Kate Fratti certainly has stirred up the pot, judging from the responses she has received on the Insults Instead of Answers column that we mentioned here .
UPDATED April 29, 2008, 6:20 P.M. (see below comment #8)
Steve Worob is posting his explanations directly. I don't think Steve cleared his responses with Mrs. Worob, because while School Board Brenda ran against a K-12 school, Borough Councilman Steve says maybe we need to consider it. Check answer number 6. I bolded it for easy reading.
Anyone want to listen in to THAT secret meeting?8 Responses to “Insults instead of answers”
1.Hooray for Kate!
It is refreshing to see a journalist trying on our shoes, and using her power of the press to voice the same complaints that have rattled around Morrisville for years.
Namely: for one “Stephen Worob”, all rules and labels apply, except to him.
Going back through the “Worob years” if you could imagine any other school board doing the same things (Nelson, Nestor, Junkins, Gibson) claims of impropriety would dominate the public comment session, and everyone from the State AG to the County Commissioners would be called on to investigate. And if they didnt’ they too would be complicit.
The shoe is on the other foot this time.
Comment by:
Borows - 4.24.2008 at 3:29 pm
2.This is why we need experienced reporters like you to cover Morrisville. A “rookie” reporter would not be able to handle the bullying from Worob.
It’s amazing that the very same things that Worob and the new board complained about, i.e. “You don’t listen” “You are having secret meetings”, are being done by the new board. At least the old board didn’t limit the time for public comment to 45 minutes.
Keep up the good work up the good work Kate. I think that most, if not all, people have accepted that the new school is dead. Now it’s time to move forward and find ways to improve our schools without farming our kids out and/or firing our wonderful administrators.
Comment by:
Cori - 4.24.2008 at 10:03 pm
3.Yes, please keep up the good work. I agree with Cori. Thanks for covering.
Comment by:
Kevin - 4.25.2008 at 7:00 am
4.I regret any insults and am sorry. Anger is counter productive and only serves to taint the message. However, When Ms. Fratti writes about my bias (Anger) towards her newapaper, she’s knows why but isn’t telling you. I worked with the Courier Times and school board members from three different counties where we uncovered a pervasive trail of corruption that involved at least four school districts. I’m not going to get to deep into this other than to say we uncovered a trail of illecit long term bond issues to school districts that were not for the good of the children.(Including Morrisville)
We gave this information to the proper authorities including the media only to have it all buried. I suspect the reason for this was that it involved major banks and we only scratched the surface.
I sent this information to Kate Fratti and she ignored it. I will gladly grant her an interview with documents in hand if she’ll have the courage to print it. I don’t think she will. You see, the people who investigated and lied, and did nothing, now hold some of the higher positions in county, state and federal government. Now back to the Courier Times. Because of my devoted efforts to honor my oath of public office, I was sued in a frivalous lawsuit that if you ask Sandy Gibson, was financed by the Superintendent’s Assoc. of PA. Because I am considered a high public offical, I am granted a high level of immunity for speaking at public meetings on public concerns. However, if I go to the press and talk, I then open myself up to a defamation lawsuit. In Oct. 2003, one week after I was sued, The Courier Times called me as I was enjoying lunch with my wife. The reporter lied and told me she was doing a profile story on the superintendent. Truth is she was setting me up in the lawsuit. She asked for my opinion if the new school board should fire the superintendent. My answer was “I hope they help him to work harder for the children of Morrisville.” The next day, I was quoted to have said “the superintendent is a criminal masquarading as a superintendent.” This misquote came out against me in legal depositions. It didn’t take long for me to learn that the attorney of party who sued me did legal work for the Courier Times. I was then dragged for over two years through the lawsuit only to appear before a member of the good old Republicans club in county court. There, I was given an unfair trial(You’ll have to read the book for details) and the judge took away a big piece of mine and my wife’s future before growling in open court,”if you appeal my decision, I will do everything in my power to stop you.” Odd how this remark failed to appear in the offical court trancript.
I hope now that people will at least understand my anger which I will try to control. I’m humbly awaiting your interview Kate.
Comment by:
Steve - 4.26.2008 at 6:44 am
5.Mr. Worob,
I’ve never received information from you, or even discussed the scenario you describe. What gives? From your writings, I know how dearly you value honesty. Must be an honest mistake.
In the meantime, do you have any comment on the recent Sunday school board gathering at your home?… Or on why the school board is asking for specific information about children requiring special education services. Do you support that? Or would you comment on whether, as a town leader, you support the consolidation of K-12 in the high school building, so the district can let go of the care of the two elementary buildings.
Not as interesting stuff as the weird conspiracy you allege, but no less is important.
Comment by Burbs Blogger:
Kate Fratti - 4.28.2008 at 12:53 pm
6.Ok Kate, thank you for responding. I’ll do my best. Sunday meeting- I am currently restoring a fifty year old termite eaten house in the borough to a much better than new condition. Therefore, I work on Sundays. I did stop home briefly though to get a drink and saw three friends drinking coffee and chatting. I didn’t stay long.
Special education- I can only assume that the concern here is the high cost of special education and the increasing number of students entering that catagory. I believe that number is almost at 20% of the student body. You know that the state sets the mandates here and then fails to fund them. It is especially difficult for a tiny district like Morrisville to keep up with special ed. costs. I guess that board members are educating themselves about special ed. so hopefully they can figure out a way to cope.
K-12 school- I’m not happy about all the students in one building however, this is something that should be explored in the name of survival. You know about the high school taxes in Morrisville and almost five million dollars was just spent for nothing. Yes, a K-12 school may be the only affordable option that we have. Finally, I did send to you via US mail, a 200 page overview potraying corruption that is hurting public education. Sorry you never received it. I’ll be glad to give you another copy if you’ll give a response to it. I also gave a copy of the document to your co-columist but he never responded. Finally-finally Kate, why didn’t you mention for me to elaborate about when the CT published malicious lies for no other reason than to set me up in a lawsuit. I know I was stepping on some big toes but my wife didn’t deserve that. I’ll never forget when reporter DC explained to me that “Mr. Worob, the quote wasn’t my idea and my editor was the one who put the quotation marks around the word “CRIMINAL.” I believe she was referring to your chief editor. By the way, let her know that when she told me on the telephone that a certain attorney “never performed legal work for the CT,” she was speaking the untruth. Ask Pat W. or attorney Herschinson for the truth about that one. Please let PW know that she made my book.
Comment by:
Steve - 4.28.2008 at 10:52 pm
7.What happened to your comments that were on this page yesterday and mysteriously disappeared, Ms. Fratti? Perhaps you would like to post those again.
Comment by:
Houdini - 4.29.2008 at 7:46 am
8.Hey Steve:
Did Oswald kill Kennedy? Or was the assassination part of a grand conspiracy involving the CIA, Lyndon Johnson and little green men from Mars?
You, sir, need to get a grip.
Comment by:
Conan the Grammarian - 4.29.2008 at 9:42 am
UPDATED 6:20 P.M. (The comments are too good to pass up. The common people need to be led!)
It's not the Sullivan Law that Steve wants to use, but the decision in New York Times v Sullivan 1964. Here's the text of the opinion, but the conclusion of the court was:
"The Court held that the First Amendment protects the publication of all statements, even false ones, about the conduct of public officials except when statements are made with actual malice (with knowledge that they are false or in reckless disregard of their truth or falsity). Under this new standard, Sullivan's case collapsed."
Ummm....I'm thinking the immunity flows toward the newspaper and away from the elected official in this case. But I only moonlight as a lawyer. By day, I'm an accountant.9 This idea sounds vaguely familiar but with a few differences I bet. My guess is you would take K-12 and smoosh them all in the exisiting High School with very little renovations. I’m sorry to sound pessimistic, but I don’t have much faith in the new school board or those that elected them.
Comment by:
Repeat - 4.29.2008 at 3:25 pm
10 Conan, you’re really cool. I’ll bet the people who cheat to taxpayers and students just love you.
Houdini, what were the comments that mysteriously vanished. I missed them. Sounds like possible not so divine intervention to me.
Comment by:
Steve - 4.29.2008 at 3:30 pm
11 “Because I am considered a high public offical, I am granted a high level of immunity for speaking at public meetings on public concerns. ”
I’m wondering when this became law? Is it true that high public officials (like tax collectors and councilmen) have greater immunity and can speak with impunity? I guess the Constitution or the State laws must have been redrafted to create a government “Above The People” instead of “For the People and By The People”.
Comment by:
Borows - 4.29.2008 at 3:50 pm
12 Yes Borrows, oops, Borows. Why don’t you just give your real name? I believe it is referred to as the Sullivan law and it is the law, except when a newspaper sets you up to circumvent such law. You see Borows, this law was created so that public officials can stand up with immunity,(Not impunity) and educate common people like yourself about the truth without fear of reprisals. Of course the Sullivan law is meaningless such as is honor when one is dragged before the good old Republicans club at county court.
Comment by:
Steve - 4.29.2008 at 4:08 pm
13 to stand up as a public official and educate “common people?” … Oh my.
Comment by Burbs Blogger:
Kate Fratti - 4.29.2008 at 4:53 pm
Take a look at the recent blog posts made by BCCT columnist Kate Fratti. We talked about the Insults instead of answers entry [STS] [BCCT] previously. Now, she has two new entries, one complete with tin foil hat. 