OUR VIEWPOINT EDITORIAL


TUHSD and the fi ne art of stonewalling


Just a week and a half ago, we used this column to praise the Agua Fria Union High School District, and specifi cally its superin- tendent, Dennis Runyan, for commencing a new era of transparency within that district. While the Agua Fria District is on the right track, unfortunately


the Tolleson Union High School District is taking the opposite approach, opting instead to be the West Valley’s new poster child for stonewalling and fl outing state law. At issue is the Tolleson district’s ongoing search for a new superintendent. Who the Governing Board ultimately chooses to fi ll this position is everyone’s business. A school district superin- tendent can affect the lives — and wallets — of everyone living in the district, not just the people who work for the district or who have children enrolled in its schools, but every single person who pays the taxes that keep the district in operation. Superintendents make the big decisions regarding the management of the district’s affairs — decisions that often require a lot of money. Where does the money come from? Out of your pockets and ours. We all have a stake in this. The Tolleson district is spending a lot of time and effort in its search for a new superintendent. Nineteen people submitted resumes for the job.


An initial pool of 19 applicants was reduced to eight following a paper screening exercise. The candidates who did not move forward failed to meet the specifi c criteria, offi cials said. However, after reviewing the resumes of the remaining eight candidates, the Governing Board tossed them all out and decided to start the whole process over again. Why? The West Valley View fi led a public records request for the resumes of the candidates. We were curious as to why the eight fi nalists were all deemed unworthy. Superintendent searches can be costly affairs. By reviewing the resumes and publishing the highlights of the candidates’ credentials, we could have involved every reader who lives in the Tolleson Union High School District in the process. Why is that important? For one thing, the public would be able to judge for themselves whether the Governing Board and district administrators are making sound decisions on their behalf. That’s the main reason government transparency is important. In response to reporter Emily McCann’s public records request, Karyn Morse Eubanks, administrative assistant to the superinten- dent and Governing Board, acknowledged that the resumes are indeed public records, but after consulting with the district’s attor- ney, opted to ignore the law and declined to release them. Instead, the district cited a legal case that has little bearing on this issue according to First Amendment Coalition attorney Dan Barr, who was directly involved in the case the district cited as an excuse to withhold the documents. We don’t know why the district rejected all of the candidates who submitted resumes, and instead decided to spend more of your hard- earned money by starting the process again from scratch. We’d sure like to know. Wouldn’t you?


Our Viewpoint editorials represent the opinions of the West Valley View editorial board, which is composed of Publisher Elliott Freireich, Managing Editor Jim Painter and News Editor Cary Hines.


OUR READERS’ VIEWPOINTS LETTERS TO THE EDITOR


spelling, punctuation or grammar are those of the author. Two online reader polls have indicated that a majority of View readers prefer that the letters not be edited.


L


Dogs have more rights than


humans Editor: Fabian’s Law.....Hooray!! The dog is got rights. (Lucky dogs) Now the aggressor/destroyer dog and the dog’s host will be held accountable. Today over 500,000 babies were destroyed thru abor- tion across America. The hosts were not and will not be held accountable, neither the people involved. (Thru our earthly laws) The silent holocaust, of our very own species.


etters to the editor are published without any editing. Any errors in


next generations. The dogs have the right to have rights but NOT our very own humans at conception. The dog is preceding our very own kind!! Something wrong with this picture???? ONLY IN AMERICA!!


Lourdes Victorio Goodyear


A question


of compassion Editor:


What about a law to protect the rights of the UNBORN HUMAN CHILD at conception?? We live in a culture of death, sadly! If it’s a burden “get rid of it”. If it’s an inconvenience, “destroy it”. With this kind of mentality, our country is getting destroyed from within. When will we come together to protect the most vulnerable of HUMAN LIFE FORM. The HUMAN Baby at conception, check it out www. coalitionforlife.com Together we can make a difference for millions of new humans, for our


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THIS WEEK'S QUESTION


Would you support or oppose cutting spending on Medicare in order to reduce the national debt?


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• Approve — 61% • Disapprove — 39%


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Mr. Azzarello’s letter of May 27th, regarding his opinion that Richard and Sally Andrade are out of their minds in consider- ing that pets are not property. It comes as no surprise in view of his constant disdain of all things compassionate and socially necessary for a civilized and progressive country.


I can not help but respond to Constitutional


discussion Editor:


If one looks for hypocrisy, there is certainly plenty to be found (at least by those who don’t understand the Constitu- tion). “2 laws reveal a lot of hypocrisy”, Letters, May 27. Our governor endorses SB1070, but is questioning Prop. 203. Does that make her a “liberal and progressive” or an “unethical deceiver”? No. It means she, and the others Mr. Martinez defamed, have different views about Federalism, the legal principle involved in both situations. There’s not enough space here to adequately address the subject, but a short (if simplistic) over- view is possible.


MORGAN’S OPINION — West Valley View


It is a sustained conclusion that a person’s compassion for other human beings can be judged by their treatment of animals, i.e. research into the backgrounds of sociopaths and serial killers. If people who agree with Mr. Azzarello’s position on pets as property would just buy patio furniture, they wouldn’t have to complain about the cost to feed it and their neighbors wouldn’t call 911 when they heard them abusing it.


Patricia Crocker Goodyear


Federalism concerns the allocation of power between the Federal and State governments. In America we have two sets of “sovereigns”: one operates on the national level, fi fty others oper- ate within each State’s borders. They have different areas of legal authority or power. The legal term for this is “jurisdiction”, which also refers to the geo- graphical limits of their authority. There are some areas where the Federal government has the sole authority. For example, only it can declare war or make trea- ties. (Constitution: Article 1, Sec- tion 8, Paragraph 11, and Section 10, Paragraphs 1 and 3.) The


(See Letters on Page 7)


West Valley View, Avondale, Arizona, Friday, June 3, 2011


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