Trails in the Sand by Peter Traceit, the Street Detective
Pete is learning that convincing someone to run for the once crowded race for the District 5 School Board seat is now like pulling wisdom teeth. The Street Detective has learned that Pastor and Dillard High School BRACE Advisor, Jimmy Witherspoon, has been scared off the trail. Traceit is told that Witherspoon had a meeting in Emerald City and folded up his tent and went home. 5000 Role Model Antonio Burgess is busy with tie tying ceremonies and Pete is told it is unlikely that he will jump in the race. It would appear that getting an up close and personal view of Broward politics left Burgess with the nasty dirty taste of sand in his mouth. The Detective is told Burgess thinks Broward Schools’ politics may be a bit too dirty for his liking.
While no one seems to be throwing their hats into the race, it would appear that it’s not because they are happy with the status quo either. How you doing? Grandma activist Areatha Wimberly isn’t running either, but she is digging and sifting through the sand in hopes of excavating a treasure to get in the District 5 race.
While Witherspoon is not running for District 5, he has already thrown his support behind Debra Hixon as she kicked off her campaign for the county-wide, at large, district 9 seat. Hixon received a tremendous amount of support from Anna Fusco of the Broward Teachers Union when she originally set her eyes on a School Board seat. Ol Pete watched in disgust as Hixon jumped to Fusco’s every demand, often making herself look like a puppet in a comedy show. But Ol Pete is here to give credit where credit might be due. Hixon seemed green almost four years ago. She appears to have wised up and have been making some decisions based on her own mind. She supported Valerie Wanza during the superintendent process, and she has been being surprisingly transparent from the dais. Hixon raised Ol Pete’s eyebrow when she optioned not to throw staff under the bus during a couple conversations around what the Board directed them to do that went awry. The clear book bags was one issue and referendum packages was the other. In lieu of letting staff suffer a blackeye from the public, Hixon stood like a leader and shouldered the responsibility. Ol Pete is not quite ready to endorse Hixon yet, but it is leadership action like that that moves the ball for The Street Detective. Hixon has certainly matured in the job. But, we are a year out and Traceit is going to hold off endorsement until we get a little closer to November 2024, because a lot can change in these sands.
A lot has certainly changed because Ol Pete is hearing that Winfred Porter is the new principal of Miramar High School. Congratulations to Porter on his return to the sands of Broward County. Porter was an assistant principal at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas on February 14, 2018, when the unthinkable happened. The months and years that followed were difficult on every student, employee, parent, and community member. Porter sought relief by leaving Broward for Palm Beach county schools. But just as Pete Licata returned home to the soils of Broward, so has Porter. Ol Pete is thinking New Pete may have a little something to do with Porter’s emergence from the sand. All Ol Pete can say is that Porter’s hiring back into the district may be symbolic of the forgiveness and healing that this district desperately needs to turn the page on that horrible day.
Ol Pete has a lot of dirt to spread about, but has taken an oath to keep it clean to give some time for a few folks to sweep around their doorsteps and tidy up.
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