News Jul 13, 2011 at 4:00 am

Is School Board Member Peter Maier Partly Responsible for the District Losing a Half-Million Dollars?

Comments

1
Riya carries water for the teachers' union.
2
Wow. (@1) I guess they'll always be people to speak up for the thieves & liars.
3
Sharon Peaslee will be running against Peter Maier. Please consider contributing to her campaign.

http://sharonpeasleeforschoolboard.com/
4
Sharon Peaslee will be running against Peter Maier. Please consider contributing and voting for Sharon Peaslee.

http://sharonpeasleeforschoolboard.com

5
Sharon Peaslee will be running against Peter Maier. Please consider contributing towards Sharon's campaign and voting for her.

http://sharonpeasleeforschoolboard.com/
6
... ahhh let me see... Peter Maier

voted for the pathetic "Discovering: HS math adoption ... cost $1.2 million

voted for the New Tech Network $800,000 contract that he had not read. Then voted for it again two months later despite the evidence that this was a big waste of funds..... yup it was a big waste of funds .. but as Peter said ... Its about project based learning and that is good enough for my vote. Besides we need this to make the new student assignment plan work.

So Peter why is Garfield over crowded? Is the New Student Assignment plan working???

Peter why did you vote to close five schools? Only to reopen schools just a little later.

Peter has voted to waste millions ... Peter regularly disregards evidence to waste funds ... that is Peter's modus operendi.
7
I believe that a thorough investigation would show that Steve Sundquist is likely Peter Maier's equal in regard to making incompetent decisions.

Steve Sundquist is heralding his leadership in the New Student Assignment Plan ... WOW Steve have you noticed the overcrowded mess in Northern West Seattle elementary schools after you pushed for closing Cooper and giving the building to Pathfinder. ....

Steve will likely now suggest the reopening of Fairmont Park .... Steve delivers maximum inconvenience at great cost.... What a guy.
9
In over three and a half years on the Board, Peter Maier has yet to vote even once against a staff recommendation. While that doesn't make him a rubber-stamp, it doesn't make him any different from one.

Think of it. Over three and half years. Hundreds of votes. He has never voted against a single thing that the superintendent put before him. Even Steve Sundquist has voted "no" a couple of times (literally twice) and Sherry Carr, Miss Go-along-to-get-along, has also voted against staff recommended motions twice. But Peter Maier never has. His record is perfect.

Peter Maier apparently needs only one question answered before he votes: "What does the staff recommend?"
10
Besides going to the Superintendent, Peter also did NOT tell his colleagues about the report. He could have and then they probably would have read it and one of them acted more decisively. (This is not to let them off the hook - they knew the report existed but either overlooked the notice about it or just didn't bother to ask to see it.)

Also both Martin-Morris and Sundquist knew about issues with this program in late 2008. They were both told about issues with the Small Works program including a company not being licensed and doing shoddy work AND not doing background checks on workers in school buildings where children were present.

In June 2010, the Board received the state audit where this is first pointed out to them (the program had taken money from Capital for its funding and was not allowed to). I, along with other activists, warned the Board that something was wrong.

They did not launch their investigation until December 2010. By then, Fred Stephens, head of Facilities and Potter's boss, had left for the Dept of Commerce, and Potter had left town for Tampa, Fl.
11
The Board - especially those running for re-election - likes to pretend and claim that they "acted promptly" to address problems in the RSBDP (Pottergate). But let's remember the actual timeline:
2008
- Board members are told about problems in the program

2009
- Board members approve a budget that spends nearly a million dollars on the program
- The Sutor Report describes serious problems in the program
- Director Maier reads the Sutor Report but takes no action. Nor does he follow up to confirm that anyone else takes any action.
- The rest of the Board is told about the Sutor Report but they treat it as a public relations problem instead of an internal problem

2010
- Board members approve a budget that spends nearly a million dollars on the program
- The Board gets their first look at the State Audit in June and the report of problems in the program. They take no action.
- The Board gets the the State Audit in July and the report of problems in the program. They take no action.
- Six months later, in December, the Board requests an investigation of the program

2011
- The Board gets the results of the investigation and moves to fire the superintendent and the Chief Financial and Operating Officer.
- The Board has plenty of cause for firing each of these officials, but chooses to fire them "without cause". This decision transferred over $400,000 from the District to the fired officials.

The popular perception is that Dr. Goodloe-Johnson and Mr. Kennedy were fired over the RSBDP program and the resulting scandal. That's not true. That scandal was just the last brick in the wall. There was, over the previous three years, a long history of the superintendent mis-informing and misleading the Board with half-truths, evasions, and outright lies. Pottergate was just the last of the blown cover-ups. The Board's un-written rule to "publicly praise and privately criticize" created the illusion that they were totally delighted with her performance. That was a lie they told the public.
12
There can be no doubt that Peter Maier has utterly failed in his duties as a School Board Director.

So why did he get endorsed by seven members of the Seattle City Council?

Sally Bagshaw, Tim Burgess, Sally Clark, Richard Conlin, Jean Godden, Bruce Harrell, and Tom Rasmussen all endorsed Peter Maier (according to his web site).

Their endorsement of his candidacy is evidence of their cluelessness. None of them can explain their decision.
13
So Peter Maier read the Suter Report, was concerned, but didn't bring it to the Board??? Sounds like a failing grade is what has been fairly earned! Who is running against him, again?
14
http://sharonpeasleeforschoolboard.com/i…
15
I know Sharon Peaslee is running & has gotten some good endorsements so far... Peter has got to GO!
16
I know Sharon Peaslee is running. She's a mom at Hale & has a kid at Ingraham as well. Peter has to GO!
17
It's not enough for us to get rid of Peter Maier.

It would be a good start, but we also need to get rid of Harium Martin-Morris, Steve Sundquist, and Sherry Carr. They all have to go.

They totally failed to do the board job. They didn't oversee the management of the District, they didn't assure compliance with state law and board policy, and they didn't represent the interests of the community. They failed to do these things, not because they lacked the ability, not because they lacked the tools, but because they consciously CHOSE not to do these things. They chose not to do their job because they have a different vision for the management of the District and their vision is one in which the Board is a facilitator for the superintendent instead of the superintendent's boss.

They have to go. All of them.
18
Poor Peter, we're picking on him ... when the the collective board operates as hivemind to ignore their role as a governance body and reward failure again and again and again. The board needs a new queen bee and it should not be the Superintendent again. He's a drone.

Please wait...

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