Rex: Make sure the media knows we’re working

The meeting resulting in selection of Jesse Register as Nashville’s next director of schools was long and tortuous, extending over six hours last Saturday with few breaks. Board discussion was all over the place, and not even the closest watchers of public education had much of an idea as to what the board would ultimately decide.

Lest observers think this the picture of inefficiency, consider that there is no provision in Tennessee law for the school board to discuss all of this in any setting other than a public meeting. Big differences of opinion take time to sort out, to give compromise a fair chance and to avoid the sense of individuals being steamrolled — consider the sentiments surrounding the board’s rezoning vote this summer.

All that being said, a few comments from board member Ed Kindall left some members of the press shaking their heads. As the meeting plodded into late afternoon, Kindall looked at reporters gathered and said he didn’t think the press should be overly critical of the nature of the meeting.

“I don’t think the press should go out of here and say that this board spent all this time and did nothing. … I think this conversation needed to be had,” Kindall said. “I can’t tell you what the press is going to print. … I’m just hoping that people will understand that this time is valuable time.”

Kindall was likely correct in thinking that criticism might be generated if the board continued much longer with no decision about a Nashville director. But it is doubtful that such criticism would have been manufactured by “the press.”

His point is taken, though, in that the merits of a six-hour public meeting — particularly if no action were taken — could be difficult to both communicate and comprehend. Whether right or wrong, the board has a reputation of slow action. Perhaps this relatively new group of board members, as well as new Chair David Fox, can alter this perception. Doing so will undoubtedly require more conversations like those last Saturday.

New Year shake-ups may be on the way for Mayor’s Office

Rex hears there may be a shake-up in Mayor Karl Dean’s senior staff after the New Year.

There are rumors that Jim Hester, a senior adviser of Dean, might not return after the Jan. 22 special election on the English Only charter amendment proposal. Hester is currently on a two-month leave of absence to help Nashville for All of Us, a coalition opposing English Only. Hester has been heard, as of late, referring to his job as “an assignment.”

Rex hears that Metro observers are also keeping an eye on how Dean fills the Metro lobbyist position to be vacated by Eddie Davidson. Davidson recently announced that he’ll be resigning to work for Piedmont Natural Gas.

Rex Noseworthy appears Mondays in The City Paper. He can reached at rnoseworthy@nashvillecitypaper.com