‘Apparent deceit’ by School District board member
Posted on February 12, 2022 by Sonoma Valley Sun
Sonoma Valley Unified School District Trustee John Kelly doesn’t seem to know when it’s time to do the right thing. If his alleged allegations against superintendent Palazuelos and other school board members plotting against parents has any merit, he should’ve stood up and objected right then. He should’ve said, “This is not proper, it’s against everything we are supposed to stand for, it’s illegal, and I won’t participate in it.” If there is any truth to what he is saying, then apparently he sat passively and listened. That description doesn’t match his personality. Kelly described apparent collusion and deceit of public trust during a school board meeting in 2017 involving tens of millions of dollars (youtu.be/cfxLPsXrjg4?t=8065).
When Kelly didn’t want the public to see posters showing heat levels on artificial turf proving fatal to children every year, associated injuries dramatically increasing on artificial turf, and three artificial turf fires in the Northwest, he called a point of order to eliminate parents and commenters from ever bring posters to meetings again.
His relationship with the contractors going to install the artificial turf at the new high school stadium is unclear, but it’s clear he was willing to risk harm to school children to get the turf installed. When he made that motion he should’ve stopped himself and apologized. He should’ve said, “I’m sorry, I just realized I was violating your First Amendment Right to Freedom of Speech, and how silly would it be for a learning institution to not allow visual aids in meetings, that would go against everything a learning institution is about.” But he didn’t.
Universities teach ethics and when to take action when laws are broken and civil rights violated. While earning a bachelor degree in marketing, multiple professors always drilled us on staying away from any collusion or anti-competition conversations in future business meetings. The Project Labor Agreement that Kelly is defending is exactly one of those issues professors warned us about because it’s pure anti-competition.
We were instructed to stand up, and make a statement against the conversation or activity taking place, make sure our statement was memorable, and then leave the meeting. If the crime was on a grand scale, we were to report it to the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department, immediately, even if it cost us our job.
John Kelly, though an attorney, seems to have a pattern of missing the appropriate moment to do the right thing when alleged improprieties take place. His allegations seem to show up at later dates, apparently convenient to his agenda. The time to do the right thing is immediately when laws are being broken, and he continually fails to do that.
— Stewart Saunders, Sonoma
