Long-Term Goals
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George Schiro
Aug 8, 2015, 10:34:52 PM8/8/15
to gg
Do you have personal goals? Is there anything of value you would like to
accomplish? If not for yourself, what about your family?
Are you tired of living in a bastion of mediocrity lead by people whose
priorities are their own personal self-interest?
Are you sick and tired of letting the powers-that-be get away with it over
and over again?
Have you ever wanted to do more than just sit back, relax and let other
people fight your battles for you?
If your answer to these questions is "Damn right!" I commend you. Let's get
a beer sometime.
Naturally, the importance of personal goals is relative. What's important to
one person is not necessarily important to another.
For example, making a pile of money is important to many people. I consider
myself fortunate not to be among them. Personal honor and integrity is far
more important to me than making money. Earning a good day's pay for a job
well done is what matters to me more. How about you?
Education also matters to me (and my family). This is demonstrated by my
son's academic accomplishments (see "Gateway High student breaks SAT
record", http://tinyurl.com/l4aobou and "Osceola Student Named National
Merit Scholar" http://tinyurl.com/mzcz8zw ). So it makes sense that I would
get personally involved with important issues related to the Osceola County
School District.
After one particular experience dealing with the Osceola School Board, I
became suddenly and shockingly aware of the people we elected to serve our
interests on the school board (see "Osceola County Superintendent Citizens
Search Committee", http://tinyurl.com/nfbcbst ).
These were the Osceola County School Board members at the time:
District 1 Jay Wheeler
District 2 Julius Melendes
District 3 Cindy Hartig
District 4 Barbara Horn
District 5 Tom Long
From that time forward my goal was to expose ineptitude and corruption among
members of the Osceola County School Board. But that's not telling enough.
Exposing ineptitude and corruption was a means to achieve the actual goal:
Moving 4 of the 5 Osceola County School Board members
out-of-office while retaining 1 of the 5 going forward.
What follows are summaries of the various efforts expended to achieve this
goal.
District 1:
Jay Wheeler
Letters to the editor for August 18, 2014
http://tinyurl.com/nnbu6lv
Jay Wheeler demonstrated he was the only member of
the school board to have the sound judgement to
vote against continuing with Terry Andrews (the
interim superintendent). Wheeler was also the only
school board member who actually communicated with
multiple superintendent candidates prior to the
final vote.
Note: After being appointed to the position of
permanent Superintendent of Osceola County Schools,
Terry Andrews was subsequently forced to resign
months later by the same school board lead by Cindy
Hartig.
District 2:
Julius Melendes
Op-Ed: What kind of people?
http://tinyurl.com/pj29r3t
Subtle Little Lies - Melendes
http://tinyurl.com/mkh5stn
After personally interviewing every superintendent
candidate, I was floored when I learned Julius
Melendes contacted not a single candidate, not one.
The night before the final decision I cornered him
and made him listen to my recorded interviews with
some of the candidates. Only then did he finally
contact one of the candidates and realize what a
mistake he would be making by keeping Terry Andrews
(the interim superintendent). Sadly, Melendes was
persuaded the following day by Cindy Hartig to
reject the candidate he spoke to based on Hartig's
provably false information. I realized then that
Melendes was not only incompetent but also lacking
in courage to do the right thing under pressure.
District 3:
Cindy Hartig
How much lying is OK?
Letters to the editor for August 18, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/kerf97w
Subtle Little Lies - Hartig
http://tinyurl.com/m23ju3y
Several people involved with the superintendent
selection process lied into the public record,
including the chairperson of the school board,
Cindy Hartig. Her lies were the most egregious.
She proved beyond a shadow of a doubt to be
completely unworthy of the public position to
which she was entrusted.
District 4:
Barbara Horn
Op-Ed: What kind of people?
http://tinyurl.com/pj29r3t
If you watch the May 17, 2012 school board meeting
video you will see that Barbara Horn offered no
real analysis nor did she express opinions about
any of the superintendent candidates. She just knew
as a matter of faith that Terry Andrews should stay
on as superintendent without regard to the facts.
Ms. Horn was simply in way over her head and
totally unqualified to be in a position to make
important decisions for a population of 50,000+
students.
District 5:
Tom Long
Subtle Little Lies - Long
http://tinyurl.com/jvfupqu
Osceola County Superintendent Citizens Search Committee - Gossip
http://tinyurl.com/p7haj4v
Letters to the editor for August 18, 2014
http://tinyurl.com/nnbu6lv
Letters to the editor for August 27, 2014
http://tinyurl.com/os32cxc
Tom Long not only withheld a document from a public
records request (attempting to hide surreptitiously
forwarding the document to an anonymous blogger),
but he also used "google hearsay" as his exclusive
analytical tool in evaluating superintendent
candidates. He neither called nor wrote to any
candidates. He asked no questions. He gathered
information on superintendent candidates the same
way he evaluates potential customers for his rental
properties. His level of dishonesty and ineptitude
was unacceptable in a public official, even at the
lowest levels of public office.
So why would I expend all that time and effort (while also holding a
full-time job) writing in detail about my school board experiences over the
course of many months and years? My long-term goal was to have an impact on
subsequent school board elections.
After the above articles were published, the following individual was
reelected to the Osceola County School Board:
District 1 Jay Wheeler
After the above articles were published, the following individuals were
either voted out-of-office during their next election or chose not to run
again:
District 2 Julius Melendes
District 3 Cindy Hartig
District 4 Barbara Horn
District 5 Tom Long
What can you do to move us from mediocrity to excellence and help improve
where you live and raise your family?
accomplish? If not for yourself, what about your family?
Are you tired of living in a bastion of mediocrity lead by people whose
priorities are their own personal self-interest?
Are you sick and tired of letting the powers-that-be get away with it over
and over again?
Have you ever wanted to do more than just sit back, relax and let other
people fight your battles for you?
If your answer to these questions is "Damn right!" I commend you. Let's get
a beer sometime.
Naturally, the importance of personal goals is relative. What's important to
one person is not necessarily important to another.
For example, making a pile of money is important to many people. I consider
myself fortunate not to be among them. Personal honor and integrity is far
more important to me than making money. Earning a good day's pay for a job
well done is what matters to me more. How about you?
Education also matters to me (and my family). This is demonstrated by my
son's academic accomplishments (see "Gateway High student breaks SAT
record", http://tinyurl.com/l4aobou and "Osceola Student Named National
Merit Scholar" http://tinyurl.com/mzcz8zw ). So it makes sense that I would
get personally involved with important issues related to the Osceola County
School District.
After one particular experience dealing with the Osceola School Board, I
became suddenly and shockingly aware of the people we elected to serve our
interests on the school board (see "Osceola County Superintendent Citizens
Search Committee", http://tinyurl.com/nfbcbst ).
These were the Osceola County School Board members at the time:
District 1 Jay Wheeler
District 2 Julius Melendes
District 3 Cindy Hartig
District 4 Barbara Horn
District 5 Tom Long
From that time forward my goal was to expose ineptitude and corruption among
members of the Osceola County School Board. But that's not telling enough.
Exposing ineptitude and corruption was a means to achieve the actual goal:
Moving 4 of the 5 Osceola County School Board members
out-of-office while retaining 1 of the 5 going forward.
What follows are summaries of the various efforts expended to achieve this
goal.
District 1:
Jay Wheeler
Letters to the editor for August 18, 2014
http://tinyurl.com/nnbu6lv
Jay Wheeler demonstrated he was the only member of
the school board to have the sound judgement to
vote against continuing with Terry Andrews (the
interim superintendent). Wheeler was also the only
school board member who actually communicated with
multiple superintendent candidates prior to the
final vote.
Note: After being appointed to the position of
permanent Superintendent of Osceola County Schools,
Terry Andrews was subsequently forced to resign
months later by the same school board lead by Cindy
Hartig.
District 2:
Julius Melendes
Op-Ed: What kind of people?
http://tinyurl.com/pj29r3t
Subtle Little Lies - Melendes
http://tinyurl.com/mkh5stn
After personally interviewing every superintendent
candidate, I was floored when I learned Julius
Melendes contacted not a single candidate, not one.
The night before the final decision I cornered him
and made him listen to my recorded interviews with
some of the candidates. Only then did he finally
contact one of the candidates and realize what a
mistake he would be making by keeping Terry Andrews
(the interim superintendent). Sadly, Melendes was
persuaded the following day by Cindy Hartig to
reject the candidate he spoke to based on Hartig's
provably false information. I realized then that
Melendes was not only incompetent but also lacking
in courage to do the right thing under pressure.
District 3:
Cindy Hartig
How much lying is OK?
Letters to the editor for August 18, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/kerf97w
Subtle Little Lies - Hartig
http://tinyurl.com/m23ju3y
Several people involved with the superintendent
selection process lied into the public record,
including the chairperson of the school board,
Cindy Hartig. Her lies were the most egregious.
She proved beyond a shadow of a doubt to be
completely unworthy of the public position to
which she was entrusted.
District 4:
Barbara Horn
Op-Ed: What kind of people?
http://tinyurl.com/pj29r3t
If you watch the May 17, 2012 school board meeting
video you will see that Barbara Horn offered no
real analysis nor did she express opinions about
any of the superintendent candidates. She just knew
as a matter of faith that Terry Andrews should stay
on as superintendent without regard to the facts.
Ms. Horn was simply in way over her head and
totally unqualified to be in a position to make
important decisions for a population of 50,000+
students.
District 5:
Tom Long
Subtle Little Lies - Long
http://tinyurl.com/jvfupqu
Osceola County Superintendent Citizens Search Committee - Gossip
http://tinyurl.com/p7haj4v
Letters to the editor for August 18, 2014
http://tinyurl.com/nnbu6lv
Letters to the editor for August 27, 2014
http://tinyurl.com/os32cxc
Tom Long not only withheld a document from a public
records request (attempting to hide surreptitiously
forwarding the document to an anonymous blogger),
but he also used "google hearsay" as his exclusive
analytical tool in evaluating superintendent
candidates. He neither called nor wrote to any
candidates. He asked no questions. He gathered
information on superintendent candidates the same
way he evaluates potential customers for his rental
properties. His level of dishonesty and ineptitude
was unacceptable in a public official, even at the
lowest levels of public office.
So why would I expend all that time and effort (while also holding a
full-time job) writing in detail about my school board experiences over the
course of many months and years? My long-term goal was to have an impact on
subsequent school board elections.
After the above articles were published, the following individual was
reelected to the Osceola County School Board:
District 1 Jay Wheeler
After the above articles were published, the following individuals were
either voted out-of-office during their next election or chose not to run
again:
District 2 Julius Melendes
District 3 Cindy Hartig
District 4 Barbara Horn
District 5 Tom Long
What can you do to move us from mediocrity to excellence and help improve
where you live and raise your family?
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