Mayor Dolan's Antics at the Recent School Committee Meeting

Again, our Mayor's childish antics were on full display at last evenings SC meeting! Someone on his staff needs to inform the Mayor that his antics and tirades in open session demean his office as well as him personally. However, I'm afraid that our Mayor suffers extreme narcissism as evidenced by his constant Mayor Blog Blasts I get almost on a daily basis, Mayor Nights Out, and a whole assortment of events advertised as Mayor sponsored.  Everything seems to about him and any comment about school problems not being addressed, he takes personally as if he is in charge and has responsibility for all that occurs within the school district. It appears that our Mayor has lost all sense of proportion and reason.

Example in point.....last evening the city IT expert Jorge Pazos explained that the schools have been falling behind in the yearly replacement of computers and software and it has come to the point of seriously impacting our readiness for switching to digital reading and preparing for PARCC testing required under the federal mandates for "Common Core". He noted that not providing the necessary funding for these annual updates as well as for needed WIFI expansion and expanded bandwidth, is putting pressure on the entire school network. The troubling point about his presentation is....that Mr. Pazos goes on to say that the city-wide system from a network system is in excellent shape and can meet our current needs! It seems that Mr. Pazos wants to have it both ways, in other words...mouth the typical bureaucratic, "We are in great shape" and then note "we need lots of help in these areas"!

Getting back to my example of our "unhinged" Mayor....after Pazos' presentation, Ms. Kourkoumelis replied that for years the school committee made no effort to undertake a thorough examination of our computer and network needs to properly plan for these computer and software replacements even though these matters and concerns surfaced annually. Ms. Kourkoumelis realizes that a plan is now being developed but like most important matters, the SC has waited to the last moment to initiate them only after they become an emergency situation. She exclaimed that the SC needs to be more proactive in planning for future school needs. She noted that instead of focusing largely on Smart Board availability in the school system, other pressing computer and IT needs should have been addressed since these devices required further upgrades to the existing network and IT system.  While talking she was repeatedly interrupted by Mayor Dolan and after several rebukes by Ms. Kourkoumelis, the Mayor finally waited until she finished her remarks before addressing the issue. As we know, the Mayor has been criticized in the past for his bullish boorish ways and last evening it was in full display for all to see. 

Instead of addressing Ms. Kourkoumelis' remarks concerning the lack of planning, the Mayor went into a tirade explaining how he has worked hard to ensure that the schools have equipment and facilities needed to help students and that her remarks demeaned the efforts of thousands of people who participated in the planning of the new IT and computer acquisitions for the new Middle School and High School improvements and how Smart Boards were changing the teaching dynamics within the classroom. He turned this discussion into a political accusation with menacing stares and smirks and implying that Ms. Kourkoumelis had a certain "political agenda" in bringing this matter up! After his emotional tirade, he regained his composure and admitted the committee needs to do more proactive planning to meet the computer and network needs of the school district which essentially mimicked everything that Ms. Kourkoumelis noted in her previous remarks.

We hope that the Mayor will compose himself better in future committee meetings and that he pauses before jumping to any conclusions. Perhaps if he strived to be a better listener, his future outbursts will diminish with time. However, only time will tell! We hope that the Mayor realizes that the city is run by department heads, mangers, supervisors, as well as boards, commissions, and committees and that these people need to be held personally responsible for their results and that all matters are not always about...THE MAYOR!