From My Puppy Pulpit

Yesterday the Daily Herald endorsed Mike Skala for the District 158 two-year school board seat. Bongo was very pleased with the editorial and was glad to see that the Daily Herald has come to the conclusion that Larry Snow has let the community down since taking office in 2005 and that he does not deserve to be reelected.

The editorialists from the Daily Herald made several key statements in the endorsement piece. Here is Bongo’s two cents:

Daily Herald: "Skala's critics, primarily led by Snow, note that Skala's wife is a teacher and has been a union official in the district, questioning why Skala at one point voted on a teacher's contract or was anywhere near negotiation sessions. It's a valid concern and, when initially raised more than an election ago, he took steps to ensure he is not part of those tricky teacher contract negotiations."

Bongo: When Mike Skala voted in favor of a teacher contract seven years ago, no one from the community and no one from the board at the time suggested that he should recuse himself. The meeting minutes from this time period clearly reflect this. Illinois law, both then and now, is quite clear that as a board member Mr. Skala had every right to vote on that contract. But a few years later when it was thought by some that Skala should not have voted on that contract, Mike said he would abide by the wishes of the community and remove himself from future discussions and votes regarding teacher contracts. He kept his word, and when subsequent contracts were penned in 2006 and 2008, Skala did not participate in discussions and he did not vote. Again, the meeting minutes from these time periods are clear on this.

The individual who was the biggest critic of Skala at the time was Larry Snow. He claimed it was inappropriate for a board member to vote on an issue where there was a conflict of interest. But less than a year ago, Mr. Snow was asked to recuse himself from snow removal discussions and votes because he had taken a very public stance as an advocate for the existing snow removal vendor Moore Turf Care. The requests for Snow to recuse himself came from both community and other board members. Meeting minutes clearly reflect that he was asked to step away from the snow removal issue. After coming down on Mr. Skala for not recusing himself from a vote seven years ago, Snow refused to step away from the snow removal discussions, and when an ultimate vote came up for the new contract, Snow voted not to award the contract to the new vendor, Tovar, even through they were the lowest bidder and had an unmatched record of customer satisfaction.

Daily Herald: "Similarly, after Skala's role on the infamous referendum mistake that would have cost taxpayers more than bargained for, he worked hard to make amends, becoming a prime mover in the change of state law to prevent it from happening again."

Bongo: This statement strikes to the core of Mike Skala’s character, and also at one of the key differences between Skala and Snow. While Snow stood on the sidelines and pointed fingers of blame and polarized the community, it was Mike Skala who apologized publicly to the community and then quietly rolled up his sleeves and worked with board member Quagliano and with Senator Althoff and Representative Tryon to fix the flaw in the law and protect the taxpayers. As a result, District 158 taxpayers did not pay one penny more than what the referendum question said, and the revised law saved them millions on tax bills. Skala also led the charge to get rid of two members of the D 158 administration who did not inform the school board members that their ballot initiative could have cost taxpayers more than what was thought. And Snow? Sure, Snow made a couple trips to Springfield, but anyone else who was there will tell you that Snow’s abrasive demeanor in Springfield was not well-received by the decision makers whose votes were critical to the bill’s success.

Daily Herald: "Critics, including us, however, would note his mercurial and challenging personality and tendency to spin things to Mars muddies the picture. In response, he toned it down for awhile and seemed to be an effective board member despite a tendency to showboat in public with less than the full story."

Bongo: It pleases Bongo that the editorial staff at the Daily Herald is calling Snow out for his abrasive personality and for spinning half-truths around a load of garbage as he tries to build himself up by knocking others down.

Daily Herald: "To throw verbal grenades or allegations just to rile things up is hardly effective in any forum, much less a school board. As witnessed by numerous posts on various news stories in recent weeks, Snow's spinmeter is on overdrive and it's clear he feels his public post is a pulpit with a loudspeaker and a spotlight."

Bongo: This too pleases Bongo. It is about time that officials from newspapers are willing to say what Snow critics from the parental community have been saying for years. His behavior is divisive, unconstructive, unstable, and completely inappropriate for an elected official.

Daily Herald: "Though we've thoroughly chastised Skala at times, we've found he's worked hard to remedy his errors and has developed into a reasoned, thoughtful board member tuned in to both the district's and taxpayer's needs. Mike Skala is endorsed."

Bongo: Bongo is pleased that the Daily Herald'd editors are publicly recognizing that Skala has learned from his mistakes and has grown over the last few years into a very fine board member.

Now, the election is two weeks from tomorrow. Everybody go vote early at the Huntley Park District!