"but now that the room is done,

board member robert lucero added, there's not much we can do."

"...when i look at the (justifiable) needs of the district,
it's kind of tough..." (to defend the extravagance).

robert lucero, and the other elected members of the school board, have a responsibility to protect the public interests, including public resources that have been allocated to the administration of the public schools. they are content to sit back and blame administrators, dodging their own accountability for the system that allows projects like an unnecessary boardroom to be completed before their need is justified or even subjected to critical review.

aps administrator john dufay, is quoted by the trib as saying, original plans for the boardroom were too pricey, so he scaled back to minimize controversy over the cost. the room would have been more luxurious and extravagant if not for the controversy.

he didn't scale back so the resources could be better used; he scaled back to avoid additional disclosures and public outrage over a project that cannot be justified in the first place.

one doesn't have to squint too hard to read between those lines.

the truth is that there is much that the board can do (to prevent additional squandering of precious resources by administrators whose nest feathering is limited only by avoiding excessive public outrage and) to make sure that resources are spent according to the public interests.

the first thing the board can do is to begin an impartial audit that will expose all of the other extravagances that are currently limited only by the fear of exposure and accountability. he and the board could make the administration of the public interests in the public schools absolutely transparent.

he will not; the board will not; and not one of them will entertain questions about why they will not.

the administration of the public trust and treasure in the leadership of the aps is beyond public influence or control. both have been usurped.