Winston Brooks wants to change public perceptions of the APS

... just not by being candid, forthright, and honest with
stakeholders.

During the public forum at last night's school board meeting
I suggested that there is a public perception that the
leadership of the APS is so riddled with corruption and
incompetence, that they could not survive an honest audit.

And that the quickest way to change that perception would
be to do an audit, showing stakeholders a clean bill of health.

There wouldn't be a clean bill of health of course, because
the leadership of the APS is riddled with corruption and
incompetence;

if if were not, the audit would be the most effective $100K
publicity repair that they could ever do.

Winston Brooks could not look me in the eye for the
entire two minutes; neither could Marty Esquivel, my
representative on the board. Paula Maes doesn't look up,
nor does Robert Lucero. Gordon Rowe rarely pays attention
to anything that's going on, and Berna Facio fades in and out.

Mary Lee Martin and Delores Griego looked me right
in the eyes for the entire two minutes. One might assume
that they were paying attention, and would one might
hope that they would act on what they heard.

The choices are simple, yet difficult.

Public perception is that the leadership of the APS is
corrupt, incompetent, and unwilling to be honest about the
issue; that they are unwilling to clean their own house.

Conducting an impartial audit would reveal all or most of
the problems, which would be an immediate and severe hit
to the image that Winston Brooks and others would like the
district to have.

At the same time, it would prove that they are willing
at least, to be honest about the problems.

Instead, they will pretend that the issue of an audit has
never come up; they will stonewall; the only defense of an
indefensible position.

Their refusal to even discuss the audit publicly cements
the perception that they have something to hide.

And for as long as they are hiding something,
the public perception of the leadership of the APS
will be that they are unworthy of our trust,
and unworthy of even one more passed mill levy or bond
issue.

This chicken will come home to roost.