by Stewart Rieckman, Oshkosh Northwestern Executive Editor
Published in the December 9, 2001 Oshkosh Northwestern
When you were in grade school, there was always a kid in the playground who was the sore loser.
Sometimes the kid grew up and learned how to accept losing with grace. Sometimes that kid grew up blaming others when things went wrong. Sometimes that kid grew up to become a member of the Oshkosh school board.
Today I am breaking a pledge I made to myself on November 5. That was the day before the voters of Oshkosh defeated a $12.8 million referendum to build a new school and additions to four other schools.
I decided that I wouldn't write anything further about the school district, the school board or school administrators. Since the Northwestern editorialized in opposition of the referendum, I felt it would be unprofessional to engage in any commentary that could be construed as I-told-you-so or sour grapes by second guessing the outcome. The voters, I felt, deserved the final word.
At least one member of the school board, however, felt differently. Maybe they all did, but only one decided to act like a sore loser on the playground.
A day after the referendum lost, school board member Michael Stratz asked superintendent Dr. Ronald Heilmann to compile a list of "areas/issues . . . the Northwestern unfairly or inaccurately portrayed leading up to Tuesday's referendum election."
Heilmann, who does little to conceal his contempt for the editors and reporters of the newspaper, was more than willing to comply. In a memo to school board members dated Nov. 8, two days after the election, Heilmann launched his post mortem on the wrecked referendum. Dominating the dossier of damnation was 14 columns or editorials regarding the referendum. One dated back to February 11. I'll not waste your time explaining the differences between between news stories and opinion pieces nor will I waste your time with the nits Heilmann decided to pick.
Now Heilmann will have to add this column to the must read list because Stratz canceled his subscription to the Northwestern the day after the election. Ouch. Now that he has the list, I have no idea what Stratz intends to do with it because he never contacted me before or after the election. But I'll issue an open invitation to meet with me or the editorial board to discuss his concerns.
Here's what I do know: Rather than admitting the school district's referendum was seriously out of step with the community, Stratz decided to make the Northwestern the scapegoat.
I can't wait to see who gets the blame for the $950,000 deficit built into next year's budget or the missing $112,000 in state funds for library materials to which the district was entitled. I'm sure Stratz will ask for a list and will be checking it twice, trying to find out who's naughty or nice.
So why am I breaking my pledge not to write about the school board again? Certainly I'm not bothered by the spitballing by Stratz. And obviously I'm not going to win them over to the Stew Rieckman Fan Club. Rather, I challenge them to find a more constructive outlet for their energy and move forward.
It's time to put the referendum in the rear view mirror, heal some wounds and devise a better building plan. It's time to focus on solutions for the future, not harboring grudges about the past.