Bruce Menin, Newburyport School Committee
October 25th, 2007In my quest to learn more about the Newburyport School Committee election which I now know a little bit more about than “zip,” I contacted folks about who they would consider voting for Newburyport School Committee.
Bruce Menin’s name was also one of the names at the top of the list. Again, from some of the not the usual suspects.
“Menin–Tip O’Neil said always lash to the old oaks when the storm wind blows. Bruce is a proven commodity.” Was one reply I received.
If re-elected this would be Mr. Menin’s 3rd term (one 4 year term and half of a 4 year term, 2 years). (Please see “Editor’s Note” below for clarification.)
That anyone could have a sustained and tenacious passion for trying to solve the ongoing conundrum of our school system is remarkable. (I would give up after the first week. It seems as if the position chews folks up and spits them out. This is not an easy volunteer undertaking.)
I met Bruce Menin one day on the street about 3 months after he had begun his first School Committee term and he looked gaunt. I must have had a questioning look on my face like, “How’s it going?” because Mr. Menin looked up and said, “It’s real different when you’re in the inside.”
Yes, and “Amen” to that. How true.
It strikes me that change in any political process is like moving a barge or trying to wade in a swimming pool full of taffy.
If the barge gets moved even the slightest bit, that’s quite an accomplishment. In my experience the barge rarely turns a quick 180 degrees.
And politics, most politics, appears to me, to often be slow and sticky.
One of the things I have observed about Mr. Menin is that he is never afraid to ask the question which no one wants to hear and no one wants to talk about. It appears to me that in the last 6 years Mr. Menin has more than once challenged the “status quo.”
As uncomfortable as that might be, challenging the “status quo” is something I happen to think would be a good idea. And Mr. Menin does so often with a New York sense of humor and approach, that I very much appreciate.
Mr. Menin has a certain “ironic irreverence” that may not be understood by one and all, but there is more than just this blogger who thinks that that character trait is “not all bad.”
And Mr. Menin is not afraid to let people know who he is or what he thinks. His blog is a testimony to that. If you would like to know who Bruce Menin is, I would check out his blog at: newburyportschools.blogspot.com.
Mary Eaton
Newburyport
(Editor’s Note: Please see the very moving post by Bruce Menin about Vickie Pearson that clarifies the length of the School Committee terms (4 years) and how Bruce Menin has come to serve 6 years on the Newburyport School Committee. Please press here to read that post).