School Board Meeting, Nov. 20, Re-org meeting

It might not be what tax payers deserve, but that's what you get. It was just Nov. 2006 that 3 encumbent school board members were re-elected, 2 after holding the office for almost 2 decades, and the 3rd member re-elected even though "absent" more often than not since he was first elected.

Attorney Bruce Bickner, his wife, and the soon to be appointed paralegal have an especially sweet deal. Add in the insurance, retirement, and other perks and it gets even sweeter --for them.

Key;

Does the School Board really run that close to the edge of the law that they need $145K worth of legal advice, plus an assistant and now a paralegal? I would hope not, but then after some of the other stuff I've read about in these blogs, maybe they do.

Do we get him full time for the $145K, or is that on an as needed basis? On the surface it looks a little hinkey to me.

Finder

finder,

Yes. Mr. Bickner is a full-time attorney for the School Board with (I'm sure after tomorrow) an expanded staff. There is probably an operating budget factored in on top of the salary and insurance expense. At least, I'm guessing. I don't know for sure. (Angela is the public records guru, maybe she can dig that up for us. Angela?)

I guess it's all relative if we compare what a General Counsel might be paid in the private sector with a company of earnings in excess of $450 million dollars per year. A General Counsel wouldn't have any other clients either.

But it always bears asking the question: How well are you spending our money? Could it be better spent?

Really it’s not a bad deal for what all that he does. CCSB is the largest employer in the county.  Reviewing land contracts,  dealing with labor issues, writing and reviewing vendor contracts, giving legal advice to school administrators, and defending the board in law suits from parents. 

As you know we live in a world of sue happy folks and over little stuff too. As for the deal his wife is getting as his assistant isn’t that a case of nepotism?  How could he objectively rate her performance?   A salary of 36K for a paralegal is peanuts even with benefits. 

Magnumforce;

Now that is interesting. I did not know that the CCSB was the largest employer in Clay County. Maybe this isn't as hinkey as it first appeared to be.

Guess we really do need to get some bigger and better employers in the county.

As long as he is still married to his assistant I doubt if he has given her any negative assessments. Not if he is half as smart as I figure he is. Besides, if she's a typical wife and assistant, he only thinks he runs that operation.  

Finder

Instructional Staff #1596 as of October 2006. This does not include non-instructional staff. Source:Florida Department of Education http://www.fldoe.org/eias/flmove/clay.asp#staff

Can anyone fill us in on the re-org meeting Nov. 20 of the school board?

Who's chair and vice-chair?

Any pesky citizens that dared to have an opinion get thrown out again?

Did board members or Superintendent Owens try and "tar and feather" Board Member Bolla as they usually do? ( From the behavior of the Superintendent and some other board members, Mr. Bolla is not a welcome member of their Good Ole' Boys' Club.)

Bloggers,

A correction to the original posting.

Bickner was approved at $145k plus all the bells and whistles. Per his contract, the School Board has to provide paralegal services. Enter paralegal at $36k per year and the real kicker is that his wife and secretary makes $60k per year (not the $36k I stated).

If my math adds up thats $205k to the Bickner family and $241k in legal services (translated, a lot of pencils and paper).

That is because Bolla is an idiot.  He does all his antics for the press, he has no interest in improving the schools in CC.

islander,

How did you get from my blog to your blog? I don't see the connection. I wasn't at the School Board meeting. Can you connect the dots, please?