Snow Creates Campaign Issue; Exposes District to Possible Lawsuit

Just when Bongo thought Larry Snow couldn't stoop any lower, he broke new ground last week by creating a campaign issue at the expense of the taxpayers' wallets.

Larry Snow made it clear on Thursday that he is willing to expose District 158 to a costly lawsuit for his own political purposes.

There is a determined list of issues that governmental bodies are allowed to discuss in closed session. These items include contract negotiations with employees/vendors, discipline/personnel issues with students/staff, and legal matters. For the most part, closed door meetings protect the board from having to “show its hand” during negotiations of contracts, but more importantly, it protects the privacy of students and employees and ultimately protects the governmental agency from getting sued.

Larry Snow knows this. So does Aileen Seedorf. But that didn’t keep the (un)dynamic duo from trying to add an item to last week’s board meeting agenda that both knew didn’t belong there.

At the very beginning of the meeting, Snow tried to amend the agenda for the evening to add “Acknowledgment of Sexual Harassment Claim Settlement” to the agenda. His sidekick, the independent thinking (not) Aileen Seedorf quickly seconded it. The other five board members voted against adding the item and many explained their vote by saying that discussing that issue during the public meeting was inappropriate because it was a personnel issue. Board President Green, who usually does not explain his votes, felt the issue warranted an explanation. He said he was voting against adding the item because it would expose District 158 to huge liability. The vote was 5-2 not to add the item to the agenda.

Issue closed, right? Nope. Not with an election a month away.

After a few blog entries by Snow about the issue, Snow had his buddy Cal publish a blog entry over the weekend that twisted the issue into a campaign issue for the Snow-Skala race. Snow is now claiming that Mike Skala is trying to sweep a sexual harassment issue regarding an employee under the rug and “hide” it from people.

The entire issue is absurd, yet very telling. Any human who had lingering doubts in the past about Snow’s real motives had those doubts put to rest. Clearly,

Larry Snow is willing to expose District 158 to a costly lawsuit for his own political purposes.

It makes Bongo sick to know that Snow calls himself a watchdog for the taxpayers, yet he is so completely careless and reckless with their money. It makes Bongo sick that liability and a potential law suit is not nearly as important to Snow as smearing the name of his opponent and winning the election next month.

Bongo will say it again. Voters, is this the guy you want making decisions about YOUR child’s education? Haven’t you had enough? Can we afford to keep Snow as a board member?