Trails in the Sand by Peter Traceit, the Street Detective
It would seem Ol Peter Traceit isn’t the only one excavating the soil for clues. Ol Pete was hit with an email that contained a message from a “Dr. Joe” that reads, “I want to make sure you are aware that only the Superintendent and his named Direct Reports are to have conversations with and/or respond directly with board members. If a board member contacts you, you are to refer it to me so I can either respond or direct to the Superintendent.”
Holy Smoke, Batman!
But it doesn’t stop there. The excerpt from Dr. Joe concluded with, “Dr. Licata will consider anyone who violates this to be insubordinate and violating the chain of command, (sic) he will take appropriate action. Thanks!”
The Street Detective did some digging to determine who Dr. Joe is and concluded that he is most likely Dr. Josiah Phillips, Chief Information Officer for Broward schools.
The Detective’s further inspection of the document reveals that this is not new. The email was sent on September 14, almost two months ago, and there was a letter attached to back Dr. Joe’s reminder. This backup letter was sent by Super Licata to the Board members on July 26, 2023 detailing his expectation that all communications with staff should cease and only go through him or his Direct Reports who are: Jamie Alberti, Chief Safety and Security Officer; Dr. Howard Hepburn, Deputy Superintendent of Teaching and Learning; Judith Marte, Deputy Superintendent of Finance and Operations; Dr. Josiah Phillips, Chief Information Officer; John Sullivan, Chief Communications and Legislative Affairs Officer and Dr. Valerie Wanza, Chief of Staff.
It would seem that some employees needed a reminder in September of the edict exacted in July. Super Licata is quickly becoming Super LiGotti, and Ol Pete doesn’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing. To some extent, there has to be some order and it would seem Super LiGotti (Licata) established such and identified ranking officers early. He became Broward’s school superintendent on July 11, 2023, and sent the email to Board members describing these communication expectations two weeks later on July 26.
Detective Traceit is told to some, the directive is necessary for the effective conduct of business, but to others, it is the beginning of a mob culture where “snitches get stitches”.
Ol Pete breathed a sigh of relief on October 26 when Dr. Jeff Holness had the courage to attend a conversation with the NAACP on Education Matters. For the first time, Holness was featured alone without Oz. This may have been because his usual sidekick, Senator Rosalind Osgood took a pretty vicious beating from the community at the Town Hall at Parkway Middle School about a week prior. While Oz would like to portray that she had many successes while serving as the District Five Board member, the 33311 community remembers it quite differently. They were vocal in their blame of her for the many academic failures and construction challenges in District Five schools. Ol Pete is told that Oz sat idly by for almost 12 years as construction dollars for schools in her Board colleague’s areas were maximized and her District 5 schools were largely ignored, underfunded and funding removed and reallocated elsewhere. Oz tried to defend herself, but it fell flat with her looking like the angry Black woman.
Pete was reminded that this was the Town Hall meeting for Parkway Middle where Super Pete excused himself just minutes after things got started with a full house. Super Pete told the room full of attendees that he hadn’t seen his wife for more than two weeks and turned things over to his new Deputy Superintendent of Teaching and Learning, Dr. Howard Hepburn. Hepburn struggled to respond to questions because he lacks the institutional knowledge of the community plight. Ol Pete is thinking he should have never been left to handle that alone.
Speaking of institutional knowledge, has anyone seen or heard from Dr. Valerie Wanza?
It is clear to Ol Pete that Oz very cleverly uses every opportunity she can to get in front of constituents to stay relevant and visible. It is free campaign marketing. But the Parkway Town Hall meeting didn’t work favorably for Oz. In fact, it worked to her disadvantage and is probably why she sat out the October 25 conversation with the NAACP and Holness. Pete is also thinking Holness may have come to realize that buddying up with Oz may have now run its course and it’s time for him to go at it alone. Continuing with Oz may not bode well for his re-election in November. He still does not have a challenger, but that could change quickly.
Back to Emerald City. Oz is still creative in making sure she stays in the public where she can gain free campaign marketing. Ol Pete saw her face plastered on a flyer as host of an Advocacy workshop with the Urban League of Broward County held on November 2. She managed to appear again with the Broward County State Attorney, Harold Pryor and the Broward County Public Defender, Gordon Weekes for their Virtual Town Hall: Save Our Courts scheduled for November 14.
To be honest, Ol Pete ain’t even mad at Oz. The Detective gives prop and respect to her political wits and strategy, but that doesn’t negate the Detective’s strong desire for a challenger. No political seat should go unchallenged. All politicians must recognize that they are not entitled to a seat. It appears from the good Senator Osgood’s constant maneuvering to continuously keep her name and face in the public may mean she understands that her seat isn’t a given and she must work to keep it.
Sleep is calling Ol Pete.
That brings Pete to the state governor’s race. Rumors dredged from the sand indicate that Senator Shevrin Jones is putting test feelers out there to determine if he would be a formidable candidate for the top Florida seat. Jones will represent a lot of firsts if he runs and is elected to serve in the Governor’s mansion. Ol Pete is down for it and will keep treading the sands to see who else is on the bandwagon.
Be the first to comment