* West DSM Community School Dist. & DPL: An Exchange

DATE: 7 January 2006

TO: Dick Peligro

Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. If the weather holds, the warning track work will begin immediately.
Your indirect communication technique with district administration is, at the least, very disappointing and disrespectful. I can’t imagine that you would be appreciative of similar treatment to you or your family members. It is unfortunate that this technology allows you to avoid taking responsibility for your comments and actions.

I would encourage you to speak with us directly first prior to the escalation of any future issue to state and federal elected public officials.

Thank you.

***
Galen Howsare, RSBA
Associate Superintendent of Administrative Services
Learning Resource Center
3550 Mills Civic Parkway
West Des Moines, Iowa 50265

- – -

9 January 2006

Galen Howsare
Associate Superintendent of Administrative Services
3550 Mills Civic Parkway
West Des Moines, Iowa 50265

Mr. Howsare:

Your e-mail to me betrayed a sense of exasperation which no doubt accounts for its somewhat muddled distortion of the facts in this case. While the nature of your message is all-too-understandable, I am nonetheless compelled to challenge the assertions you make in it.

Steve Duncan

First and foremost, your characterization of my “indirect” and “disrespectful” communiques is simply untrue. In early December, I sent courteous letters and e-mails of inquiry regarding the lack of a warning track to all relevant WDSM city and school officials I could find (excepting you, of course — I did not see any indication you were among that group). With the exception of Loretta Sieman, I did not receive as much as an acknowledgment from anyone. Now, [Valley H.S. athletic director] Steve Duncan did eventually issue me a rather curt summons to “call him,” but as this was a public matter, I was not interested in any off-the-record private discussions. I politely asked him why he couldn’t simply address my question via e-mail, and in reply I received … nothing.

I would submit, then, that the treatment I received was indirect and disrespectful, and I responded by going over their heads, that’s all. No one appreciates having that done to them, I understand, but by the same token, it’s standard procedure for anyone who has not gotten satisfaction from his immediate supervisors, officials, et al, to go up the chain of command — and that’s exactly what I did.

You express regret that modern technology enables me to somehow “avoid responsibility” for my words and actions, strongly implying that I have somehow done something wrong for which I deserve to be punished in some fashion or other. I emphatically reject that suggestion, as well — my conscience is clear. In my view, if there is anything for which I should be held “responsible,” it is the prevention of a tragic accident.

As I have pointed out to the state and federal officials whose presence in this discussion you so descry, I am completely disinterested in this matter. By that, I mean to say I am not a Valley HS alumnus; I have no children, relatives, or friends’ children attending Valley, and I have no financial interest in any upgrades to its baseball field. I am simply a huge baseball fan who happens to live nearby and saw a glaring discrepancy, all the more egregious inasmuch as this past weekend has demonstrated just how easy and inexpensive a problem it was to rectify.

The tenor of your remarks, in fact, tends to justify my wish to remain anonymous. I am struck by the indignation you and other WDSM officials seem to evince at this anonymity. Those in positions of authority (however petty) have been known to be vindictive, and only the most naive would deny that whistleblowers who make trouble for them frequently experience various forms of retribution, subtle or otherwise. Quite frankly, I sensed from the outset that the inclination of the WDSM Community School District was to go “ad hominem” and make this about me. It is not, and I am not going to permit you to shoot the messenger, so to speak.

Moreover, your gratuitous reference to my family is inappropriate and does not reflect well upon you. Neither my family — nor yours — has any place being dragged into this discussion, Sirrah.

Good day to you. I remain, as ever,

Yr Humble & Obedient Servant,

DP

~ ~ ~

Galen Howsare

[N.B. -- Shortly after this affair, Howsare bolted his position with the West DSM School District when greener pastures beckoned at Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo, Iowa.]