Richard Thomas applauds Dennis: The future of STRS will be determined one way or another by the presence or absence of representatives like you

The email below was received today re: Dennis's first six months. The author, Rich Thomas, is the Director of Business Operations at the Tri-County Educational Service Center which serves students in the Ashland, Wayne, and Holmes Counties. -- John Curry

From: Richard Thomas, Monday, April 03, 2006

Subject: Re: Dennis Leone's first six months

Dennis deserves our strongest support! It is so good to hear that a member of the STRS board is wise enough to recognize the economic consequences of such liberal practices which have been taking place far too long at our central management office in Columbus, where the assumption is that all of these perks are necessary to successfully recruit personnel who can deliver the services of STRS.

While the hiring of good employees in any business is important, STRS, like schools, will never have the resources to fish with large sums of money to catch those who "appear" to be the brightest, best skilled and most experienced for the job. Weren't we doing this five-ten years ago when disaster struck and we found that the performance of many of these people was substandard?

I'm not opposed to recruiting the very best, but I truly believe there is a good supply of people who are capable of being trained to get the job done in nearly every position we have at STRS without the lure of big bonuses or perks. It is also encouraging to see that we have someone who has the courage to speak their mind and vote their conscience, knowing they will likely find themselves in the minority, at least until such time as we are able to elect others with similar strengths.

Keep up the good work Dennis! The future of STRS will be determined one way or another by the presence or absence of representatives like you.

Respectfully shared,

Rich Thomas