NutleyWatch community member “Poor Richard” puts his formidable pen to the paper once again, in a timely commentary on current issues in the Belleville school district, and what he views as former board trustee Joe Longo’s role in them.
Poor Richard is a frequent contributor and a favorite among our readers, so I thought he deserved his own personalized banner image. Poor Richard is a reference to Benjamin Franklin and “Poor Richard’s Almanac”.
What do they call a man who starts a fire, then calls the Fire Department to take credit for reporting the fire?
An Arsonist?
(Arson, starting a fire in the pursuit of personal, monetary or political gain.)
What do they call a man who practically bankrupts a school district, putting all of our children in harm’s way, then harasses State and Local officials on TV to get his friends at Clarity paid?
Joe Longo?
Our children were used as hostages to pay Joe’s good friends at Clarity. Many vendors have not been paid, yet continued their services to the district. We recently learned that the last IT company that was in the Belleville School District wasn’t paid for 6 months. They were owed money, but did not cut their services to the district. They had to settle for partial payment when they were replaced by Clarity. They did not sue the district, nor turn off their services.
You can thank the current Board of Education (BOE) for no phones, no email, no computers, no transcripts, and no education for our children. Joe Longo and Jeanne Lombardi sponsored the resolution awarding Clarity the phone, surveillance system, and IT contracts. A company that had been incorporated for less than six months, run by a convicted felon. This is the same company that recently turned the School District’s phone system off. They put all of our students and teachers at risk. The rest of the Board of Education are just as much to blame for this act of extortion since they all approved these contracts.
It was the BOE that has single handedly destroyed the Belleville School District by wasting 5 million dollars. This group has succeeded in giving our children a third world education. Every Belleville child that wants to go to college next year will find it a challenge to get their transcripts to the school of their choice. Every week it is something new that this Board of Education has done to destroy our children’s educational opportunities, raise our taxes, and degrade our community.
Joe Longo was one of the BOE members that put our children in harm’s way, and has taken away their opportunity for a quality education. Then he has the nerve to go on TV to promote himself as the champion of the children. He is thumbing his nose at the residents of Belleville, as well as State and Federal Law Enforcement.
When will Joe Longo and the Board of Education be held accountable for their actions?
Every parent and resident in Belleville needs to go to the Board of Education meeting this Monday October 20th . We will finally get to see the horrendous results of this Board of Education’s actions over the last 2 years.
The State Report on the status of our school district (QSAC) will be released. Bets are it will be much worse than we have been led to believe.
Belleville will not get better until we replace this Board of Education. This is the worst Board of Education in Belleville’s history.
On November 4th we need to vote for the candidates that do not support, nor are supported by, this current Board of Education.
This is not a political disagreement, it is a fight for the survival of Belleville as a community. This is a fight for the right of every Belleville student to get a quality education. This is a fight for affordable taxes.
Please get your friends and family out to vote on November 4th.
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