The Korn Conundrum: Broward School Board At-Large candidate Donna Korn, who's already been removed by Gov. Ron DeSantis bec of a Grand Jury's recommendations, remains unpopular with the public and unable to defend her track record. But her opponent, Allen Zeman, is not just someone who is largely unknown, but has a troubling history of claiming things to be true that are NOT. Of actually lying with impunity. What should Broward County voters do?

The Broward County Public Schools HQ, home of the Broward School Board, long the hotbed of flat-out unethical behavior, egregious cronyism, and corruption of the sort that you seldom see in the 21st Century

The Korn Conundrum: Broward School Board At-Large candidate Donna Korn, who's already been removed by Gov. Ron DeSantis because of a Grand Jury's recommendations -which were not publicly released because several Board members fought their public release- remains unpopular with the general public and seems unable to defend her track record in-person. 

The problem for voters aas well as Broward County parents, students and taxpayers is that Korn's opponent, Allen Zeman, is not just someone who is largely unknown to the residents of Florida's fourth-largest county, but someone whom it fairly be said to have a troubling history of claiming things to be true that are... NOT. Some people even say he lies with impunity.

How many people do you know who'd claim that they'd been promoted to Admiral quicker than anyone in the history of the U.S. Navy? Who would even think of saying such a thing?

Tom Lauder of Red broward has been all over this story even as most of the South Florida news media have taken a pass on holding Zeman to account, to say nothing of asking why Korn is running for an office largely on a campaign based on campaign signs.. 

So, what should Broward County voters do?

*I'll be updating this post over the next 24-48 hours, as my first draft of this post crashed with some interesting info somehow not saved, so I'm basically reinventing the wheel on this. 😒

Here's a small look at how it's going thus far from my perch on the At-Large seat, watching with dismay that the choices are so dismal and unappealing.

And I haven't even posted my words and concerns about how many people I know who find the unappealing District One Broward School Board race between Marie Murray Martin, daughter of disgraced recent School Board member Ann Murray, subject of dozens of fact-filled columns here at the blog in the past, and Rod Velez, endorsed by The South Florida Sun Sentinel but someone not without his own ethical problems staring us in the face. 

That post re District 1 will be posted within the next week

Some of the most fervent and opinionated independent-minded education activists as well as Deep Blue Broward Democrats I know have told me that under no circumstances will they vote for any of these four candidates because they, literally, do NOT want to be blamed for having thrown them a lifeline. 

When I joked with them that they were engaging in a  little bit of pro-active election denialism -which is a favorite go-to subject on PBS' News Hour show- even BEFORE the votes are counted while the never-ending early voting takes place.

They laughed -weakly- at hearing that because they know how it makes them look sort of hypocritcal, but they literally want these four people to just... disappear.

Sort of like those Donna Korn campaign signs on high-traffic Hallandale beach Blvd. disappeared that I reference below, based on my own first-hand observations.

I'll have a column about the Murray vs. Velez race here within the week.

While some of you were sleeping the past few weeks...

 All from RED BROWARD @RedBroward:

September  21, 2022

“Admiral” Allen Zeman Tells Sun-Sentinel He Had “Admiral Rank”
https://redbroward.com/2022/09/21/admiral-allen-zeman-tells-sun-sentinel-he-had-admiral-rank/#comments

September 20, 2022
“Admiral” Allen Zeman Hired Roger Stone “Protégé” To Work On His Broward School Board Campaign
https://redbroward.com/2022/09/20/admiral-allen-zeman-hired-roger-stone-protege-to-work-on-his-broward-school-board-campaign/

August 19, 2022
Admiral Z-Man?!? Broward School Board Candidate Allen Zeman Says He Was “Promoted To The Admiral Rank Faster Than Anybody In The History Of The Navy.”
https://redbroward.com/2022/08/19/admiral-z-man-broward-school-board-candidate-allen-zeman-says-he-was-promoted-to-the-admiral-rank-faster-than-anybody-in-the-history-of-the-navy/

I'll be updating this post over the next 24-48 hours, as my first draft of this post crashed with some interesting info not saved, so I'm basically reinventing the wheel on this. 😒

Dave 

David B. Smith  

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Speaking of diversity and backsliding on ethics, Broward County School Board becoming an all-female enclave is NOT good news for concerned taxpayers & parents: expect even more micro-managing and time wasted on trivial matters made melodramatic because these particular people, literally, can't help but pander; Broward Schools Supt. Runcie in Hollywood on Thursday night at the Boulevard Heights Community Center

 

Speaking of diversity, as a result of last Tuesday's election results, the Broward County School Board will now be an all-female enclave: expect even more micro-managing and time wasted on trivial matters made melodramatic because these particular people, literally, can't help but pander; Broward Schools Supt. Robert W. Runcie to be in Hollywood on Thursday night at  Boulevard Heights Community Center

I was going to post this collection of news and tidbits last Friday afternoon but thought better of it since I thought few would see it then, and as you'll see, I'm glad I waited, since in the time since I first typed some of these words last Friday morning, I've already seen others in the community and in the press writing about the composition of the new School Board who, in my opinion, lack appreciation for why having an all-female School Board is not exactly reason for taxpayers or students to celebrate.

Based on my own observations and what others who are much closer to all things education in Broward County have shared with me about some of the people elected, I think Broward taxpayers and parents have good reason to be concerned about backsliding on ethics.

While I could always turn out to be wrong, my overall sense of things is that this new crew might not only be more spiteful than professional at times, and attempt to make far too many issues that come before them personal, but also indulge a bit too much in creating straw men for them to attack when the Board is being properly chastised by the public or the news media, or otherwise held to account for inaction or bad judgment or lack of fidelity to rules and procedures.

I also suspect that there will be more instances than perhaps need be when after talking for hours, Supt. Robert W. Runcie will say that it's time to stop the talking and time for voting and actions.
This particular crew seems destined to try to talk everything to death, as if that wasn't already enough of a problem with the current crew of characters.

As most of you already know by now, here's what happened last Tuesday:
District 4: Abby Freedman defeated Shelly Solomon
District 5: Rosalind Osgood defeated Torey Alston
At-Large District 8: Donna Korn defeated Franklin Sands
At-Large District 9: Robin Bartleman defeated Barbara Houston Wilson
http://results.enr.clarityelections.com/FL/Broward/42272/111826/en/summary.html#

Over the past 2-3 months of observing political campaigning all throughout Hallandale Beach -and Hollywood- such as it was, given that there were never any chance there'd be actual bona fide candidate debates of the sort that everyone here desperately wanted, owing largely to Mayor Joy Cooper, Comm. Anthony A. Sanders and former Comm. Bill Julian desperately NOT wanting to be a part of any event in the city that they could not control, where they'd be forced to answer pointed questions from well-informed citizens, I only once saw a re-elect Robin Bartleman yard sign in a HB resident's front yard.

As it happens, it was located in a front yard in Southwest HB of someone who also had one for do-nothing Comm. Sanders, so you can well imagine what I thought every time I drove past it,
just off of S.W. Third Street -it's not exactly the sort of illustrious company you'd necessarily choose to be associated with.

While I was certainly glad that Bartleman attended the educational forum in HB in June of 2011 on what was REALLY going on at Hallandale High School with respect to what the School Board was doing to remedy longstanding problems that led to a lawsuit that the School Board lost, a forum that my friend, Catherine Kim Owens hosted and superbly moderated, THE first such serious meeting on education in this city during the eight years that I'd lived here up to that point, despite how crucial that subject is in this community for reasons I've previously mentioned here -and yes, Ann Murray was a no-show at that meeting in HB (again) just like Jennifer Gottlieb was!- considering what I'd seen and read about Barteleman's involvement and performance during the disturbing Douglas High School cheerleading coach saga, I'm not sure if her winning was really such a great thing for Broward taxpayers and parents long term.

See my post on that subject from October 8th, titled,
Dynamite! Bob Norman adroitly uses facts and context to lower-the-boom on the Broward School Board for their abysmal handling of the purported Douglas H.S. cheerleader coach 'scandal" -and drops School Board member Katie Leach squarely on her head; One month before the election, docs show Donn Korn opponent Franklin Sands funds his race with lots of money from his stepson’s lobbying firm -shocker!; @mattgutmanABC
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/10/dynamite-bob-norman-adroitly-uses-facts.html

Last Wednesday I received the following message from the City of Hollywood with the subject header: Meet and Greet Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie

City of Hollywood residents and members of the community are invited to meet Broward County Public Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie on Thursday, November 15, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. at the Boulevard Heights Community Center, 6770 Garfield St. in Hollywood. Mr. Runcie will be available to answer questions from the public about local public schools and other education issues. Members of the public who are interested in attending and asking Mr. Runcie a question are encouraged to arrive early to fill out a question card. 

Light refreshments will be provided. 
For more information, contact Donna Green at hollyed1@aol.com.

I've now seen and heard Broward Schools Supt. Robert W. Runcie three times in person since he was hired by the Broward School Board -twice in Hollywood and once in Hallandale Beach.

(Surprise! Not present at that meeting in HB was School Board Chair Ann Murray, who is this area's representative on the Board, but whom as I've mentioned here so many times, has assiduously avoided showing her face in public in Hallandale Beach for well over a year.)

I've personally videotaped Runcie all three times -and have taken plenty of photos, too- though I've chosen not to post them here or on my YouTube Channel.

At this point, I feel fairly confident that I can tell what direction he's going to take a discussion based upon what the question posed to him is.
That's actually part of the problem -how the questions have so often been posed to him.

I don't know who first told told Mr. Runcie that the idea of having Broward taxpayers and parents write questions via index cards -read by someone else- was a great idea, but it's not.
I see it as both patronizing and condescending and it's precisely the sort of awkward attempt at (mis)communication that the Broward Schools needs to get away from -quick.

Mr. Runcie is very articulate and an agile conversationalist who can talk about a host of issues for long period of time if he wanted to.
He does not need -nor do taxpayers want to see- someone there as a handler, largely to translate what are almost always very understandable questions.

If I'm going to show up for something like this, I think I can also pretty well frame a relevant question for him in the hours and days leading up to the meeting. 
Maybe several, and having attended three of these before, I also know what NOT to ask.

For those folks who show up and can't ask a question in the form of a question, it's not my problem.
Everyone there can either laugh at them or ignore it, but I have to say that this notion that so many School employees are necessary to be present at these get-togethers, to form a phalanx of protection, is getting more preposterous with each passing meeting.
One person will do, nicely, thanks!

If you ask me, that same person could/should also pop a videocamera onto a tripod and point and then get out of the way.
That there hasn't been at least one person within the school system who had the common sense to tape the remarks he's made at any of the dozens of places he's been and put them online on a School system website or a YouTube Channel for taxpayers and parents to see, is ridiculous.
Not tape every meeting but at least one of them?

I seem to personally have more of them on DVDs near my computer than the entire Broward School system does.
What gives with all the continued indifference and half-assed effort?
Where are the signs of those positive changes we were promised? 

Some content originally contained in this post has been moved to: 
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/11/more-business-as-usual-at-broward.html
More business-as-usual at Broward School Board is NOT good news for students, parents or taxpayers; Why the need by Broward Schools officials to impose omertà on school volunteers in Broward?; the very curious Hallandale High School roof situation reveals much about School Board's culture; Why is South Florida news media largely ignoring Broward Schools Diversity Comm. and their Audit Comm.?

Dynamite! Bob Norman adroitly uses facts and context to lower-the-boom on the Broward School Board for their abysmal handling of the purported Douglas H.S. cheerleader coach 'scandal" -and drops School Board member Katie Leach squarely on her head; One month before the election, docs show Donn Korn opponent Franklin Sands funds his race with lots of money from his stepson’s lobbying firm -shocker!; @mattgutmanABC

ABC News Good Morning America video: Florida Cheerleader Coach Fired for Alleged Pay-to-Play Scheme, Cheerleaders, Parents Battle Coach Over Booster Funds.

Reported by Matt Gutman, Originally aired October 5, 2012. 

Wow, what a one-sided report! 

This kind of shallow reporting by ABC News reporter Matt Gutman, based in Miami, is exactly what Bob Norman demolishes in his story below. I suspect that most of the accusers who foolishly agreed to be in this video will live to regret having put their fragile egos over the truth, especially the teenage girls, who seem like they need a very hard reality check delivered upon them ASAP, before the poor girls get to college and ruin someone else's lives. 

As for Gutman, someone whom in the past has usually come across to me as a very fair-minded and conscientious reporter -with the exception of the Trayvon Martin case- well, he completely drops the Basket Toss on this one, as it reeks of lazy, incomplete reporting.

Article at: http://abcnews.go.com/US/florida-cheerleader-coach-fired-alleged-pay-play-scheme/

Video at: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/cheerleaders-parents-battle-coach-booster-funds-17403650

Dynamite! Bob Norman adroitly uses facts and context to lower-the-boom on the Broward School Board for their abysmal handling of the purported Douglas H.S. cheerleader coach 'scandal" -and drops School Board member Katie Leach squarely on her head; One month before the election, docs show Donn Korn opponent Franklin Sands funds his race with lots of money from his stepson’s lobbying firm -shocker!; @mattgutmanABC

-----
This is a corrected version of my earlier post that transposed some lines in the title and body.

Courtesy of Channel 10's investigative reporter and blogger Bob Norman, some long-neglected facts and context -remember them?- finally showed-up over the weekend on his blog in a controversial story that the South Florida Sun-Sentinel has rather consistently mis-reported, and which the Miami Herald actually ignored for months -shocker!- even as more facts emerged that challenged the South Florida press corps' "Mean Girls" narrative, which had them positively giddy at the possibilities of this story being the 2012 local news story that keeps on giving, even as they failed to report the whole truth. 
Again.

A story that initially seemed more parts Oprah then genuine news, but which now, in hindsight, clearly shows the scary lack of integrity and oversight of the Broward School Board.
It also once again painfully highlights the clear lack of leadership of its Chair Ann Murray, whom we already loathed even before this story showed-up months ago, and proved that -wait for it- yes, we were correct all along about her.
Ann Murray is the worst sort of bad news, the bad news that never ends...

Yes, unrepentant Ann Murray, the woman who was a no-show for Broward Schools Supt. Robert W. Runcie's first appearance in Hallandale Beach, two weeks ago at City Hall, which is both in Murray's district and a short drive from her home in Hollywood.
Just as predicted in this space.

Yes, hard as it is to believe, Murray STILL appears to be afraid of setting foot publicly in Hallandale Beach and taking the chance that she will be asked hard questions by residents and taxpayers -but not print reporters- about her appalling behavior, serial poor judgment and abysmal track record in office, a giant disappointment and embarrassment to so many people I know in southeast Broward County who had put their trust in her.

Too many years in office where she has been anything but the genuine reformer she touted herself as prior to her election, something that regular readers of this blog know all too well, as I've faithfully documented her in the past with both spot-on facts and useful photos that accurately connect-the-dots on Murray's failed tenure..

I may be uploading the video I shot of Supt. Runcie's appearance in Hallandale Beach onto my YouTube Channel within the week, so I'll let you know here when and if I do. 

WPLG-TV/Local 10, Miami, FL

Bob Norman's Blog

The firing of Coach Melissa

By Bob Norman

Published On: Oct 07 2012 10:33:04 AM EDT  

Updated On: Oct 08 2012 11:16:26 AM EDT

Well now it's gone international.

The Daily Mail in London has published a story on what it calls the "'Mean Girls' high school cheerleading coach" of Broward County.

That is, of course, Melissa Prochilo, the now-former cheerleading coach of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Good Morning America had a piece on her Friday morning tossing around allegations of a diabolical-sounding "pay to play scheme" and the old mainstay in this case, bullying.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://www.local10.com/news/blogs/bobnorman/The-firing-of-Coach-Melissa/-/3223354/16884040/-/8enkprz/-/index.html

Meanwhile, At-Large District 8 Broward School Board member Donna Korn's opponent, former state House Minority Leader Franklin Sands continues to make headlines for dubious and unflattering reasons.

MediaTrackers blog

Broward School Board Candidate Franklin Sands Posts Another Eye-Raising Funding Report

Franklin Sands continues to fund his school board campaign with money from his stepson’s lobbying firm, public records show.

By Tom Lauder

October 4, 2012 at 16:30

http://florida.mediatrackers.org/2012/10/04/broward-school-board-candidate-franklin-sands-posts-another-eye-raising-funding-report/

MediaTrackers blog

School Board Candidate Rides Campaign Cash Merry-Go-Round

By Tom Lauder

August 10, 2012 at 11:59

http://florida.mediatrackers.org/2012/08/10/school-board-candidate-rides-campaign-cash-merry-go-round/