I recently received an extraordinarily hostile email from a local elected official regarding a comparison of the "sit down" protests of Rosa Parks to my own mule headed stubborness. It appears that in some quarters the pursuit of educational quality at reasonable expense is considered a cloak for pure blind racism.

Well, I do confess to "blind", anyhow. I used the expression "good ol' boys" in a previous post. Please accept my apologies for use of the racist bigoted code word "boy". I will refrain ever after.

The NETWORK of cronies involved any multi-million dollar project in Texas is ALWAYS a matter of public interest. Whether it's the Trans Texas Corridor, T. Boone Picken's wind farms, or the Rio Grande fence, the ostensible purposes of the road, the power line, or the border control project rarely determine the outcome. The question of which politician can help which banker, architect, construction company, and lawyer is generally at least as interesting as the project itself.

In Lancaster the players have recently changed. Joe Tillotson has retired after years of holding the mayor's office. And Gallagher construction, along with the brothers and former legislator's Fred and Roy Orr, have bowed out in the middle of the project for the new public safety building. Based on the rumors I'm getting third and fourth hand, it appears some city officials were unhappy about the costs being charged for exotic materials ... perhaps, (and I stress that I'm guessing) it might have been something as reported by Joey Daubin

But to return to Lancaster, the players have changed. So let's review the new program and get familiar with the new players. Not that any of these folks are crooks, cronies, henchmen to one another, or have ANYTHING other than the education of children and the absolute best use of public money at heart. But just so we know who they are:

First, the new mayor, Marcus Knight. Mr Knight, formerly of Fort Worth, is a relatively new face on the Lancaster scene. He's come to us extremely well connected, though.

Twenty-two years ago, his father, Richard Knight Jr., was appointed Dallas' first black city manager. His mother, Mavis Knight, is on the state Board of Education.

Mavis Knight is, according to her bio for the State Board, is

married to Richard Knight, Jr., and they have three adult sons and eight grandchildren.

So we look at the current activities of Richard Knight to find out more. Well, the senior Mr Knight is, like his wife, active in supporting local schools. "Local", for the Knight family, has been focused on Fort Worth.

As vice president and COO Marcus E. Knight, formerly a marketing manager for Toyota Motor Sales in the New York Region, oversees the day-to-day operations for Knight Waste Services. Working with the Fort Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce and the Fort Worth Independent School
District, the Knight family is sponsoring an Adopt-A-School program for the students at Dunbar Middle School on the city’s south side. The company started mentoring during the 2008 spring semester and will host a Career Day presentation in May at the school.

Somewhat odd to see Mr MARCUS Knight so active in the Fort Worth ISDs in spring 08 while his own Lancaster mayor's race was being contested ... but there you are.

Now, it's perhaps not entirely altruistic of Mr RICHARD Knight to be earning goodwill and good publicity from schools. In addition to his solid-waste and recycling business, Richard Knight is "chairman and managing partner of a construction firm. Pegasus Texas Holdings LLC is a construction management firm with offices in Fort Worth and Dallas.

Oddly, the PRESIDENT of Pegasus has almost no visible construction background at all. The President of Pegasus is an good old -- well, he's a white guy so maybe it wouldn't be offensive to use the word, but I did promise -- a good ol' fella from Lancaster ISD, Dr Larry Groppel. Ex-Superintendent. According to the bio on the Pegasus site:

Dr. Groppel brings an extensive resume and impressive background to the firm in both education management and construction of educational facilities. He offers twenty-five years of construction related experience.

Which is to say, he campaigned for his districts' school bonds.

Nothing illegal about that, by the way. It's called "informing the public". (We don't use the word "electioneering." )

Dr Groppel is ALSO a well connected sort of guy. His work in the Dallas ISD brought him to federal level attention. Not the best sort, but federal attention even so. The "connect the dots" among Larry Groppel, Ruben Bohuchot, William Coleman, Frankie Wong and other "guys in ties" is nicely summarized by Peyton Wolcott. Luckily for us all, Dr Groppel was, well, let's use the word "cleared."

Somewhat oddly, Dr Groppel used to be a rather important figure on the masthead for school banking outfit Moak, Casey. He still shows up on the front page -- see top of this post -- but the links don't seem to go anywhere anymore.

But not to worry. Dr Groppel is NOT confined to the wage he earns from Pegasus Texas Holdings. No, Dr Groppel is now working with the Lancaster ISD's news planning team, Cambridge.

As it happens, Cambridge does not yet acknowledge that Dr Groppel, ex-Lancaster ISD superintendent and approver of the Dallas ISD technology plan, is among the consultant's planning associates. Any day now, I suppose.

We need now to take a deeper look at the role Cambridge Strategic Planning plays into the school construction racket. For that, we need to look at Scott Milder, "Marketing Professional". THAT, friends, is subject of another post.