Another thing ...

Following up a little bit on the Oconee County Board of Education - largely because I think this story is an indication of how this afternoon's meeting is going to go - David Weeks has repeatedly argued that it's not about the money, resulting in today's Athens Banner-Herald editorial responding with 'we're not buying it.'

Weeks worked to clarify his statements to The Oconee Enterprise ...

Weeks said when he first started on the board he donated his salary to the school system. That is, until the state told him he could no longer do so because of an “accounting irregularity.”

“It’s really not about money,” Weeks said. “I used to give it back to the school system until the state said I couldn’t.”

While I've got some questions about these 'accounting irregularities' that prevent him from making a donation, I also wonder if he's thought to write a check to the Education Foundation of Oconee County.

Regardless, that's not the point.

If it's not about the money and said money can't be given back to the school system ... then why are you asking for the pay raise? Because if you can't give the money back to the school system, that means you get to keep the money meaning it's about the money.

And, listen, there's a legitimate case to be made that it should be about the money. The problem is the existing fiscal crisis, the budgetary cuts facing the school district and the lack of transparency in the process.