Why I Can’t Support Dick Cass for BOF
Mr. Cass seems like a very nice gentleman in the chats we have had, I won’t go into detail on the basis of the discussions we have had save to say he is probably the most liberal individual I have run across in quite some time when it comes to tax and spend philosophy- in fact, I will never forget the candidate forum held at the Academy two years ago where his self-introduction included the proud proclamation of being a “tax and spend liberal”.
As most of you know, I am on the DTC…something else you need to know- it’s never been about the party for me and it probably never will be much to the consternation of some DTC members. In fact, I have been questioning my affiliation for awhile now but have yet to come up with an answer as the other side of the aisle does not appeal to me for a plethora of reasons mostly having to do with the national platform- I have the same problem with the both sides at the state level as I watch the Dems absolutely destroy the state I have spent most of my life in and that I held in high regard for so long but not so much anymore, not to mention the fact of Linda McMahon on the State Board of Education and her possible ascension to national office, so for now until there is a better alternative I will hold my Blue Dog position, but I digress.
As I have written many times with regard to our local conundrum, it is about the right people for the positions regardless of party affiliation; the Red/Blue thing is bogus and takes away our ability to see reality, especially here where it matters the least evidenced by the local comingled crusades that more resemble a class war- which brings me back to Mr. Cass...
In public statements to a group of Dems, I have heard him say “Lindsay Paul is doing a wonderful job and we should support her”. This came from a discussion around a recently held BOF forum that we both attended (he is currently an alternate on the BOF), all or parts of which you can see on video -HERE-. I asked Mr. Cass if we attended the same meeting as Mrs. Paul’s performance was her usual stream of nonsensical rhetoric of the BOE being “starved for funds”, etc., I don’t believe he has spoken to me since. In this same meeting Dave Richardson quizzed her on spending as well as the validity of the basis of calculations of “state mandated programs”. She appeared to be so stunned by the questions that ultimately she responded that, in fact, the programs are mandated BUT the spending and administration of them are at the discretion of the BOE. Considering how “state mandated programs” are gamed in creation of the education budget, the gravity of this should not be lost on you.
Therefore, it is clear to me that, unfortunately, Mr. Cass has the same affliction as Mr. McCoy in being captured by the “club mentality” rather than addressing the duties of the position that he aspires to.
As most of you know, I am on the DTC…something else you need to know- it’s never been about the party for me and it probably never will be much to the consternation of some DTC members. In fact, I have been questioning my affiliation for awhile now but have yet to come up with an answer as the other side of the aisle does not appeal to me for a plethora of reasons mostly having to do with the national platform- I have the same problem with the both sides at the state level as I watch the Dems absolutely destroy the state I have spent most of my life in and that I held in high regard for so long but not so much anymore, not to mention the fact of Linda McMahon on the State Board of Education and her possible ascension to national office, so for now until there is a better alternative I will hold my Blue Dog position, but I digress.
As I have written many times with regard to our local conundrum, it is about the right people for the positions regardless of party affiliation; the Red/Blue thing is bogus and takes away our ability to see reality, especially here where it matters the least evidenced by the local comingled crusades that more resemble a class war- which brings me back to Mr. Cass...
In public statements to a group of Dems, I have heard him say “Lindsay Paul is doing a wonderful job and we should support her”. This came from a discussion around a recently held BOF forum that we both attended (he is currently an alternate on the BOF), all or parts of which you can see on video -HERE-. I asked Mr. Cass if we attended the same meeting as Mrs. Paul’s performance was her usual stream of nonsensical rhetoric of the BOE being “starved for funds”, etc., I don’t believe he has spoken to me since. In this same meeting Dave Richardson quizzed her on spending as well as the validity of the basis of calculations of “state mandated programs”. She appeared to be so stunned by the questions that ultimately she responded that, in fact, the programs are mandated BUT the spending and administration of them are at the discretion of the BOE. Considering how “state mandated programs” are gamed in creation of the education budget, the gravity of this should not be lost on you.
Therefore, it is clear to me that, unfortunately, Mr. Cass has the same affliction as Mr. McCoy in being captured by the “club mentality” rather than addressing the duties of the position that he aspires to.
Posted by Admin at 10/4/2009 2:45 PM 
Categories: Views, Education, Local Politics
Tags: Craig R. Powers
Categories: Views, Education, Local Politics
Tags: Craig R. Powers
The tragic thing about educational discussions is that they are usually emotional and without foundation. Any person that questions the way the educational system spends money is immediately branded as “anti-education”. Just the asking of the question get you stuffed into the group with all anti-educational activists. On the one side you have Cass, McCoy and the Converse type people that feel that they need to be advocates for spending on the BOF. You can see the numbers numbness set in on these people when presented with a $15+ Million Dollar school budget. What their body language reveals is that they have no way of comprehending what has been presented to them for their approval. You can see it with these people, including the members of the BOE, who aimlessly flip pages back and forth trying to understand what has been presented to them in an intentionally complicated and complex format that none of them can break apart.
These budgets are intentionally presented in hard copy format rather than in the spreadsheet format that they were developed in. So, people of good character when faced with pages and pages of numbers totaling millions of dollars, just do the easy thing and fall back to relying on the character of the people that bring the budget forward as being honest and transparent. That is exactly what the administrators of our school system want their BOE and BOF to do. These budgets can be reduced and distilled to a point where the “average Joe” in Woodstock can understand exactly where the money goes and what the money is buying for his school system and for his highway department.
What you have in Dave Richardson is simply a person that can take an intentionally complex document and convert into something that our citizens can readily understand and our educational manipulators live in fear of seeing.
At this point the BOF is going to get Craig Powers like it or not. What you need to do as a Town is to send to the BOF, not Dick Cass or George McCoy, but a gift to the BOF and a friend of the Woodstock working stiffs that will ask the questions, develop the data and along with Craig Powers make these people answer the questions rather than mumble their way through the answer hoping to escape.
By the way, you need to send the BOF, Charles Super and Margret Wholean from the Democratic side to assist Powers and Richardson in making their collective way through this colossally complex budget and get into a format that represents a Readers Digest Book rather than War and Peace.