructed to rationalize and prettify such nepotism? It is bullshit, or put another way if it weren’t, the exchange where the lawyers advised the school board in an official meeting would not have been purposely omitted from the record and the business manager would to this day not be presenting cash balances to his sister for the School Board to approve. It’s sad folks:

At the February meeting, board attorney Ronnie Artigues and James Keith, a longtime education attorney with the North Pike and Pearl River County school boards, told the board it was acceptable for them to appoint an employee other than Landry for McCraw to report to. In response, the board appointed Kristen Ladner and Cherie Labat as assistant superintendents.

School board meetings are open to the public, and an audio recording is normally taken and saved. But when Lana Noonan, a member of political watchdog group Hancock County Alliance for Good Government, contacted the central office secretary to get a copy of the February recording, the conversation about McCraw and Landry was not on the tape.

The flawed decision making that created a mess in the district’s elementary schools, along with multiple assistant superintendents to go with the family at the central office has to be fixed folks. Tonight’s school board appointment will flip the Board majority away from those that would disregard state ethics opinions.