Former School Board Member Kim Clark asked that we post the following:
Three years ago I resigned from the Oyster River School Board. The reasons for my resignation at the time were stated in a public letter posted in Foster’s Daily Democrat. If anyone would like a copy of this letter (posted here), let me know and I would be happy to send it along. The reasons for my resignation three years ago were clear, never disputed, and I returned to private life.
David Taylor has forced me to once again engage in a public forum for the first time in years, because once again he has chosen to make false accusations against my character and motives for my resignation. This is something I was forced to put up with quite a bit during my time on the Board, and I can simply no longer allow him to continue unchallenged.
A few days ago it was brought to my attention that Taylor has posted a clip of a video on YouTube of a Board meeting that occurred in 2009. I do not have any issue with the video, but have a big problem with the title he has attached to it. Under the video he presents a title which falsely links what later turned out to be an illegitimate accusation by a Board member, to my resignation a couple of weeks later. The title given to this YouTube video link is deliberately misleading and false. Further at Taylor's new website, one he has set up to explain his lawsuits against the School Board, he cites a violation of right to know law in 2009 as proof that violations had occurred even then.
So first of all, it is pretty obvious that Right To Know violations have occurred on occasion in public bodies ever since the law was written, including many instances when David was a part of the Board. (Blog Author Addition: See specifically 11/4/2009). It is a matter of public record that accusations of violations during his tenure did occur. (Blog Author Addition: See Citizens Procurement Audit). These violations don’t happen because someone is trying to pull a fast one, they happen because well-meaning public servants are trying to accomplish something for the benefit of their communities. These public servants depend on the professionals around them to guide them, and help assure that the law is not broken. Ironically, in the case of the incident covered in this video, this was not one of the instances where RTK was violated, and there is an actual legal opinion stating that from an attorney.
So then you must then ask yourself, why is David bringing this up now? Why did he choose not make his accusations three years ago and challenge my motives for resigning then? Why now, three years later, would he link this false accusation to my resignation?
The reasons are simple. Taylor is counting on the general public to have a short memory and to believe the quick headline rather than the rest of the story. The facts would get in the way of his headline, and not allow him to create the negative image he is so desperate to create. I have been advised that I could sue for defamation of character, but have decided he simply isn’t worth it. We teach our children that a bully is someone that continues to spread false rumors and blatant lies, and count on the fact that most will not seek out the true story so that they can establish dominance over any threat or rival. It is critical that we all stand up against a bully. As I said in my resignation letter three years ago, it is only the headline that most pay attention to and not the correction that appears on page ten five days later. Bullies have the ability to link two unrelated incidents together, and make them appear to be connected. Bullies have an uncanny ability to spread half-truths, omit factual information, and convince people that it is the other person at fault.
I have taught my children to stand up against bullies with simple truth, dignity and respect. A lawsuit which would take time from my family and possibly do more harm to an already fractured community is not something I want to do, but let me be clear, I did not resign due to an accusation of a Right to Know violation.
• My resignation had to do with a fractured Board, a superintendent who was impossible to work with, and a budget process that I simply could not support.
• Were comments made at this and other Board meetings indicating there was a perceived violation of right to know? Yes.
• Did the state of NH School Board Association attorney later prove those accusations false? Yes.
• Are Board members allowed to talk to each other out side of meetings, as long as there is not a quorum or sequential communication? YES.
• Did I resign because of an accusation of a right to know violation? NO.
The clip on YouTube that Taylor shows is out of context. If you were to listen to the full conversation, it would show that no Board member was named. To this day I still don’t know which Board member was being falsely accused. In addition I have a letter dated December 4th, 2009 from the state of NH School Board attorney. It is a legal opinion intended to calm the waters between Board members and clarifies there was no RTK violation. It was a time when members were consumed in hurling accusations at each other, and it was impeding the Boards ability to get the work of the district done. I have a copy if anyone would like to see it.
The citizens of our community have been at battle over our schools and how they should be run for years. We all want excellence in our schools, but what this means is different to many of us, and it is this difference of opinion that creates discord. Lawsuits are easy, what is hard is getting to the heart of what is really going on and building consensus so that we can create a culture in which our schools can keep up with a changing world and create the opportunity for our children to flourish after their Oyster River careers are over.
Our community has allowed too many false accusations and the resulting hysteria to shape our beliefs. We must work harder to find and consider all of the facts so we can all move forward and realize the excellence in our schools that we all seem to say we want, but are having such a hard time achieving together.
Whatever happened to picking up the phone and calling a neighbor when you wanted to know what is going on? Why are we hiding behind our keyboards and allowing this discord? What are we teaching our children?
I have asked Taylor to take down the video. He has refused. You must ask yourself why? What is there to gain by pitting one neighbor against another? What the heck is the agenda? I do not want to become a public figure again, however when a bully rears their head it is important to stand up against them and let them know you will not put up with their attack.
Please, neighbor-to-neighbor, friend-to-friend, come to the source and make sure you know all the facts before forming an opinion. Do not listen, read, or view second hand information, let us live the way we teach our children to live. I have taught my daughters to walk away or change the subject when gossip begins, wouldn’t it be a wonderful world if we all did the same?
I hope more people start to speak out publicly or privately about this issue. It is horrible that our district is being held hostage by one man and his personal vendettas. I urge everyone to write to letters@fosters.com and ask to be posted on this blog as well. We, the voters, should not have our wishes and hopes stolen by David Taylor. It isn't even the voters. It is also the teachers and staff who need to move on from this.
ReplyDeleteAgain, it's time to STOP DAVID TAYLOR.
ORSB-Pain or deception
ReplyDeleteThe people will learn of the newspapers deception not only in this local election but the past NH State election also. Newspapers refuse to run my opinion letters of what my actions will be if elected to represent the trusted power of the people. We in the USA hold a special place in our hearts for the individuals that fought and gave their lives just to protect and defend the document that guarantees us the individual the rights of any civilized society should hold. It does not matter what the editor believes is in the best interest of its readers. The news media is a public entity that is given Constitutional protection to communicate the unbiased facts to the people. What right does a newspaper have to claim that they are a private business with the right to cause pain and deception on the voters of their community? That is what the Fosters newspaper is doing to the ORSD. The Union Leader is doing the same thing to the voters of the State of New Hampshire. Are we the people so naive to allow them to pick the voters off one at a time to not provoke awareness?
It is the people’s right to question and expose wrongs by the NH Supreme Court. Even a person like me that quit high school at 17 to become a US Marine has the right to bring a case of a judge violating the Constitution to harm local resident in the town of Madbury NH. Judge Peter Fauver used the judicial branch of government to help the Madbury selectmen take from local residents for the selectmen’s own personal gains. These are facts documented in concrete facts place in front of the NH-SC and they refused to hear the case. The conflict of interest or discrimination, which ever it constitutes a crime of the highest magnitude by the NH SC and must be communicated to the people through the news media freely, openly and in an unbiased manner. A civilized society where the government must serve the people not master them dedicates the people be informed at every opportunity.
I did my tour in the USMC during the Vietnam Conflict. I did thirty-one months over seas in and out of combat situations. I came back with four separate, receive on separate missions disabilities. NH and the VA stop my medical care to stop my opinion letters of government wrongs. These are documented facts the newspapers are hiding from the readers and the people. The job of the newspaper is to inform the voters of the unbiased facts. It does not matter whom they hurt even if it is politicians with good reputation.
In the words of our founding fathers “There is nothing so powerful as truth”. Daniel Webster stated these words along time ago. May be newspapers like the Union Leader and the Fosters should learn what the meaning is?
I am running for Oyster River School Board and the voters have a right to learn who I am and what I stand for.
Think about what newspaper has the BALLS to run a response that tells the people of the pain and deception their editors are inflicting on the voters and their own readers.
Peter Macdonald Sgt USMC Semper Fi
465 Packers falls rd Lee NH 03824 603-781 3839
It is honestly impossible for the community to rally around this board. Regardless of the issues, the racism, sexism, and perversion that Jim Kach has shown are detrimental to every issue that comes up.
ReplyDeleteAs shown according to whom? The PAC members and lobbyists trying to revert the district to the bygone era of those who created FORE? What short memories we have! The day we allow unscrupulous malcontents to sway our votes over an "issue" like Jim Kach's personal twitter account (that he posted as a private citizen, not a board member) is the day we might as well throw democracy out the window. That "issue" has no basis in reality, unless someone can point to anything Kach actually did to cause harm to anyone in this district. Who created this circus anyway, Kach? Or was it those who are trying to covertly impose control over this district by any desperate means they can, despite overwhelming voter results during the last TWO elections? The only people concerned about this have dubious motives, or are battling their own demons based on their self-imposed perceptions. I for one will not submit to allowing David Taylor to run this district by proxy, like he is trying to do with his ill-conceived lawsuits.
DeleteFosters and NH Union Leader newspapers
ReplyDeleteA student in Ohio writes a letter and posts it on the web, seen by many in authority but ignored. I am running for Oyster River School Board even though a court order stopped me from entering schools for the danger signs NH used to harm my character in retribution a few years back. Letters for and about other candidates are published every day. My letters are ignored, as it is clear the consequences of the harm past school boards in OR have done with freedom of press censoring opinion letters of government wrongs. How many good people are passed because editors like Rod Dougherty curtail the people’s right to know. My letters every day are published on the web but the newspapers refuse for the danger they are trying to impress on the public that I am. I am a 100% combat related disabled US Marine from the Vietnam Conflict. NH declared me a terrorist under the Patriot Act and took my freedom for 6-months before dropping the bogus charges. NH and the VA stop my medical care to impress upon me the power of government officials on citizens that do not obey. I volunteered every week in schools around the state before the court order listening and helping students just like this in Ohio. The schools have never invited me back since for the danger signs will always be there.
The NH Supreme Court violated the Constitution to protect a brother Judge Peter Fauver. The NH SC refused to hear a case where judge Fauver used the power of the courts to let the Madbury NH selectmen use the trusted power of the people to take for the selectmen’s own profit from the local residents. This family asked me some one they had never met for help after reading a letter in the paper that I wrote. I have been told by many in law enforcement up to governor Shaheen not to write opinion letters telling of the NH SC violating the law. Hence this is why I was put in jail because I kept writing of the criminal acts of the NH SC. All undisputed documented facts presented to the NH SC by a natural born US citizen.
I wrote a letter yesterday about the effects of expired VA medicine has on my PTSD and TBI disabilities. The psychological and embarrassment from my not being able to hear complete sentences of what others say from my loss of hearing from being blown up and blown off the runway or the unbearable pain from my broken back from another Vietnam offensive are taken there toll. Where do I go? The NH governor Lynch made me pay money to tell him of these government wrongs but we never did talk. He did take my money and give me a receipt, which I still have. I am a US Marine that came back to a society that will not accept us for what they believe we did. The smart ones commit suicide before coming back to the world that we love because they see the consequences of life back here in a civilized society we once belonged.
A seventeen year-old student the same age as when I went off to a conflict as a US Marine writes but is ignored. Think what the citizens of NH are going to think when it comes out the Union Leader and Fosters daily democrat ignored and censored the words of a Oyster River School Board member when I am elected. The Consequences of a Ohio School should never happen if we just learn to listen.
Peter Macdonald Sgt USMC Semper Fi
465 Packers falls rd Lee NH 03824 603-781-3839