Two for Tuesday

Two things:

Just days after saying he was close to having a recommendation for city treasure, Mayor Dan Mylott said he needed a few more weeks. In the grand scheme of things it's not a huge deal -- there hasn't been an outcry for a new treasurer -- but why would Mylott say he's days away from an annoucement and then quickly reverse himself? Either something unforeseen happened, or he just said something he shouldn't have. Not the end of the world, but worth noting.

More importantly, this situation with the teachers' union is getting interesting -- and a bit testy. The union has been doing standouts for a month now at School Committee and City Council meetings, and it didn't go over well last night when committee member James Connors called the appearance a "show."

The union has been without a contract for a year, and is all but working to contract and saying it's being disrespected.

As a long-time sports fan, I kind of have an automatic shutoff when someone looking for a raise brings up respect. Remember Mo Vaughn? Even more so for me, remember Jody Reed? A middling second baseman who said the Red Sox were disrespecting him with a $2 million offer (and that was 15 years ago). Ugh.

Anyway, the union now feels disrespected. It may have a point, it has been a year and all, but the disrespected tag is a tough one to swallow in most circumstances. The School Committee says it doesn't have any money. They say they've hammered out a lot of details, but don't have the money to work everything out. Truth, or negotiating stance?

A mediator has been involved in the talks, but based on the union's stance, you have to figure not a lot of progress has been made in the negotiations.

I'm guessing, based on this past weekend's SF conversation (see the 100-plus comments in the post below to get the whole, lengthy, but interesting discussion), there's not a lot of support for the union in these parts. To summarize: The idea of cutting 10 percent out of the city's budget is a good idea. Or, no it isn't. It seemed most people were in the "good idea" camp, so I'm guessing there's minimal support around here for a raise as the School Committee it has no money for teachers. Thoughts?