April 24, 2024, Letters to the Editor

Take responsibilities seriously

Editor:

The DCSB trustees must take their responsibilities seriously and protect the public funds entrusted to them for the proper and responsible management of our school district. At the April 9, meeting Trustee Gilkerson made an effort to ask the necessary questions as to errors on the legal bills from Joey Gilbert Law. 

Gilkerson has done this at every meeting since the legal team was voted in, by the majority, back in July 2023.  

I demand some clarification as to the billings from JGL and why Burns, Jansen, Dickerson and Englekirk (majority) fail to properly review the submitted bills for accuracy? It is your sworn duty, as a trustee to validate each and every presented billing, prior to payment, for accuracy and to question any billing that does not appear to be correct. Gilkerson has proved month after month and bill after bill that the billings by JGL contain errors that should not come to the district for payment. She asked for clarification as to the boards role in examining the bills to verify accuracy. Burns, aggressively and disrespectfully, cut her off and stated that she could not ask questions of him and that all of this should have been resolved prior to the meeting. How would she do that when the board is required to perform their duties in the public’s view? The more shocking action was that the four, in majority, immediately approved voucher #2493 even after Gilkerson informed the board of the errors she uncovered. If not for Gilkerson DCSD would be losing even more taxpayer money. The four are failing their sworn duty to protect and manage the budget of DCSD. 

I also question the monthly retainer of $7,500 that may be inaccurately paid. It is impossible to know as the public, who has a right to transparency, cannot view the heavily redacted bills.

As a constituent and taxpayer I demand that you take responsibility for every penny spent. As trustees you have a sworn duty to adopt a fiscally sound district budget. You are required to pay attention to finances and regularly monitor the fiscal health of our school district. It would appear to me that Gilkerson is the only one taking the time and checking the payables that is required of each trustee. If you can’t perform your sworn duty and responsibilities to the citizens of Douglas County you should immediately step down.

My personal opinion is one of several circumstances is happening at the offices of Joey Gilbert Law… either Mr. Gilbert is flagrantly and fraudulently billing incorrectly and/or duplicate billing for services of board business, travel, personnel, etc. or Mr. Gilbert needs to hire a more competent, capable accounting team! Since JGL has, heavily and possibly against the public’s legal right to know, redacted all of the invoices for his services it is impossible for the public to research the bills and validate that our tax dollars are being spent appropriately and within the requirements of the law.

Melinda Matus

Minden

Recent events raise concern

Editor:

Recent events in our community have raised concerns regarding the alignment between our board’s stated values and their actions.  Despite the board’s rhetoric surrounding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and social-emotional learning, their recent decisions and behavior paint and contradictory picture.  

During a recent meeting, it was disheartening to witness one of our own counselors being called out for standing up for the LGBTQ+ community, especially our students.  This action not only reflects poorly on our commitment to meet children where they are, but also highlights the challenges individuals face when advocating for children from diverse backgrounds which we definitely have within our community.  We are a public-school district and must adhere to NRS which they are not.  NRS 388.132  (a) he State schools provide a safe and respectful learning environment in which persons of differing beliefs, races, colors, national origins, ancestries, religions, gender identities or expressions, sexual orientations, physical or mental disabilities, sexes or any other distinguishing characteristics or backgrounds can realize their full academic and personal potential.  

Furthermore, the decision not to hire Jeanie Dwyer, despite her qualifications and contributions, is troubling.  It calls into question yet again, to sound hiring practices.  Trustee Englekirk even stated his morals and higher law kept him from hiring her.  This is not about his beliefs system, it is about the board as a whole making educated decisions for the district.  

Joey Gilbert openly stated he was brought on to fire Keith Lewis raises concerns about the motives behind certain board members and motives.  The fact that some trustees feel the need to retain their own legal counsel separate from Gilbert, speaks volumes and the lack of trust and confidence in his capabilities.  This raises legitimate concerns about the effectiveness and transparency of our board’s decision-making process.  

As members of this community, we must hold our elected officials accountable for their actions and decisions.  It is essential that our board’s actions align with the values of our children, parents, and staff that they espoused.  Their political agenda and religious beliefs should not be the cornerstone of how they make decisions.  We are a public-school district not private.  Moving forward, it is imperative that the board demonstrates a genuine commitment to those values through both their words and actions.

Courtney Burrows

Gardnerville

Open meeting law violation

Editor:

I was in attendance at the April 9, Douglas County School Board District meeting. I am a long time consistent attendee of these meetings. At the April 9 meeting, there was a motion to be voted upon regarding the acceptance of the settlement agreement reached on Douglas County district court case number:23-CV-00162. Prior to the board trustees voting, trustees Burns, Jansen, Englekirk and Dickerson recused themselves from the vote, leaving trustees Gilkerson, Wagstaff and Kangas the only eligible trustees to vote on the motion. There was some discussion between the district legal counsel and the three voting trustees discussing the then pending vote. Then, Gilkerson, Wagstaff and Kangas, without a recess being called for by the board president Burns, left their seats at the table, proceeded to a private meeting place, and had their private discussion. Per Wagstaff’s own comments, the three went off to confer with their private attorney Sharla Hale, not a board appointed legal counsel. This private meeting between the three board members and Sharla Hale is a clear Open Meeting Law violation per NRS 241.015 3(2) that states, If such a meeting between board members and a legal counsel is to occur, the legal counsel must be the attorney employed or retained by the public body. Clearly that was not the case.

David Seat

Gardnerville

Thanks for the help

Editor:

I happened to drive on Virginia Ranch Road when the Gardnerville road crew were filling the cracks with fresh tar. Unknowingly my tires picked up not only tar, but mixed in were small stones. It felt like I had a flat tire and when I realized the problem, I went back and spoke to the road crew. They suggested I speak with Town Manager, Erik Nilssen. Erik at first suggested I try WD40 spray and scrape the tar off thinking that it was a small spot on my tires. It turned out I had nearly a 1/8” thick slab covering the width of the tires, about 6-8” of the tire radius. My efforts and my husband’s efforts simply did not work and when I spoke to Erik again, he offered to take a look and see if he could fix the problem. We arranged a time to meet and within an hour or two, he had the problem solved - with a lot of his own elbow grease, time and effort. I’m sure his job description doesn’t include scraping tar off of tires but his pleasant smile and willingness are surely appreciated by me and my husband.

Irene Taylor

Gardnerville

How much?

Editor:

Had any of the school board members actually run on the platform of doubling or tripling the school district’s legal fees and/or running a beloved superintendent out of his position while spending their remaining free time responding to questions about their ethics as they  performed their duties, I would venture to guess that they’d not have  been elected.  

Betti Christensen

Minden

No Longer “Needed”

Editor:

In the Douglas County school board meeting on April 9, Joey Gilbert stated “I was brought in specifically, I don’t know if you remember, to help, I guess the word would be, to remove Keith Lewis by the board. That was exactly why I was hired.”

Well, Keith Lewis is gone. Since Mr. Gilbert has completed his mission (and been paid nearly $300,000), there is no longer any reason to retain him.  The school board may now hire a law firm that is qualified in education law and, if we’re lucky, charges 1/3 less than Mr. Gilbert.  Kind of like the one we used to have before trustees Burns, Dickerson, Englekirk and Jansen fired them.

Please vote for Erinn Miller and Melinda Gneiting for school board in the upcoming November election.  

Alison Grey

Genoa

Thanks to Woodett’s

Editor:

The Carson Valley Health Foundation would like to extend a big thank-you to Woodett’s Diner! Throughout the month of March, they participated in our Round Up for Healthcare campaign asking their customers to round up the change at checkout to help raise funds to support local healthcare services here in the Carson Valley. The owners, Christelle and Remon, made a generous matching donation of their round up totals bringing the overall contribution to $780.

It brings us great satisfaction to be able to partner with local businesses in the community like Woodett’s Diner where we are able to support each other and the Carson Valley community through philanthropy. “Woodett’s wouldn’t be where it is today if it wasn’t surrounded by such a great community.” says owner, Christelle Zamalis “We are happy and honored to do our part in giving back by partnering with CV Health Foundation.”

We can’t thank them enough for not only raising funds, but for helping raise more awareness about who we are and what we do at the CVH Foundation. We can’t wait to work with the Woodett’s team again!

Courtney Moore

Gardnerville

Glad for a floor vote

Editor:

I felt relief and hope watching House Speaker Mike Johnson bring much needed foreign aid bills to the floor of the House for a vote.  He recognized “the right thing to do” and showed leadership by looking beyond party politics and finally getting military aid passed for Ukraine and other allies. The game playing delays were finally stopped and every member of Congress was able to vote “Yea” or “Nay”.  It was a relief to know that the majority of our leaders in both parties still understand that Putin’s Russia is not our friend.  Hats off to the Democrats and their Leader Hakeem Jeffries who put aside party politics and voted with the majority of Republicans.  Bipartisanship can be a beautiful thing.  And now, it’s time to hope that our military aid will be in time for our Ukrainian friends. 

Greta Hambsch

Genoa