VOICE OF DETROIT: The city's independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

By Brian E. Muhammad -Contributing Writer- THE FINAL CALL
Updated Mar 8, 2011 – 11:54:59 AM

Supporters of Libyan government demonstrate Mar. 8; current reports indicate that Gadhafi's forces are now retaking much of the country held by rebels supported by the West

(FinalCall.com) – A wave of revolts that engulfed countries in North Africa and the Middle East which deposed the long time presidents of Tunisia and Egypt has entered the Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Great Jamahiriya in the form of a civil war, threatening the leadership of Muammar Gadhafi who came to power amid a bloodless coup in 1969.

However the historic response of the Western world to Libya was notably hostile, wrought with vitriolic personal attacks against Col. Gadhafi and outward calls for assassination, military intervention and a failed assassination.

Political critics lambasted U.S. President Barack Obama for reacting too slow to the unfolding drama in Libya; albeit when he did react, it was different from the soft peddle diplomacy he used for Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak and King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa of Bahrain—where America maintains a military base guarding oil routes through the Suez Canal. In comparison the Obama administration’s dealings with Col. Gadhafi were particularly harsh. In a March 3 press conference, President Obama addressed the situation in the North African country by calling on Col. Gadhafi to step down and exit Libya.

Map of Libya and Africa

“Muammar Gadhafi has lost the legitimacy to lead and he must leave; those who perpetrate violence against the Libyan people will be held accountable,” President Obama said.

To some observers, the president’s words were an eerie reminder of the language used by his predecessor, former President George W. Bush, in prelude to American aggression on Iraq. In March, 2003, Mr. Bush gave Saddam Hussein an ultimatum—vacate Iraq in two days or else.

“Saddam Hussein and his sons must leave Iraq within 48 hours. Their refusal to do so will result in military conflict, commenced at a time of our choosing,” Mr. Bush warned after laying out a case for invasion and subsequent occupation.

Some analysts disagree with President Obama’s message to the Libyan leader, saying it highlights a double standard within U.S. foreign policy.

U.S. VP Joe Biden (r) with Israeli government official

“Obama should focus on some other things, like the Israelis should leave the occupied territories; I think that would be a much better thing for President Obama to talk about,” said Bill Fletcher Jr., senior scholar for the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C.

“It would be much better for President Obama to talk about how the U.S. should not be spending money trying to destabilize the government of President Hugo Chavez in Venezuela,” he told The Final Call in a telephone interview.

Furthermore, Mr. Fletcher sees the Libyan conflict as a “family problem” that the United States and other countries should stay clear of. Because of America’s involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan he is “skeptical” about armed intervention in Libya other than humanitarian assistance, evacuations or perhaps air support for the rebel forces. But questions loom if the Libyan opposition are united on accepting outside military involvement.

General David Patraeus greets Pres. Barack Obama in Iraq; Patraeus is now commander of forces in Afghanistan

“I am not convinced that the U.S. is in a position to do it, given Iraq and Afghanistan,” Mr. Fletcher opined, adding, “I think it’s important that the U.S. and the E.U.(European Union) stay out of the situation; this is an internal Libyan matter regardless of whether someone happens to side with Gadhafi or against him,” he said.

Pundits debating how the U.S. government should react to the events in Libya are torn between financing and arming the rebels, imposing a “no fly zone” or waiting because they admittedly don’t know exactly who the opposition is. This dilemma punctures the U.S. verbal posture supporting the will of the Libyan people when their real concern appears to be about vital national interests like oil.

For now as deliberations continue, other avenues of pressure on Libya are being explored; Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is seeking to reopen the Lockerbie case— where an American passenger jet was bombed over Scotland in 1988, killing 270 people—with the intention of investigating and arresting more people and holding Muammar Gadhafi personally liable. Abdelbaset Ali el-Megrahi, a Libyan national was tried and convicted for the incident and later released in 2009 on compassionate grounds, suffering prostate cancer.

At the United Nations, Libya was assessed a temporary suspension from the UN Human Rights Council based on alleged rights abuses against protesters. The Geneva-based council is charged with strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe. The action was coupled with U.S. and UN Security Council sanctions on Col. Gadhafi, his family and some members of government that includes an arms embargo, a travel ban and asset freeze. The UN also agreed to refer the case to the International Criminal Court at The Hague to investigate and prosecute possible crimes against humanity. However countries like Russia and Venezuela cautioned that any propositions on the table such as the U.S./Britishled idea for a “no fly zone” over Libya should not be arbitrarily implemented.

Muammar Gadhafi with Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela

“A decision such as this one could only take place after a genuine investigation,” advised Venezuelan Ambassador Jorge Valero.

Meanwhile an AP report said Libya has accepted a proposal from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to organize an International Mediation group of friendly nations to negotiate an end to the civil war.

The idea won support in Caracas meeting of nations belonging to the Venezuela-led Bolivarian Alternative bloc (ALBA). AP said Cuba, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Dominica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines gave commitments of support for the group.

There is general agreement that the regional uprisings stem from legitimate quests by the people for social and political reform, making their cause palpable for global support. It is also clear that the regimes that fell were longtime U.S. allies who perpetrated wrongs with at least the tacit, if not direct, approval and support from America—including millions in financial and military assistance.

However, in Libya’s case, reporting filtered through corporate media from CNN, Al- Jazeera and Fox News manifested “support for the people of Libya,” while constantly leveling often unsubstantiated charges at its leader.

“They are trying to do this whole low intensive propaganda warfare against the citizens of the United States, especially the negative assault against Gadhafi ,” said Dedon Kimathi, a political analyst with the All African Peoples’ Revolutionary Party- Guinea Conakry.

“We have to be careful of the devil’s manipulation in media to have the world that watch and listen to U.S. media as their sole source of information to create a hysteric climate that we think Gadhafi is the next Hitler,” Mr. Kimathi said.

Revolutionary African leaders Patrice Lumumba and Kwame Nkrumah

Though defined for years as a rogue regime by American and British media and political figures, Mr. Gadhafi has a different reputation among liberation movements and in much of Africa. Millions see Libya’s leader as a powerful defender of the weak and oppressed. “We have to put it in historical context that Libya and the Jamahiriya revolution has been the most revolutionary African country since the CIA overthrow of Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah (of Ghana), in terms of Pan-Africanism,” said Mr. Kimathi. Mr. Kimathi gave credit to Mr. Gadhafi for his political work around reviving the vision for a United States of Africa and transforming the former Organization of African Unity into the current African Union (AU). He also pointed out the “political and concrete material” support the Libyan leader gave to liberation movements and progressive organizations across the African continent and the world, including in the United States.

Palestinian youth join demonstration in Dearborn supporting Egyptian uprising

Libya supported the Irish Republican Army, South Africa’s anti-apartheid movements—the African National Congress and Pan African Congress—the freedom fighters in Mozambique and the Palestinian liberation struggle to name a few causes.

Libya has also been a friend to the Nation of Islam and other progressive groups within the U.S. In 1971 Mr. Gadhafi loaned the Nation of Islam under the leadership of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad $3 million to purchase a Greek Orthodox Church in Chicago.

Mr. Muhammad converted the edifice into a mosque which is the national headquarters for the Nation of Islam. In the rebuilding efforts of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan in the 1980s, Mr. Gadhafi gave a $5 million loan— which he then forgave—to aid an N.O.I. economic initiative called P.O.W.E.R. (People Organized and Working for Economic Rebirth).

King Idris of Libya, 1966

Mr. Kimathi pointed out that the Western destabilization campaign against Libya has been ongoing since the beginning of Mr. Gadhafi ’s leadership. As a visionary Mr. Gadhafi transformed the oil rich country into a popular people’s democracy, eradicating policies driven by the multinational corporations who exploited Libya’s resources. When he rose to eminence 41 years ago leading the Al-Fateh revolution against King Idriss—a minion of western imperialists—the young revolutionary nationalized the economy for the benefit and development of the Libyan people.

Then he evicted the Americans and the British by shutting down the Wheelus military base in Tripoli which he condemned as a remnant of European colonialism.

On the international political stage where good men often die young, Mr. Gadhafi has withstood the test of time, becoming a major power broker in Europe and in Africa. “Brother Gadhafi ” as he is known is in a small group of leaders—which include former Cuban leader Fidel Castro— who have the distinction of withstanding their imperialistic foes. Mr. Gadhafi was personanon-grata for every U.S. administration from President Richard Nixon to President Bill Clinton—until the warming of relations at the end of the George W. Bush administration.

USS Ponce, named after Spanish invader of what became Puerto Rico Ponce de Leon

USS Ponce insignia

As of now the battle is between old internal enemies that escalated into a civil war to bring Mr. Gadhafi down. However The Wall Street Journal online noted U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced he had ordered to the Mediterranean the USS Ponce and the USS Kearsarge, an amphibious assault vessel designed to carry infantrymen and troop-transport helicopters. The report said the ships currently have 800 Marines, in addition to 400 U.S.-based Marines who will be airlifted to meet the ships. The ships would be ready to perform evacuations and humanitarian relief, he said. The fear is, however, that with war hawks and Libya haters in Congress and elsewhere demanding arming Libyans opposed to Col. Gadhafi that U.S. troops could end up on the ground. Not everyone is happy with that prospect.

“I think (U.S.) military intervention would be terrible and we should oppose it,” said Mr. Fletcher.

Related news:

Al Qathafi Seeking UN, AU Probe into Libyan Unrest (Tripoli Post, 03-06-2011)

Libya Appoints New Ambassador to UN (Tripoli Post, 03-05-2011)

Libya Govt Accepts Chavez Mediation Plan, But Not the Rebels, Reports say (Tripoli Post, 03-04-2011)

Who is Muammar Gaddafi? (SHOAH, 03-04-2011)

Massive Disinformation War against Libya for US/West Military Intervention? [The 4th Media] (03-01-2011)

Libya rejects Al Jazeera report it “bombed protesters”, use of mercenaries (Al Jazeera, 02-22-2011)

mercenaries (Al Jazeera, 02-22-2011)

Fidel Catro: NATO’s plan is to occupy Libya (Granma, 02-21-2011)

Dr. John Telford. educator, athlete, author

By Dr. John Telford 

One of the most egregious incidents of racism in a suburban school setting in Michigan occurred recently.  I’m not referring to the well-publicized wars of the 1980s and 1990s I waged with raucous community racists in Rochester when I decided to become a one-man affirmative action department pioneering the hire of Black principals and directors in Oakland County. 

I’m also not referring to the equally well-publicized battles I fought in 2009 against resident racists in Madison Heights District Public Schools before I was fired in front of whirring TV cameras for bringing in hundreds of DPS students during my brief stint there as the oldest superintendent in the United States.  

No—I’m talking about a far less publicized racist incident that happened in the all-white Howell school district around the same time as my somewhat similar Madison incident, but it had its origins three years earlier.  Dr. Charles Breiner has confirmed that as Howell superintendent in 2006, he recruited Robert Thomas—the stellar DPS administrator who won three Outstanding Educator Awards as assistant principal at Murray-Wright—to become the principal of a new high school that was being built in Howell.  There were construction delays, so Breiner temporarily assigned Thomas to a middle school assistant principalship until the building could be completed.  Thomas then became the district’s first Black administrator. 

Educator Robert Thomas

When word got out to the Howell school staff and community that their liberal superintendent had selected a Black man from Detroit to become the new school’s principal, parents withheld their children from enrolling in the still unfinished structure.  Thus, there wouldn’t be enough students coming in for it to open. 

The progressive superintendent was summarily fired, and prospective principal Thomas was told to find work elsewhere.  He sought to return to DPS but was advised that we were only hiring administrators who were bilingual, which Mr. Thomas isn’t—and the bottom had dropped out of the state budget, so there was little work to be had in most districts. 

Mr. Thomas informs me that one day his principal came to him and told him she had been ordered to fabricate an unsatisfactory evaluation of him to get him out of Howell without further delay, and if he ever told anyone about this she would have to deny it or lose her job. 

After Howell unjustly terminated Mr. Thomas in 2009, he learned that for the years he was there he had been underpaid, while White administrators at the same level were paid more.  The Howell district fought to deny him unemployment compensation but lost because it couldn’t prove the untrue allegations regarding his job performance.  As a result, Thomas says, “The Howell district has been on a campaign to blackball me in the tri-county area.” 

Auction of KKK items in Howell a few years ago created an uproar; the town tried to counteract its image as the home of Robert Miles, Michigan KKK leader afterwards; apparently racism is still rampant there

This past summer, Thomas was a finalist for several administrative positions in Oakland and Macomb Counties.  After they contacted Howell, he was dropped from consideration.  He had someone pose as an employer and call Howell about his qualifications.  His “plant” was told falsely that he was “less than qualified” to administrate, but “the kids loved him.”  Being good with kids is of course essential.   Coach Robert Glenn, who taught Bob Thomas in junior high and later worked with him and for him, says he was one of DPS’ best.  Some lucky school district should hire Thomas fast.  In the meantime, he also needs to call Geoffrey Fieger. 

Get Dr. Telford’s explosive autobiography and his newest book, What OLD MEN Know, at www.AlifeontheRUN.com.  Write him at 8900 E. Jefferson, #624, Detroit 48214.

(L to R) JROTC cadet Ryan Field, Southeastern choir members Nicole Smith, Demitri Murphy, Porsha Jackson, Chiyo Williams, Leroy Lewis

After three walk-outs, sit-in, they compete in state festival

By Diane Bukowski

DETROIT – As the music, arts and drama programs of Detroit Public Schools are eliminated, some students are not taking it lying down. Members of Southeastern High School’s choir won authorization to compete in the Michigan School Vocal Music Association Choral Festival, held Mar. 11, but only after students walked out three times and held a press conference Mar. 9.,

“We’ve been practicing for this whole year, but then they took our music teacher away a month ago, and we were disqualified,” said Porsha Jackson, a soprano vocalist and president of the choir. “Robert Bobb doesn’t care about us, about the young people. We study hard all day, and music is our outlet. I have a music scholarship; we just want our music program back.”

Southeastern police confer

During the press conference, Leroy Lewis was notified by Southeastern’s Principal, Sean Vann (brother of the Rev. Edgar Vann), that he would after all authorize the choir to compete despite the lack of their teacher. Lewis said he and several other students had gone to the principal’s office after the press release went out.

“I’m in the choir and drama, and they both were cut,” Lewis, who is a tenor singer and wants to be an actor, said. “But we’re prepared to keep fighting. We want a first-class education just like students in the Grosse Pointe schools. It’s not just Southeastern. It’s all the schools, even Detroit Science and Arts (DSA), which have had their arts programs cut. We already had a series of three walk-outs of about a hundred students, and a sit-in at Southeastern. DPS police maced the kids in the sit-in. heavily. We don’t have anything, the classes are full, and they’ve laid off all but three of our English teachers, but we’re planning more fightbacks.”

Robotics products

DPS police appeared on the scene in the midst of the press conference, ready to force the students off the covered porch of the school into heavy rain, but the police eventually backed off and left.

Lewis said funding for Southeastern’s robotics team, which ranks number three in the state, has also been cut. Go to

http://wn.com/Robotics_at_Michigan_State_University to watch robotics teams in action.

“Music is my life,” Nicole Smith said. “I have lived and breathed music ever since I was six years old. Once they take out music, how are we going to relieve our stress? They’re messing up our credits and everything.”

While the choir students were speaking, members of the Frederick Douglass Junior ROTC team joined the group. They said they had been denied permission to use the gym for their weekly Wednesday inspection, despite the fact they have been using it at that time for a year.

“The principal tried to hold us back from the JROTC academic competition too, but he had to back off because we wrote a letter,” said JROTC student Ryan Fielder. “We are done with being treated like we are worthless, like our talents and aspirations don’t matter or like all we are is a low score on a standardized test. We are the equals of every other student in Michigan and have a right to a decent education and to be treated with respect.”

BAMN leader Tabrion Joe heads chants as students join with city workers to protest cuts in services, education

Monica Smith (shown above at left in earlier protest at WSU), an organizer for By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) was at the press conference with the students. She said that as a result of their press release, an organization had volunteered funds for the choir’s bus to the Mar. 11 competition, which was to be held at St. Joseph Episcopal Church in Detroit.

She also said that the students’ choir teacher, who was transferred to Catherine Ferguson Academy but only works four days a week there, volunteered to act as their conductor at the competition.

The elimination of music, drama, ROTC, robotics and numerous other programs all over DPS, as well as the closing of 100 schools and massive lay-offs, are included in the revised deficit elimination plan for DPS for 2011-14, which has been approved and is being enforced by the State Superintendent of Schools. (See story to be published tomorrow on details.)

But all the students at the press conference left afterwards to go to a meeting to plan further actions against this assault on the children of Detroit.

BAMN students led march down Woodward from WSU to CAYMC as part of National Day of Protest to Defend Public Education Mar. 2

TIME FOR A GENERAL STRIKE! MLK and the 1968 fight for collective bargaining by Memphis sanitation workers

Written by Danny Weil Business Mar 10, 2011

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. WAS ASSASSINATED SHORTLY AFTER SUPPORTING STRIKING MEMPHIS SANITATION WORKERS IN 1968

Sanitation workers engaged in a general strike demanding the right to collectively bargain in Memphis, 1968.

At a solidarity rally for the rights of public workers in Wisconsin and working people throughout the United States one could see a green and white AFSCME sign which said, “It’s about Freedom” This can only be a reminder of the 1968 fight for collective bargaining by the sanitation workers in Memphis Tennessee.  

As one speaker outside the Capitol reminded the audience, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis at the side of striking sanitation workers who were standing up for racial equality, collective bargaining rights and economic justice in 1968.  In his appearance on March 17, 1968 before the workers, King spoke not exclusively of the need for higher wages for sanitation workers, which he did, but he also spoke directly to the striking sanitation worker’s demand for the right to collectively bargain.  “I am a man”, was the slogan of the day and the demand for human recognition by the workers in Memphis.  ”All labor is dignified”, were the words spoken by King.

Wisconsin is now part of a long legacy in the battle for collective bargaining that King fought for in 1968 for public sanitation workers.  It is also a turning point in the long march for racial freedom and solidarity.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Washington, D.C. He was assassinated as he prepared to merge the struggles waged by Blacks, workers, poor people, women and anti-war activists

The Poor People’s March that Martin Luther King was organizing with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference at the time he was killed represented a shift from having won the right to sit at the lunch counter, to being able to afford to buy that lunch.  That fight has never subsided and now, with the Wisconsin’s Governor’s recent, mendacious and illegal violation of open meeting acts, which demand notice for any political action by legislatures, the Governor has now carried the economic and political saga to new heights — illegally and in direct violation of the public open rules law he has created the material conditions for the destruction of collective bargaining for public workers.  

Unfortunately, as I write this, the illegal votes have now been cast in the legislature and public workers in Wisconsin have been stripped of their collective bargaining rights by dictatorial fiat.  The situation in Wisconsin has now dramatically worsened as the capitalist class has now forced workers’ hands.   Much more will be demanded to fight back right-wing capitalist attacks on workers and their families and the wholesale privatization efforts, planned and underway.

Sign at rally in Wisconsin

Walker and his political paymasters have now forced workers in Wisconsin and we can only hope workers elsewhere throughout the nation where the capitalist onslaught against workers is taking place in an orchestrated and brutal fashion, to begin to prepare for a large general strike.  It is time to show the capitalist class that workers not only refuse to pay for Wall Street theft through phony calls for  ‘austerity’ or ‘shared sacrifice’, but instead, will show the ruling elite who actually run America the power of workers by withdrawing their labor.   It is workers who create and created all the wealth in America, not capitalists who sit by the pool and receive their investment checks due to their expfloitation of working people.

The time now is for solidarity along all cultural, racial, sexual, gender differences and political lines.  As Ricardo Henriquez, an organizer with the Connecticut Center for a New Economy, who along with others will be knocking on doors for a giant worker solidarity rally on the New Haven Green on March 30th, succinctly pointed out:

Rise, ye mightly people!

“We have to put prejudices aside, not let us be pitted against each other, and start fighting the people on the top who are keeping all the wealth.”

He also went on to note that King envisioned:

“… the beginning of a new co-operation, understanding, and a determination by poor people of all colors and backgrounds to assert and win their right to a decent life and respect for their culture and dignity” (SCLC, March 15, 1968).

Today, unemployment is well over a pathological and sickening and deplorable 50 percent among African American and Latino youth.  This can only represent the impoverishment of a dying capitalist system that places profit over people.

It is important that we understand that the struggle to protect the jobs and union rights of public workers and the services they provide is a part of the bigger fight for the rights of all workers to organize and win decent wages, working conditions, benefits, an end to racism, the eradication of homophobia and sexism and the strengthening of communities.  It is the next logical  step forward on the road to freedom and if not taken, will dead end at the cul-de-sac of defeat at the end of the pitted and pot-holed road to serfdom and fascism.

Hattie Cantry and Members of the Hotel and Culinary Workers on strike in Las Vegas, 1987

Remember:

what the ruling class fears most is worker solidarity across race, gender and gender preference  lines along with a solidified political and cultural movement aimed towards building twentieth century socialism.  It is now time to show the plutocrats who run this country, by knocking on doors, organizing public meetings, recalling politicians, building community organizations, fostering community debates and basically doing the hard work of political organizing, that not only are there more of us than there are of them —  but that when we fight and unify we win!

It is time now for a general strike—one that spreads throughout the United States where capitalist’s plans for been seeded and ready for harvest. This will require real shared sacrifice among working people as they unify and righteous moral outrage and indignation on the part of people; it always has and it always will. But if this does not happen and no movement coments out of Wisconsin that can challenge the capitalist class, then discouragement, indifference, apathy and their psychological and material consequences and counterparts will continue to deepen and work to shape our historical future in despicable ways. Moral outrage and social indignation must kindle a vibrant commitment to class struggle and the construction of a new movement towards social justice.

Greg Thrasher

 BY GREG THRASHER, VOD CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

In the media and in various household venues across the nation the discussion about health care is a major topic. It is true that what we eat is critical to any health care discussion but not only is food and diet important but so are the items on the menu that we feed our minds. In urban venues and cities across the nation people are in a state of crisis and many communities like Detroit are on life support. We must then have a healthy state of mind to confront the foreclosures, school decay, crime, public corruption, high food, energy, and housing costs. Urban life in 2011 is under siege.

Family is vital to the Menu for Urban Life

Yet despite the forces of negativity and evil and duress the city can bring to our table we can overcome from using the talents from within ourselves. Our mental state of health is as critical as any diet. It is important that we feed our minds with good ideas, thoughts, logic, and content. One could argue that without a strong mental constitution being a super healthy person without an equally progressive state of mind is a waste of food and good health.
I don’t want toxic thoughts and negative knowledge inside my body. I am always rejecting hate, depression, evil and any negative ideas and thoughts from entering my body. When I eat I never read negative materials nor do I watch negative images on my TV or my computer screen while I am feeding my body. I monitor emails and I avoid downloading toxic and counterproductive materials from all sources including friends and associates.

Car pooling saves gas, makes friends

The Menu for Life for Living in Urban America includes the following:

1. Become SELFUS- Love Yourself and Others

2. Join a collective or support group of friends, associates in the city to create a critical mass to confront and solve problems

3. Share assets from car pooling to coupon sharing to old hearing aids, tv’s, coats.

4. Plan weekly roundtable meetings with family to discuss issues, challenges, positive events.

Detroit children help take care of neighborhood, 2009

5. Attend all public hearings, block club meetings.

6. Befriend a person of another race, nationality, ethnicity.

7. Walk the neighborhood, Have a shared location where conservation and discussions are welcomed and enriched with you and others

8. Create a personal diary, listen to music that uplifts, don’t digest food while taking about negativity and watching it on TV.

9. Volunteer, Mentor, Counsel and Listen.

10. Read Voice of Detroit.

Living a purposeful life in Urban America can be a wonderful life. Instead of battling the forces of despair and negativity one can become a vessel of positive resources. The menu of life in the city can be full of ingredients that inspire, empower and bring warmth and love into your apartment, shelter, office space . . .anywhere where you live. Instead of a currency of failure and hopelessness, we can live magnificent lives in the urban city.

The menu for life in Detroit can be as fulfilling as any place on the planet.

Troopers drag protester out

Wisc GOP Tramples Democracy: Assembly Passes Union-Busting Bill; State Troopers Dragging Out Protesters

Wisconsin Republicans pushed through a measure stripping state public employees of their collective bargaining rights. Here are the latest developments from Madison.

March 9, 2011    

SCROLL DOWN FOR LATEST UPDATES

SHAME ON YOU! WATCH PROTEST OUTSIDE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=gwY-oUq7nHk

WATCH RACHEL MADDOW ON LATEST WISCONSIN NEWS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDD-s-LjTXQ&NR=1

Protester objects as he is dragged out; face is bloodied

Late Wednesday, Wisconsin Republicans rammed a measure through the Senate stripping collective bargaining rights from most public workers in the state. Although the 14 Democrats who fled the state to block Governor Walker’s union-busting bill remain in Illinois, Republicans were able to push through the measure anyway by separating the collective bargaining provision from the other elements of Governor Scott Walker’s “budget repair bill.” (This, after claiming for months that killing public workers’ right to negotiate was all about reining in the state’s debt.) The measure passed 18-1, with Republican Sen. Dale Schultz voting against. Critics say the rushed legislative session — with only one Democrat in attendance — may have violated the state’s open meetings law. Democratic Senators from the street (the “fourteen”) are beginning to trickle back home and start the next round of the fight.

So what’s next? AlterNet has the latest updates and analysis:

Update: The Wisconsin State Assembly has just passed the union-busting legislation rammed through by Senate Republicans late last night. The bill, which essentially divests most public workers of their collective bargaining rights, passed the Assembly 53-42 and now heads to Scott Walker’s desk. The Wisconsin-State Journal describes the scene as the vote was held:

There was shouting, screaming, and chants of “Shame!”

And that was just among the members of the state Assembly.

Wisconsin protester led away handcuffed

The controversial budget repair bill passed the Assembly 53-42 after a chaotic morning at the state Capitol, which involved protesters being dragged away from the entrances to the Assembly chamber leading up to the 11 a.m. floor session.

“You ought to be ashamed of yourselves,” Rep. Tamara Grigsby said after Republicans insisted the bill would pass Thursday. “And I swear I don’t understand how you walk out of this building with your heads up.”

In the moments before the vote, protesters’ shouts grew louder and chants of “Kill the bill!” echoed through the chamber.

But that was nothing compared to the eruption as the votes were counted. At that moment, the entire Capitol seemed to erupt.

Update: Surprise, surprise … Wisconsin’s  Senate Majority Leader, Republican Scott Fitzgerald, admits to Fox’s Megyn Kelly that the GOP’s union-busting agenda is intended to hobble Obama’s re-election changes in 2012. “If we win this battle and the money is not there under the auspices of the unions,” says Fitzgerald in the clip, “Certainly what you’re going to find is President Obama is going to have a much more difficult time getting election and winning the state of Wisconsin.” Watch.

Update: According to videos, and multiple gripping pictures being posted on Twitter, arrests are beginning right now at the Wisconsin State Capitol. These reports and pictures strongly appear to indicate that State Troopers are doing what police have refused to do, forcibly escorting protesters out of the building to shouts of “shame!” More tweets from locals and journalist Mike Elk suggest that walkouts and “wildcat strikes” are beginning afresh throughout the state. 

Update: The first of the “Wisconsin 14” is heading home, according to “WisPolitics Budget blog.” It’s a “bittersweet” return for State Senator Jim Holperin, who is glad the flight of the 14 Senators called public attention to the bill, but wishes a compromise could have been reached to protect bargaining rights instead of a Republican maneuver as we saw Wednesday. Holperin admitted that he was unsure what the mood would be when he and the other senators returned to session:

Holperin said most of the Dem caucus met last night and agreed to return once the Assembly finished its work on the legislation to strip away most collective bargaining rights for public employees. He said he may have left a little earlier than the others, but he believed the Assembly action was a foregone conclusion and there would be no Senate floor session today or tomorrow. He said he would return to the Capitol if that changed.

Holperin headed back three weeks to the day after the Dems went into their self-imposed exile. He said in the end, the action achieved the short-term goal of bringing attention to details of the budget repair bill and proving its true intent was ending collective bargaining rights.

Update:  Politico reports that in the less than 24 hours since the bill was jammed through, “liberal groups”  Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy for America have raised “over $200,000”.

Update: Former Senator Russ Feingold has released a damning statement reacting to Wednesday night’s actions on the part of the Republicans and Governor Walker (via Progressives United):

“Last night will be remembered as a black mark on the history of Wisconsin government. The actions by 18 Republican state senators leave no doubt that Governor Walker’s attack on Wisconsin workers has nothing to do with the budget and everything to do with advancing a national corporate agenda. Sadly, these actions further drive divisions within our state and threaten the future economic recovery of Wisconsin. Proponents of this plan should remember: Wisconsin’s citizens will hold their elected officials accountable.”

 Update: In our Hot News and Views section, we have gathered important analysis and next steps for the battle in Wisconsin. Chris Bowers outlines concrete steps readers can take to help the cause on the ground in Wisconsin: “But even in midst of the wreckage falling around us, never forget that we have recourse to overturn this bill and restore workers’ rights”

Meanwhile, Digby weighs in thoughtfully on the intra-middle-class warfare that she hopes will end in the face of Wisconsin, and Steve Benen talks about how the same Republicans who have previously claimed to hate closed-door meetings are applauding the push-through and procedural tricks that their colleagues have resorted to in Wisconsin.

Update: Here’s two stories that are quite upsetting. Mother Jones reports that embedded within the bill passed last night is a provision that makes it okay for the state to fire protesting workers: “The bill authorizes state officials to fire any state employee who joins a strike, walk-out, sit-in, or coordinated effort to call in sick.” Truly draconian. 

Furthermore, as if it weren’t obvious who’s on their side, TPM has the story that a “major DC Lobby Firm” is throwing a big fundraising reception for the very same GOP state senators in Wisconsin who rammed this bill through against the will of the people.

Update: As Democrats begin to consider legal challenges and intensify their recalls  efforts this morning, watch footage of state Assembly minority leader Peter Barca making a last-ditch attempt to forestall the vote which he says is immoral and possibly illegal. His arguments will likely be echoed in days to come as Democrats try to challenge the move in courts and at the ballot box.

Update:  Within hours of the vote, the Capitol was flooded with thousands of furious protesters: “The whole world is watching!” they shouted as they pressed up against the heavily guarded entrance to the Senate chamber,” ABC reports.

Update: Watch a livestream of protests in the Capitol at the Uptake.

Update: Read Adele Stan’s article for AlterNet, Union-Busting Goons: How the Wisc. GOP Trampled Democracy to Appease Their Wealthy Backers

Update: Push for recall:

State Democratic Party chairman Mike Tate released a statement pledging to pursue recall of all Republican lawmakers that are eligible:

Using tactics that trample on the traditions of our Legislature, the Republican leadership has betrayed our state. Republicans have rubber-stamped the desire of the Koch Brothers and their godshead Scott Walker to cripple Wisconsin’s middle class and lower benefits and wages for every single wage-earner in our state. The vote does nothing to create jobs, does nothing to strengthen our state, and shows finally and utterly that this never was about anything but raw political power. We now put our total focus on recalling the eligible Republican senators who voted for this heinous bill. And we also begin counting the days remaining before Scott Walker is himself eligible for recall.

Update: State Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller in a statement released Wednesday:

In thirty minutes, 18 State Senators undid fifty years of civil rights in Wisconsin.

Their disrespect for the people of Wisconsin and their rights is an outrage that will never be forgotten.

Tonight, 18 Senate Republicans conspired to take government away from the people.

Tomorrow we will join the people of Wisconsin in taking back their government.

Update: David Dayen at FireDogLake points out that bill will likely pass the state assembly. After that, there are a couple of ways it could go:

• Legal challenges. There are going to be a number of legal challenges to this bill. It will not be implemented right away. There’s the near-term challenge of how the bill got passed tonight. It was done in a way that may have violated open meetings laws, by not allowing 24 hours notice for a public meeting of the conference committee. There are other statutes about collective bargaining that may be brought up in court and fought. And there’s the issue of the bill having a fiscal impact. Scott Walker spent three weeks claiming that collective bargaining was a fiscal issue, and then the legislature just passed the bill as “non-fiscal.” Courts will have to wade through a lot of this, and it’s sure to go up to the state Supreme Court. Which brings us to…

• Supreme Court fight. The matchup between David Prosser (R) and JoAnn Kloppenberg (D) for the state Supreme Court on April 5 just got very interesting. It’s a statewide vote, and the balance of power on the state Supreme Court is at stake. Right now there are 4 Republicans and 3 Democrats on the court, but one of those Republicans is Prosser. Expect lots of organizing and millions of dollars poured into this election, which is much like a political election, with debates and everything. If Democrats win, the legality of what took place tonight may be put in greater question.

• General strike. Union leaders are reportedly discussing a general strike, and the mood of the protesters, who stormed the Capitol upon word of the bill, echoes that. You could see some kind of near-term labor walkout, at least in Madison and possibly throughout the state.

• Recalls. This will only energize progressives and labor to get the required signatures for recalls. All 8 Republicans eligible for recall voted to strip public employee unions of their rights, despite clear public opposition. Many of these Republicans, frankly, are going to recall as early as this summer, and if just three of them lose, the balance of power will switch to Democrats in the state Senate. There are also races for three open seats in the state Assembly coming up in May, so even more movement could occur.

Opponents demonstrate before Republican senators' vote to end collective bargaining for public workers except police and fire

BY SCOTT BAUER
ASSOCIATED PRESS

MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Senate succeeded in voting Wednesday to strip nearly all collective-bargaining rights from public workers, after Republicans discovered a way to bypass the chamber’s missing Democrats and approve an explosive proposal that has rocked the state and unions nationwide.

“You are cowards!” spectators in the Senate gallery screamed as lawmakers voted. Within hours, a crowd of a few hundred protesters inside the Capitol had grown to an estimated 7,000, more than had been in the building at any point during weeks of protests.

All 14 Senate Democrats fled to Illinois nearly three weeks ago, preventing the chamber from having enough members present to consider Gov. Scott Walker’s budget-repair bill intended to plug a $137-million shortfall.

The Senate requires a quorum to take up any measures that spend money. But Republicans on Wednesday took all the spending measures out of the legislation, and a special committee of lawmakers from both the Senate and Assembly approved the revised bill a short time later. The lone Democrat present on the special committee, Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, shouted that the meeting was a violation of the state’s open meetings law. The Senate’s chief clerk said hours later the meeting was properly held.

The committee passed the bill quickly, and the Senate convened within minutes to pass the measure 18-1. Republican Sen. Dale Schultz cast the lone no vote.

Until the vote, it appeared the standoff would persist until the Democrats returned.

“In 30 minutes, 18 state senators undid 50 years of civil rights in Wisconsin,” said Democratic Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller. “Tonight, 18 Senate Republicans conspired to take government away from the people.”

The Assembly is expected to pass the revised bill today. Miller said Democrats can’t stop the bill: “It’s a done deal.”

The measure forbids most government workers from collectively bargaining for wage increases beyond the rate of inflation. It also requires public workers to pay more toward their pensions and double their health insurance contribution, but workers had said they could accept those concessions. Police and firefighters are exempt.

For weeks, Democrats had offered concessions on issues other than the bargaining rights, and they had spent much of Wednesday again trying for a compromise.

Troopers drag protesters against union-busting bill out of Capitol

Dozens dragged away in Wisconsin protests

By DINESH RAMDE
ASSOCIATED PRESS

March 9, 2011

MADISON, Wis. — Police carried dozens of protesters from a hallway leading to the Wisconsin Assembly today as Democratic representatives pounded on the locked door of the chamber, demanding to be let in to the room where a vote was scheduled on an explosive bill that would take away public workers’ collective bargaining rights.

Fascism is here

At least 100 protesters packed the hallway, pounding drums, while the Democratic representatives gathered in front of the doors, which were opened just before 11:30 a.m. At least 50 protesters were carried out by police, and the building was locked down briefly while officers did a security review.

Rallies against the bill have attracted thousands of protesters to the Capitol over the past several weeks. A vote on it had been held up after 14 Democratic senators fled to Illinois three weeks ago, leaving that chamber one short of the 20 members needed to take up any measures that spend money.

Republicans got around that Wednesday by using an unexpected but simple procedural move to remove all spending measures from Gov. Scott Walker’s collective bargaining legislation and voting to approve it without Democrats present.

About 200 people spent the night in the Capitol in protest over the Senate’s swift and unexpected passage of the bill.

Protester dragged away in choke hold

With the Assembly’s vote scheduled for 11 a.m., dozens of Democratic representatives showed up to find the doors to the chamber locked.

“What more egregious, illegal, unethical step can be taken to prevent democracy in Wisconsin?” asked Rep. Donna Seidel, D-Wausau, as she pounded on the door along with her colleagues.

With the Assembly empty, it was not clear where Republican lawmakers were. They showed up and began to file in after the doors were opened.

Protesters packed the Assembly gallery, sitting quietly as lawmakers prepared to vote. In other parts of the building, they called out and shouted as television cameras recorded the scene.

Police began clearing protesters out about an hour before the scheduled vote. Danny Spitzberg, 26, a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said officers gave protesters little explanation for why they needed to leave. He walked out on his own after being ordered to leave, but others were dragged through the hall.

AFSCME Council 25 President Al Garrett speaks at Feb. 23 rally in Lansing, called by Detroit City Councilwoman JoAnn Watson (left); State Sen. Coleman Young II is at right of photo

Commentary by Diane Bukowski:

THE MICHIGAN SENATE JUST PASSED ITS PACKAGE OF EMERGENCY FINANCIAL MANAGER BILLS FEB. 9. THEY ARE NOW SET TO GO BACK TO THE HOUSE TO RESOLVE DISCREPANCIES, THEN TO GOV. RICK SNYDER’S DESK. HE IS FULLY EXPECTED TO SIGN THEM. THEY WILL MEAN DISASTER FOR OUR CITIES ACROSS THE STATE! (Read VOD story, Class war in Michigan, at http://voiceofdetroit.net/?p=4622 for information on the original set of House Bills.)

WE ARE AT WAR! TIME FOR US TO GO TO WAR BACK!, AS IN EGYPT, WISCONSIN AND ELSEWHERE. SNYDER IS NO DIFFERENT FROM WALKER, HE’S JUST DOING HIS FASCIST DIRT MORE UNDERCOVER, IN ALLIANCE WITH THE LEGISLATURE. RISE, YE MIGHTY LABOR MOVEMENT (WHAT’S LEFT OF US AFTER YEARS OF CONCESSIONS), OR THE NEXT STEP WILL BE CONCENTRATION CAMPS FOR UNION LEADERS AS HAPPENED IN HITLER’S GERMANY.

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING WAS ACTUALLY A COMPACT BETWEEN LABOR AND THE CAPITALIST CLASS, NEGOTIATED IN THE 1930’S TO END THE MASSIVE WAVE OF SIT-DOWN STRIKES. IT PROVIDED A WAY FOR THE SYSTEM TO FORGE AHEAD WITH LABOR PEACE AND STILL RAKE IN HUGE PROFITS, CONDUCT UNENDING WARS, AND DEVASTATE OUR CITIES! IF IT IS NOW TO BE REMOVED, THERE MUST NO LONGER BE LABOR PEACE!

READ: NO MORE TRADITION’S CHAINS by clicking on No More Tradition’s Chains. It is a summary of labor history in this country, and the crisis now faced by the labor movement, as well as unorganized and unemployed workers.

WATCH THE FOLLOWING VIDEOS TO UNDERSTAND THE DEPTH OF THIS WAR, AS REPORTED BY MSNBC COMMENTATOR RACHEL MADDOW, AND BY MICHIGAN AFSCME COUNCIL 25 LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR HERBERT SANDERS. PUSH FOR THE APRIL 13 NATIONAL DAY OF PROTEST INITIATED BY AFSCME TO BE MORE THAN JUST RALLIES–IT’S TIME FOR ALL OUT DIRECT CONFRONTATION WITH OUR ENEMIES. WE ARE MANY! THEY ARE FEW! 

Rachel Maddow

RACHEL MADDOW

GOP STRATEGY: DISASTER CAPITALISM

Maddow discusses Michigan’s Emergency Financial Manager bills, and attacks by Governor Rick Snyder on the labor movement and working and poor people as a whole. Her guest is Naomi Kline, author of “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show/#41979558

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show/#41979418

Herbert Sanders speakers in Lansing on behalf of child care workers, who AFSCME organized; Snyder's new Director of Human Services, Maura Corrigan, has now issued an order banning union dues from being collected from home care workers paid by the state

AFSCME COUNCIL 25 official Herbert Sanders speaks in this video about the plethora of anti-labor, anti-poor bills that are being passed by the Michigan State Legislature, with the instigation and blessings of Gov. Rick Snyder. (Ed. note: working and poor people must mobilize independently of both the Republican and Democratic parties to fight this war; former Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat, led the attack on Detroit’s Public Schools under Robert Bobb, as detailed in the series of four posts below this article, by Russ Bellant.) 

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1448704477932

ORGANIZING MEETINGS FOR THE NATIONAL DAY OF PROTEST EVERY WEDNESDAY, 5 P.M. AT AFSCME COUNCIL 25 HQ IN DOWNTOWN DETROIT, 600 W. LAFAYETTE (at Third); for futher info call 313-965-1711,

Public workers from AFSCME and the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists protest outside CAYMC May 27, 2010

PART FOUR: Bobb’s Academic Failure

Bills HB 4214 and SB 153 propose to give school EFMs power over academics. DPS is the only school District that has had an EFM, one who has also exercised academic power.

Bobb hired Dr. Barbara Byrd-Bennett to lead the academic work at DPS, even though the  law did not give him the power to do so. Bobb only assumed the posture of controlling academics because of the direction given to him by former Governor Jennifer Granholm, according to no less an observer than State Superintendent of Instruction Michael Flanagan. A member of Bobb’s staff also told this writer that Bobb’s actions were closelv coordinated with the Governor’s staff.

At a public forum on June 14, 2010, Bobb was asked how it was that all of the top academic

positions and functions at DPS were staffed by friends and a family member of Barbara Byrd-Bennett. He declined to answer. But staff, former staff and parents have watched and drawn their opinion of this group’s impact on academics.

One former senior administrator who requested anonymity to avoid problems with a current employer nevertheless noted that Bobb “failed to get experts. Instead he got people who are connected to each other that have failed records elsewhere and could not getjobs until Bobb hired them. They did not have a clue as to how to even write a graduation plan.”

When Bobb closed schools in the spring of 2010 and teachers took state incentives to retire, DPS knew that it had to create a staffing plan to ensure that students had qualified teachers in the Fall. Bobb was advised by DPS veterans to begin hiring teachers in May due to the shortage at DPS. Bobb began the hiring process in the last week of August, a week before classes were to begin.

When the first day of classes began, students were short hundreds of teachers. Further, Bobb had inexplicably pulled certified special education teachers experienced in dealing with special needs students out of their classrooms and put them in general education classes, while putting general education teachers in special needs classrooms. In general, there was chaos in the schools due to Bobb’s failed approach to staffing.

Students were sitting in classrooms with engineers, custodians and clerical staff baby-sitting them. Students were told that they would get passing grades because their plight was not of their own making, which gives the wrong message about grades as gifts. The education expected by parents and students was not occurring.

On November 6, 2010, two months into the school year, Bobb told a public meeting that he was still short 115 teachers. Thousands of students were not receiving their full education.

Bobb’s staff have been pulling teachers from their classrooms and merging students with other classes’ creating overcrowding. During February, students have marched in protest against their loss of teachers at their school sites. At least one class of students from the Communications and Media Arts High School, one of the top schools in Detroit, protested at DPS administration offices over the lack of teaching staff. About 95% of CMA graduates go on to college and some students feel that their admissions chances are being harmed byBobb’s practices.

When Bobb expanded the Assistant Superintendent ranks from three under the old Board to ten, he placed people with few qualifications into positions. Two were associated with the Broad Foundation that in turn paid Bobb $99,000 over two years for furthering their aims.

One of thern, Jack Elsey,taught for two years in the South Bronx but has no other classroom or school building leadership experience. The second Broad person is JeronCampbell, whose background is in manufacturing and has no classroom of school building experience. Both of them supervise seasoned school principals.

A third Assistant Superintendent is Annette Knox, who had a troubled history at Camden Schools and comes to the job as a friend of Byrd-Bennett, as does Laura Materassi. Both deputy leaders of academics under Byrd-Bennett, Sherry Ulery and Tracy Martin’ are friends of the chief from Cleveland, while another Assistant Superintendent, James Ray, retired from Flint Schools and now has a small side consultancy with the Cleveland schools.

Bobb has also placed Cedric Thompson, son of TCBA principal Jeffrey Thompson, Bobb’s largest campaign donor, as head of all the career technical high schools. He does not have the experience or certifications for the job.

Until she recently separated from the DPS, Erin Troy was chief of staff to Byrd Bennett. She was an attorney in Washington, D.C. with no academic background prior to her placement. Her route to the consultancy was through her fiance (now spouse), Kevin Clinton, Bobb’s former deputy carnpaign manager in D.C. and grant program manager until he moved into the executive office,.

Together Byrd-Bennett, Ulery, Martin and Ray occupy the top four positions in DPS academics, positions filled based on relationships rather than a merit-based selection process, a result that mirrors Bobb’s practices on the finance side of DPS.

Integrity and Accountability Failures

Ghost Employees

Wall Street Journal, Augtut 13, 2009: “A probe launched by Mr. Bobb uncovered paychecks  going to 257 “ghost” employees who have yet to be accounted for.,’

Mackinac Center Education Policy Director Michael van Beek: “The District has alreadv

discovered more than 250 “ghost” employees”

Mlive headline, June 24, 2009: “Audit: More than 250 ghost workers on payroll of Detroit

Public Schools.”

Michigan Public Radio, May 17, 2010: “Ghost employees on payrolls, employees stealing cash,” referring to DPS

Eli Broad on a Huffington Post commentary, November 29, 2010: “Detroit Public Schools had been distributing paychecks to hundreds of people who were deceased. Those paycheclcs were being cashed.”

DPS Auditor General, Annual Report, June 20, 2010, pp. 6-7: “The District had no “Ghost

Employees” on its payroll.”

Bobb’s signal accomplishment in the public’s mind was his perceived fight against “waste, fraud and abuse” at DPS. And the biggest story was the “ghost employee” image. It raised Bobb’s profile nationally and his political stock locally. It helped him fashion an image that he could be trusted with a new $500.5 million construction bond he was seeking voter support for.

In an early briefing on issues at DPS, Bobb was told of two incompatible employee databases

and that data from one was being transferred to the other. According to a senior DPS official in the discussion Bobb saw this as evidence of ghost employees and would not, or did not want to be dissuaded.

He held a press conference to announce a probe into ghost employees, even though no concrete evidence existed of such. It went, as they say, viral. Soon he was telling the story everywhere. He held a second press conferenco, where he put the number of ghost employee suspects at 257.In some accounts the allegation became fact. Bobb never corrected that. The false tale was found in newspapers in Livingston county, Port Huron and metro Detroit.

Bobb never admitted he started a furor over nothing even though he besmirched the image of the DPS workforce in the process. For someone contemplating the outsourcing of many DPS jobs, breaking any bond between the employees and the public was not a bad thing.He continues to reference the ghost employee investigation-into-nothing as his calling card.

Greedy Engineers

In May 2009 at a community event at Wayne State University Bobb had a large printed sign on stage stating that 122 DPS building engineers made over $100,000 a year through “overtime abuse” and a couple dozen made $150,000 a year. Their Union protested that claim and asked for proof. A Union Steward filed a Freedom of Information request asking for a list of names of anyone making the amount that Bobb asserted. He never received a reply. And Labor Relations never offered proof either. But Bobb continues to maintain this unsupported assertion on the DPS website even after it was clear that he could not back it up.

2009 Enrollment Data

The day that Bobb posted enrollment data for 23 schools he was contemplating closing in the Spring of 2009, this writer sent him an email that said that the student enrollment numbers for every school were l0 to l5 percent lower than actual enrollment. The lower numbers made the schools appear underutilized compared to their capacity, which was also overstated in some cases. Hence these numbers helped justify school closings. Bobb professed concern, a conference call was arranged, the errors acknowledged privately, but the website data remained posted and unchanged and was subsequently used in news reports that misled the public.

Lack of Public Information

When Robert Bobb took control of the District, one of the early warning signs of trouble was

his practice of rewriting employmentcontracts that placed gag order conditions on ernployees of the District. They required non-union employees to obtain Bobb’s permission to speak publicly about DPS matters.

On March 30, 2010, this writer submitted 32 Freedom of Information requests for financial information, contracts and personnel disclosure forms. Most have been ignored by Bobb, or in some cases the responses have been untruthful.

On the matter of the disclosure forms, for instance, each DPS employee and each consultant was to report any other gainful employment or relationships that they may have so as to avoid conflicts of interest. Bobb released his, but it had no other employment at all, even though when he speaks in certain forums he promotes the fact the he is the owner, President and CEO of Lapa Group, LLC. He did this at EMU in early 2010, in San Diego and at WMU earlier this month. In fact he said last year that his EFM job helps promote Lapa Development company.

Barbara Byrd-Bennett went even further, stating that no such form for her was completed, although a well placed staff person said that she and her staff completed conflict of interest forms. At the time it was widely believed that Byrd Bennett was working for other employers, but she has declined to be forthcoming on the matter.