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Situation Normal... in Penn Delco
An interesting snafu over in Penn Delco.
Tonight the school board will be meeting in their monthly work session. Normally, at these sessions the board can vote on stuff like personnel issues and what not.
If say, they wanted to get rid of their solicitor, they could vote on it and it would be a done deal.
But thanks to the official notice being sent over late to the Daily Times, I am told, they can't. Hmmmm. I wonder how that happened.
School district sources tell me that ex-super Leslye Abrutyn's old secretary is blaming the newspaper and claiming she received an apology from the head of our ad section for us not getting it in on time.
Yet, as I understand it, it was the ad that was sent in late with no request that it had to be run immediately.
I am told this is the first time in eight (8) years Penn Delco has allowed such a thing to happen.
However it happened it has purchased embattled solicitor Mark Sereni another week to attempt to convince the board of his own invaluabilty and in the untrustworthiness of his perceived enemies.
No doubt he hopes the appearance of a poor work evaluation in the file of CFO John Steffy will help his case. But just how that negative evaluation, apparently written by his former boss, Leslye Abrutyn, got there at this late date remains something of a mystery.
According to my sources, it was just recently added to Steffy's file. Given that Abrutyn resigned months ago you have to wonder if there is dirty work afoot.
In any case, any negative evaluation of any administrator coming from Abrutyn would have to be taken with a grain of salt.
Her own poor judgement allowed her to enter into one of the more bizarre relationships between a school board president and a schools superintendent this county has ever seen.
No doubt her belief that the nature of their relationship was about to get out was one of the things that led her to resign last July.
Anyway, just another day in Penn Delco.
Tonight, as always, should be fun too.
UPDATE: Quick Question.
With the screw-up concerning the late notice to this newspaper, will Mark Sereni be requesting a special counsel to look into this troubling incompetence?
Tonight the school board will be meeting in their monthly work session. Normally, at these sessions the board can vote on stuff like personnel issues and what not.
If say, they wanted to get rid of their solicitor, they could vote on it and it would be a done deal.
But thanks to the official notice being sent over late to the Daily Times, I am told, they can't. Hmmmm. I wonder how that happened.
School district sources tell me that ex-super Leslye Abrutyn's old secretary is blaming the newspaper and claiming she received an apology from the head of our ad section for us not getting it in on time.
Yet, as I understand it, it was the ad that was sent in late with no request that it had to be run immediately.
I am told this is the first time in eight (8) years Penn Delco has allowed such a thing to happen.
However it happened it has purchased embattled solicitor Mark Sereni another week to attempt to convince the board of his own invaluabilty and in the untrustworthiness of his perceived enemies.
No doubt he hopes the appearance of a poor work evaluation in the file of CFO John Steffy will help his case. But just how that negative evaluation, apparently written by his former boss, Leslye Abrutyn, got there at this late date remains something of a mystery.
According to my sources, it was just recently added to Steffy's file. Given that Abrutyn resigned months ago you have to wonder if there is dirty work afoot.
In any case, any negative evaluation of any administrator coming from Abrutyn would have to be taken with a grain of salt.
Her own poor judgement allowed her to enter into one of the more bizarre relationships between a school board president and a schools superintendent this county has ever seen.
No doubt her belief that the nature of their relationship was about to get out was one of the things that led her to resign last July.
Anyway, just another day in Penn Delco.
Tonight, as always, should be fun too.
UPDATE: Quick Question.
With the screw-up concerning the late notice to this newspaper, will Mark Sereni be requesting a special counsel to look into this troubling incompetence?
posted by Spencerblog at
1:59 PM
80 Comments:
I see no reason what-so-ever, that a motion can't be made, seconded and placed for vote. As long as the 'Study Session' was previously advertised and a 'Notice' is in place at the Administrative Bldg. in addition to this being placed on the Agenda, I don't see how it would violate the Sunshine Act.
This story never dies with you, does it? It is easy to hide behind "sources". I have read your article a few times in regards to this topic, it will amaze me if you don't get sued over your writing. You make big leaps in your reporting and you certainly make things look bigger then they appear. My OPINION is that you are a two bit "columnist" (I say that with a smile on my face), for a two bit paper. You should be very proud, very proud.
Thank you, Gil for shining the light of day on the slimy actions of this group! Even with LA and KC gone, the same dirty tricks go on and on as though they never left. They continue to destroy employee's lives with out a second thought--to save themselves and their access to the PD cash cow.
Please don't let this story die until all the truth is out in the open!
You just mix up mud and throw it at anybody without anything to back it up, don't you? Is there anyone else you would like to implicate in your grand conspiracy fantasies, such as a district lunch lady or crossing guard maybe? I could not live my life knowing that all I contributed to the world was my own bile.
Thank you again for putting this information out there with regard to this seemlessly neverending saga.
Keep up the good work Gil!
Can’t you people at least come up with your own, individual pseudonym screen names?
Gil, you lie! This has happened in the past and has happened to almost all the districts in the County. Do you need to lie and use "sources" to get something printed? You are a disgrace. Your kids should be proud. What a role model. Say a lot about people and do nothing but give your opinion. What a life.
As a former Penn-Delco employee, I hope you don't let this die. Keep on them Gil until the truth comes out.
I have to admit, I have not been paying much attention to this whole Penn-Delco deal, because it really has no affect on me what-so-ever.
Everyone is so fired up about this, I think I'll start to watch the fireworks.
If you score the comments either for Gil or against Gil, he is winning 5-3!
Meeting was a nothing once again. Amazing. Now you can write about something your "sources" have found out. Funny how the Daily News scouped you, isn't it?
Was kind of a boring meeting tonight. Tony Rugieri was absent. Hopefully he'll take a powder next week too.
Boy, some poster (intentionally singular) sure seems hostile.
Somebody needs some anger management classes or maybe pain management... truth does hurt huh?
Hmmm... Looks like Mark Sereni has discovered Gil's blog.
Or a concerned neighbor of his...
Mr. Spencer: Do you know the secretary you are attacking? Well let me tell you she is not just an outstanding employee but an upstanding member of our school community. She is also a lady. You obviously don't know one when you see one. Can you get any lower?
He is protect by his sources. Don't you get it? This guy is a scum bag who thirves off of others' misery. You are less than dirt. Hope therapy is working for you. Get a real job
I heard about this last night and I almost fell over. There is no way this individual was responsible for what Gil Spencer is accusing her of. He has just picked yet another innocent person to harrass over nothing. When is someone at that paper going to finally shut him up?
"PD Survivor said...
Or a concerned neighbor of his..."
if it's not a concerned neighbor it might be a "loyal client". Because anybody who's anybody knows anything negative said about Mr. Sereni is also a personal attack on all his clients.
yes, they should have shut Gil up long ago but then what would his devoted fans do? you know, all three of them.
What is funny is that he is getting kicks off of us posting on his blog. You think he cares what we sy about him? He knows what he is, even if he won't admit it. Gil, when you are old, you will have a lot of regrets. You are not a good person. You attack people. When haven't you been so sarcastic? As a matter of fact, you have a real easy job. Just giving your opinion on subjects. Do something with yourself. Volunteer your time and help your kids.
Gil has gotten old in every way. Pathetic.
Gil, your blog has turned into a virtual Penn-Delco, everyone seems to be following the PDSD motto, "When all else fails, intimidate!"
I do not think anyone is trying to or desires to intimidate Gil, but are merely expressing a widely held opinion that he and his "work" lack integrity, are indifferent to truth, and are of no social value whatsoever.
To the Merchant:
Where do you get this notion that there is a widely held opinion about Gil? I am sure that left wingers don't like Gil, but to say he is untruthful is not supported by any fact.
You should be careful not to denigrate conservatism since you run the risk of being called names because of your intolerant views towards conservatism.
Didn't you know, disagreements are now considered hate?
Thanks Gil! You rock! With regard to your QQ, I do believe that Mr. Sereni will add this to the list of matters to be investigated by special counsel since he DETESTS corruption in any form. If that is the case MS, you must be awfully busy separating yourself from this district. If I were you, I would run screaming from this debacle, so as not to muddy your good name and reputation and of course, the firm. Oh and Brian, count me as #4!
To "anonymous"
I was not commenting on conservatism or liberalism, merely on the distasteful body of work of Gil Spencer.
In my opinion, his signature method of strongly suggesting or implying wrongdoing or weakness on the part of others, almost always without offering any supporting facts (and instead relying on sources which he never seems to disclose) indicates a lack of interest in establishing and reporting on facts, which form the basis for truth.
Of course, he is not in the business of facts; he hides behind the protection of "opinion," "spin" and undisclosed sources, and from that position freely maligns anything and anyone which suits his fancy.
Mark Sereni is a chip off the old block and should be fired. Maybe the PDSD could epedite the boards resignation by offering them free i-phones and memberships to an online dating service or tickets to a Media theater production. What a bunch of jokers.
Merchant:
How funny! You are saying you don't like his viewpoint. I find his opinions to be right of center, and sometimes not right enough. However, he is a responsible journalist, and he "gets it".
Most libs criticize him and others who write in the paper only because they don't like the viewpoint expressed.
One last thing, where do you stand on abortion, guns and gays?
Libs always want to silence their opposition.
So much for “honest debate” from the Left.
I trust all you shrill haters will return here and apologize should what Gil says turn out to be true.
Hey Gil - are you paying these fanatics from goaston to defend you or are they just defending you because they are your some of your slimy sources and an attack on you is an attack on them!?
Talk about fanatics...
Indeed!
It appears that some people need a refresher on the first ammendment.
Freedom of the Press
Seriously gang, get a grip. I would think you could come up with better stuff than personal insults to disagree with Gil's informed opinions.
Gil,
You and Loretta are doing a fantastic job with this story. Keep up the good work!
bj, freedom of the press may be Gil's argument for spinning his sensationalist stories and weaving his silly webs in print (and does it even extend to yellow journalism?), but it doesn't make it honorable, decent, or worth the paper it's written on. And "informed opinions" ?? Informed by himself and some anonymous sources! His latest attack on a highly respected and honest school district secretary has confirmed just how low and bizarre he is.
There are real journalists out there who have something worthwhile to say; unfortunately, Gil Spencer is not one of them. The Times' readership deserves better, but unfortunately, we keep being subjected to the "Daily Slime."
hey randal - people should come back here and apologize if what Gil says turns out to be true??? Yeah that's how it works, print it first, then hope to get the supporting facts later!
Has anyone pointed out that at the meeting last night the School Board Pres. said that the Times didn't screw up? That PDSB's admin. office made a mistake? Get a grip people. Stop taking things so personally and getting so personal. Unless, of course, you are personally involved.
If you are, shame on you. Have you not learned?
Politics of personal attack. Gil is like the FOX News of opinion writers at the DT: There’s only one of him doing what he does and that’s one too many for those who would permit us to hear only one view.
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David:
Fox News is fair and balanced. Every time they present a political issue, O'Reilly, Hannity and others present the liberal and conservative viewpoint. Watch it sometime and you will see.
None of the liberal talk show hosts do that!
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I read that Sereni is also embroiled in a legal situation with the school board at Springfield HS concerning the new football field lights. I believe he's representing the school board against local citizens who oppose the lights (that have already been installed?). Oh, the legal fees...
get your facts straight anonymous before you spin them about springfield. you wouldn't want to be proven a liar would you?
oh, junecarter, you never stop do you? what's the matter? Get suspended from goaston again?
To Merchant:
In your post you said, "Merchant of Venison said...
To "anonymous"
I was not commenting on conservatism or liberalism, merely on the distasteful body of work of Gil Spencer."
So if I am interpreting this correctly what you are saying is you don't like Gil because you don't like his body?
And by the way, please stop attacking me. I didn't do anything to you.
To sos dd:
How silly. I haven't said a word to attack you. All opinions expressed pertained to Gil Spencer.
By the way, I think most people know what "body of work" means.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dear Merchant,
You say you haven't attacked me, but I must say I completely disagree with you.
Gil is a provider of service and I subscribe to his service. Therefore any personal attack on Gil is a personal attack on me as his client.
I'll take my apology now? Unless ofcourse you don't subscribe to the Mark Sereni philosophy.
Anonymous said...
oh, junecarter, you never stop do you? what's the matter? Get suspended from goaston again?
September 21, 2007 9:45 AM
Do you see my name signed to any of these posts? I am not an army of one. There are over 1,500 people that share the same opinion as mine.
Stop fixating. Besides, you know if I had posted I would have professed my undying love for Gil.
Try and leave me out of one of your battles and sticking to the issues for once.
My name is concerned neighbor and I have anger management issues that stem from my unusually small.... it's too painful to even talk about.
Please bear with me during my time of misguided anger.
Wow, I feel so sorry for Concerned Neighbor. How embarassing it must be for him. That explains everything.
and these last few posts illustrate exactly the quality of person who posts on goaston.
Don't worry CN (Cuddly Nothing) I won't tell anybody about it. It's nothing really to worry about! Ooops did I say that? We are all friends here. ED is a very common problem! They even have a pill for it. I still love ya! Call me! Looking Anytime!
Concerned Neighbor there is nothing to be ashamed of. I too suffer from your plight. After years of therapy I have finally come to terms with my inadequacy. Luckily there are tools for people like us so we can lead normal lives. Without tweezers and magnifying glasses I'd probably still be as angry as you.
There is a support group for people like us called www.MillimeterPeter.com , not only am I a member I'm also the President.
Grow up people. Enough is enough.
I see that the Daily Times gave Sereni an apology of sorts this week, but is the Daily Times going to apologize to this poor secretary for smearing her good name ? What's good for the big guys is good for us little people too !
Let's see, where to begin. With all the crap thats going on, and the fact that Mr. Sereni also sits on another SB and has (apparently) a lucrative business, I find it very distressing that he remains. I can only imagine why he's staying. The intelligent person would gracfully bow out and save face, try to retain his other sourses of income, but not Mr. Sereni. As I sit here and try to think of why he remains, I come to 2 conclusions.
One (1) he is such a stellar individual that he will remain and fight for truth, justice and the American way. (just threw up in my mouth, sorry)
Two (2) he's so deep in this crap that he's trying to minimize the damage before he gets tossed out or indicted.
My personal opinion (got that Mr. Sereni, opinion, I am entitled) is that he is DEEP in this and there's MUCH more than meets the eye. If we're un-covering this stuff, I'm sure we've only scratched the surface.
What I find funny is everyone that's done wrong is so suprised that this is causing an up-roar. Let me explain, if you shop-lift something, you check out the store, make sure you can get away with it, and go for it. In the back of your mind, (unless your a complete moron) you know what the consequences are should you get caught. You all got caught, it started with that substance-abusing-ass KC, and it went down hill fast. Shame on all of you. I wouldn't be suprised if this reaches further out than we all expect.
Then, to save face and turn away the attention from themselves, they shoot the messenger (Gil and Loretta) try intimidation to the board members and nameless people on some insignificant forums board. Even go as far as suggesting to call each and every one of the close to 1600 residents that signed a petition. Your kidding me right?
I actually love the fact that the school board is now turning on each other. This is where the good stuff comes out and the investigation gets easier, each and every one of them dumps the dirt to save face. This, my friends, is priceless.
Gil, keep doing what your doing my friend. If you weren't "hitting close to home" they wouldn't care. Loretta, glad your feeling better, take the leash off now and go for the throat, you have the backing of the residents of Aston, Parkside and Brookhaven.
God Bless
I find it amusing that the delcotimes advertised the sereni correction on the front page with his picture. the paper makes mistakes all the time (i am not being critical on that point), but i must say i cannot recall when it made front page like that.
One of Sereni's biggest advocates has claimed Sereni is allegedly looking into buy real estate within Penn Delco so he can have a voice at school board meetings if he gets fired.
Can you imagine the thought process behind that? Unbelievable, the things we do when we're desperate.
I can't believe some of the things people are writing on here about that secretary and Mark Sereni. Aren't there laws against slander?
Oh, please............Give me a break.
I love the person who bad mouthed MS and KC and at the end of the post it said, "God Bless". That cracks me up. Typical Aston person, no brains and a know it all.
God Bless. That is great.
I'm back from Northern Michigan and I see some people have been very busy responding to "Situation Normal in Penn Delco."
And to each other.
With all the traffic there, no need for me to weigh in.
But, I understand much has been going on in the district in my absence. Enough to warrant a print column for Wednesday.
As it happens, Wednesday night the school board will meet in public to decide a few things.
What's more interesting, however, is what happens when they meet in private with their solicitor.
NOTE: For some reason our server is not accepting new posts. But is accepting comments on old posts.
We hope to have this fixed soon.
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so another board member or members have gone running to gil to talk about private conversations from executive session.
now why would they do that?
no coincidence, i think, that gil is doing a column on mark sereni the day of the vote on whether sereni stays. gil spencer really wants to make sure the guy goes, he really has a thing for him. gotta wonder why an opinion columnist from another district is so obsessed with one school district and, mostly, its lawyer.
i dont think there can be any doubt now that gils sources are board members who want and need gil to spin things to deflect attention from their failings and or alleged misdeeds and indiscretions and suit their own agendas. and that gil then protects them by not revealing who they are and not commenting on, or downplaying, the skeletons in THEIR closets. depending on what the column says, i think we may know exactly which ones have been feeding gil and being fed by him.
anyway, the likelihood that whatever gil prints will be the real deal? my guess is he will get his own name right and thats about it.
Neighbor if your not Mark Sereni, I sure hope you get a nice Christmas bonus this year. Your dedication and passion for this man is remarkable.
i don't think my passion or dedication for him is even close to gil's, but that's another story.
but i do hope you do something to yourself too for all your hard school board work.
what kind of person continually attacks other people in this malicious manner? what disgusts me most is the accusation that Leslye Abrutyn committed an indiscretion with Keith Crego. Which he just throws out there like its gospel truth. is it possible he is not aware that the former supeprintendent's husband passed away recently? And that she has a family? That is still grieving? what kind of newspaper are you people running? get rid of this monster.
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I think someone is jealous of Gil.
Why are you folks so emotional about this topic?
What would move someone to pretend they work at the DT?
A grip. Get one, people.
Hey, Gil, can your tech girl check the IP address of posters? I suspect she’d find that a number of these outraged folks are really an outraged individual.
As for LA and KC we shall all see what takes place when the indictments come down I feel the real truth will surface about both and yes probably many heads will turn. It's a shame that families will suffer more embarressment but when you play with fire you get burnt and some more than others.
Randal welcome to the world of Penn-Delco. God forbid you speak your mind and if you do be prepared for the malicious and vendictive personal attacks.
Malicious and vindictive attacks? That's Gil's world, baby.
What is funny is that Spencer doesn't report that Green and Steffy both broke the law!!! They should go as well. How do they escape? I have never heard of anything so crazy.
I hope there is police presence at the meeting tonight. The tones of these posts indicate there is someone very unstable that is ready to snap at any minute.
I do believe we will have a fearless member of law enforcement right there on the stage this evening
Okay Gil, you were at the board meeting last night. You heard Dave Seitz say last night that the screw up with putting the ad in the paper for last week's meeting was not that secretary's fault.
You were wrong, or you lied.
Are you going to apologize right here and now to that secretary for what you falsely said about her?
Man up.
He said it was not the secretary's fault. He did not say it was the newspaper's fault. Maybe Seitz was the one who faxed the ad. Who knows who sent the ad in LATE.
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