By Antonio D. French
Filed Wednesday, May 10 at 8:59 AM
Bob Archibald, one of the two remaining members of the board majority backed by Mayor Francis Slay in 2003, has made a habit of leaving school board meetings early.
After questioning the district's financial officer early in the meeting on his grim budget forecast and later pushing for a $2.5 million contract with a local firm to manage the district's construction projects, Archibald once again disappeared from the stage.
As a result, two items that Superintendent Creg Williams had been pushing for failed to get enough votes.
A proposal to spend $325,000 to purchase cubicles and build out offices in the administrative headquarters of St. Louis Public Schools died after a 3-3 vote. Voting in favor were Board President Veronica O'brien and board members Flint Fowler and Ron Jackson. Voting against were Donna Jones, Peter Downs and Bill Purdy.
Purdy said he didn't think it was a priority. "I have a real problem with voting to put money into the downtown headquarters when we have needs galore all over the district," he said.
Near the end of the meeting, Dr. Williams tried to put back on the table his proposal for a summer jobs program that was voted down last month. That motion again drew a tie vote.
Archibald is likely to have to supported both measures, but his early departure meant that Williams would have to wait another month before he could try again for board approval.
1 Comments:
Just wait, this will somehow be twisted in the mainstream media as the new majority not supporting Williams.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006 3:59:00 PM
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