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School Board should have given away buses

The Hernando County School Board's refusal last week to donate surplus buses that would be used, at least initially, to help evacuees of Hurricane Katrina may not be shameful or appalling, as some have alleged.

But it does show a remarkable lack of appreciation and compassion for the magnitude of one of this country's worst natural disasters and the efforts of those who are struggling to recover from it.

As relief efforts around the world reached fever pitch to aid the more than 400,000 people displaced by Katrina, representatives of the Holy Ground Homeless Shelter in Hudson requested five of 13 rundown buses that the school district planned to auction this weekend. School Board members Pat Fagan and Robert Wiggins embraced the appeal.

But members James Malcolm and Sandra Nicholson were not swayed. They expressed concerns about liability and setting a precedent that would open up the board to similar requests from other nonprofit groups.

What they apparently did not take into account is that there may be no better time to set a precedent than during an unprecedented disaster. Extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary measures, and their failure to recognize that reality and act on it favorably betrays their leadership roles as public servants.

The school district had no further need for the buses; their only remaining public purpose was to obtain a modest return at the auction. Officials estimated each would bring no more than $2,000. And the board's attorney assured that the district would face no liability if the buses were donated and then broke down.

If Malcolm and Nicholson did not want to grant the request for all five buses, homeless shelter representatives no doubt would have been grateful for one or two. Instead, they were left empty-handed and the board red-faced.

Use of over-the-hill government vehicles by private groups is not unparalleled. For many years, the Hernando County Sheriff's Office has turned over surplus cruisers to neighborhood crime watch groups without objection or controversy. It is a sensible way for taxpayers to continue to benefit from their investment. Donating the buses for such a worthy and timely cause would have been just as prudent, probably more so.

Had board member John Druzbick not been ill and in attendance at Tuesday's board meeting, the result would have been different. He fully supported the Pasco homeless shelter's request and was so taken aback by the outcome, and compelled to assist, that he and his wife, Deborah Walker-Druzbick, launched a fundraising campaign so they could purchase one or more buses at Saturday's auction. As of late Friday afternoon, they had more than $15,000 in donations for that purpose.

The Druzbicks' efforts to rally grass roots financial support for the hurricane victims is commendable, and the response from donors is heartwarming. It affirms the public's disagreement with Nicholson's and Malcolm's thinking on this issue and the community's commitment to combat the devastation and suffering wrought by Katrina.

[Last modified September 11, 2005, 01:12:04]