Oh, frabjous day! BOE agrees to record meetings.

At the May 13, 2009 Clinton Township Council meeting representatives of the Board of Education (BOE) appeared to discuss the school budget rejected by voters.

After lots of excuses (“We can’t afford it! We’d rather spend the money on the kids!”) over the past two years about why the BOE could not record its meetings all these years, representatives of the BOE finally agreed to put audio of their meetings online.

The Council’s meetings have been recorded for years and CD’s have been available to the public. The audio has been available online for quite some time. (It’s called technology. And the BOE has more technology in its budget than the Council does. Check out the sound board at the Middle School.)

Oh, frabjous day! Now things will get interesting. Accountability is a learned skill.

Could it be that agreeing to record meetings was easier than explaining why the BOE is paying a 37% salary increase to a new business adminsitrator and paying 8.75% interest on a new “loan?”

Those two matters were raised in the Council meeting, too — but the BOE representatives sat mum.

Likewise, when Mayor Kevin Cimei raised the matter of using the unused side of Greyrock Road for a community project — a new community center and pool to be capitalized and operated by the YMCA, and new commuter parking for Clinton Township residents only — the BOE said nothing.

(When the BOE purchased the Johnson farm to build the Clinton Township Middle School, it got the other half of the farm for literally nothing in the bargain. The YMCA would put up all capital and operating costs to build our new community center, but needs township land to make the deal work. If commuter parking, a pool, and new recreation facilities are a priority for you — well, attend a BOE meeting and tell the board what you want.)

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