"Been There Done That"
Why Doesn't School Board Member Leslie Moriarty Want The Hamilton Avenue School Parents To Independently Test The Contaminated Modular Classrooms?Gina DeMartis' son had constant headaches and occasional nose bleeds. Mina Bibeault's daughter complained of frequent headaches and burning eyes, while her son often had a runny nose. Donna Ortoli's son also suffered from similar health ailments.
These three Hamilton Avenue School parents are among those worried that their children's health symptoms are linked to conditions at the modular school building. Officials shut down the school last month after officials found a significant mold infestation in the roof eaves and crawl space.
"My child has a cold now, is it related?" DeMartis asked. "Maybe the mold spores are on the books they got from the classroom? You don't know what to believe anymore."
With Hamilton Avenue School students dispersed to different schools across the town, parents are calling on the Board of Education to allow their own experts into the moldy modular buildings to perform their own tests and investigation....
"If the Board of Ed has nothing to hide, they should allow us in," Mina Bibeault said. "Board of Ed, if you feel 120-percent confident in your results, you should roll out the red carpet."
...Another indoor air quality specialist also not connected to the Hamilton Avenue School testing said there are no hard and fast rules.
"It's very hard to comment because there's no one size fits all answer," said Paula Schenck, assistant director of the Farmington-based Center for Indoor Environments and Health at the University of Connecticut. "You have to look at the individual situation."
She said while mold is easily cleaned from some furniture, particularly metal, it is more difficult to rid from paper and other organic materials. Schenck said that while some small amount of mold can be naturally occuring indoors, it should be kept to an absolutely minimum.
"It's complicated because what you don't want is mold growing on materials inside," Schenck said. "Mold is a very normal part of our ecology but you don't want it growing inside. It's not a healthy environment inside."
In addition to mold, parents also fear the presence of formaldehyde in the modulars. Schwartz said the chemical is present in ultra-low concentrations, but parents also dispute that finding and want their own tests. Formaldehyde causes cancer in lab animals and may cause cancer in humans, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
"What irks me about the formaldehyde is it could be a good five years before my kids get diagnosed," Bibeault said.
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For Greenwich’s worst public schools administrators, failure is not an option.
Literally.
Believe it or not, the Greenwich Board Of Education is considering a request to drop the label “underperforming” for failing school administrators . Instead the Greenwich BOE would declare these failing school administrators “Greenwich Priority” administrators.“When high paid administrators are labeled as underachieving, I don’t see what it serves other than just to call them out,” said School Board Of Education Chairman Nancy Weissler. “When the single family home owner hears ‘underperforming,’ school superintendent the average taxpayer thinks the students might be underperforming too.”
Gee, Nancy, I can’t imagine why.
If we could just keep Betty "You Can Trust Me" Sternberg around for at least ten more years, then we can have an entire generation of students being graduated who can’t read their own arrest reports or calculate their own bail, and then the single family home owners and taxpayers just might get the crazy idea that this is some sort of failure.
"It’s just not fair!", Nancy and Betty were heard to scream in a Board Of Education conference room.
Everyday people in what failed school administrators call the “dreaded private sector” can only shake our heads.
If only our job performance were judged by standards this low. If only we could get our boss to reclassify “losing the company’s top three most valuable clients” as “an opportunity to look forward in a positive manner.”
Alas, no. We’re stuck in the real world, where results matter far more than labels.
The world where, theoretically, our public school students will one day be expected to get jobs and pay their own bills. If not, they may end up on the unemployment line.
Or as it’s known at Greenwich Board Of Education, the "Opportunity To Look Forward In A Positive Manner" Line.
Maybe School Board Of Education Chairman Nancy Weissler Should Keep Our Incompetent School Superintendent And Her Failed, er, "Priority One" administrators around a little longer.
The word around town is that these high paid "Priority One" school administrators are refusing accept failure. Their strategy is for kids who can’t do basic math, will be refered to as “non-traditionally enumerated.
There are now rumors that Greenwich "Priority One" administrators are developing new alternative testing strategies - commonly known as “cheating”.
Next the "Priority One" school administrators will want to create a new and improved grading system.
Advanced (“smart”); Proficient (“competent”); Needs Improvement (“good enough for government work”) and Warning (“Fries with that?”).
Like a fish a school system rots from the head down.
Featured Greenwich Blog Post:
International Potluck Party
By claudette
...Some dishes on the menu were, curry goat, curry chicken, kugel, rum punch, rice and peas, black eye peas and short ribs Trinidadian roti, and many desserts that represent how sweet it is to live in the United States of America the country we now ALL call home.
The guests at the party were a wonderful reminder of how positive diversity is. There were guests from the Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, St.Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, Venezuela, Ireland, Italy, England, Canada, Greece, Holland, Puerto Rico, India and some other countries that I can not think of (too much rum punch). Most of the guests now call Greenwich home, which shows that Greenwich is more diverse than what some people think. This is another great reason why Gary and I chose to call Greenwich home....
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Gina DeMartis' son had constant headaches and occasional nose bleeds. Mina Bibeault's daughter complained of frequent headaches and burning eyes, while her son often had a runny nose. Full Story Railroad to study its announcements STAMFORD -- Metro-North Railroad is about to launch a study of how to overhaul its public address system. Full Story By Meredith Blake Staff Writer Joe Ricciardi, 75, remembered sneaking into the Hamilton Avenue School gymnasium after hours, in the dark, with only flashlights, to play a quick pick-up game of basketball. Full Story Parking Fund fading The town's Parking Fund, which was once the envy of politicians struggling to find money for projects other than the construction of public garages or land acquisition, has been virtually wiped out. Full Story By Meredith Blake Staff Writer Several families and boat enthusiasts braved the chilly weather over the weekend to test drive the more than 75 boats at the Greenwich Water Club, In-Water Boat Show. Full Story New operating In response to a large increase in surgeries performed, Greenwich Hospital will open three new operating rooms. Full Story Greenwich Republicans and Democrats are already maneuvering behind the scenes to see how they can work the state's new system of funding of campaigns with taxpayer dollars to their advantage. Full Story | |
Boeing's stake purchase in venture may not solve delay woes for 787
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Boeing continues damage control on two fronts
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Jeff Wilpon won't rest until Amazin' mission is complete
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Boeing buys Vought venture to stem 787 delays
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William the Green Garbage Truck
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Police: Man Knew Key Details Of Killing
One of two men charged this week in the 2006 slaying of a wealthy Greenwich developer was arrested after telling investigators secret details of the crime, a police official said Thursday.
Forclosures now reach into affluent Greenwich
In recent months, foreclosures have touched some of the most affluent communities in New York and Connecticut, including the Town Of Greenwich.
Recently, there have been Foreclosure proceedings on Alden Road, Bible Street, Church Street West, Lafayette Place, Locust Street, Pemberwick Road Riverside Avenue, Ronald Lane, Woodland Drive and many other streets in Greenwich.
What are our Federal, State politicians going to do to help Greenwich Single Family Home Owners from losing their piece of the American Dream?
What local, state and federal resources are available to help the single family home owners of Greenwich?
Please send comments to
GreenwichRoundup@gmail.com
One dividend of the arrests of Kissel's personal assistant and his relative for the real estate developer's death is halting repeated black eyes from pundits and writers who've derided Greenwich police over Kissel and other cases....
...Ridberg was referring to the 1975 bludgeoning of Martha Moxley in Belle Haven, which remained unsolved until the arrest of Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel in 2000 and his conviction two years later, and the still-unsolved 1984 murder of 12-year-old Pemberwick boy Matthew Margolies.Brewster, N.Y., true crime authors Kevin McMurray and Joe McGinniss both published Kissel books last year that implied Greenwich detectives would bungle the case, Ridberg said.
"The Andrew Kissel case is currently in the hands of the Greenwich Police Department, a fact that doesn't bode well for a timely resolution for this murder mystery," McMurray wrote.
In his book, "Andrew and Robert Kissel: A Family Cursed" McMurray cited the still unsolved Margolies killing as an indication that police would not crack the Kissel murder.
In the book McMurray urged police to abandon their focus on Carlos Trujillo and investigate other possible killers, especially the possibility the killer was associated with an olive oil importing business Kissel was a partner in based in Sicily.
McMurray remains unconvinced with the premise that Trujillo is involved, he said.
"Unless they have some earth shattering evidence that leaves no doubt he is the one," McMurray said this week. "Until I see that evidence I think he's innocent."...
...Last year in his book "Never Enough," McGinniss wrote that the department was spinning its wheels in the case, which he speculated investigators considered a low priority.
"While Greenwich police were quick to pounce on anyone found water skiing after sunset, the town was a great place to get away with murder," McGinniss wrote...
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Jeff Wilpon won't rest until Amazin' mission is complete
It's five o'clock in the morning in Greenwich, Conn., the land of high net worth and billion-dollar hedge funds, and inside one of these tony, new-money homes, a creature of habit is already stirring — and beginning to sweat.
Jeff Wilpon, 46, one of the most vilified New York City sports figures in recent years but who has more and more become the face of Mets' ownership, is pedaling furiously on his stationary bike, something he does for an hour every day.
It's said by those who know Wilpon best that from this point on he won't come to anything resembling a complete stop until, incredibly, around 10 at night, moving steadily throughout his day like some Pac-Man gobbling up everything in his path, seemingly checking off one item after the next — in exact order, no less — from a carefully-prepared, if not overly ambitious list ...
"I'm not in this," he once said without a twitch of doubt, when the world was against him at the beginning, "not to achieve my goal."
From the time he entered our consciousness, circa 2001, Jeff Wilpon, who "politely" declined to be interviewed for this story, appeared to us as nothing but a poster boy of nepotism, thrust by his dad into the Mets' organization despite not having on his resume a sliver of hardball management experience. Combine that with his arrival coinciding with the team's sudden descent into oblivion, eventually straight to the bottom of the National League East, and it made for a situation that was no-win from the get-go, where he might as well as had a "Kick Me!" sign taped on his back.
In fact, it took little time for one local columnist to playfully dub him Paris Wilpon, conjuring an unseemly image of a spoiled, empty-headed dolt running around out of control on nothing but unearned money, whose only claim to fame was being an heir to a family fortune.
It didn't help that whatever suspicions people had about Jeff's substance were made that much worse by the fear and loathing of his out-of-the-gate, rough-edged style. To those within the inner sanctum of Metland, he was seen early on, according to sources and published accounts, as something of a pugnacious punk, someone who'd only remove the silver spoon born in his mouth to rap people over the head with it: snooty, abrasive, impatient, short-tempered, unreasonable and a bully over the powerless, who would go so far as to fire an usher for committing the egregious sin of smoking a cigarette on the job.
One revealing story goes back to 2003, Jeff's first full season as COO. The Mets had just finished playing a series against the Expos in Puerto Rico, and they were returning on the team charter. First, however, they needed to go through security on the tarmac, forced to stand on this long, snaking line. It was taking an eternity, too. Jeff, who had stayed behind while his father flew out a day earlier on a private plane, suddenly showed up, taking his place in the back. But after waiting for just a half-minute, he released this snort of an exasperated sigh, lifted up his luggage with a snap, and simply bolted to the front, passing a string of stunned expressions — and forever-altered perceptions.
"It was like, 'I'm more important than everybody else,'" said one eyewitness.
It's these kinds of ugly first impressions that linger to this day, remaining uncomfortably under the surface...
..."I think it was Jeff's lack of experience that made him do some things that rubbed people the wrong way," said one high-level former employee who asked for anonymity. "Overall, I think his intentions were good. He was just trying to get the team going in the right direction. But at times, he didn't come across that way. I think because he's such a highly competitive guy that sometimes it was like he wanted to prove to people that he deserved to be there in that job."
"George Steinbrenner on training wheels," is what the whispers have always said about Jeff, appearing far more like George's boy than Fred's.
"Jeff is regimented, extremely demanding and a perfectionist," Browne said. "He wants to win on the field, he wants to win in business, and he's committed to always being better — that is, at everything, even his golf game. Like last summer, while he was on vacation, he e-mailed me that he hit a 68, which was the first time he had ever broken 70. But what I remember most about that e-mail is that after briefly praising himself for that 68, he wrote — mind you, in the same sentence — about how upset he was for the two shots he blew that would've given him a 66. I mean, he couldn't be happy with himself for more than a split second."....
..."He's changed," Horwitz claimed. "He's mellowed."
"I'll say this," said one employee, "when the Mets were going through their collapse in those last couple of weeks, Jeff not only didn't show any strain but still took the time to come up to me, pat me on the back, tell me I was doing a good job and even asked about my family."
This is not to say, of course, that Jeff Wilpon has magically transformed, but maybe, just maybe, he's evolved a few degrees from those initial Met years, when he was someone so shockingly devoid of social skills that people around him couldn't believe he was related to the regal man who brought him into being.
When you look at the father and son, you quickly see the striking physical resemblance smack in the middle of their faces: that long, thin, upturned nose. But that's where any kind of similarity seems to begin and end. While Fred's lips curl easily into an engaging smile, Jeff's don't, only occasionally managing something akin to a forced grin. While Fred's eyes twinkle, Jeff's barely blink, looking all business, caught in deep thought while possibly pondering the next thing on his agenda. And while Fred exudes a polished elegance and fatherly warmth, as well as being someone famously judicious with his words, Jeff appears raw, impulsive and a bit on the chilly side.
"Jeff doesn't dwell on the emotions (of the job)," said Howard. Like with e-mails — "He prefers getting shorter ones," he said, "and he doesn't like to get the gratuitous, 'OK, thanks,' type of responses. He prefers just, 'Got it. Done.' And that's the end of the chain."...
...By 10, Jeff was already carrying around homemade business cards identifying himself as Sterling Equities' "Director of Construction." It was around 15 years later, in 1986, that his dad made him the company's executive vice president — but not before Fred made his son pay his dues with another builder and three years after, as a catcher, Jeff had an eye-blink of a fling at professional baseball, drafted by the Expos (which, rumor has it, was done as a favor to Fred) and spending a brief time with Class-A Jamestown of the New York-Penn League (though his name reportedly doesn't appear in the team's statistics for that season).What Jeff did last September, especially, was nothing like his dad but straight out of the George Steinbrenner playbook.
Not only did he lower the boom at the worst of times — telling SI.com in the midst of his team balancing perilously on the tipping point: "I'm disappointed with the way the team is performing overall, and that's everyone, top to bottom. I'm disappointed in Omar (Minaya, the general manager), Willie (Randolph), the players ... that's everyone. We shouldn't be in this position," — but once the season ended, reminiscent of Steinbrenner's apology to New York City after the Yankees tanked in the 1981 World Series to the Dodgers, Jeff fired off a letter via e-mail to all Mets season-ticket holders, expressing bitter disappointment over what had happened, conceding they, the fans, indeed deserved much better and promising to fix whatever was wrong.
That attempt at a fix came just days before spring training — in the form of, arguably, the best pitcher in the game, Johan Santana — and Jeff did it exactly the way the Boss in his heyday used to: by first trading away a slew of prospects, then closing the deal with a man-to-man chat and flipping open that fat checkbook of his....
Age: 46
Resides: Greenwich, Conn.
Job: Senior executive vice president and chief operating officer, Mets
Responsibilities: Manages team's business and baseball operations.
Other experience
• Senior executive vice president and chief operating officer, Brooklyn Cyclones
• Executive vice president, Sterling Equities
• Board of directors, New York Hall of Science; NYC & Co.; Greenwich Country Day School; Association for a Better New York
Our two-part series looks at
the men who are emerging from their fathers' shadows as the key players in the management of New York's pro baseball teams.
Today: Mets' Jeff Wilpon
Tomorrow: Yankees' Hank Steinbrenner
These stories will be archived at recordonline.com/sports.
