Circling wagons

Last week, a Cape Cod Times' editorial stated that Assistant Superintendent Marc Dupuis was "caught in a lie."

Superintendent Dennis Richards wrote a response to the Times - with copies to the selectmen, the Falmouth Enterprise and Falmouth Bulletin - that wreaks of circling wagons. In it, he downplays Mr. Dupuis' statements and suggests that the editoral has "besmirched Mr. Dupuis’ reputation."

Well, in today's paper, the Times responded by saying that it, "stands by its characterization of the events."

Mr. Richards' complaint began "The editorial that appeared in the Cape Cod Times on July 31 went way beyond the bounds of civility and common sense..."

Common sense?

With all due respect to Mr. Richards, he stated, "The editorial also referred to a letter I received from an MSBA official by saying that the Authority "was withholding $3 million dollars in reimbursement." In fact the letter never said that. It said the Authority was returning our request for reimbursement until concerns and questions that they had about the project were addressed."

Common sense tells us that if the state is returning the request without a check, they are withholding the money.

However, I will give Mr. Richards the civility issue. In the original editorial, the Cape Cod Times even noted that, "We've become polite and sensitive about calling for the heads of public employees. These people have feelings, and families to support, too."

Civility has a place in our world, but it should never trump accountability. We can praise someone for their hard work, but we must hold them accountable if their hard work doesn't net any positive results. As one former teacher told me, "I don't care how hard a student works on a paper; an 'F' paper is still an 'F' paper."

Mr. Richards' indignation over the Cape Cod Times' editorial is trumped by the taxpayers' indignation over the high school renovation project. While I appreciate and understand his defense of Mr. Dupuis, the fact remains that there are certain expectations of the individuals and organizations involved in the high school renovation project.

We are holding the former architect accountable by suing them; we are holding the contractor accountable by insisting on deadlines. But what of the other characters in this soap opera? Forgive me for asking the obvious, but was it not the building committee which overpaid the contractor by $2 million? Who will hold them accountable?

And what of Mr. Dupuis' responsibility?

As the Cape Cod Times concluded in the first editorial, "The buck has to stop somewhere among Falmouth's officialdom." Rather than circling the wagons and defending mediocrity in the name of civility, Mr. Richards' should do what any good leader will do - to publicly take responsibility for his subordinates' mistakes, and to privately hold them accountable.

Mr. Richards didn't do the former, so I'm not too hopeful about the latter.