Local Stuff
Let me make something REAL clear. I do not have a dog in this fight other than the fact that I think it’s disgusting that a sitting school board member spreads gossip about a candidate and asks other people to spread it for him. The bad guy here is not the people he spreads rumors about – the bad guy is the one who writes this crap. He disparages other Republicans and elected officials. And then goes to church with them. What a jerk.
God made the Idiot for practice, and then He made the School Board.
Mark Twain
Whoever said that the government closest to the people is the best government has never been to a school board meeting.
The Fort Bend Independent School District has perhaps one of the nastiest school board races in the state of Texas. They consider elections to be a blood sport.
I’ve had some of their Republican Party emails sent to me because they are now eating each other.
Please meet David Rosenthal, a member of the school board. Here’s one of his email to his close friends, or so he thought. He’s asking them to do his dirty work so he can keep his hands clean.
You folks from foreign states won’t recognize these names but locals will. Kumar is Fort Bend’s answer to Fox News in print. He wants desperately to be loved by the Republicans and they, in turn, make fun of him behind his back. In this email, they appear to want to extort him. Deron is Deron Harrington, their candidate. Tassin is Kristin Tassin, their female opponent.
David Rosenthal, a school board member, is the author.
If anyone has other ideas, please state. Will any of this help or hurt Deron? That is truly all that matters at this point.
One thing we can do right now is to finally show that Ms. Tassin has no credibility. Here’s why and how:
1) Kumar – In his article, Republican Womens Club snubs candidate, Kumar wrote all kinds of stuff about Tassin including that she was a precinct chair and nonsense about some other Kristin Tassin. Is she really a precinct chair? Also, as we know, anyone who showed up was allowed to be a delegate. Problem is that, according to Tina Gibson, Kumar was not at that meeting. So who wrote the article? http://fbindependent.com/republican-womans-club-snubs-woman-candidate-for-school-board-p7257-1.htm
Would one of you be willing to contact Kumar and ask him who wrote the article and tell him that you are going to expose him?
2) The Fox 26 TV planted story. I have a facebook screen capture showing an admitted Tassin supporter admit that her husband was the camera man on that story and that she contacted Tassin to see if Tassin would be available. I know for a fact, that Fox 26 told the district that they would not be doing the story. The public needs to know that Tassin had no right to speak to this story, especially the way she spoke FOR the district and the board. She is not a Commonwealth parent, nor did the steering committee have anything to do w/ the Commonwealth overcrowding solution. It was between the district and the parents. Not even the board of trustees was involved. Her supporters are blaming Fox 26 for editing the story the way they did. How can we get this information out there? Is someone willing to go out and state it? I will attach the screen capture for you later today or tonight. Or one of you can go to the FBISD Concerns fb page and search for that thread and capture it. I can’t do this from work right now.
3) The most recent article in the Fort Bend Star quoted Tassin saying that she voted for John Edwards. Tassin then wrote on FB saying that she was misquoted. Can someone please call Betsy Dolan at the FB Star and ask her if she misquoted Tassin or if Tassin is trying to discredit Ms. Dolan. I would start by stating that Tassin is trying to discredit you.
4) Once we get the answers from Kumar and Ms. Dolan, can someone please go back to the FB GOP facebook page and ask Tassin these questions?
I would love to do this myself, but people keep telling me that as an elected official I can’t and shouldn’t, so it makes me even more frustrated.
I feel like Tassin’s response on the FBGOP fb site is sitting there unchallenged.
DBR
Rosenthal, if you’re not man enough to do your own dirty work, get the hell off the school board. What kind of lesson are you teaching our kids? And until they can scientifically prove that slime is not contagious, I am not voting for any candidate you support.
There will be more damn goofy school board emails tomorrow. Let’s let them twist in the wind on this one for a day.
Can you tell I’ve had it with these people?
I’ve also got sign stealing on tape and exploitation of the YMCA’s tax exempt status. (heavy sigh)
Lord, I hate local elections. I do.
No you don’t, you hate cheats and liars and other vermin (Kochroaches y’all!!) that hide in the shadows like the cowards they are!
1Local elections are indeed blood sport; I had a friend who pulled one term as a councilman and couldn’t wait for his term to end so he could get out of what he called a “corrupt swamp”. Too bad, he was a good guy, but no match for the insider dealings that went on.
2It’s for reasons like this that I exhort my friends (including the ones I only know from Facebook), colleagues, neighbors, etc. to vote in every election, no matter how small. When one friend confessed he didn’t vote, when I asked him why, he said he doesn’t want to get called for jury duty (he doesn’t drive, either; it’s easy in NYC to be a non-driver). Poor excuse. Tell everyone you know: It’s not just Republican voters who elect rightwing nutjobs. It’s not even all the gerrymandering of election districts. It’s Independent and Democratic voters who stay home on election day. Vote! Every primary, every general, every year. One would think that the 2010 Tea Party (cough — Koch — cough cough) would have made that abundantly clear.
3Several years ago I was talking to one of our city councilmen at work and casually remarked that I was thinking about running. He said that it was a good idea and that I would make a good one. I then said that maybe then I would get my street fixed as good as his. He called me a sob and walked off.
4JJ…….I don’t know about where you are… but where I am…… serving on the local School Board…is almost like “volunteer” or “intern” work…… doesn’t pay worth a darn.
Meanwhile…. you attend a lot of meetings…… and get to vote to “approve” or “disapprove” of the Superintendent of the local school district.
You also get to vote to keep open……or close schools…. where ever. (Most of the “closed ones” are in minority communities…
So…. this guy……. whoever he is….. and whatever he does….. is IMHO……. just flat out lazy. Nothing in his “elected official” capacity stops him from using his own lap top….. computer to access the internet. Especially on Facebook. If he can’ t think up an anonymous “screen name” and a “password”. Good God Gertie…… the man shouldn’t be making any decisions….. more important….. for anybody…….. (including himself)……than what to have for lunch this day.
5I’m a little confused. Is this another in the series of Harold & Kumar films? Sounds like it.
6Ever since the Dixiecrats split off and morphed into Republicans I can recall this kind of spittle marathons. Yeah, JJ! I know what you are talkin’ about regarding the closest kind of government being the best. I’ve heard that yadda yadda for years. I’ve also heard that only professionals know how to get something done right. To that I must say, it was professionals who built the Titanic.
And the same Titanic luck to this wackjob school board!
7You have to admire someone who is willing to put his name on a list of school board members at all. It’s a shame that those board members have to practically live a life in secret so’s not to let the whole community beat down their doors and ring the phone at 3 a.m. Heck, if I were on the school board, which I pretty much can guarantee that I won’t ever be, I’d hire someone to do the dirty work too. I’d druther scrub toilets.
8Excellent. What the FBISD constituents seem to have forgotten is that Dave and Jenny voted against the new elementary school. That is a clear fact. Yes they discovered the achieve fiasco but didn’t address the overcrowding for those poor kids. Yes the got rid of a bad super. But it was those two who have screwed up these children’s elementary years. They have covered it up pretty well and wouldn’t address it when asked in a recent local paper article.
9I see nothing wrong with this letter. As a member of the school board he will have to work with anyone who is elected. He can not be openly advocating or challenging the veracity of a candidate. If Mrs. Tassin has been less than truthful then it should be exposed.
10I admire anyone willing to run for public office and feel they do it in hopes they can affect positive change. At least Mr. Rosenthal cares enough to be involved. Where are the others?
Of freekin’ course, AnnM, you don’t see anything wrong with it – you were one of the included few in the cahooting “letter.” I’ll betcha Willie Sutton didn’t see anything wrong with bank robbing either. And hold up, there, cutie, because there’s more to come. Being on the school board does not remove your First Amendment rights. Mr. Rosenthal can speak for himself but choses to hide behind women to do his dirty politics.
11Why all the vitriol Juanita Jean? I commend anyone and everyone willing to run for school board. I believe they all want to improve things but just have a different perspective on how to get there. Good people can disagree. I think it is counterproductive to be casting aspersions. I do know Mr. Rosenthal. He happens to be one of the most intelligent and caring people I have ever known. He takes his responsibilities seriously and looks at issues in depth and does not just take a cursory approach.
12AnnM, you’re just egging me on for more, aren’t you? Let’s talk about Vitriol, Honey.
Where was your “commending everyone” who runs when you got this letter from Rosenthal?
You think that’s okay, Evelyn? Really? Putting patriotism over friendship? “Pastor” Cruz? Really? Sacred honor? What the hell is wrong with you?
Oh yeah, keep poking me with a stick, Honey. I’m saving the best for last.
13I have been on 2 different school boards in different states. I have been co chair on a committee to build a middle school/high school in my community.
Never once have I asked people to do my dirty work for me. Come to think of it, I never had any dirty work to do. Mostly because I was honest and if I thought there was a problem I spoke out about it. didn’t ask my minions to do my work for me.
Never once had I been told I could not ask questions.
I was too busy doing the work I was elected to do. And I served because I wanted a better school for my community.
I’m sure if Mr. Rosenthal spent as much time on school matters as he does spreading and stirring the muck, he’d have a better community.
Yes, we should support school board members for the the work they do for their community.
14But honestly? He is not working for his school. he’s working for the republican party.
Well stated Diane. I could not have believed this about Rosenthal if Juanita hadn’t had her blog. It is no wonder elementary school 46 got voted down by Rosenthal and Jenny. Going to a middle school for 5th grade? Ludicrous. If there is a slate three coming in, there may too much red tape for any relief and the kids will suffer. Team 3.
15This was mentioned by someone on the FBISD CONCERNS facebook page today, but the whole thread later magically disappeared once it was admitted/discovered the email reflected poorly on their guy Dave Rosenthal.
Why are there so many posts on that page about Albright taking a sign, but now none about Rosenthal’s email or Bailey calling candidate Q a Quack? Residents deserve to know about ALL bad behavior.
And yes ‘Fbisd parent’, if the relief elementary in Aliana has any further delays, we will know where to look first (team Rosenthal/Bailey/Allfrey and their activist supporters).
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