I sure do miss the good old days when the media kept public officials from lying to us instead of enabling them to lie to us

The Huntsville school board meets in the board room of the Annie C. Merts Center on Tuesday. (Crystal Bonvillian/cbonvillian@al.com)

Sigh.......  We weren't allowed to say we hate anyone or anything when we were growing up.  Our parents taught us if you hate you are just like the haters.  We were allowed to say we strongly disliked actions, but we always had to have an explanation.  That said,  I strongly dislike the media we have, or this case, don't have, because instead of telling us what we need to know in order to make informed decisions, they tell us what they want us to know. And in most cases that's not much.  

It's not as if some of us didn't see this coming when 100's of journalist got pink slips back  in 2012 because their ain't no sunshine anymore, and the public is left in the dark.  For example, the public probably isn't aware the #hsvboe (Huntsville Board of Eduction) adjourns the public board meeting, which is televised, prior to the citizens comments, which are not televised, meaning we have to depend on the media to tell us, or in most cases, not tell us, what comments were made, and God forbid they ask follow up questions.  Oh, and the#hsvboe does not have to answer citizens questions, and there is not a darn thing John or Susie Public can do about it. Sometimes I feel like I'm living in the Twilight Zone (cue in music).

Let's look at tonight's live stenography, I mean,  updates from the #hsvboe meeting courtesy of AL.com.  Exhibit A:

8 p.m.: Citizen comments began with T.C. Johnson, pastor of St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church, who asked that the "renaming" of Johnson High School be rescinded. Johnson claimed that board policy was violated in the decision to rename Johnson as Jemison High School and that the public did not have adequate input in the decision.
Johnson is not the first to complain about the loss of the Johnson High name. School board members have said, however, that Johnson is not being renamed, but closed.
Butler High School is also closing and its students being diverted to Jemison with the Johnson students.
T.C. Johnson was the only citizen who signed up to speak at the meeting. The board adjourned for the evening when he was done.

I guess it would have been to much like, you know, real  journalism to find out why Johnson claimed that board policy was violated.  I mean, we can't have the public thinking Johnson is telling the truth even if he is.  Let's just ignore his allegations, out of sight out of mind.

Last night the Huntsville City School Board of Education violated their own policy on the Selection of School, Facility, and/or Property Name (Policy 2.9, presented September 5, 2013) by concluding the process and voting on the new names approximately three weeks before they were allowed to do so.
On September 5, 2013, the board met and discussed during their work session a new policy entitled, “Selection of School, Facility, and/or Property Name” (Policy 2.9). This policy was necessary to ensure that the process of receiving new names for schools would be as open to the public as possible. Laurie McCaulley, who was at that time serving as the School Board President, assured the public present that evening that the public would have every opportunity to “have input on these changes.”

 Moving on to Exhibit B:

7:36 p.m.: The work session has ended, and the board has moved into action items. The Jemison site package contract, along with several smaller renovation contracts and bid renewals, was approved. Click here to see all of the approved items.
7:20 p.m.: Jeff Wilson, director of operations for the district, gave the board an update on the construction of the new Jemison High School/McNair Middle campus. A $1.8 million contract expected to be approved later in the meeting will go toward preparing the site for construction of the school buildings.

Let's forget about the fact parents and citizens are concerned about the safety and well being of students/faculty/staff due to the site being prepared for construction is less than half a mile from an active rock quarry.  Never mind parents and citizens requested $250,000 for a health risk assessment to be conducted before they spend $1.8 million preparing the site for construction of the school buildings that may or may not be safe for student/faculty/staff to occupy.  Let's ignore them too, they aren't anybody, just tax payers without representation.

Last but not least, Exhibit C:
In an attempt to discredit Madison County Commissioner, and fellow black elected official, Robert "Bob" Harrison, #hsvboe mis-representative Laurie McCaulley discredited herself, and the indefensible actions of the Superintendent she was trying to defend.  We must laugh to keep from crying....

McCaulley also objected to Harrison suggesting Superintendent Casey Wardynski had misled the court while under oath. One of the issues Harrison raised involved testimony about wifi in public housing, an issue because Huntsville had touted its laptop program as equalizing educational opportunities across the city.
Harrison wrote about a recent agreement between Huntsville schools and Comcast, and argued Wardynski testified "as if this agreement was in existence and had been for some time." Harrison told the judge that for two years children in public housing could not complete their homework on the laptops.
McCaulley said the board had been led to understand the service was available."It was our assumption it had been done," said McCaulley.

Psst!  If you are an elected official and you don't know when you've been *cough cough* misled,  it might be time for you to go someplace and sit all the way down.  And if you are a journalist/ reporter, you might want to start interviewing people who don't tow the party line, and please stop faking the funk when the facts don't fit the narrative.

"You are not the voice of the people that's my board member.  Laurie McCaulley was elected, David Blair were elected, they are the voice of the people. You're just a company.  Who elected you?" 

It's the media.  They think we are stupid.