Some of you may have seen the front page of the Scranton Times this week.  For those who haven’t, I got an appointment to the Scranton School Board.  So, I’m a Director.  That means, in addition to a campaign and a toddler and a baby on a way, I’m the steward of 10,000 city students.

Since I’m a public servant, it’s my job to tell you what I’ve learned and what I’m doing.  And it’s your job, if you’re interested or have a vested stake, to tell me what you want to see.  Many of you have.  Keep it coming.  (tom.borthwick@ssdedu.org)

I suppose I didn’t know what to expect.  For example, I didn’t expect that Board members receive agendas the Friday before a Board meeting BY COURIER.  Conceptually, it’s cool.  Like a throwback to an 1800s-style delivery system.  E-mail is cool, too, though.  I’ll put it on the list.

Speaking of a list, mine keeps growing and growing.  I’ll summarize for everybody and probably actually publish them, since I want to be as transparent about my work as possible.

Most of what’s on the list deals with meeting district officials in order to learn both their perspectives and their contributions to solving district problems (the biggest of which is, of course, the looming state takeover, which itself is a result of the financial disaster we’re in).  After that, the next most common item involves document requests and research.  While I’m familiar with district doings, I’m sure a private citizen has less access to information than a Board member, so I’m reviewing literally hundreds of pages of documentation.  This includes re-reading (for the 4th time) the Auditor General’s most recent report and looking at various PFM reports, the most recent fact-finder’s report, and on and on.

Suffice it to say, I’ve got a lot of reading.  It actually reminds me of when I was working on my Master’s and studying dystopian fiction.  I’d read one essay or book and mark it up with dozens of follow-up questions and areas for further research.  It’s been much the same as I read what I’ve got, so I’m sure these 600 or so pages will bloom to well over 1,000 in no time.

Thankfully, I love reading.  Although I’d rather read the Ray Chandler book in front of me (The Annotated Big Sleep— it’s wonderful) than a PFM report.  I’ll take what I can get, I suppose.

As for what I’ve done…  Here goes:

• Met with the SFT to hear their concerns and offer my ideas for issues important to them.  I’m sure this will be an ongoing event.
• Met with Dr. Kirijan to discuss my priorities, concerns, and ideas.  I’m sure this will also be an ongoing event.
• Met with Barbara Dixon and talked extensively with Katie Gilmartin (who heads the Policy Committee) about how to actually DO things.   There’s a chain-of-command and policies related to accomplishing things and I walked in with absolutely zero understanding of that.  Now I know that if I want to work on Intergovernmental issues (something I’ve pushed for many years), I need to talk to Gilmartin and Paul Duffy, who are in charge of that committee.
• Reached out to Mark McAndrew, Tom Schuster, Bob Lesh, and Katie Gilmartin to let them know I’m looking forward to working with them (as well as the rest, of course).   I’ve been critical of McAndrew, Schuster, and Lesh for various reasons in the past and if we are going to work together, it’s got to be a blank slate.  So I’m letting go and hope they’ll follow suit.  I had positive responses from McAndrew and Lesh and none from Schuster, but that’s alright.  I’m committed to working to save this district with whomever will work with me.  As for Gilmartin, she voted against me, but I’ve always been a supporter of hers.  I reached out to express my willingness to work with her, despite her vote.  She’s been very helpful in my tradition from the bench to starter.  Like I said, past is past.  We have to– have to— come together, or the district will collapse.
• Reached out to Paige Cognetti, who is the state bus contract guru, in order to get whatever information I could to fully understand what’s happening on the bus front.  She told me she wasn’t able to talk about it, but directed me to people who could help, so figuring out the right questions to ask and then asking them of these people are on my list.  Understanding and handling the debacle that is the bus contract is high on the priority list.  I suspect more will become clear as the Recovery Officer gets involved.
• Interviewed candidates for athletic positions.  This was one I didn’t expect to be doing.  I’m on Personnel, so that’s my job now.  I’m happy to do it and it was a learning experience.
• Was the subject of my first Chris Kelly column!  It’s pretty cool, since I’ve followed his coverage of the district forever.  Just an FYI, I was also educated in Scranton Schools (West Side, class of 2000) and I actually believe, with the possible exception of Barb Dixon, that I’m the most educated person on the Board.  Obviously that doesn’t make me any better or worse than anybody else, but people questioned me about those things because the article seemed like it implied I was not.
• Spent a lot of time responding to constituent concerns.  This is very rewarding for me.  I don’t have all the answers, but I’m damn sure going to help to get them for people.  Lots of teachers, especially, reached out to talk about issues in the district, particularly their respective buildings.  I’m also on Buildings & Grounds!  So I can be helpful here, too.  I tell everybody I talk to: hold me accountable.  If I haven’t taken care of your issue, keep kicking me in the ass until I do.  I genuinely consider it a favor.  My notebook has pages and pages of notes and things will get lost in the shuffle.  I’m not a one man army, I know that.  But I take public service seriously, so I’m doing what I can to be the public servant I would want to represent me.  Anybody who wants to contact me can e-mail me or send me a message on Facebook.  As a disclaimer, while I keep my profile public, I don’t accept friend requests from people I don’t know, so don’t take offense.  Just reach out via Messenger to let me know why the request is coming.
• Had my last Parking Authority meeting.  You know, I’m sorry to be leaving.  The city is on an upward trajectory and my work there, alongside my fellow Authority members, has helped the city recover.  If I have time (which will likely be a big, fat “NO”), I’ll write about it.  The SPA and Council of yesteryear led to a default that damaged the city’s credit rating immensely and handicapped Mayor Courtright’s ability to dig us out of the abyssal hole we used to be in.  Monetizing the SPA required me to review a few novels worth of proposals and NDC was far and away the best.  And now we have repaired garages, a new meter/kiosk system on the way for the streets, a unified parking system across both private and public garages, and a stable financial situation.  Honestly, I’m proud.

That’s a sample of what I’ve done.  I’ve been on the job 5 days.  My poor wife and son.  You know, two days ago I got home in time to put the little guy to bed.  I said, “I’m sorry I haven’t been around this week.  I hope you know I’m doing this for you.”  He said, “I know,” and then dove into the crib and fell fast asleep.  I don’t know whether he understood me or not, since he’s only 23 months old, but he said what I needed to hear.

What’s left on my to-do list?

Save the district from collapse.

Thankfully, I’ve got a lot of people beside me who want to do the same.