As I've said before, I stand ready and willing to write up a great GrayRobinson story if one of you Brickell shmarties will send me some material.

In the meantime I see Billy Shields writes up the School Board selection yesterday of GrayRobinson partner Walter Harvey to serve as General Counsel:

Miami-Dade School Board member Renier Diaz de la Portilla quit his job at GrayRobinson, clearing the way for him to cast the decisive vote today in appointing his former partner Walter Harvey as the school system’s general counsel.

Diaz de la Portilla recused himself from a vote last month to select the district’s new legal counsel, after the DBR raised questions about a possible conflict in his support for Harvey, who worked at the same law firm and served on a public board for which Diaz de la Portilla lobbied.

As a result, the board deadlocked 4-4 between Harvey and Robert Tischenkel, a former Key West city attorney, and decided to start over its selection process.

Harvey serves on the board of trustees of the Public Health Trust, the governing body for the Jackson Health System, and Diaz de la Portilla is a registered lobbyist for Jackson Health System.

Diaz de la Portilla obtained an opinion from the state Commission on Ethics on Friday saying he was within his rights to vote after ending his relationship with GrayRobinson. The commission determined the Jackson relationship was not a conflict. Diaz de la Portilla announced today he was planning to vote to reopen the selection issue and rescind the previous decision to start selection over.

In an interview, Diaz de la Portilla said his decision to leave GrayRobinson had nothing to do with the vote.

Board members Agustin Barrera, Marta Perez and Perla Tabares Hantman voiced opposition, but the most caustic comment came from a member of the public. Board member Lawrence Feldman, who had previously supported Tischenkel was absent.

“You need to get an outside committee” to make this selection, Helen B. Williams, a former teacher, said during the public hearing. “It’s obvious you don’t know how to get anybody other than a crook.”

I happen to think Walter is very qualified, but is this really the right way to select a GC for the School Board?

I happened to be listening to the School Board meeting yesterday, and you couldn't wish that job on me if you tried -- what a bunch of nudnicks, you can keep those billables if you ask me.

But there's got to be a better way than this to instill confidence and transparency into the selection process.

Remember when noted Radical Black Communist Nelson Mandela came to Miami, and our public officials earned everlasting international scorn by acting like a complete bunch of close-minded, reactionary idiots?

Well we have another noted Radical Black Communist who wants to spread his message all over our kids, so let's dust off the Mandela playbook:

But Miami-Dade schools will not mass broadcast the speech, spokesman John Schuster said. Teachers who wish to show the address will have to live stream it from the White House website. What students who opt out will do during the 15- or 20-minute speech is up to each school.

So it will not be made available at all to any teacher on the public school system television, and instead teachers will have to stream the speech over the web on their classroom computers?

Too bad with budget cuts there are few working computers in the schools, and those that do function are unlikely to be able to stream the speech without significant technical issues.

Let's hear school board member Marta Perez calmly explain her completely reasonable thought process:

``To force students to sit in a classroom where it's easy to get students because they're in school, because it's a captive audience, and to even send out lesson plans -- it's reminiscent of totalitarian governments like Castro.''

Exactly!

And with lesson plans no less -- what is wrong with this man?

I'm sure Ms. Perez would have felt the same way if President Bush (a white non-communist) wished to speak to the students, and she would have made the exact same fair-minded and totally rational comparison to Fidel Castro.

The NYT put it well today:

There is, of course, nothing socialist in any of Mr. Obama’s policies, as anyone with a passing knowledge of socialism and its evil history knows. But in this country, unlike actual socialist countries, nobody can be compelled to listen to the president. What is most disturbing about all this is what it says about the parents — and the fact that they have such little regard for their children’s intelligence and ability to think.

I don't mind the parents so much, they are not policymakers.

But the elected educators?