Category Archives: POSTS, COMMENTS, VIDEO AND AUDIO

Let the votes be cast and counted Reply

by • POSTS, COMMENTS, VIDEO AND AUDIO

As I sit here today, I can say I feel great. Tired but great. I have “pressed the flesh”! with over 350 residents, met hundreds more at events the past two months, held two forums, and recorded two more videos detailing my platform, and walked over four miles to meet people (according to my Fitbit)!

My message has been a simple one. If you want real change in Region One, Salisbury is the key. As far as i know, I am the only candidate to actually have a platform of actions that I have committed to. Real solutions to real problems.

The top priorities:

There are many reasons why I seek to represent you on the board; most importantly, to give voice to students, teachers, and you the taxpayers. We must represent taxpayers’ concerns by bringing back transparency and open communication. This can be achieved by: Holding forums for residents in advance of regular meetings to solicit input; and creating an interactive website and Facebook page with video content of meetings, agendas, minutes and feedback links that enable residents to directly contact their representative. These steps will facilitate interaction between residents and the board.

We also need to regain trust and confidence in the board and bring back accountability to reinforce the board’s mission which is to demonstrate leadership in providing the best education for students. The status quo is no longer acceptable.

The first motion I will make as your Region One representative will be to notify the All Boards Chairmen that the Region One Board will not accept a recommendation from ABC in the future for a new contract or extension of an existing contract to either the present Superintendent or Assistant Superintendent. It is time to take a major distraction off the board’s and public’s plate and get on with running the district with educational goals in mind…not their contracts or employment status.

From my first day as Region One representative from Salisbury, I pledge to hold at least one open forum a month at a convenient Salisbury location one to two weeks prior to regular Region One Board meetings. The purpose will be to allow residents, taxpayers, students, teachers and Region One employees to have an open discussion in the hope of raising concerns or questions to add to the upcoming board meeting agenda.

With all this said it is now in the hands of Salisbury voters. If you want REAL change, transparency, and a voice in Region One, then cast your vote for me. If you were voting against the budget due to the administration, cast your vote for me. If you want Salisbury’s vote to make a difference again, vote for me. I am all set to work with the new representatives that will take office in Falls Village and North Canaan, and with the current representative from Sharon. If your tired about lawsuits over administrative “battery” and “bullying”, if your tired of the Assistant Superintendent suing a sitting board member for doing her job, If your tired of $170,000 “settlements” of lawsuits, if your tired of a board that ignores the public, then vote for me. Together, we can bring our region back to the status it had just a few short years ago.

Tomorrow can be a great day in this region, we will start anew. I am eager to serve you.

Again, thanks for your support, and with one final request I ask you to email friends in Salisbury and Lakeville, call friends in Salisbury and Lakeville, and remind them to VOTE 18C, Marshall Miles for Region One Representative from Salisbury.

We can do this, together we are a great team. Again thanks for all your support.

Marshall.

Connect the dots…… Reply

by • POSTS, COMMENTS, VIDEO AND AUDIO

So, I noticed today that two of my election signs were missing! This after a day in which I received a ripped up mailer with no return address!

Well, not one to let this go unnoticed, out in search of my signs did I go. And, I found one removed and placed flat on the ground about 20 feet from where it was set up, so I talked to the homeowner again, and went and re-set the sign.

On the other side of town the sign was just GONE! Well, again, I am not one to take this lightly! So I called the D.O.T. (Department Of Transportation).

I asked if they had a sign of mine, and I was told yes! They thought it was to close to state property even though I had the landowners permission. I then asked if anyone had filed a complaint, and if so, was the complainant Jeff Lloyd? And guess what? The response was “yes, how did you know that?”!! No answer needed for that question.

I researched to see if Mr. Lloyd had ever filed a complaint before…the answer came back, no.

So why this year? Well, the only answer I have is for you to CONNECT THE DOTS….MILES BANNER 

We have a real chance here, a call to arms, lets make the positive change on the board possible, WE CAN WIN SALISBURY! Reply

by • POSTS, COMMENTS, VIDEO AND AUDIO

Friends, supporters..spread the word….hiding 8.3 percent pay raises from the A.B.C and the public before a budget vote is NO WAY TO RUN A PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM! Secret meetings must stop, transparency must return! This school system is NOT the private playground for the Chair of the Board of Ed, the Superintendent or Assistant Superintendent. It’s not the raise, it’s the fact it was HIDDEN until after the budget vote. Once again, what they do not realize is that if its spending that directly helps students, its fine. The Status Quo is not acceptable. Spread the word, I need your vote, your friends and neighbors vote. We are so close, let’s get over the hill!

Sleight Of Hand, Misdirection, Hide and Conceal. Why the Region One Board Needs Drastic Changes, And Needs Them NOW 2

by • POSTS, COMMENTS, VIDEO AND AUDIO

At the most recent A.B.C. Meeting in Cornwall it was revealed that a new contract was negotiated by former Region One Board Chair Phil Hart of Cornwall, with the knowledge of  current Board Chair  Jonathan Moore of Kent that resulted in an average raise for the new administrative contract (the principal and assistant principal at the high school, the director of pupil services and the supervisor of special education) of 8.3%!

Now, mind you, spending money on a principal and assistant principal that are great leaders IS a great investment into the education of our children. The problem here is that the former and current chair of the Region One Board of Education kept these numbers hidden from not only the current board members, but from the A.B.C. as well until the meeting in Cornwall. For months we have heard the former and current board chair demand that any “shared service” goes first to the A.B.C. and then the A.B.C. passes on its advice to the Region One Board. WIth the director of pupil services and the supervisor of special education included in these raises that is exactly what should have happened according to Hart and Moore’s constant pleading to the board and public.

Well it did NOT happen, and at the meeting in Cornwall according to a story in the Litchfield County Times,  “the ABC Committee members expressed mild pique that they had not been made aware of the agreement before it was accepted by the Region 1 school board at its October meeting.” A video of this meeting can be viewed at the following link.

These figures were kept from public knowledge by both Moore and Hart with the blessing of the Superintendent.  Why did Moore, Hart and the superintendent keep these figures from the board, the A.B.C. and the public? How about the fact that they were concealing those numbers until AFTER the last budget vote. It seems that the “million dollar expense” each year now for 6 positions, and the fact that  fiscal news for some district towns like Canaan, which sends the largest number of students to the high school can expect to see tuition fees rise by another $171,000 next year, and the dollar figure in Sharon will also be up. Do you really think that North Canaan would have voted YES on the Region One budget last vote with this information? Do you really think that Sharon’s vote would have been as close as it was?

Yes, we NEED to invest in educators! But NO we do not need a board that is not honest and open with the public! Those numbers should have been put on the table, shown to the A.B.C., shown to the Region One Board, and shown to not only the public, but to the area towns Boards Of Finance as well BEFORE the last budget vote. When will the public finally say to the current board chair, the former board chair, and the superintendent that enough is enough?

Well, it’s now time for taxpayers to say to the board and the superintendent, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

Current.org’s story on the agreement between the C.P.B. Ombudsman anb Marshall Miles Reply

by • POSTS, COMMENTS, VIDEO AND AUDIO

 

…Miles initially denounced the CPB ombudsman for weighing in “on prevailing issues you know nothing about,” but later decided to follow Kaplan’s advice after talking with him on the phone. “He and I did something that doesn’t happen in Washington,” Miles said, referring to his conversation with Kaplan. “We met in the middle ground and I’m happy about that.”….

 

….The code was drafted by local pubcasting leaders in 2011–12 through a CPB-backed project to update the field’s editorial standards and assist stations in defining their own ethical guidelines. Its recommendations were intended to be voluntary and adopted by local licensees at their discretion……

 

For full story please click on link below

http://www.current.org/2013/10/row-over-ethical-conflict-prompts-radio-station-manager-to-resign/