RichmondLiberty.org

by Robert Russo

Libertarian wisdom is absent in today's government so we are often forced to fight an institution by backing another institution. Democrat vs. Republican, Mayor vs. City Council, public vs. private schools, these old foes are almost friends in their prevention of public intervention and solutions with their constant stalemate. Imagine you are a student wanting a useful education, and you are presented with two textbooks one of which has only even-numbered pages and the other only odd-numbered pages, and you must choose between them. That is the equation this battle has become. The fight the school board appeared to be losing has transformed into a course that will shape the future of how Richmond government works.

The funding that started the school board's attacks on Mayor Wilder passes through City Council so I for one presumed the mayor and the council were on the same side in that fight (if the council had misgivings it would have been bigger news than the school board fighting him by itself). But since the eviction of the school board from City Hall on Sept. 21 and its swift repeal, they are opposing Wilder under the lead of council president William J. Pantele, who called it "a really bleak day for Richmond"*. The objections they've had to an elected mayor from the start have found a new aspect. Last week the State Supreme Court upheld that the mayor and his top aides can be sued by city council.**

Now some might consider this ruling a separate issue, stemming from a much older grudge than the education debate. The same could be said of the eviction, which has been deferred until November 30, considering the school board has been renting their offices in City Hall at just $10 a year, essentially for free, during a time in which they were suing the mayor at astronomical taxpayer expense.***

Many mayors have seized academic control over their cities in recent years, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty running on the platform of his takeover which he brought about six months after taking office.**** We oppose dictatorial regimes whether it be classroom influence or executive power, so is their war a good or bad thing? Most of us would probably wield executive privilege to change things, but Doug Wilder is not a libertarian and he's not antiacademic, he has only a slightly different take from his opponents over things like spending. Several of the opinions I've seen are centrist, i.e. "a plague on both their houses", and this curious article which praises both Wilder and the school board including political enemies George Braxton and Keith West, calling for an end to this nonsense.***** But there is a great deal more to be said. Consider these possible outcomes...

1. Judge Margaret Spencer decided not the simple question of the Mayor's jurisdiction as asked, but postponed the eviction on the grounds that "there is substantial harm to [the school system] that has occurred and could possibly occur in the future".****** Let's say the school board is not just evicted or appointed but completely disbanded. How much of a beating can an institution take, in accordance with the law, and still be resurrected with logic such as this? Will loyal justices simply pardon each other as they make policy, until they are writing curriculum themselves?

2. If a mayor defeats both the school board and City Council hands down, making them irrelevant, imagine what form executive privilege would take in cities that have more politically overt leadership than Mr. Wilder. It would become a feud between federal and local executive privilege.

3. If the school board won a suit against mayoral or council jurisdiction there would no longer be anything to stop them. They would have the governmental authority they've always wanted, appointing their own examiners, dictating education and drawing funds directly from the taxpayer. Even if they only won the right to remain at City Hall it would be a thumb constantly in the face of city government.

4. Now that City Council is allowed to sue the mayor, a successful lawsuit could be inevitable, destroying him and the elected mayoral process itself.

The opinion I would be most interested in is that of Keith West, proud infiltrator of the school board who fought their chairman and financial plans seemingly in conjunction with the Mayor, though perhaps for different reasons. In the photos of the eviction chaos he has a rather bewildered look on his face. West says "It seems pretty clear to me that city council's intention was for us to stay here. So, it can only be a surprise that we are being forcibly relocated."******* Simple words from a normally outspoken political shaker caught in a strange situation.

It's hard to play the game when we know what the real feud is. All those in power are against all those without it. No matter which side wins the people will not have a say. So what lesser goals or opportunity to avoid something worse will fall within our grasp? There is a timeline of Mayor Wilder's dealings with the school board at http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/search.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-08-12-0259.html. Stay tuned for the next phase of this ordeal after November 30th. My original article can be read here.

*http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-09-22-0232.html
**http://www.timesdispatch.com/cva/ric/news/cityhall.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-10-01-0243.html
***http://www.timesdispatch.com/cva/ric/news.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-09-24-0153.html
****http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/search.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-08-12-0259.html
*****http://floricane.typepad.com/buttermilk/2007/09/richmond-govern.html
the real feud
******http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/search.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-09-27-0206.html
*******http://www.nbc12.com/news/state/9934947.html

If you have opinions to add to this thread send them to russo@richmondliberty.org. We welcome your input!