Greased Media Skids On Story

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The Janesville school board member who resigned from her position on the board after she openly made her interest known to pursue a newly created job position within the school administration has now said she is not interested in the job, whether it is created or not. The damage has now come full circle.

At first glance it would appear like this entire episode was a huge waste of time and talent, but this did not end without some merit. In Janesville we’ve learned several important things here. We’ve learned that some school board members will never question the directives, authority or ethics of the administration or fellow board members. And contrary to all ethics and honesty, we’ve learned that if you serve in Janesville elective office and want (need) a job, and it happens to open up in the city administration it’s best to hide your true intentions. There is a certain protocol to follow and transparency is not one of them.

We’ve also learned how (paid) administrative leadership is defended, how jobs are distributed and guarded for the connected, and how our elected civic servants coalesce around protecting this entitlement. And we’ve learned (not really, we always knew) that the local media and their affiliates are compliant tools in all of this, diverting attention away from the real causes and serious problems while sharpening it’s knives only on the resulting consequences they themselves have fueled.

JG Excerpt:
The job has been a frequent topic on “The Stan Milam Show” on WCLO radio, something that prompted Rashkin to come out with her statement. Milam has speculated that “the skids were greased” for Rashkin to get the job. Rashkin has said she did nothing wrong.

But if “greased skids” are suspected, isn’t there a much larger problem that needs to be addressed within the Janesville city administration? Should not those greasing the skids, those with far more authority, be called into scrutiny instead of the so-called passenger?

The story here was never about the school board creating jobs for themselves. Only the appearance of it, and that would never happen because some board members would never question the intentions or ethics of the administration or fellow board members - Right? So, with that self-impunity, we must focus our attention on the divisive atmosphere created by the paid professional administrative leadership – they should've known better. This is what school board member Tim Cullen recognized and challenged. And just as importantly, it is about leaders consenting to the obvious advantage insiders have about the timing, availability and hiring parameters of future jobs.

But if Milam was seriously looking for “greased skids,” he would've requested a chat with the Janesville city manager and his personal secretary to discuss the circumstances surrounding the firing and hiring of the city assistant attorney. When who knew what and when? And why? Check out that lube job.