Opinion

Dear PUSD board members:

I attended the Feb. 22 board meeting, but I had to leave early. I am thankful that I left. It is unreasonable to have a board agenda that “saves” the major issue until the end of the night. It was my understanding that the layoff vote was not announced until almost 11 p.m.

The paper ran an editorial that discussed the poorly planned agendas and the fact that attendees are held hostage waiting for news of important items. Clearly, the paper’s message was ignored.

At the previous board meeting the personnel vote regarding layoffs was carried over to the special meeting scheduled for Feb. 22. Many people attended these meetings for that particular item. I know that you do not set the agenda, but I wish that you would discuss the placement of items of public interest on future agendas.

On March 3, 1993, Mike Taborski hired me to be a part-time employee for the Feather River Bulletin. Now, 19 years later, he has hired me to be a part-time employee for the Portola Reporter. It’s good to be home.

Though I must admit that yesterday I was having second thoughts as I eyed the white expanse that was my driveway. About midway through shoveling the accumulated snow, my husband (who was at our home in Redding) called to say that it had been windy and he was thinking about skimming the leaves from the pool. Hmmm … leaves vs. snow … I must admit to having a brief moment of “What was I thinking?”

A friend of mine says he has 2,032 friends.

I checked. He’s not lying.

Some of them he said he even knows. A few he’s actually met.

Remember the days when friends were flesh-and-blood buddies we called and hung out with on the weekends?

Jason Theobald

In a scene from his literary masterpiece, “Don Quixote,” Miguel de Cervantes depicts the eponymous main character, riding at breakneck speed on horseback, lance leveled for the attack, at windmills he’d mistaken for giants. The scene, while comical, is an allegory with a number of interpretations. The most common, however, is that of a battle that cannot be won or fighting an unbeatable foe.

Why am I talking about “Don Quixote” in my opinion piece? Simple. After attending the last five Chester area District Advisory or “7-11” Committee meetings, I find myself asking if the committee is fighting a battle that cannot be won.