It's Not Personal

Apparently, the Massillon Board of Education has not reached a final decision on whether to punish Superintendent Lisa Carmichael for her derogatory comment to Board Member Marshall Weinberg at the July 7th Board of Education Meeting. At that meeting, Weinberg tried to kill ratification of a new teachers' contract. It would have passed whether Weinberg voted yes, or no. He believed, falsely, that if he abstained, only two members of the five member board would have participated in the vote, and the vote would not count. Marhsall was wrong. As the board had a majority present (4 of 5 members), the contract passed with two yes votes, and two abstentions. Marshall abdicated his responsibility by not participating in the vote. It has been suggested that he was unhappy because he was not allowed to be part of the negotiating team, and therefore threw a tantrum and tried to kill the contract because he was not a part of drawing it up. How dare Superintendent Carmichael not realize the brilliance that is Marshall Weinberg, and let him run the schools all by himself.

The Board of Education met in Executive Session last week for about an hour, to discuss if Carmichael should be punished. According to a story in the Independent, "Both Elum and Weinberg, the target of Carmichael's outburst, say the board agrees that something needs to be done" (July 24, 2010). In the same article, Weinberg states, "None of this is personal."

Bull****!

It's all personal. Carmichael's outburst gave the "Football First" faction on the Massillon School Board the ammunition to go on the attack. Carmichael opened the door, and the "Friends of the Program" are storming the castle. Carmichael opposed the "reorganization plan" for the Athletic Department, reorganization meaning football first and foremost. The head football coach would be the athletic director, and the assistant athletic director was to have been former offensive coordinator, Alex Wood. Carmichael balked. The football guys thought they had the votes anyways. Phil Elum and Tom Seesan were on board, and the newly converted "Friend of the Program," Marshall Weinberg, made three. Except that Seesan saw this "reorganization" for what it really was, a plan to create full time jobs for football coaches. When Seesan voted no, the assorted "Friends of the Program" were vicious in their personal attacks, even going so far as to plant yard signs throughout the city calling for Seesan's resignation. These football boosters blamed Seesan, and blamed Carmichael for the plan's failure. They are aggressive, vicious, and have long memories. Carmichael slipped up, and now they are in for the kill.

Lisa Carmichael opened the door by her outburst. Now the vandals are storming the castle. She should have realized that when she upset the "Friends of the Program," she should carefully watch every move she makes, as they would not let this rejection of their "reorganization plan" go without some sort of retaliation. It's how they operate. Not everyone, not the fans, not the majority of the booster club, but that small faction of people who believe they own what is not theirs to own, our Massillon Tigers football team.