Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Muckraking

I did some - not very much, it turns out it was surprisingly easy - legwork and found something interesting; I found Rick Alexander and Josh Wineteer's filing papers, the ones for their school board positions that were filed with Linn County.

The section for education is titled "Educational Background" and has space for "complete school name," "last grade level completed," "Diploma/Degree/Certificate" and "Course of Study (optional)."

Rick's application was typed, and the education section had one entry, which I am quoting verbatim (had I a scanner I'd actually post the documents): "Prescott High School."

That's it. No grade level completed, no diploma received, no course of study, and no location or town attached, the despite the request for "complete school name."

Someone pointed out at one point that they'd heard of Rick attending HS in Arizona. Maybe that's what Prescott refers to.... but I did a few searches and there are lots of Prescott High Schools in Arizona, so there's no way to verify anything.

My point is that there's nothing really of use in that section, and I think it's a disservice to the community to decline to fill it out. Certainly it's not required, but one would think that if one is filing to sit on a #%@%@$! School Board, one would be interested in talking about education - including one's own.

...

So, Josh. This one is, perhaps, better - or at least more humorous telling.

Under "Complete Name of School Attended" he wrote - and I am not joking - "HIGH SCHOOL." Just like that, in all caps. No information as to what high school.

Under the "Diploma/Degree/Certificate" section he wrote "GRADE" and then added, in tiny text in the corner, "DEPLOMA."

I don't know what a DEPLOMA is, but I got a diploma when I graduated from HIGH SCHOOL.

Sigh.

He also lists having attended LBCC for Political Science and Economics. That's pretty cool (and I not being snarky in the slightest). There was no degree listed, though he did list it as grade 13.

So what does this all mean?

That depends - I am far more concerned about the fact that neither was comprehensive with their filing applications than I am about their respective levels of education (which I still don't really know).

This is not meant to disparage either Rick or Josh; again, I am of the opinion that it's possible, in theory, to be a great school board member without an advanced degree. But the disrespect (a spelling error in this context seems particularly egregious) that both showed for the application seems a problem.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Look on classmates.com There is a Rick Alexander that went to Prescott HS in Prescott, AX from 59-63

Dennis said...

Thanks, anonymous - I had never considered checking the most common damn ad on the web.

Anonymous said...

Interesting that Rick would be on Classmates.com because at board meetings he has publicly proclaimed he knows nothing about computers or the Internet.

I wonder how many times he's posted on RW and LT.

Dennis said...

To further explain Eye in the Sky's comment, classmates.com requires that users - even those who search for others - register and put themselves in the database first.

So while it's possible that someone added Rick, it seems more likely that he registered.

No crime there.

Neither is their crime in posting anonymously on LT or here.

In fact, though I think it's highly unlikely, it amuses me.

Anonymous said...

"DEPLOMA"?

...

Hell, at least Rick typed his meaning he could spell check it.

DEPLOMA. On his filing papers no less... How come candidates are incorrectly filling in the blanks on these documents? The instructions are specific enough. Seems like someone should be checking these documents at the clerks office to make sure they are filled out properly. An intern? Volunteer? Anyone???

Anonymous said...

How can you be on a board and be in charge of millions of tax payers money when you can not even spell or at least fill out an application. Very simple procedure but it reflects a short come in his writing skills and following simple instruction. Oh yeah that is exactly what he does on the Board anyway. Know it all with nothing to show for.

 
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