Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 11, 1995 TAG: 9505110078
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-18 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
His secretary, suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome, was unable to lift a hand to typewriter or word processor.
The going rate for temp clerical workers has risen so high in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., that he could not afford to hire one, considering his measly $35,000-a-year consultant's salary.
He's decided to become a medical doctor, and was practicing his penmanship toward the day he will be required to scrawl illegible prescriptions.
The dog ate the original typed report he'd planned to send, and he had to hurriedly scribble out what he recalled of the thing to avoid the embarrassment of receiving a failing grade from the Roanoke City school system he once supervised.
Whatever. It was a sloppy piece of work, which Tota presumably believed no one would dare challenge - coming from the former big shot of Roanoke's educational establishment.
After all, the point of the $35,000 consulting fee that Tota receives as part of his early-retirement contract with the city wasn't really to pay for consulting work - was it? Wasn't it simply a way to quietly sweeten his compensation without further jacking up his salary?
Whatever. This isn't to suggest that the content of Tota's report to the Roanoke School Board was worthless. Who would know, since parts of the 18-page handwritten opus, according to School Board Chairman Nelson Harris, couldn't be deciphered? And even if its message could be made out, it would try the patience of any who had to struggle through it, just as surely as Tota's patience may be tried by his having to produce work to get his consulting fee.
Maybe it's a gem of a report, well worth the fee. Harris, a conscientious board chairman, nonetheless got it right: The handwritten work was unprofessional and unacceptable.
Tota's report is presumed to reflect his research into availability of funds for continuing Roanoke's magnet-school programs. Tota deserves continuing gratitude for helping to get those successful programs started when he was superintendent. Still, for $35,000, the city deserves more than chicken scratchings, and Harris did well to send Tota's homework back for revision.
by CNB