This week the Brevard County Commission and the Brevard School Board elected their chairmen for the next year.The two boards went in vastly different directions.The commission chose to follow protocol and elevate a new commissioner who has been nothing short of divisive in his first year on the job.The school board ignored that same protocol that automatically places the serving vice chair in the chairmanship and upended the game a bit.One of these two did the right thing.It wasn’t the county commission.
The county commission did what it always does and went along to get along even though there was plenty of reason to send a strong message to, now chair, Bryan Lober.Lober has been involved in lengthy and contentious, unprofessional debate with several Brevard citizens in his freshman year on the job.His words were nothing shy of nasty and callous and were unbecoming of an elected official.His adamant defense of his tirades showed him to be stuck in a position where his personal whims were more important than his job.The commission should have censured him after his public attacks on multiple citizens in multiple forums.
To his credit, Chairman Lober has demonstrated considerably more restraint in recent months and the incidents of this raucous behavior seem, at least for the moment, to be behind him.It is my sincere hope that he has learned the lessons of his bad deeds as he moves to chair the commission for this next year.
The school board, on the other hand, delivered a strong message to then and current Vice Chair Matt Susin.In a 3-2 vote they turned back the automatic promotion and placed Misty Belford in the chairmanship.Misty was competent as the chair previously and will do an outstanding job as Tina Descovich cedes the role to Belford.Belford then nominated Susin to remain in the vice chairmanship, a position he graciously accepted upon the board’s unanimous vote.
Matt Susin is a passionate advocate for schools and teachers, and there is nothing wrong with that; but he also forgot his job when he decided marching with and publicly speaking of his support of the teachers’ union in their battles with the district were appropriate in his role as board member.Those acts were far from appropriate as the board sits in judgment of the contract when impasse is the situation, as it was with the 2018-19 compensation package.Susin’s judgment was compromised and the chairman of the board must exhibit far better judgment than that in fulfilling the associated duties.One must wonder if gaining union support for an upcoming election was more important than doing the job he was elected to do.
In both cases the deal is done and the die is cast.In one situation it’s business as usual.In the other, the school board may have just taught one of its own a lesson and build a better chairman then they would have otherwise gotten the next time around.
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