The Observation Deck

His finger prints were all over the Hidden Village fiasco and now according to that other news site he is in trouble for nepotism. What gives?? And now someone is saying there is incriminating emails about the Leslie Frogman hiring. What is going on with this school board??

Frank Branchick wrote:His finger prints were all over the Hidden Village fiasco and now according to that other news site he is in trouble for nepotism. What gives?? And now someone is saying there is incriminating emails about the Leslie Frogman hiring. What is going on with this school board??

Frank

While I too often wonder what is going on with the School Board I have been confused over
the big brouhaha over this. I have not found one person saying Leslie is not qualified. After
all she went to University of Toledo, where she got a bachelors degree in Business
Administration, she was also a stand out in Divison 1 Basketball, she has two Masters
Degrees from Ohio University, in Sports Administration and Business Administration. She
also grew up in the Lakewood Rec system, and I would hope we want some standouts
coming back to make our program better.

As far as Hidden Village, Ed along with the other fire and police have been cleared of any
wrong doing when it comes to the residents, and now it is down to only if the city (City
Hall, police and fire) hindered the landlord's ability to do business. So I am a bit confused
over "fingerprints all over Hidden Village."

If you are so worried about the schools how do you feel about what appears to be a
personal vendetta started by someone disgruntled, over a topic that has been around for
as long as Leslie--who was qualified when hired-- flare up at a point in time when
Superintendent Patterson has bigger issues, including the next Levy to finish the buildings.
To me it seems petty, but then I have watched other news sites find Chas Geiger guilty
before he went to court, and reported me going bankrupt a year ago, to name but a few
of their "news stories."

If it made it to court, I would hope this community has learned, from the past, let's kick it
around after the decision, not try them online.

And people think this site is negative!

FWIW

Scott Meeson wrote:

http://www.lyricstime.com/phosphorescent-wolves-lyrics.html

Hey Scott,

I already asked you if you were running for mayor right? With your theme of
"Help me understand."

I think you're already doing the work.

Betsy Voinovich

Anyone questioning Leslie's qualifications or the quality of her job performance would be...what is the word...an idiot.

It would also be nice if, in the future, we spell someone's name correctly when we are insulting them. I know it is normally one of two things A) Passive Aggressive or B) Is a good indication of the quality and accuracy of the gossip...but we all try to stay above board here on the deck

It is a shame that Colleen thinks that I am an idiot for questioning Ms Krogman's job performance. Unfortunately I have done hours of research and have made numerous public records requests. I have written the following in response to Mr O'Bryan's reply to the initial post in this thread. I have no problem if you disagree with my position, but my opinion is based on the study of documents provided by the school system.

I think that perhaps Mr. O’Bryan should recuse himself from commenting on this situation. Judging from the glowing article written by Mr. O’Bryan about Ed Favre it is obvious the Mr. O’Bryan is blinded by Mr. Favre’s apparent brilliance regarding all things Lakewood.

This whole situation is not about whether or not Ms. Krogman is qualified to work for the Lakewood Department of Recreation. It is not about a personal vendetta by a disgruntled person. It is about her father and how she was hired. It is about how the Favres seem to think that they run the Lakewood Rec. It is about unethical practices by the Lakewood School Board. It is about good, honest, fair, transparent government which is clearly absent from the Lakewood School Board. The Observer should be looking into these issues and the inner workings of the school board and the school administration. Try doing some research into the issues that are being raised.

Last summer Mr. Favre and Mr. Markling were accused of harassing an employee of the school system. Were you aware of that? An ‘independent” investigation was conducted by the same law firm that the school system regularly uses and that has been paid in excess of $700,000 over the last three years. Did you know that? Does that sound in any way, shape or form to be independent to you? Not surprisingly they were exonerated. The investigation cost the school system $11,490 and generated a one page document. The superintendent ruled that no harassment had occurred based on that document. The only appeal available was to the Board of Education. How can the Superintendent decide if his bosses committed harassment and how can the only appeal be to the body accused of the harassment? Does this bother anyone else? Perhaps a policy change is in order.

Ms. Krogman was hired in spite of the fact that she was not the choice of ANY member of the selection committee. Did you know that?

Did you know that the Rec Dept. has been re-organized not once, but twice in order to better accommodate Ms. Krogman’s strengths? Why not re-organize to better utilize everyone’s strengths? My experience has been that under performing employees are let go. An organization doesn’t generally change to accommodate the weakness of one employee.

There was an investigation into a payroll discrepancy for an employee under Ms. Krogman’s charge. Payroll records were falsified by Ms. Krogman. Why is that not a situation that calls for dismissal?

When was the last time anyone actually heard any substantive public discussion about any school board issue at a meeting of the Board? The standard practice for a meeting is to gather, make a few reports, set up the agenda for the next meeting, unanimously approve any business that is on the table, and then adjourn to executive session. How many times has the City Council adjourned to executive session in the past year? I would guess that you can count that number on one hand. The Lakewood School Board does it at EVERY meeting. Are discussions taking place during executive sessions? Such discussions could constitute a violation of the Ohio open meeting laws. When does any actual public input take place with the Board of Education?

Every issue that I have raised was found in documents provided to me by the Lakewood City School system through a request for public records.

I could go on, but I will let you do some actual research on your own.

It has been said that “The price of liberty is eternal vigilance”. I would say that the price of good government is eternal vigilance. At least some citizens of Lakewood are being vigilant about the school board, while most of the local media continues to turn a blind eye.

I'll be honest, I really have no idea what is being discussed in this thread, I must have missed something somewhere. Therefore I currently don't have an opinion either way. However I do appreciate the amount of research Mr. Krumreig has done before posting. Regardless of his or anyone else's opinion in this thread.

Christopher Bindel wrote:I'll be honest, I really have no idea what is being discussed in this thread, I must have missed something somewhere. Therefore I currently don't have an opinion either way. However I do appreciate the amount of research Mr. Krumreig has done before posting. Regardless of his or anyone else's opinion in this thread.

Chris

Really, Research? Laughable.

"It has been said that “The price of liberty is eternal vigilance”. I would say that the price of good government is eternal vigilance. At least some citizens of Lakewood are being vigilant about the school board, while most of the local media continues to turn a blind eye."

NO ONE has been harder on the School Board than the Lakewood Observer and myself.
You know that to be true.

Second, we are talking about the hiring of a qualified person 8 years ago, like it is some
emergency that must be investigated to save us from what, Ashley getting a job? She
has a great job already. Brian, nope, any other family members, cousins, uncles, brothers?
Nope, just one daughter 8 years ago who went to University of Toledo, where she got a
bachelors degree in Business Administration, she was also a stand out in Division 1
Basketball, she has two Masters Degrees from Ohio University, in Sports Administration
and Business Administration. Did I mention a standout in Lakewood sports?

This is being talked about, like it is earth shaking. Oddly enough as people leave, who have
sat silently, if it is true for 8 years, which would make them complicit in my book.

Maybe the research isn't into the hiring, but what happened in 2009, that would make
someone write a letter about something that happened in 2004, to basically them self
and then tell someone to ask for that letter three years later, the week after he was
given his first revue ever, and it came back unsatisfactory, and it was determined not
to renew his contract.

Research, I am not convinced. Mad about something, you bet.

.

All I can say is WOW - I guess that Mr O'Bryan is truly blinded by his love of the Favre's. I won't bother with trying to further justify what this is all about - corruption and the misuse of an elected officials position for personal gain. Glad to see that you are focused on the probably improper hiring of Leslie Krogman. No doubt that she is academically qualified for the position that she holds, however when someone is hired outside of the recommendation of the selection committee, something is wrong. At this point we do not know if any other candidates were equally or perhaps more qualified for the position. All we know is that she was hired. Her yearly reviews indicate that she doesn't do the great job that you seem to think she does. Glad to see that you completely ignored the charge of harassment of an employee by an elected official. You blather about the school board but you don't really DO anything! I don't appreciate the inuendo that I was guided by someone inside the school system as to which documents to request. I made the same accusations about improper use of power in your paper LAST SUMMER about the way the school board was operating the rec dept. What sort of progress has been made to clean up the school board since then.....NONE!

Jim,

I am surprised by your response. While I don't post often, I have read the deck daily since year one and I rely on you to question things and get to the bottom of it. Nepotism is going on all over the country, it's not isolated to here, it's a huge problem. I think Richard raises some valid points and I'm surprised by your "stating of the qualifications". People standing behind their social standing. It reminds me of a typical response by those you often challenge. I don't know either Richard or yourself personally, but I didn't take his post as being mad about something. Even if he is, so what? Wouldn't any "whistleblower" for lack of a better word, be upset? Now let me say, I also know of the great work Ed Favre has done for the community, I just don't think that's a sufficient response to the issues raised.

Just my opinion. Maybe i'm missing something.

Jim O'Bryan wrote:If it made it to court, I would hope this community has learned, from the past, let's kick it
around after the decision, not try them online.

I can say that Ed Favre has stood up for issues that from my point of view were extraordinarily important. I can say that he hasn't stood up for issues that I found extraordinarily important. In the span of time, both of these statements are true, but they make the case that my personal experience or feelings don't determine the outcome of this, and no-one actually officially involved in this investigation is allowed to talk right now.

I'm not sure what anybody is "supposed" to say, besides the above.

Betsy Voinovich

John LePlae wrote:Jim,

I am surprised by your response. While I don't post often, I have read the deck daily since year one and I rely on you to question things and get to the bottom of it. Nepotism is going on all over the country, it's not isolated to here, it's a huge problem. I think Richard raises some valid points and I'm surprised by your "stating of the qualifications". People standing behind their social standing. It reminds me of a typical response by those you often challenge. I don't know either Richard or yourself personally, but I didn't take his post as being mad about something. Even if he is, so what? Wouldn't any "whistleblower" for lack of a better word, be upset? Now let me say, I also know of the great work Ed Favre has done for the community, I just don't think that's a sufficient response to the issues raised.

Just my opinion. Maybe i'm missing something.

John

There is a lot going on here. You seem as sure as Mr. Krumreig that I have not looked
into, this complaint, nor any of the other shrapnel that has been ejected from the grenade
lobbing. There is way more going on than anyone is letting on, and it is emotional, and
personal, and I am not saying that is wrong, just that it is.

As a long time reader of the Deck than you are aware that I have been following stories
like this for almost a decade. Same have legs, some don't, and some take some wild and
twisted turns that are hard to believe sometime.

My point is, right now, with this. I have looked into it, and there is not one board member
that has told me Ed put pressure on them to hire Leslie. In fact he excused himself from
every discussion. But in all honesty at the end of the day his name is Favre, her name is
Favre, so one can easily assume people knew they were related. At the same time I have
a real hard time when a father wants what is good for his daughter. Or Mr. Krumreig
wanting what is right for his wife. No one has said Leslie was not qualified. And Mr
Krumreig said it was ABOUT HER HIRING, it was not until it was repeatedly pointed out
that was 8 years ago, did he mention also not good at work, which would be purely
subjective until evaluated, and then?

There there is that pesky timeline 2004-2009-2012, and what happened at those key
points to other players in this, and I do believe the cast of characters is much larger
then let on in any of these discussions.

Then there is the harassment issue that Mr. Krumreig talks about that was found to be
without merit. What else do we have to go on? I was not there. There is also a missing
police report, that figures heavily into this, and how that went missing. Then we have
fringe players that could be at the very heart of much of this.

No matter, the Nepotism is under investigation by the state, and lets see where that falls.

.

Go to 44:36 minutes of the April 2nd board meeting, watch and listen for about 15 minutes:

http://lakewoodcityschools.org/content_page2.aspx?cid=516

Scott Meeson

So Mr O'Bryan has solved all the issues that I raised, basically by saying that he was told no pressure was put on anyone to hire his daughter. I have seen documents that indicate otherwise. Based on what he writes he must have had a conversation with Mr Favre. He has certainly not spoken to me. I am sure the Ohio Ethics Commission will resolve that issue. I know that I will be giving them my two cents.

The timeline is not so pesky when you have seen documents that cover the entire timeline. I have seen all the performance evaluations. I have seen the investigation into the payroll irregularities. I guess that what I have seen is of no consequence.

I know that the investigation concluded that the allegations were without merit. You were not there, I was there and deeply involved. You completely failed to mention the obvious conflict of interest involving a third party neutral lawyer which almost certainly is in violation of Rule 2.4 of the legal code of ethics. Not one person has ever seen the investigation, no witness lists, no witness statements, nothing except the one page $11,490 document generate by the allegedly neutral third party lawyer. If anyone has seen it, we have a HUGE problem. The complaintant was supposed to receive a copy of the investigation. By the way I was told by one board member that they could not discuss the situation with me because we were probably contemplating legal action or if the issue came before the Board for an appeal they wanted to have an open mind. I find it interesting that the minutes of the special board meeting called on October 20, 2011 to discuss my wife's resignation, Mr Favre said, quoting the official minutes, "Further, the Board and the Administration have been talking about this for some time." He goes further to make false statements regard her failure to cooperate with the investigation. How can the board members have kept an open mind if they had been discussing it for some time? Does this bother anyone else? Did they really need to have another special meeting for which they received compensation to accept her resignation? By the way Mr Markling showed an inkling of self respect by abstaining from the vote. Not so for Mr Favre. He wanted to get his last shot at my wife.

There is no missing police report. I know for a fact that he made a public records request to the Law Dept of the City of Lakewood. Mr Favre requested the report on August 15, 2011. The city responded to the request and sent him a copy of it on August 22, 2011. I also know for a fact that he called the LPD to report that I made threats against an elected official less than one hour after the incident took place. Mr Markling made the same call and asked for police protection from me. The police declined. I was met by a detective and asked several questions shortly after those calls to LPD. It was determined that there were never any threats made. Something that has bothered me is, since neither of those two men were present at the incident, how did they find out about the supposed threats so quickly. I certainly did not tell them. So, they both made false reports to LPD. I believe it was their lame attempt to intimidate me after I spoke out against several issues at school board meetings and the harassment of my wife had taken a nasty turn. Whether or not the harassment was "legal" harassment, which I believe it was, EVERY SINGLE person that knows what happened is appalled by the behavior of these two elected officials.

This is a complicated situation and yes, there are many people that have been looking the other way for a very long time. It is time for the school board to come clean and start accepting responsibility for the actions of some members.

You are correct that this is a very personal and emotional situation. My family has been through hell and continues to struggle. I have NO PITY for Mr Favre when he says that his family has been stressed by what is currently taking place. BITE ME!

I am very close to the point where it is uncomfortable to expose any more information. My final thought will be that two elected officials exhibited behavior that was reprehensible for anyone, but especially for an elected official. Only by the grace of God was a terrible tragedy avoided. The events leading up to the incident were the result of the behavior of these two individuals. There is a special place in hell for men that behave as they did.