Letter to the Editor

Larry Murray 1/16/2014

There is an old maxim that reads: “Excuses are like a…; everybody has one.” That certainly seems to be the case with Superintendent Porter when it comes to defending the District’s dismal record in responding to Public Records Requests.

According to Porter, the problem is systemic and he claims that it is “less obstruction (than) that we just can’t find them.” That simply is not true. In the last eighteen months, I have made over 30 PRR’s of the District. Every single one of them was for a document or documents that were easily identifiable and retrievable. The District had no difficulty finding what I wanted. To the contrary, the problem was in producing them.

A year ago, when I threatened suit and engaged the services of Dennis Ward to obtain reports from the District’s Waste, Fraud and Abuse Hotline after months of waiting, the documents were immediately produced. When I filed suit a few months ago to obtain documents, once again they were immediately produced. The simple fact of the matter is that in both instances, the District had the documents and just did not want to release them to me.

Three years ago, when I was on the District’s Audit and Finance Committee, I raised the issue of records management and implored the District to do a better job. Promises were made that were not kept. Once again, Superintendent Porter makes hollow promises of replacing the “defective” records management system, stating that he anticipated “a decision within six months to replace that system.” If it is going to take six months to make a decision, how long will it take to implement a new system?

In short, Superintendent Porter is simply kicking the can down the road, telling people to be patient and that in a year or two or three, he will have the system “fixed”. Believe that and I have a bridge in New York that I would like to sell you.

Bear in mind that Superintendent Porter first dallied and then balked at the legal requirement that the District appoint a Records Management Liaison Officer. He did not want to make that appointment, the first step in improving the District’s records management, and asked legal staff if he had to do so. Porter only made the appointment when told that he had to. I ask you: Is that the behavior of someone who is sincerely interested in improving records management?

Porter’s approach to records management appears to be an all or nothing. He is unwilling to institute intermediate steps, preferring instead to wait for months or years and the installation of a new system that may never come. There is much that he could do now, but he is simply unwilling to do anything. Basically, he is telling everyone, the press included, that you are just going to have to live with the inadequate system that exists.

The inability or unwillingness of the District to properly maintain records has an impact beyond PRR’s. The District is preparing to go to court to sue Coastal Construction for records associated with the HOB construction project. These are records that the District had every right to during the project, but never asked for them. The records are the supporting documentation for bills submitted by Coastal. Instead of asking Coastal at the time the bills were presented for substantiation, the District went ahead and paid the bills with no evidence of either their accuracy or veracity.

Remember that great song from “Annie”, “Tomorrow, tomorrow….” The District has and has had major problems with records management and the best the Superintendent can offer is “tomorrow”.

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