Quick Hits – July 30, 2024

Quick Hits – July 30, 2024

Let’s kick this Quick Hits off with some good news!

On a positive note!

One of the things I truly miss about the pre-MAGA era is the sense that business is business and friendship is friendship and the two shouldn’t get in the way of each other. Back then, I could write a morning column chastising an elected or public office and sit down and have a beer with them that afternoon.

Now, everything is personal.

Harkening back to that time, despite my occasionally taking on my hometown in print, the late great Geneva code enforcer, Chuck Lencioni, and I had some of the best conversations on a number of fascinating topics, not the least of which covered Geneva’s unique downtown. Like me, Chuck feared those merchants’ unerring capacity to “hang separately” would eventually do that business district in, and once it was gone, it was never coming back.

Think Long Grove.

Chuck Lencioni

So, as you might imagine, Chuck was the first person that came to mind when I heard about how those Third Street merchants swiftly came together to provide elbow grease and the requisite supplies to help Pärla clean up after a devastating interior fire.

For reference purposes, Pärla is a consignment shop at 122 Hamilton Street. There’s no foul play involved as the fire appears to have started organically on the first floor before spreading to the second floor. Thankfully, the Geneva Fire Department arrived before it could get out of hand, dousing the blaze in just 20 minutes.

While Parla is certainly facing a daunting recovery, it’s heartening to know that, particularly in this partisan day and age, those downtown Geneva merchants can hang together when hanging together can make all the difference between survival and a cookie cutter downtown.

“Chuck! Perhaps there’s hope for our unique downtown yet!”

Have I said I miss Chuck Lencioni?

 

On an even more positive note!

The First Ward wasn’t shy about going after former D304 Superintendent Kent Mutchler and his narcissistic crusade to twist the school district into his warped image at every possible turn. I described how micromanaged staffers were terrified to do their jobs, bullies were allowed to reign unchecked, a strict caste system was tacitly enforced, and staff morale had generally hit rock bottom.

D304 hemorrhaged a number of good people as a result.

But to coin a phrase, “What a difference a day makes,” as long as we understand our metaphorical “day” to consist of 1.5 years. Because in that blink of an institutional eye, new Superintendent Andrew Barrett has turned the lumbering battleship known as D304 completely around.

The changes sit on the subtle side, but if you’re paying attention you can see the difference.

Barrett wisely chose not to renew Facility Operations Director Scott Ney’s contract in June, buying out the 21-year district veteran for a more than reasonable $16,000 severance. Any potential litigation would’ve cost D304 at least twice that.

Ney made local headlines when his former employees accused him of harassment and abuse that was so bad many of them quit after referring to his tenure as “pure hell.” Rather than continue to beat a dead horse, Barrett wisely chose to put this unnecessary headache behind them.

I ran into Mr. New once and let’s just say it was a fascinating encounter.

In an equally reassuring move, Barrett also put the federal bullying lawsuit by the parents of the then seventh-grade special needs student in the rear-view mirror, settling it for $60,000. That’s something Mutchler should’ve done right off the bat.

With those thorn-in-the-paw issues in the rearview mirror and fresh air wafting in through those thrust open windows, D304 is truly poised to move forward.

As a result of those and smaller measures, I’ve seen staff morale improve on a monthly basis. It was almost impossible to get staffers to talk to me for fear of losing their jobs for doing so. But now I’ve had some cordial email conversations with those formerly fearful folks, including a lengthy one on potentially overloaded student backpacks, with Mr. Barrett himself.

An insider recently told me, considering Barrett’s capacity to build bridges, district morale is at an all-time high, a feat which would indicate the days of walking on those Fourth Street eggshells are a thing of the past.

I have to give the current board a great deal of credit for this shift, because they took a chance by hiring a candidate who’s been with the district since 2006. Conventional wisdom dictates that, when it comes to superintendents, you should hire an outsider because then everyone gets a fresh start.

But considering Mutchler’s reign of terror, I fervently believe this is a case where 18 years of hard-earned experience gleaned from having a front row seat to what does – and doesn’t work – makes Barrett the right person for the job.

Perhaps this board actually learned something from how poorly previous iterations dealt with Mutchler’s antics. I understand that even the best people can be taken in by narcissists, but I cannot begin fathom how previous board presidents Dean Kilburg and Mark Grosso supported Mutchler when it became abundantly clear that he was the problem.

To that end, I asked another source, considering that even former board member Leslie Juby finally caught on, how did Kent Mutchler get away with deleterious conduct for 17 long years. They said nobody really knows.

But enough of that. Though my children are well past their D304 days, a strong school district is a critical factor in having a strong community and I have high hopes that Mr. Barrett will continue to take what can only be described as a perilous proposition and move it forward. 

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