An angry March 5 Thompson School District Board of Education meeting that erupted over the question of public comment ended in catcalls, applause, and plentiful use of the chair’s gavel as revealed in video of the meeting. The Loveland Reporter-Herald’s education reporter, Alex Burness, provides background on the brouhaha:
Buried Wednesday within the latest school board dispute was a small but significant action by board member Carl Langner, who singlehandedly restored order from President Bob Kerrigan’s move to cancel the night’s agenda altogether.
In the heat of another tense argument over how much public comment is appropriate at Thompson School District Board of Education meetings, Kerrigan cut off an incensed Denise Montagu, who, with the help of minority allies Lori Hvizda Ward and Pam Howard, had taken another stab at allowing audience members to speak to the board.
“We’re going to do the work,” to revise the public comment policy, Kerrigan said. “We’re going to bring it back next week. We really need to move forward.”
Montagu continued talking and was met by the slam of Kerrigan’s gavel, and a request from the president for a motion to adjourn the meeting, even though a two-hour presentation from the district’s Master Plan Committee had not yet started.
The dispute continued on for several tense minutes, with both sides exchanging words.
Kerrigan repeatedly gaveled down Montagu, who insisted on her right to speak during the meeting.
Montagu told Kerrigan and others in attendance, “Oh I’m not stopping, I’m not stopping …I can have 30 minutes at any meeting to discuss whatever topic I choose to discuss.
“I am allowed to do that,” she continued.
Neither Kerrigan nor Montagu offered comment to Burness following the meeting.
Montagu, in an email obtained by Loveland Politics, had earlier this year encouraged supporter to stack a BOE meeting in order to precipitate a “public relations nightmare” for the “reformers” on the board:
“If you read this morning’s Reporter Herald, you might have the impression that the entire board of education is now joining hands and singing Kumbaya. Let me assure you, nothing could be further from the truth. The reformers are going to a great deal of effort to give the community the impression that they are becoming reasonable and transparent so that you all back down. The large crowd at the December 18 meeting made them extremely uncomfortable, and they want to avoid a repeat performance, particularly since THEY HAVE SOMETHING UP THEIR SLEEVES FOR THIS WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15.
…
If this isn’t bad enough, someone (likely Kerrigan; he slipped a reference to himself the other night when informing us of this) reported the December 18 meeting to the fire marshal, and we will be prevented from filling the board room. It’s been suggested that we move the meeting to a larger venue to allow all interested community members to participate, but the reformers won’t allow it. Ms. Rice has stated that she will not support large numbers of attendees, citing a loss of decorum at the December 18 meeting; This does not mean don’t come; it means exactly the opposite. This will be a public relations nightmare for the champions of transparency if they are found to be deliberately keeping members of the public from participating. Come one, come all, and come early.”
Thompson BOE meets for first time since disruption, arguments over public comment
An angry March 5 Thompson School District Board of Education meeting that erupted over the question of public comment ended in catcalls, applause, and plentiful use of the chair’s gavel as revealed in video of the meeting. The Loveland Reporter-Herald’s education reporter, Alex Burness, provides background on the brouhaha:
The dispute continued on for several tense minutes, with both sides exchanging words.
Kerrigan repeatedly gaveled down Montagu, who insisted on her right to speak during the meeting.
Montagu told Kerrigan and others in attendance, “Oh I’m not stopping, I’m not stopping …I can have 30 minutes at any meeting to discuss whatever topic I choose to discuss.
“I am allowed to do that,” she continued.
Neither Kerrigan nor Montagu offered comment to Burness following the meeting.
Montagu, in an email obtained by Loveland Politics, had earlier this year encouraged supporter to stack a BOE meeting in order to precipitate a “public relations nightmare” for the “reformers” on the board:
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CU Boulder’s institutionalized racism infests football program
By Jon Caldara
Racial discrimination is repugnant. Period.
Our nation has made great strides during our nearly 250 years. And for that we should be proud, not ashamed. Too bad we’ve gone backward with government-sanctioned racial discrimination.
I was born the same year of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, raised with our shared goal of a colorblind society. Martin Luther King Jr. laid out that vision as clearly as John Kennedy set a goal of a man on the moon: to be judged on the content of our character, not the color of our skin.
Today’s identity politics is the most dangerous, hateful and ugly movement since slavery itself. To teach a child she is what the color of her skin is, not who she works to be, pollutes her and condemns her.
The Wall Street Journal recently shed light on this systematic racism at my alma mater, the University of Colorado, Boulder. With a simple open records request researchers found (to no one’s surprise) CU recruits and hires based on race. Those who check the BIPOC box (black, indigenous and people of color) get the benefit of CU’s institutional racism.
Not only is this a blatant violation of the Civil Rights Act, which CU turned a blind eye to, it teaches tens of thousands of students that, to get ahead professionally, they must embrace their victim identity.
I did find one department at CU turned its back to racial parity — athletics.
The Buffaloes head football coach Deion Sanders has brought a new excitement for the first time in a generation. This is likely because winning is more important to him than racial equity. To test this, I perused the team’s website to see how ethnically representative his department is compared to the state. After all, it is Colorado’s flagship university. Shouldn’t it “look” like Colorado?
I mean, in the other departments CU is using the same philosophy of the Los Angeles Fire Department’s Deputy Chief, and race-over-merit enthusiast, Kristine Larson. Defending her race-based hiring, she said, “You want to see someone that responds to your house, to your emergency — whether it’s a medical call or a fire call — that looks like you.”
I know when I had my heart attack my first concern was the racial and gender identity of the medical workers racing to save my life. That’s, that’s just normal.
Likewise, football fans also want to see players who look like them. That’s much more important to fans than anything merit-based, like winning games.
Addressing concerns female firefighters may not be strong enough to carry a man out of a burning building, Ms. Larson responded, “He got himself in the wrong place if I have to carry him out of a fire.”
If physical strength doesn’t matter in life-or-death situations like being trapped in a burning building, then why would it matter on something as trivial as a football game? The University of Colorado’s overpaid elite overlords obviously agree.
And that’s why I expected racial equity on Folsom Field.
Remember, according to the U.S. census, Colorado’s population is roughly 62% white, 12% black, 19% Hispanic and 6% Asian.
Odd, then, that at a cursory glance of the 46 pictured who make up Coach Prime’s staff only 16 appeared to be white. For those who received a Liberal Arts degree from CU, I’ll do the math for you. Only 21% of his staff is white. And only three, around 6%, are female.
The players he recruited also show no racial equity. Of the 99 players on the roster, it looks to me only 28 of them are white. Not to mention the institutionalized sexism CU obviously promotes — not a single chick on the team.
Here’s CU’s separate-but-equal race policy: On the field — use merit. Off the field — use Jim Crow (hire by skin color).
Sensing the political winds of change, CU just renamed its Office of Diversity to the Office of Collaboration. I’m sure those who made the change are equally supportive of President Donald Trump’s renaming of the Gulf of America. CU’s known for intellectual consistency.
There is no “reverse racism,” there is only racism. It’s foul and only made worse when perpetuated by your tax dollars. Oh, and if anyone in the victim-pimping industries care, it’s illegal.
Unless you want CU to force three times more white guys on its football team?
Are the energy problems facing Colorado a partisan issue? PowerGab Hosts Jake Fogleman and Amy Cooke have a conversation with Dave Thielen from Liberal and Loving It to see if there is a political consensus on the problems facing Colorado’s energy grid and what some possible solutions are.
Show Notes:
https://liberalandlovingit.substack.com
https://liberalandlovingit.substack.com/p/will-toor-executive-director-colorado
https://liberalandlovingit.substack.com/p/is-wind-energy-cheaper-than-gas
Transparency is a key to government accountability. Often judges have to order that public information become, well, public. How very odd then, that many judges refuse to follow transparency laws themselves. Retired Judge Dennis Maes explains.
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