Here is the statement Fran Hoefer would have read if President Geiger had not violated his free speech:
My name is Fran Hoefer. I'm a member of the Oswego City School District Board of Education. I'm here tonight for a friendly visit and to observe. I'm also here to give your community a bit of a heads up about your superintendent. Dr. Eastwood was the "Golden Boy" of the Oswego City School District when he first ascended to power. His pristine appearance, charismatic personality, and technology mastery made him an object of admiration and respect. I personally thought he was a great guy. So did a great many other people. It wasn't until he packed his bags for Middletown that the Oswego School District discovered that our reserve accounts had been depleted. We discovered that our graduation rates weren't quite as high as we had thought. This was a bit of a bombshell for our community, and it also impelled a substantial tax increase to repair the damage.
I was not a member of the board when these discoveries were unveiled; because, I had preciously been forced off the board by Dr. Eastwood. Ken and his circle of board supporters charged me with misconduct and hired a very expensive law firm to bring charges against me. I was denied legal representation through a technicality, and was told that I had to defend my nonpaying board position with my own resources against a team of high powered lawyers being funded with the unlimited resources of the taxpayers. Does this scenario sound familiar to anyone in this room? There is something inherently unfair and reprehensible about an appointed bureaucrat using taxpayer money to remove an unpaid elected official from elected office. I was reelected in a landslide vote. Coincidentally, all the board members who voted to remove me are no longer board members.
I also would like to point out to this board, that it is against the rules of the Open Meetings Law to hold secret meetings of a select quorum to come to consensus. It is also illegal to come to consensus by telephone. Some of you may want to take a hard look in the a mirror before you choose to charge someone else with misconduct. Speaking of misconduct, anyone who is interested will soon be able to read about the scandals that happened in my district during the reign of Ken and company on a new website called insidemiddletownschools.blogspot.com. That's insidemiddletownschools.blogspot.com. This website is uncensored, and I will be able to speak freely about :
- allegations of Dr.Eastwood's abuse of a young honor student and the subsequent cover up
- Ken's attempt to rehire our district drug enforcement officer after he was convicted for
purchasing methamphetamines through the mail
- the good Dr.'s use of his position to aquire enhanced grades for his daughter.
- about secret emergency board meetings, abuse of power, self interest, and all the sordid aspects of your
superintendent that he is so good at hiding
My name is Fran Hoefer. I'll be on (insidemiddletownschools.blogspot.com). You can access the blog by typing insidemiddeletownschools.blogspot.com into the http//space of your computer. I guarantee you'll be astounded!
