Wow — so it is an 8-0 vote in favor of offering the CMS superintendent job to Peter Gorman. Board member Larry Gauvreau abstained arguing that the Board did not, in fact, conduct a full search. His motion to go look for more candidates failed without gaining a second.
This outcome means that interim superintendent Frances Haithcock got no votes from the Board, a shocking outcome considering that the selection process was tilted her way from the outset. But in just the past few weeks a couple factors erased that.
One, it became clear to everyone in the county, especially the Uptown crowd, that a Haithcock-led CMS would have just about zero chance of winning a bond campaign in the fall. And two, Gorman came into town and hit all the right change-agent hot buttons and gave the Chamber and Advantage Carolina (is there a difference?) folks the vapors.
Still, what early in the day looked like a knock-down, dragout fight ended with a whimper. Quite the turn around.
The outstanding questions, Gorman’s contract, how much and for how long. Another unknown, what did the Chamber promise to Board members in order to get that 8-0 vote? Another $430 million bond package with plenty of money for every district? Then the Chamber will then spend and spend to get-out-enough-votes to pass that bond?
