LETTER OF THE LAW

Sworn Duty

Stanley Wotring <lynn.school.watch@gmail.com>	7:15 AM (0 minutes ago)
to Charlie, Donna, Maria, Rick, patti7761, john.e.ford, jcerulli

Dear Lynn School Committee Members,

The June 30th deadline has come and passed and to my knowledge, no
re-payment has been worked out to resolve with the Net School Spending 
problem. If so, none of you have bothered to respond to my previous inquires.

What I find most troubling about this ordeal is the Mayor's brazen attempts to
circumvent the city charter by almost taking it upon herself to single handedly 
conduct the business of the Lynn Public Schools. Were any of you invited to 
attend this supposed meeting with Lt. Governor Karen Polito? No matter 
Lt. Governor Polito has, I believe,  no constitutional authority to resolve our 
current crisis.

Almost equally as troubling is the mostly passive surrender of the Lynn
School Committee that has allowed the Mayor to marginalize, as member 
Charlie Gallo in a recent meeting stated, their sworn duty.

Sincerely,

Stan

cc: Mayor Kennedy

CHUCK TAKES TIME TO TAKE ME ON

Charlie Gallo	11:20 AM (18 minutes ago)
to me

Stan: The Nazi comparison by the woman who praised the Mayor and
advocated in favor of restoring ties with Gordon was am embarrassing
exception, I thought, so it was not "otherwise a civil discussion of
opposing views."  Bringing up the Holocaust was uncalled for, and
totally disrespectful in light of the death of 6 million Jewish people
and millions of others, including gays. Shame on her for making that
comparison.  And shame on you for not counting that as a second
"offensive and embarrassing exception." I was offended also by how the
woman sitting next to Mr. Lindsay was giving dirty looks to so many
speakers who opposed your petition, although unseen by most since she
was in the front row.  She was beyond rude and disrespectful, and I
hope she never sets foot inside our city again. My thoughts... Best,
Charlie

 Well CHUCK you are a little right about the NAZI comparison, it was a little disturbing but I would question whether it rises to the level of offensive. That's the funny thing about facts, you don't get to pick and choose which ones are true, they either are or they are not. Just because they are unpleasant doesn't make them false. It could well be argued she was referring to the propaganda techniques employed.

As for your second example, I have to admit I am lost there.

giving dirty looks to so many
speakers who opposed your petition,

Is that the same WOMAN you accused of being Lindsay's PR representative? Geez, I never realized she would be opposed to OUR petition. Are you sure you wrote that correctly. It was QUITE evident last night you falsely tossed out identifications or should I say misidentifications. Maybe she had a tic or some other physical handicap like me. Let's not be to quick to judge lest we be labeled intolerant or discriminatory.

Anyway CHUCK, I know you take yourr role as an elected official seriously and I want to remind you that you are held to a higher standard than your constituents, audience members, and thankfully me.

CHUCK, YOU DONE PISSED ME OFF AGAIN

Here I was trying to be nice for me anyway and move on to the next battle where I agree the outcome of his argument though I remain suspicious of his goal. Then I see where he puts this out there. This is what I call a LAWYER'S LIE.

Proud that Lynn School Committee did the right thing tonight by recommending that ties remain severed with Gordon College by a 5 to 2 vote. Except for outbursts by Gordon's president and his spokesperson, speakers at the public hearing on both sides of the issue, with perhaps just one or two unfortunate exceptions, were most respectful. Thank you to all who participated, and especially to those who spoke so eloquently with regard to LGBTQ youth and families.

I got a number of compliments on my necktie tonight, worn in support of Lynn's LGBTQ community. So, here's a photo for those who missed it.

The trick is to exaggerate the intensity of the actual facts so that a different conclusion is reached with the same set of facts. You can't argue with a perception because there's no right or wrong answer because everybody sees the world through a different pair of eyes. Much like the LBGT community whose cause he was supposedly championing.

There was NO outburst from the GORDON COLLEGE president (I am a little insulted MR. LINDSEY didn't know who I was.) He simply meekly responded to a couple of direct questions by a speaker (who I think is running for school committee) about whether or not GORDON does actually does discriminate. In this case, it should have been the speaker that should have been admonished.

CHUCK then had outbursts of his own, belligerently attacking the president and twice FALSELY identifying two audience members.

CHUCK, ME THINKS THOU DOST PROTEST TOO MUCH!

Charlie Gallo for Lynn School Committee

Nice tie by the way bet it goes with everything or everybody.

SHOULD I QUIT YET? MAYBE, MAYBE NOT

Well we had the HEARING and we LOST, I think. I'm sorry I am not really sure because some things went on that sent me into a state of charter confusion. You see the way I read the charter the outcome of the hearing is a final resolution of the contested matter. What we got was a successful motion to have a vote at a later date.

Going by that sounds like there still remains the the possibility of reversing the vote that was taken last August even though there was some sort of canvas at the end of tonight's meeting and I am not sure if that would count as a vote or not. Actually a vote isn't necessarily required , only FINAL RESOLUTION. Letting the previous vote stand by not taking a vote is final RESOLUTION.

I know I might be arguing against myself by suggesting there is no need to vote on the matter a future meeting. I just call them as I see them. None-the-less given procedural point of contention, a letter or two might be written still yet!

IF I KEEP GETTING IGNORED, I GONNA START THINKING NOBODY LOVES ME

Gordon goes back to School Committee

I've written a few posts here but never a word. I've been told certain people have been told not to talk to me. CHUCK doesn't even know how to spell my name and has to resort to using general third person expression of generalities. The MAYOR avoids me at times like I've got some kind of SOCIAL DISEASE (well I do, IT'S CALLED INTERNET). No one from GORDON has ever even reached out to me. If they had, don't you think I would have posted that S&@# UP?

SAME OLD SONG BUT LOOKING TO CHANGE THE TUNE

Can you hear me? I'm doing my best FRANKIE VALLIE impression singing "OH WHAT A NIGHT...:".The evening started with a DATE with my FIRST LADY the MAYOR. I got there at the library to wait in line to insure I got my traditional seat in the front row center, over one seat to the right. I felt the excitement just like when a NEW Apple phone is being debuted.

Turns out there wasn't quite the crowd, in fact probably less than twenty if we count the MAYOR and her CHIEF OF STAFF. I was hoping my early arrival would count for something and unlike last year I wouldn't be the subject of a conscious avoidance (Hey that's not my call it's what some stranger put on FACEBOOK). As it happened though I was the last one called on I think after several promises to get to me. Of course I wanted to redirect everyone's attention to the GRAVITY of the 16 MILLION DOLLAR debt the city is going to be saddled with as a result of the NSS snafu.

Her attempt at resolution is to hold choir practice with LT. GOV KAREN POLITO after I believe the fiscal year is up betting that the laws won't apply to us because we are so special. I am sure she will find sympathy from KAREN but guess what KAREN can do JACK.

JUDY completely ignored the letter from the DESE I have being circulating around swearing that it doesn't really say what everyone else thinks. I was assured they weren't ignoring it they just weren't doing what they were asking for. I asked why no other urban city has the problems LYNN has and that only 3 other districts in the state have a problem with NSS. Of course she said the figures being circulated out there were wrong (Sorry LORI) and  that BROCKTON was looking to file a lawsuit against the state for the way they calculate NSS. She did mention we might consider it too. Well she does have a record of winning suits costing tens of thousands of dollars regarding how much the former MAYOR was paid, winnng it then almost doubling hers and the council's salary above what the old Mayor made and then working out some NEW formula so no one would have to pay back what her lawsuit had successfully shown that they had been overpaid. Instead she drove the same bus over REFUGEES in general since there weren't enough UNACCOMPANIED MINORS coming in now to make a good speed bump.

Sitting quietly in the audience was LSC CANDIDATE JARED NICHOLSON observing before turming in to the best educated cab driver you ever did see. Even with those two IVY LEAGUE degrees he found room in his car to shuttle me and TRIPPY to that other LSC CANDIDATE MICHEAL OUK'S FUNDRAISER.



It was nice to see LSC CANDIDATE NATASHA M&M, LSC MEMBER MARIA CARRASCO and have HUGS WITH HONG, not too mention evidently TRIPPY'S reputation preceded him because despite the fact he filled up on the food, a to-go plate was presented to him as a going away present!

RICK REACHES OUT

Hi Stan,

I along with everyone want to see schools funded at the mandated amounts and I believe that the Mayor does as well. There is no question that these are challenging times regarding the city's finances and there is no magic bullet that will solve the crisis overnight. Speaking to councilors, there is no extra money in their budget from which to cut. If the full $151 million was appropriated to the school department for this coming year's budget, our police, fire and public works budgets would have experienced catastrophic cuts and we would have possibly lost the library. To the Mayor's point, we have so many old buildings that require millions of dollars for capital repairs that cannot be attributed to Net School Spending. She is planning on meeting with state leaders to hopefully get some relief with having the ability to count some major school related expenditures toward NSS. In the past the Mayor has also allocated additional money to the school department about mid way through the year. I personally agree with this strategy as it allows us to reevaluate needs during the year and have the ability to fund those needs versus front loading the budget and not being able to address unforeseen expenditures as they arise through the year. I have no doubt that the Mayor will once again allocate money to LPS later in the school year that will count toward NSS. 

There is not one leader in this city who would not love to have schools funded at over 100% while having a full complement of public safety and public works employees to keep everyone safe, services met and our infrastructure safe and usable. Unfortunately, at this time I don't believe that the school budget can be funded at $151 million up front without experiencing devastating results across the city. Our way out of this has to come from commercial investment in the city. No one is going to invest if we are cutting city services to unsafe levels. I remain committed to working with the leaders of the city to find a solution and set a timeline for working our way out of this dilemma.

Thank you,

Rick Starbard

Thank you Rick for your response. I fully understand your point but I feel more attention has to be brought to this problem. We need to fully confront this problem in order to find a solution.

The important thing is to not only look for ways out of the mess we are in but also acknowledging how we got into it. Further to the point, how can we have in confidence in some grand plan that the Mayor has when according to the DESE she has refused to cooperate with the legislative "fix: she touted last year. These are critical times and require a more urgent response than meetings in the future with like minded individuals with no power on their own to make changes.

Sincerely,
Stan

MARIA MULLS OVER MELTDOWN

Maria Carrasco	7:10 PM (3 hours ago)
to me

Thank you Stanley for your concern

you already know my point regarding this matter

Take care,

Maria

Stanley Wotring <lynn.school.watch@gmail.com>	10:41 PM (0 minutes ago)
to Maria

Thank you for replying so promptly. Yes I know your position
as we discussed it after Dolores's event. Your history of fighting
for services for the kids and parents is well documented. The fact
that you voted against the budget last year along with Charlie
speaks volumes about your commitment. I was writing everyone
to give them an opportunity to state their position.

Of particular interest to you should be the cut to the KnowAtom
program that you  successfully advocated for to insure all of the
students of Lynn had exposure to this Next Generation system
of education. I call on you once again to champion the restoration
of this program.

Sincerely,

Stan

WHO WILL ANSWER?

Avoiding a financial meltdown

Stanley Wotring <lynn.school.watch@gmail.com>	12:49 PM (0 minutes ago)
to Donna, Rick, Charlie, Maria, patti7761, john.e.ford,  jcerulli, LATHAMC, tom

Due to the impending fiscal disaster due to the Mayor's continuous
desire to shortchange the Lynn Public Schools I strongly urge you
against passage of any budget until such time a definite plan is in place
to resolve this crisis.

I do realize the consequences of playing this version of fiscal chicken but
the danger in allowing the Mayor to run roughshod over the Massachusetts
General Law is far worse It is your sworn duty to protect the students of Lynn
and insure they have the education to which they are entitled.

Respectfully,

Stanley H. Wotring, Jr.

THAT DIDN'T TAKE LONG, LOL

Stanley Wotring <lynn.school.watch@gmail.com>	7:46 AM (23 minutes ago)
to Charlie, DonnaCoppola, Maria, Rick, jcerulli, john.e.ford, patti7761

I am writing today to urge you to vote to re-establish ties with Gordon College after the upcoming Public Hearing provided the proper parameters and safeguards are put in place to insure protection of LPD's LBGT students. Given the overwhelming need of all LPS students for an exemplary education and the crushing budgetary constraints, I would not only hope you restore Gordon College to its former status but also explore new ways to expand the provision of services to LPS.

As a part of government, it is the Lynn School Committee's responsibility to follow all laws, not to pick and choose which ones it wants to follow depending on personal preferences or particular constituencies.Please remember you can't pick and choose what laws or federal policies you wish to follow. Gordon College was granted an exemption, the Lynn School Committee was not.

Sincerely, Stanley H. Wotring, Jr.

Donna Coppola	8:06 AM (4 minutes ago)
to me

YOU KNOW WHERE I STAND. DONNA....

Stanley Wotring <lynn.school.watch@gmail.com>	8:09 AM (7 minutes ago)
to Donna

LOL. Just writing everyone because it's the thing to do. Thank you for your response!

Relationship with Gordon College

Stanley Wotring <lynn.school.watch@gmail.com>	7:46 AM (1 minute ago)
to Charlie, DonnaCoppola, Maria, Rick, jcerulli, john.e.ford, patti7761

I am writing today to urge you to vote to re-establish ties with Gordon College after the upcoming Public Hearing provided the proper parameters and safeguards are put in place to insure protection of LPD's LBGT students. Given the overwhelming need of all LPS students for an exemplary education and the crushing budgetary constraints, I would not only hope you restore Gordon College to its former status but also explore new ways to expand the provision of services to LPS.

As a part of government, it is the Lynn School Committee's responsibility to follow all laws, not to pick and choose which ones it wants to follow depending on personal preferences or particular constituencies.Please remember you can't pick and choose what laws or federal policies you wish to follow. Gordon College was granted an exemption, the Lynn School Committee was not.

Sincerely, Stanley H. Wotring, Jr.

COULD CHUCK REALLY BE ANTI- CHRISTIAN?

Now even the posing of such propaganda can be downright inflammatory and as all of you know I am not really that type? I do have to admit though CHUCK is an easy target and I better get in all of my practice before he leaves public life for a practice of his own.

Okay, let's make the case. First we start with the GORDON COLLEGE  matter. It could be reasonably argued that the vote to sever ties with GORDON COLLEGE was an act of persecution in retribution for them trying to adhere to their CHRISTIAN values and not for some alleged intent to discriminate because no actual case of discrimination has ever been proven to exist. You would think a lawyer would n
know how the constitution works.

Then there was his attempt in the POLICY SUB-COMMITTEE to circumvent the EXEMPTION to IMMUNIZATION based on RELIGIOUS reasons. While he freely admitted that the LSC did not have the authority to actually prevent someone from using it he just wanted to strike it from the policy so that we wouldn't advertise it. Pretty shady if you ask me. (TALK ABOUT INTENT TO DISCRIMINATE!) The matter was tabled and you could sense that the other committee members were a little uncomfortable with this plan of attack.

Finally he wanted to REPEAL the SEX EDUCATION POLICY because he said it was outdated because of a reference to collusion with church partners. Now who am I to judge any one's actual intent, I just everyone to be well grounded in case any lighting bolts strike in the vicinity of BENNETT STREET.

PLENTY OF GOOD PREACHING BUT THE CHORUS WAS PRETTY MUCH ABSENT

Went to an informative event tonight at the LYNN MUSEUM on the overuse and misuse of standardized testing. There was a video from a U.S. Senator, a invited guest speaker, and a panel discussion, The only thing missing were people who set the standards we are all expected to live by.

Since the panelist were from LYNN, SALEM, and PEABODY you would have thought the place would have been packed. There were empty seats available and I didn't even have to play my crippled card to find a place to sit. LSC member RICK STARBARD sat on the panel (and talked about a great documentary he took me and my old BFF to {old WATCHers will remember who}

Race to Nowhere, The Dark Side of America's Achievement Culture ...

Current LSC members CHARLIE GALLO ( Who is NOT seeking re-election) and DONNA COPPOLA were there LSC candidates NATASHA M& M, JARED SINGLETON ( we bonded a little over baseball a little, a budding bromance perhaps?) and MICHEAL OUK (my long lost twin of another mother) were also there to drum up some support while learning a little.

Too much of the presentation was about identifying the problem everybody already agrees exist. What do you expect me to do about it. There was no talk about action. Of course I had to bum a ride home. After I had gotten a commitment from MICHEAL to be my cabby, DONNA asked me and TRIPPY ( he was there for the cookies) if we needed a ride. I told her thanks but MICHEAL'S got this.

"Heck DONNA'S been a friend forever, I know how, why, and what she thinks. No chance to learn much there."

Anyway MICHEAL asked a good question. Good because I had the answer. Even better because I  was the answer. He asked, "How do people find out what's going on with the school committee?".

I laughed, "You're looking at it".

Sad, I know.