Watching video of Bartow school board member, you have to wonder: How do these folks win elections?
Bartow County school board vice chair Angela Cornett made a smart decision in resigning her post after a troubling surveillance video captured her seemingly lurching into a teen attempting to hold a parking spot in a Walmart.
The video has now gone viral, and Cornett has been charged with reckless conduct.
The teen involved appeared on national TV to decry the incident. Seventeen-year-old Emily Gulledge is a Bartow County student. On the “Today” show, Emily said, “I was the child in the situation and she acted like the child. I can’t believe somebody would actually hit somebody with a vehicle especially over a parking spot.”
This story first came to my attention when a Bartow resident sent me a link to the Bartow for a Better Board of Education site.
I was also sent a link to a video where Cornett goes after a teacher by name at a public board meeting.
After watching the videos of the parking lot incident and the school board meeting, I have to wonder if there are any functioning school boards left in Georgia.
A Bartow County school board member under fire for allegedly ramming a teenager with her SUV in a dispute over a Walmart parking space has resigned.
Angela Cornett, 41, was arrested last Friday and charged with reckless conduct after she allegedly lurched into the 17-year-old teen standing in the parking space at a Cartersville Walmart holding it for a friend.
“She just felt it was in the best interest of her, her family and the school district,” her attorney John T. Mroczko told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Cornett’s resignation is effective immediately. Cornett had no other comment, Mroczko said.
Cornett claimed she didn’t intentionally ram the teen, but the incident — which has attracted national attention and local outrage — was caught on tape, and the store’s surveillance video convinced police to arrest Cornett.
Cornett had already been under fire for comments she made during a school board meeting in September in which she spoke disparagingly about a former school system employee after naming the employee in the public meeting.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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82 comments Add your comment
Martina
January 3rd, 2013
11:04 pm
The question was posed “How do these folks win elections?”
I’ve been asking myself the same thing after Victor Hill was elected sheriff in Clayton County!
Maureen Downey
January 3rd, 2013
11:09 pm
@Martina: That is also a puzzler given that he cost the county so much already in legal fees.
Maureen
Grasshopper
January 3rd, 2013
11:33 pm
If it was intentional, well, people have bad days and do dumb things sometimes.
But it could have been an accident I rear ended someone once when my size 14 hard soled shoe was pressing the brake and the gas at the same time. S#*^ happens sometimes.
But to make national headlines…well that shows what a sensationalized, (’if it’s on YouTube – we must show it one million times” say the bosses of the teleprompter readers on ABC) sad, voyeuristic lot of fools our uneducated masses are.
This lady could be a great board member, but we’ll never know. Her fifteen minutes are up with one barely stained teen jean in a Walmart parking lot.
Too many words already from me.It’s not so important. Fools been winning elections since the stinky process was dreamt up.
RCB
January 4th, 2013
12:19 am
Too bad there’s not a way to post to YouTube a video of how the Dekalb school superintendent ended up with FEDERAL charges against him. I know he was selected and not elected, but good grief.
I dropped my fried twinkie
January 4th, 2013
1:44 am
Why would the little Brat think she deserved the space when a CAR was ready to pull in the space but her mother and car were not there.
The kid is a Spoiled Entitled little brat.
Why would a parent ask their child to stand in the road to block a CAR?
Beverly Fraud
January 4th, 2013
5:29 am
The (supposedly) well educated voters in Atlanta routinely re-elected board members who turned a blind eye to a decade’s worth of systematic cheating.
Yet we don’t consider the possibility that these voters are, in some ways, as willfully ignorant as those in Clayton who re-elected Walking Small.
On top of that, SACS praised that board for its “good governance” so not only do our voters reward ignorance, our educational institutions reward ignorance as well.
Timmy
January 4th, 2013
5:59 am
It appears to me that both of these females are not too bright. At 17 years old you should be smart enough not to stand in a parking spot blocking it for a friend. However, ramming the 17 year old is even dumber. I guess these two ladies are just Dumb and Dumber.
gdfo
January 4th, 2013
6:14 am
I have a question about the Law. What is the legality of a pedestrian
blocking, for any reason, a legitimate designated parking area on private property?
Please note, I am not questioning the charges agaist the driver.
redweather
January 4th, 2013
6:31 am
“If it was intentional . . . people have bad days . . .”?
Which just goes to show that some people these days will make an excuse for anything.
mountain man
January 4th, 2013
6:31 am
I would like to know the answer to gdfo’s question, too? While I am not defending the driver, people get a little crazy around Christmastime about parking spots. IMHO, the driver should have pulled up to the entrance to the space, put it into park and waited for the teenager to move. Either that or just suck it up and find another parking space. She really screwed up when she accelerated toward the teen (17-year old).
mountain man
January 4th, 2013
6:34 am
It is also a little soon to say “Why did Bartow county elect her”. Had she done things like this in the past? She may have been an excellent school board member. And, to her credit, unlike Victor Hill, she has resigned her post after this incident.
mountain man
January 4th, 2013
6:35 am
I commented yesterday that it is a good thing she did not have a gun. People get irrational sometimes when they get mad. That is why I don’t carry a gun in my car; I don’t trust myself.
mountain man
January 4th, 2013
6:41 am
Another question: since it happened on Wal-mart’s privat property, what is Wal-mart’s position on pedestrians “holding” a parking space? Let’s hear it Wal-mart.
Slo Pony Dog Food Company
January 4th, 2013
6:53 am
Good question Maureen.Knowing in advance that this person would do this,the voters were clearly in the wrong to put her in office.
Sheesh. I don’t know this woman or have any connection with her,but I hope that all of the readers chastising her actions are never held up to public ridicule and derision because of a stupid,spur of the moment lapse of judgement.(And that is what this is.) All of you people chunkin’ rocks at her are (I trust) without sin.
Maureen,I know that you would rather be judged by your best day at your job rather than your worst.
Bartow Citizen
January 4th, 2013
7:23 am
To answer your questions…no, she was not a great board member. Look at the links provided. This board member micro-managed staff and called a teacher to yell at her about a personal matter…that teacher was then moved and her principal demoted. She used school phones to send text messages to trash school board members, employees, and the superintendent. The texts and phone call are online. Ms. Cornett then dug the hole deeper by trashing the teacher and principal, revealing personnel items during an open meeting (see video). The texts were so bad our paper reported on them but said they were too coarse for printing in the paper. Parents called for her resignation, but she would not step aside until this incident made big headlines. The parking lot incident just shows her attitude….”Don’t you know who I am?”
As to how she got elected….I voted for her opponent. He was a decent guy, but he wasn’t from here, and people voted for her because they went to high school with her and her daughter must have had a lot of friends. That’s the way it rolls up here in Bartow County. People look no deeper than if they knew them way back.
resno2
January 4th, 2013
7:49 am
How do these people get elected? The same way our national representatives get elected… just look at their voter base.
BeBop
January 4th, 2013
7:55 am
Not defending the driver…but this little idiot teen is acting like she’s a community hero and all she did was stand in a parking space jacking up traffic.
Burroughston Broch
January 4th, 2013
7:55 am
Maureen, this incident reflects badly on the voters as well as the former board member. I live in DeKalb, supported and voted for Nancy Jester, and now see her the odd member out. The other board members are either drones or hucksters milking DCSS for power and personal gain. I despair of reforming the DCSS Board.
Sage
January 4th, 2013
8:02 am
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, these folks get re-elected because the public is just too damn lazy to study the issues and the character of the candidates. Better the devil you know than the one you don’t know. Stop electing or re-electing these idiots!
Slo Pony Dog Food Company
January 4th, 2013
8:08 am
” this incident reflects badly on the voters as well as the former board member.”
How so? Elections in this day and age are not scholarly contests between enlightened saints.Politics today (even at the local level) comes down to a choice between the lesser of two evils.Campaigns become mud slinging character assasinations from the get-go.Honest people hardly have a chance,so the voters pull the lever and hope for the best. That’s how we get people like Ms. Cornett.We deserve the officials we elect.
Roni
January 4th, 2013
8:14 am
Ugh…way too many people (in these comments and on other articles about the subject) questioning if holding the spot was legal and expressing irritation at the teen. The fact is, if you are an adult, then just because you run into a teenager acting like….well, a teenager, then you have to continue to act like an adult. There is NO excuse for the woman ramming anyone with her car, even if she was irritated, even if it was Christmas and even if she was faced with a bratty teenager. Also, when you commit yourself to holding office, you need to be aware of how you present yourself at all times. Don’t like it? Then don’t hold public office.
Dunwoody Mom
January 4th, 2013
8:35 am
“How do these folks win elections?” I continually ask myself this question about the DeKalb BOE…
I think an earlier poster got it right…laziness on the part of the electorate…they go in a punch a name they “know” and don’t worry about researching said person.
Maureen Downey
January 4th, 2013
8:40 am
@Slo, There is a lot of public record on this board member. I have been hearing about the Bartow board issues for quite a while. It is fair to judge a board member on the whole of her service, and her record on all her days in office is not strong.
Maureen
Bartow Citizen
January 4th, 2013
8:41 am
I might also add that numerous complaints have been made to SACS about this board going back at least as far as April when the board ignored numerous complaints about the illegal appointment of a member to replace a member that resigned instead of immediately scheduling a special election as required by local law, followed by other complaints outlined on the Betterboe website. The reason citizens are being ignored? Bartow BOE Board chairman Davis Nelson is chairman of the Georgia council for SACS (AdvancEd). http://www.advanc-ed.org/locations/georgia-office/state-council Think there is a little conflict of interest in this? I believe every complaint has been immediately filed in the shredder.
teacher&mom
January 4th, 2013
8:44 am
Quite frankly, I don’t think the average voter takes the time to consider which school board candidate is the best. I believe they step into the voting booth and vote along party lines because the only name they recognize on the ballot is Republican/Democrat.
I believe school board elections should be nonpartisan.
Big Mama
January 4th, 2013
8:45 am
Not only did this woman ram her car into a child (if early news reports are correct) she also lied about it. There is no excuse whatsoever for running into someone over a parking spot!!! She’s lucky she isn’t facing more serious charges. I think by her own actions she has done a great service to the people of Paulding county…she has made certain that she will never again win an election in that county.
Bartow Citizen
January 4th, 2013
8:49 am
@teacher&mom,
We haven’t had a Democrat run for a school board seat since round about 2002. In fact, for the past several cycles almost every local race has been decided in the primary. I go back to my previous comment…people vote for someone they have known all their lives rather than looking at the qualifications/philosophies of the candidates.
Jack ®
January 4th, 2013
8:51 am
The teen wanted attention. And she got it.
Maureen Downey
January 4th, 2013
9:00 am
@Jack, Any teen would love to be flown to New York for the “Today” show, but I doubt that was on her mind when she was standing in the parking spot to hold it.
After watching the video, I have to ask the same thing that the “Today” show hosts asked: It was a large parking lot and it looked like there were spaces elsewhere. Why not drive around and get one of the other spots? Why get into a tussle over a parking spot?
This confirms my lifelong practice — hated by my children — of parking as far from the store as possible to get a bit of walking.
Maureen
Jameson
January 4th, 2013
9:02 am
After watching the video, a panel of vids come up. One displays the “F”word for all to see. Had the girl’s mother never assumed the parking spot was hers, the incident would never have happened.
private
January 4th, 2013
9:12 am
The girl was holding a space for a friend who had recently given birth, her parents were not there.
If you need to park close to limit walking, not sure why you are going in Walmart, unless you plan to use a wheelchair…
But I believe pedestrians ALWAYS have the right of way, and an adult should never threaten a child, especially not an adult who is in a public elected office.
Maureen Downey
January 4th, 2013
9:15 am
@Jameson, New video/news story from AP up to replace the ABC news one that had the offending word in one of the panels that come up now with YouTube videos.
Maureen
Slo Pony Dog Food Company
January 4th, 2013
9:21 am
“@Slo, There is a lot of public record on this board member. I have been hearing about the Bartow board issues for quite a while. It is fair to judge a board member on the whole of her service, and her record on all her days in office is not strong.
Maureen”
I couldn’t agree more. But I’m pretty sure that this happened away from the board and on her personal time. It seems that you had a beef with her public service (deserved) and used a personal mistake to pounce.Again, if you have never had an embarassing moment (and with you having kids,I’ll bet you have) then you’re in the right here to question…Well,to question everything about this woman.If you have never had your passions inflamed when somebody did something stupid,then I want you to teach my Sunday School. But this kind of piling on is why journalists get a bad rap in this day and time. She’s facing criminal charges (Slight charges,to be sure. Nothing like aggravated assault or anything like that) and has already left her school board position,so her life is going to be uncomfortable for a while,to say the least.
But to state that you’ve “been hearing” about her board service…From who? Someone with an axe to grind? Fellow board members? Anonymous bloggers? These are questions that your editor should be asking. These are questions that the readers should be asking. I’m not taking up for her in this case-the video is pretty cut and dry,but before this happened,I don’t remember you making an issue of her board service. But now that everybody wants her scalp, you suddenly turned all Woodward & Bernstein.
skipper
January 4th, 2013
9:27 am
No excuse for hitting someone, but what in the world was she doing standing in a parking place????? She has enjoyed the publicity, and soon will enjoy the windfall that an attorney will collect for her. Lets see how this turns out………..
V for Vendetta
January 4th, 2013
9:29 am
The answer to this is as simple as it is for any other complaints we have about our elected officials at all levels:
It’s because we vote based on party lines instead of looking at individuals.
Maureen Downey
January 4th, 2013
9:37 am
@Slow, You make good points, but I have to disagree that this occurred on her time and does not reflect on her public board role. Politicians receive many perks and many advantages. But there is a price for that higher profile. They are not school board members only when attending meetings. And by hearing about her, I mean getting emails from readers and reading accounts in the local paper. (The AJC does not cover Bartow school board meetings or school news.)
If you get a DUI, you will not appear in the AJC — assuming you are not a high profile elected official. But an elected official will end up in the paper, and so will an AJC news reporter as one of my colleagues learned the hard way.
As to piling on, this school board member made a very public mistake that was documented with a video that has now been seen worldwide. In their training, elected officials are warned now that social media has changed the rules and that they must consider the possibility that everything they say or do in public will be seen. They are aware of that danger from the start, yet many still seek office so I assume they are willing to live with that fact.
Maureen
Gerald
January 4th, 2013
9:41 am
It is funny how the Dixiecrats try to change the subject to Fulton/Atlanta/Clayton/DeKalb when stuff like this happens.
skipper
January 4th, 2013
9:43 am
Maureen,
I (once again) do not agree with hitting someone. However, when all this is over, this little diva’s dad needs to tan her little smart-a$$ publicity-seeking tail. I haven’t seen a smirk like hers on the news since buck was a calf. She is no more injured than a bull after a fly lands on it horn. I do know what the video shows…..but once again, lets see how this turns out.
BartowCitizen
January 4th, 2013
9:48 am
I have a recording of a phone conversation Ms. Cornett had with another school member. Maureen, thanks for your good work. Have a listen, everybody:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6208MKPMlJ0
BehindEnemyLines
January 4th, 2013
9:52 am
{yawn} Not the smartest reaction, but the instigator is pretty clear here. Sad commentary on society that the teen isn’t subject to nearly as much derision.
Gerald
January 4th, 2013
9:53 am
@skipper:
What did the teenager do in this case to deserve having her hide tanned? And what does the fact that she wasn’t injured have to do with her getting rammed on purpose by a car?
Gerald
January 4th, 2013
9:56 am
BehindEnemyLines:
Why do you want the teen to get derided in this case? Let me guess … because the public official is a Bartow GOPer and not an Atlanta Democrat? Gee … imagine if it were a male Atlanta or DeKalb Democrat – Vernon Jones or Hank Johnson for example or maybe David Scott – ramming this same teen female with their car. Would you have the same tune? Or a different one?
skipper
January 4th, 2013
10:03 am
Gerald
1. Being stupid enough to stand in the way of a vehicle, when there is time to move, was nothing more than a defiant dumb thing. Nothing brave here. Never confuse bravery with stupidity.
2. She was not injured, because (it’ll come out) she probably knew it was showtime. The fact that she made (and this, too, will come out whether it is right or wrong) no effort at all to move is proof she knew nothing was going to happen badly.
I am a bicycle rider, and am always for safety and cars watching out for us. But, I also have enough sense to know that many of the auto-bike accidents do in fact occur because the person on the bike gets a defiant “I am going to ride in the middle of the road, and to heck with you” attitude. This is one point I know for a fact….I have been riding a LONG time, and have seen it too many times; it is harmful to those of us who ride properly. This is the same attitude this little “cherub” displayed. I venture as far as to say that (video and all) eventually another side will come out. I feel certain, because quite frankly if it was this ladies intention to take this kid out, she easily could have.
LadySiren
January 4th, 2013
10:04 am
Wow…all of y’all seemed to have such a warped sense of right and wrong.
The teenager didn’t make the smartest choice but in NO way does that justify someone – not only an adult but an elected official – ramming her with a 2,000+ lb. vehicle. Attention seeking? Hell yeah, I would be too if this woman had hit me with her car.
There is never, ever justification for this type of force, especially against a teenager who may not (but really should have) known better. This crazy woman was the aggressor in this; she’s an adult that is tasked with making RESPONSIBLE choices for an entire district of school children. She absolutely, positively should’ve known better. Our elected officials can, should, and must be held to a higher standard. Personally, I’m glad she resigned. I wouldn’t want this lunatic within 1,000 miles of my kids.
Truth is stupider than fiction, Bartow County edition » chaingangelementary.com
January 4th, 2013
10:07 am
[...] Downey, in her Get Schooled blog, writes: “After watching the videos of the parking lot incident and the school board meeting, [...]
KIM
January 4th, 2013
10:09 am
A person cannot serve two masters. Either you have integrity or you don’t. Either you respect life or you don’t. Either you have good judgement or you don’t. And those are the reasons this is significant for a person elected. School boards should not be voted on frivolously any more than the President of the U should be..
Disgusted
January 4th, 2013
10:15 am
Whether a pedestrian has a right to save a parking spot aside (and I don’t think they do), I am sickened by the victim role that this uninjured girl has assumed. If she wants a cause, she can lobby for Wal-Mart to put up signs reserving certain parking spaces for pregnant women or women with small children; I’ve seen them at other stores.
homeschooler
January 4th, 2013
10:17 am
There’s no argument that this woman was out of line. Looking at the video I think the reckless conduct charge is warranted. No, I do not think she rammed the kid on purpose, I don’t think she meant to run her over or harm her. It looks to me like she pulled in, quickly to one side of the girl. The girl might have even jumped up against the car rather than moving out of the way but it was still reckless on the part of the woman to let her emotions/anger at the girl rise to that level.
Now, having said that, the girl, in the Today Show interview is SO on my nerves. I can’t stand someone playing the victim like this. Get over it. YOU started the whole situation. The woman’s reaction was out of line but your actions put the whole situation in motion. You were not injured. You are thriving on this attention which makes me feel much less sorry for you.
Mikey D.
January 4th, 2013
10:19 am
Unfortunately, most people don’t pay much attention to local races. They don’t get the pre-canned sound bites in the local races that they do in the state and national races, so in order to elect quality people you have to do a little research. Unfortunately, the vast majority of our electorate is too lazy to do that. We want things simple and dumbed down, so we use the easiest thing we can get… Either “R” or “D” behind the name, depending upon where you live. It’s why Chip Rogers stayed in office, why Cynthia McKinney kept getting sent back to Washington, and why we elected a man governor who had been listed as one of the 10 most corrupt members of congress (and given today’s congress, that’s really saying something!!)
Pride and Joy
January 4th, 2013
10:22 am
Maureen and I have something in common “This confirms my lifelong practice — hated by my children — of parking as far from the store as possible to get a bit of walking.”
I do this as well. I park away from other cars but under a light if it is in the evening.
skipper
January 4th, 2013
10:30 am
@homeschooler,
Very well said…………..
Pride and Joy
January 4th, 2013
10:31 am
A 120 pound human being stands zero chance against a car.
I don’t care if the little girl was holding a spot in the parking lot just to get a close space, no one has the right to even threaten her with a car.
The little girl could have EASILY been killed or seriously injured.
NO ONE has a right to even come near a pedestrian with their vehicle and those who defend the driver are really saying alot about themselves — that they would do the same. Sheesh. Several of you bloggers are crazed idiots.
Pedestrians always have the right of way whether or not they are doing something stupid.
I don;t need a “right of way” law to tell me that. Common sense and decency tells me that.
If a pedestrian wants to hold a parking space I am not going to threaten to ram the kid with my car regardless how stupid or arrogant the kid is.
I hope this Bartow County adult gets her driver’s license revoked for a year. She should also do some jail time.
Cynthia J.
January 4th, 2013
10:37 am
If you didn’t know who this person was, and you hadn’t watched the girl on the Today Show, you wouldn’t be defending the driver. The lady needs to have her license taken away for a few months if she can’t handle the car in a safe manner.
Now add in that she’s an elected republican school board member and the girl is a brat, and you’ve suddenly got a bunch of ignorant commentators on the situation. The only one involved in the situation who is thinking clearly is the patrolman who looked at the video and then arrested the driver.
Why are idiots elected to office? People vote along party lines and don’t look at the character of the person they vote for. Vote independently from now on. Let the best person represent us. This lady clearly is not the best person.
Bartow Politics
January 4th, 2013
11:05 am
As was pointed out above, Cornett winning an election had nothing to do with people voting party lines. Both she and her opponent ran in 2010 as Republicans. It was decided in a primary. Democrats don’t run often in Bartow County, because they usually only get about 25%. People don’t pay a lot of attention to such small races, so the person who can get more friends to the polls wins.
Gerald
January 4th, 2013
11:06 am
@Cynthia J.
You nailed it. Because this teen made a suburban GOP office holder look bad, they are calling her an instigator and publicity hound and playing the “but you weren’t injured/get over it!” card. Let Michael Vick ram this girl with his SUV and see what the reaction would be then.
skipper
January 4th, 2013
11:18 am
What a crock………..dragging politics into it does not change a thing. whether or not it was a school-board member, Dem, Repub, or Indy does not mean a thing. A little girl tried to be a smart a$$. A driver screwed up, too.
the prof
January 4th, 2013
11:40 am
I would have parked in front of the spot until the person moved. I wouldn’t have hit her smarmy butt, but wouldn’t never give someone the satisfaction of STANDING in a parking spot to hold it for someone else.
Wondering Allowed
January 4th, 2013
11:47 am
Slow day, so I clicked all the links… The other board member who gives the several minutes long diatrabe is just as scary. She claims God put her on the school board! The morally superior attitude reminds me of Dana Carvey’s Church Lady. Actually, so did the hair-don’t. How can the board be expected to make rational, intelligent decisions when there are morally whacked crackpots who think their opinions are God’s only opinion? The people of Bartow County deserve the humiliation for having these people running their schools.
Parent
January 4th, 2013
11:52 am
Bartow County School System has similar issues to DeKalb and Clayton. Barrow has been able to escape media up until this point due to Bartow being a small town outside of the metro area. Bartow is not the bulk of the viewing area. Bartow also has SACS in their favor. Several members are from Cartersville. We protect our own. Sorry DeKalb, you are a larger district. Therefore better media coverage. Not fair for the great children of Bartow.
Above comment is my opinion.
Wondering Allowed
January 4th, 2013
11:52 am
Here’s what I don’t understand…The teen looks like an idiot for not getting out of the way. The adult looks like an idiot for being impatient and foolish. Why do some people think that pointing out that the teen is an idiot somehow washes the stink off the adult?
There are two people who acted very poorly in the situation. No matter how foolish one was, the other was still equally or more foolish. Each should be looked at only in the light of what she did. Under that light, each of them is a fool. It’s just that one of them is a child, and the other is an adult who had been masquerading as a responsible, respectable county leader. While both acted childishly, only one will suffer the consequences of having acted inappropriately.
Maureen Downey
January 4th, 2013
11:55 am
@Wondering, Wanda Cagle Gray lost her seat to Fred Kittle. So, she is no longer on the board.
http://cartersville.patch.com/articles/bartow-county-election-results#photo-12072646
Maureen
Wondering Allowed
January 4th, 2013
12:02 pm
@Maureen – Thanks for the update. It gives me hope and respect for the people of Bartow County!
catmom
January 4th, 2013
12:35 pm
Angela Cornett shouldn’t have hit Emily Gulledge with her car, but Emily also should not have been blocking the parking space. Both behaved badly, and I’m not buying Emily’s “Poor me. I’m just a helpless child” act that she’s been peddling in order to gain sympathy.
Private Citizen
January 4th, 2013
12:43 pm
I have two impressions from this post and they are from the “board” youtube video when the lady is allegedly calling out a teacher by name.
1. the “board of education” meeting room is set up in a way that scares me. The “board” members look like elevated British lords in that box contraption they’ve built to sit in. It looks like a court room where people are judged and sent to prison or death. The proxy seems to be these folks can literally stare down their nose at the other people in the room. My first thought was they should just be seated at folding tables at ground level.
2. The lady immediately launches into a twisted eulogy based on scripted “character” requirements. They need to throw all of that character stuff out. You’re supposed to be honest and forthright in any work, why make a fetish out of it? It is a bizarre thing and it attracts sick authority freak people. IBM and Coca-Cola do not lord “character” details over people in the work place. No one does outside of these weirdo bureaucratic government school constructs. It needs to stop. It is like state and county government is immature, caught in a strange in-between place. Unfortunately, as long as this “character” fetish is practiced by the state, honest professional workers have to endure this harassment. If they quit the school and go work for IBM or Google, they don’t. It is not professional management from the government school “power” people.
Mountain Man
January 4th, 2013
12:51 pm
“I would have parked in front of the spot until the person moved. I wouldn’t have hit her smarmy butt, but wouldn’t never give someone the satisfaction of STANDING in a parking spot to hold it for someone else.”
I agre with the prof – be reasonable if you are going to be obstinate. Then what would the 17-year old have done? Keyed her car when she wasn’t around. She supposedly had a friend who was pregnant (that was the reason she was hold the space). Was this friend 9 months along? Was she a “teen mom”? Was she married? There are two sides to every story. BOTH people acted out of line, yes, the adult was more out of line with her car, but the girl was out of line too. Maybe Wal-mart should post signs (especially around Christmas) “no one may hold a parking space for someone else by standing in it”.
I was recently at a beach where people “hold” all the chairs at the swimming pool by putting a shoe or a book or a towel on it while they spend hours at the beach. So when people come to the pool there are no chairs available. Same sort of lack of respect. On cruise ships they have started enforcing a “20-minute” rule on holding deck chairs. Some people just think they should have all the advantages. Would it really have hurt the pregnant friend (who also could have been let off at the door and her friend parked the car) to walk a little further. Same for the school board member, was it really that big a deal to get THAT parking spot? Just recently I was backing up to a gas pump at a very crowded Kroger when a man in a truck swoops in from the other end and takes my space. Did I go postal? No, I just went to another pump and waited 5 minutes. Sometimes you have to be an adult (and by the way, a 17-year old is close enough that I would call her an adult).
Gerald
January 4th, 2013
12:58 pm
@Wondering Allowed and catmon:
Because the foolish behavior of the teen is irrelevant to the issue, which is the pattern of unprofessionalism by this school board vice chairman, which fits into the larger theme (regularly addressed by Maureen Downey and is also part of the charter school debate by the way) of the quality of the people that serve on elected local school boards, or the lack thereof.
Here is the deal: people do dumb stuff all the time. It is the job of a responsible adult to act appropriately when confronted with a person’s silly misbehavior. As foolish as the actions of this teen was, this teen is not the vice chair of the county school board. That is the point. And yes, were this a member of the Clayton County, Fulton County or DeKalb County school board, you’d have a lot fewer people insisting that the teen be held responsible for her role in provoking the incident.
Maureen Downey is pointing out that there are issues with school boards beyond the urban Democratically controlled areas. It seems that people would rather talk about how this girl wasn’t injured and complain about her “playing the victim” than talk about it, which really shows that folks here are chiefly angry about her making a non-urban government look bad. It is going after the messenger, blaming her for exposing the issues on the Bartow County school board.
Look, this woman was the VICE CHAIR of the board. Get that? But thanks to her, we are talking about Bartow County instead of Clayton/DeKalb/APS again. Sorry, but that is what is going on here.
Private Citizen
January 4th, 2013
1:00 pm
There’s a lot of local police dept who do all of this “rules” and “character” garbage over the public while in reality these same police are not producing but they take a lot of money from people. There’s a long term road project near my home and the little town police are writing a high volume of $450. “construction zone” tickets to people. Somebody said on court day the line goes out the door and around the building, that’s how many tickets this tiny-toy-town police are writing. It’s really sick and it is difficult to do anything about, the Georgia authority idiots who get personal gain over using other people while not particularly producing or contributing in return for the monies they take. Georgia is chock full of these “values preacher” officials who are on the take, if nothing else for their own ego trip.
Private Citizen
January 4th, 2013
1:07 pm
Ms. Downey, You say “Politicians receive many perks and many advantages”
For a school board member, what would that be? What perks and advantages do they receive? Seriously, I do not know. I thought they had a job to do and were not considered “gilded” or “special.” I still am not sure what a school board does. Something about real estate, keeping the books, paying salaries and the light bill. How did this function get so “holy” and “special” and “deserving of perks?” It all seems kind of sick to me. I think they people who pave the roads are special. And the people who work the gas stations on holidays so that everyone else can travel. Why is a “school board member” a thimble-full “better” than anyone else? Who came up with that idea?
Pride and Joy
January 4th, 2013
2:10 pm
Prof you disappoint me. I expect a professor to act in a mature manner. So you would have stood your ground in your car waiting fo the kdis to move — and the kid would have done the same and then what would have happened?
Well, the traffic behind you and in front of you wuold have backed up. People wouldn’t be able to get in and out of the parking spaces in that row or pass because you wee blocking the area….
Why is it that someone who is supposed to exhibit rational, calm behavior (a professor) thinks it is more important to get into a hissy fit — a dangerous hissy fit ? and over what?
A parking space?
i haven’t seen a professor yet who didn’t need to shed some weight.
Come on.
BE AN ADULT.
Circle around the wal-mart parking lot and find another spot and WALK to the store…it can’t hurt cha.
skipper
January 4th, 2013
2:19 pm
@Gerald,
You turn the boot up….the directions are on the heel………..
Decaturite
January 4th, 2013
2:44 pm
RE entitlement of school board members: No reason for school board members to have ANY perks, not stipends, not anything, not in Gwinnett, not in Atlanta, not in City of Decatur. If they don’t want the job, there’s other’s equally deserving or more who do. I’d rather have school board members who are doing the job out of interest, expertise, and civic commitment than folks who need the perks or the consultancies and association presidencies that they hope to get with School Board on their CV. There’s high school students I’d trust more than some School Board members.
Private Citizen
January 4th, 2013
3:35 pm
re: parking away from stores. Just today I note a nice dent and a gouge in the fender of my hoopty (favored automobile) due to someone in a parking lot opening their vehicle door into my fender. No note on the car, either, if you know what I mean. Parking AWAY from the door of the store is a GOOD idea.
Parent
January 4th, 2013
6:30 pm
Are the readers aware of the contents of complaints filed on Bartow County? Board member perks – hiring of family and friends, facility uses, board member steps down position to get administrative job of position he helped create, get involved in discipline issues, hold tribunals without training, inappropriate texting, sexting with principal and board member, non compliance with open records request, etc. Our current chairman,( also SACS) was a former superintendent let go from Bartow County due to MILLIONS misappropriated. I could go on and on but we are just a small town outside of the metro area. We just wanted help. Somebody please hear our cry…..
Google Davis Nelson
Fred in DeKalb
January 4th, 2013
7:03 pm
Gerald, right on to your posting at 12:58! If this story was about a Board member in APS/Clayton/DeKalb, there would be well over 100 posts along with people talking about the good old days. There are problems going in in most school districts and counties in this state. APS/Clayton/DeKalb are merely symptoms of a larger problem but they seem to be the frequent target of all that is bad (not to excuse them when they are obviously in the wrong). For some reason it is easy to assume these counties are unique with dysfunction.
bootney farnsworth
January 4th, 2013
7:38 pm
how do they win elections? its easy.
-race
-family
-cronyism
-poor baseline standards for qualification
-disinterested, involved voters
-good ole boy network
bootney farnsworth
January 4th, 2013
7:39 pm
sorry, UNinvolved voters
Beverly Fraud
January 4th, 2013
8:19 pm
“The reason citizens are being ignored? Bartow BOE Board chairman Davis Nelson is chairman of the Georgia council for SACS (AdvancEd).”
In the same way that Dr. Trotter and MACE were years ahead of the curve when it came to describing APS as a “gangsta” system, eventually (hopefully) people will start to realize just how much of SACS is a sham and a farce.
Private Citizen
January 4th, 2013
8:46 pm
@Parent
January 4th, 2013
6:30 pm
Your post is really definitive. Something tells me they do not have the same problem in Moscow or Paris. I wonder why? That seems like a reach? Well, Atlanta is a major international city. I am guessing that the Parisians are move civic and ethical in addressing things, have higher expectation of the service role of government, and in Moscow, the Mafia would attack corruption. People there jump out of their cars and attack drivers who cut them off in traffic. This is not doable in the U. S. police state, where we have more people in prisons, per capita, than any country in the world. Does the general public even know this, that in effect, we are living in a police state? I mean, years ago that student spoke out at a John Kerry speaking event at a college and he was tasered and hauled off, right in front of Kerry who didn’t say a word about it.
Private Citizen
January 4th, 2013
10:34 pm
School board training seminar http://goldline.pro/en/
Lee
January 5th, 2013
12:43 am
Interesting….
Standing in a parking space to save it??? That’s a new one to me. I must try that sometime.
Honey, there’s a space the next row over. Hop out and stand in it and don’t let anyone get it while I pull around.
But it’s raining outside.
Nag, nag, nag. All you do is complain.
The fact remains, there are idiots who walk amongst us. It just seems like they all shop at Wally World.
For your amusement – the People of Walmart song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvxNgdFeWqM
Lee
January 5th, 2013
12:58 am
I should add that “nudging” folks out of your way is a classic NASCAR strategy.
Now get out there and swap some paint…
Logical Dad
January 7th, 2013
9:52 am
When my kids were young, we had what became a scripted back-and-forth whenever we were parking at a mall or a big box store. If a car was waiting (and waiting and waiting and waiting) for a close parking spot, the contest was to be the first one to notice if the driver was fat. Since I was driving, my kids usually won. (BTW, they were ALWAYS fat.)