Sand in the Shorts: Trustees need to speak up

By James Phieffer - This article, in edited form, first appeared in the Intelligencer, June 25, 2011. The edited version can be found here.

At the risk of being accused of lowering the editorial standards of this fair paper by once more returning to the artesian well of local news which has been “Quinte-gate”, I am going to do just that. But I am leaving aside the issue of what happened at the prom that night, and in the days before (for the most part), to focus on what is a much more important issue – the accountability of elected officials.

Mary Hall and Dave Patterson were elected to represent the City of Belleville on the local public school board. That means they are to be a conduit between the inner workings of the board and the citizens of the city. Unfortunately, they seem to have dismissed this part of their job, as they have refused to comment on the issue of the students being excluded from their prom.

When Mary Hall ran for the position of Trustee last fall, she told the Intelligencer (and through the Intell the people of Belleville) about her experience as Vice Chair of the Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board, as well as past Director of the Ontario Public School Boards' Association. This implied a high level of experience, and conveyed the idea that a vote for Ms. Hall would bring steadiness and reliability. Oh, that this were the case.

When contacted by the Intelligencer, Ms Hall did her utmost to hide behind the board's communication officer, Kerry Donnell, insisting "We have a person who handles that kind of thing. We don't make comments”. Wrong.

Ms Hall, as well as Dave Patterson, were elected by Belleville to represent Belleville on the board, and to represent the board to Belleville. This refusal to comment represents a refusal to do their jobs, and an unacceptable response to a legitimate query.

Consider what the response would be if Leona Dombrowsky or Daryl Kramp were to refuse to comment in such circumstances: the criticism would be overwhelming, and rightly so. This was not a question being asked of the board as a whole, or a board employee – the situations where a communications officer's intervention is appropriate. This was a question on a local matter being asked of the local elected representatives. An answer wasn't just an option, it was an obligation.

Instead, they hid behind an apparent board directive that purports (if it exists) to restrict the ability of trustees to communicate with their electors. If it does indeed exist, it shouldn't. Again, consider the uproar if Queen's Park were to put out such a directive.

The key point here is this: ELECTED officials answer to their ELECTORS themselves. What Ms Hall did so graphically was the antithesis of this – she ran away from her electors, and hid behind a directive which may or may not exist, and which, if it does, should not. And in his refusal to comment, Mr Patterson did no better.

The students who were refused admission, both the ones who weren't drinking as well as those who were, even though others who had been drinking as well were able to enter, are owed an explanation, an apology, as well as compensation. The students' parents are owed an explanation for being apparently lied to by Vice Principal Doug Callahan and Principal Lisa Vincent of Quinte Secondary School regarding the last minute dreaming up of the “no bus” rule and the assurances that there would be no problems for the students arriving in the bus, other than the same application of the rules as for any other student.

Principal Vincent even refused the offer of a Quinte West OPP officer to administer breathalyzer tests to determine who had in fact been drinking, along with every other means to separate the drinking from the non-drinking students. Meanwhile, students outside the group have pointed out that other students who'd imbibed, some allegedly visibly intoxicated, were allowed entrance. This demonstrates unequal treatment of different students by the administration of a school entrusted with educating children about fairness and equality. The students' forethought, condemned by Principal Vincent, regardless of the legality of their actions, was commended by MADD Quinte president Doug Norman.

The situation as a whole is one which demands further investigation, as the administration of QSS seems to have abused the powers given to it by the board and the Ministry of Education. But just as important is the need for Mary Hall, Dave Patterson, and the Board of Trustees to recognize that they don't have the option of speaking about such matters on the record – they have the obligation. If they don't wish to speak, then hopefully, when the next election comes around, the voters of the City of Belleville will remember, and remove Hall and Patterson from positions they are not worthy and capable of holding.