To the editor:
For those who live in Hopewell Township, and haven’t been watching the school district’s Channel 19, you really should. At the school board’s Oct. 8 meeting, numerous board members voiced their frustration with Jim Wulf for discussing with the press what he had not first brought before the board. Many at the table were blindsided by sensational headlines that we found in recent papers. Several members of the board asked Mr. Wulf to follow a Code of Ethics they had all agreed to. Mr. Wulf’s response was that the board had “brought it on themselves.” He also stated that he hasn’t agreed to all that the other board members think he has agreed to.
Mr. Wulf said he came on the board “hoping to build consensus,” and yet his actions do not support these words. While he is certainly entitled to his opinions and should vote his conscience, Mr. Wulf also has a responsibility to respect the board and the processes that allow for appropriate discussion and decision-making.
Our children deserve a school board focused on the serious issues at hand, and not to be distracted by an individual board member’s misbehavior.
Debbie Noyes
Hopewell Township
Ms. Noyes should check her facts before slandering a volunteer school board member who happens to disagree with the majority. Public records show that Mr. Wulf did indeed alert the board before he responded to inquiries from the press about the Nemeth consulting agreement. He emailed Mr. Martinez, the board attorney -- and the correct person to contact, given the legal nature of his concerns. The board was not blind-sided by this issue. They knew that Nemeth was leaving the district and seeking consulting work more than six months before his departure. So why did they need to hire him for an additional "transition" period?
Posted by: John Maloney | October 25, 2007 at 12:14 PM