Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Board Member Nelson Must Resign and Allow a Committed Community Member to Fill His Seat!

Today we will be publishing 4 posts.  This first one highlights the Board Member Attendance Page that can be accessed by clicking on the side link.  The Board is made up of seven members, who were elected by us to represent our interests and ensure the highest quality of education for our children, as well as representing all D181 taxpayer's interests.  Our expectation is that election to this important position requires more than just being an audible voice during meetings.  It requires a physical presence that shows a full commitment to the responsibilities of the job. Therefore, we have copied the updated attendance page below, because we think it is important for the entire community to see who has clearly not made the commitment to serve the electorate.

As you can see from the chart below, Board Member Nelson has been "physically" absent from 19 of the last 29 meetings (for which attendance is known).  He has called in to 9 of those meetings, but completely missed 10 of them.

In other words, he has:

  • completely missed more than 1/3 of the meetings -- 34.5%
  • been physically absent 65.5%
  • been physically in attendance at only 34.5%.
Even when he has "called in," his contributions to the discussions have been minimal, at best, with most of his commentary being celebrations of what the administration is doing (when what is called for in a growing number of instances is sharp rebuke) or criticism for concerns raised by fellow board members and community members.  He has supported Mr. Turek's suggestion that the Freedom of Information Act needs to be reformed to deal with the "bullies" in D181 who are seeking release of public information.  

Is this behavior really what we voted for?  It is time for Mr. Nelson to resign.  We have said it before, and we will say it again.  Unfortunately, there is nothing the electorate can do -- statutorily or through board policy -- to oust him.  In fact, there is little his fellow board members can do, except encourage him to step down so that a fully committed community member can fill his seat.  The only person who can do what is right and do it now is Mr. Nelson.  Will he realize that he is doing more of a disservice to the electorate by continuing to pretend to fill his board seat, rather than by stepping down?  

Please Mr. Nelson, tender your resignation.


Board Member Attendance at Meetings:

BOARD MEMBER ATTENDANCE AT MEETINGS 
(Note:  Garg, Clarin and Vorobiev’s first meeting was on 5/6/13)

Board Members: Marty Turek (2011-2015), Michael Nelson (2011-2015), Glenn Yaeger (2011-2015), Brendan Heneghan (2011-2015), Mridu Garg (2013-2017), Gary Clarin (2013-2017), Jill Vorobiev (2013-2015)

Y = Present
P = By Phone
ABSENT = ABSENT

DATE
Turek
Nelson
Yaeger
Heneghan
Garg
Clarin
Vorobiev
2013







1/14
Y
Y
Y
Y



1/22
ABSENT
Y
Y
ABSENT



1/28
Y
Y
Y
Y



2/11
Y
Y
Y
Y



2/25
Y
Y
ABSENT
Y



3/11
Y
ABSENT
Y
Y



3/18
Y
P
Y
Y



4/8
Y
ABSENT
Y
Y



4/22
Y
Y
Y
Y



5/6
Y
ABSENT
Y
P
Y
Y
Y
5/13
Y
ABSENT
Y
ABSENT
Y
Y
Y
5/20
Y
ABSENT
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
5/28
Y
ABSENT
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
6/10
Y
ABSENT
Y
Y
Y
ABSENT
Y
6/24
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
7/22*
ABSENT
ABSENT
ABSENT
ABSENT
ABSENT
ABSENT
ABSENT
8/12
Y
P**
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
8/26
Y
ABSENT
Y
P
Y
Y
Y
9/9
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
9/23
Y
Y
ABSENT
Y
Y
Y
Y
10/7
Y
ABSENT
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
    10/17**
10/28
?
Y
?
Y
?
Y
?
Y
?
Y
?
Y
?
Y
11/4
ABSENT
P
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
11/18
Y
P
ABSENT
Y
Y
Y
Y
12/9
Y
P
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
1/13
Y
P
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
1/20*
1/21*
1/27
Y
P
Y
P
P
P
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
2/10







2/24







3/10







4/14







4/28







5/12







5/19







5/27







6/9







6/23








* July 22 meeting cancelled due to lack of quorum.
** Based upon listening to the meeting, Nelson was physically absent -- AGAIN -- but participated by phone, but only for part of the meeting.  He missed at least one vote when the phone connection was lost.  
** Special Meeting held.  No podcast created, no minutes released yet to show who was present.
* Emergency meetings held to discuss HMS mold remediation and alternate school sites.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can the board majority amend the board bylaws to include an attendance requirement? Not only has Mr. Nelson been absent at meetings, but he no longer has any children in D181. He is holding onto his seat simply to support Dr. Schuster. He has nothing to contribute and he needs to step down ASAP.

Anonymous said...

Has anyone spoken at a board meeting and proposed board policy that would oust board members who have missed X number of meetings?

Mr. Everett said...

Just as Illinois school code seems to largely be written by the kind of political hacks that fill Springfield (and the Cook County Administration Building and Chicago's City Hall) with do-nothing lay abouts it is mostly impossible for a BOE to dump a member simply for non-attendance.

Of course one would hope that some one that gets elected to a volunteer office in an affluent area would at least have some sense of responsibility to their neighbors, but then again perhaps if the atmosphere was such that actual neighbors might actually choose to make their displeasure known things might be different...

The sad reality is when folks the current BOE president seem not just uninterested in tackling anything by wholly unqualified to make any kind of a decision that does not send a message to other BOE members that their presence is meaningful. Of course when one wins an election largely by just having access to an extensive list of email addresses that might as well be hawking "libido pills" that really does not say much about the competency of voters...

During the first Gulf War one of Clarendon Hill's Village Trustees that was in the Illinois National Guard did phone in to many meetings. I wonder "service" Mr. Nelson is performing while unable to attend BOE meeting in person?

This is something that ANY community member, regardless of whether they have kids in D181 should be upset about