Willliam Marvel: Team Lentini?

In the telling of former school board chairman Joe Lentini, he emerged from voter-mandated retirement to volunteer for an unexpired term because he still wants to serve “the kids.” To others (including me), it appears instead that his ego was so bruised by his electoral loss on April 12 that he saw the resignation of another member as a chance to circumvent his defeat by appealing to his old allies on the board. That would afford him a significant advantage in his almost-certain campaign for another full term in the spring.

There are also two potentially credible interpretations of the school board’s Aug. 8 action on that issue. On the one hand, it’s possible that Lentini’s three champions among the six remaining members somehow underestimated the extent of public dissatisfaction with Lentini’s supercilious deportment in the chair. It could also be that all three of them were unaware that the resort to ranked-choice voting amounted to a violation of Robert’s Rules — and thus their own board policy, which declares that their proceedings will be guided by Robert’s Rules. After all, under Lentini’s chairmanship the board engaged in a similar violation last October, to install Lentini’s self-confessed admirer in another vacant position.