This one was just too good to pass up, reader. Portsmouth Juicy at its best.
I was born in City Hall when its corridors were peopled with caregivers and not politicos. I read the Portsmouth Herald when it reported nothing more interesting than grips and grins. I went to Peirce Island pool when it was a quarter and you entered through the building. I remember Jay Smith, Cal Canney, Eileen Foley and Joe Sawtelle.
As a native, I could easily stand here and recite a litany of bad local behavior, from accountants who bilked old ladies to boy cops who ganged up on girl cops. I could remind you of the questionable people who at one time ran the Chase Home to beloved teachers who invited girls into their office and initiated them into situations theretofore unknown to their innocent selves.
Not today, though, not today. Today we are quitting school, the school board, the city legal department and brouhahas in the press. What would we be reading if Kent LaPage had told the school board of Bob Lister's intention to retire? How is this for a different spin on the Lister story:
"The school board chair resigned today citing excessive legal costs and personal distress over the lawsuit leveled for the decision to disclose School Superintendent Robert Lister's retirement in advance of the timeline outlined in Lister's contract."
You can write the rest of that faux news story: fulfillment of Lister's contractual legal obligations would be summarized, and the outrage, perhaps, would be directed toward a different person of poor judgment, one dumb enough to violate a contract, a confidence or a personnel matter. Your choice. That might have cost the city even more money than Lister's accumulated sick time.
And a word about that sick time, taxpayer. It may be a lot of money over three years, but what it represents is a man who didn't call in sick on your dime. Ever.
Let's review some of the factoids, shall we?
The financial minutia of municipal employees is public information, as it should be. Long live freedom of information. It looks like Adam Leech did a good reportorial job in noticing the spike in Lister's salary, reading Lister's contract and giving him a call about it.
It looks like Bob Lister then uttered a comment to a scribe before thinking of its implications. This is puzzling, not quite audacious as charged by the editorialists, but most certainly puzzling. How can one spend so much time in a public position jockeying with reporters not to have learned to say "Good question. I'll get back to you." Or, at the very least, "No comment."
Lister's failure was not one of dishonesty, lack of integrity, withholding of vital information or even poor communication. It was a combination of being in the shark tank, being without a trusted assistant because of a nasty sudden death, and of taking Leech's phone call without red flags flying.
I used to be an investigative reporter and in all that time, only once did a public official properly go off the record. This was a highly placed person in state government and he asked if I would agree to go off the record before — not after — he disclosed information. He also waited for an answer before proceeding.
I was used to dude ranch style Portsmouth town, where off the record was tossed out cavalierly and only after the speaker had spilled guts. As if they had a right to dangle, give and retract. There are guidelines for these sorts of things and that alone may be the story here.
It's too bad Lister isn't as good at spin as Dick Cheney. And while we're at it, it's too bad Lister isn't the kind of person he is being made out to be. If he were, I assure you a full-scale and debasing war of words from that office would be under way and someone truly innocent would be caught in this very public crossfire. That is deflection, people. That is blatant, desperate and confession-worthy. This ain't that.
If no law was broken, skirted or massaged, then let the man be and change the laws, change the contracts. I have read enough about failures of communication and not enough about the letter versus the spirit of the law. We live in a democracy and if you don't like the way the letter of the law plays out in our dirty little culture, change it. Don't kill the messenger, it's a waste of ink and trees.
I re-quote here what veteran teacher and current board member Ann Walker was recorded as saying. "We have a lot of things going on that need Bob's experience and guidance."
Step back and let the man do his job, or come in and do it yourselves.
Suzanne is going to have a kid real soon so she can eventually collect on all those taxes she pays into local education. suzanne.danforth@gmailcom.
