Christy-Gate: The Security Breach, Part III

“After much thought and consideration over the weekend, I respectfully ask you to please send only me the report and I request the results not be shared with anyone because we know that the results were shared with principals and we find that very disrespectful.”
--Carmen Tontillo

Strong words, from an e-mail Tontillo sent to John Burkey and Dave Jenkins on January 14th (see image above). Hey Carmen, it’s a public report. Why did you want to hide it from the rest of the HEA?

Bongo is wondering why, after hearing this crazy/absurd/laughable/unbelievable "my neighbor did it" story, union leaders like Tontillo and Mark Stahl circled the wagons around Henderson rather than quietly trying to remove her from a very volatile situation like the upcoming contract negotiations. Surely Tontillo and Stahl saw with their own eyes that one of the e-mails was directly related to HEA negotiations.

Were Tontillo and Stahl willing participants in the HEA-Snow “you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours” arrangement? Or did they think they could protect Henderson by keeping the information quiet so that no one would know what their leader was doing to further union-Snow relations? Surely they didn’t believe Henderson’s story about the neighbor coming into her house, answering the phone, going to the computer and sending private e-mails to Larry Snow. If they believed that, Bongo is more scared than ever about the intelligence behind those calling the shots for the HEA.

To be fair, Tontillo is no longer a member of the HEA. She is now an assistant principal. In light of recent events, that's equally scary if you ask Bongo! But keep in mind that Stahl was just elected vice president and Henderson was just elected secretary (keeper of the records) for the HEA. Bongo wonders if the outcome of that election would have been different if the general membership of the HEA had known about this issue prior to voting in their new leadership team.

So it appears that the HEA leadership got caught with their hand in the cookie jar, tried to cover it up, got caught, and then tried to bury the report so that no one else in the HEA could see it. Thank goodness for the Freedom of Information Act! Right Christy, Carmen and Mark?

And how about the fact that it appears that Henderson shared HEA negotiation information with Snow prior to the start of the negotiations for the new contract? Again, why did Tontillo and Stahl continue to support her after seeing that damaging e-mail subject heading? It’s very concerning to say the least.

Lesson #1 in contract negotiations is to never let the other side know your strategy or what you’re willing to accept. Bongo guesses that Henderson isn't very good at poker since it appears that she shows her hand to her opponent at the beginning of every game.