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Get All Those Instructors You Can - Or Maybe Not

by Craig B (writer), January 11, 2008

Credit:

I’m just a bystander in media-land drooling to have the exclusive interview with a suddenly publicity shy city department.

So, Novato Parks and Recreation Department, dahlings, bubbaluhs, why don’t you consider talking to me?  I’m very open-minded.  I won’t even put our interview in a paper with those escort, B & D Clubs and pot-club ads.  I won’t pester you with the questions that some want to ask you after that Feasting at the Public Trough story came out.

Not that I’d hound the Novato Parks and Recreation Department, and their no qualifications or background check required of their “instructors,” but if I did, here’s a list of due diligence questions I’d promise not to pose to them. 

Do you believe the Novato Parks and Recreation Department has a duty of care to the public? 

Do you believe that verifying “instructor” qualifications and doing “instructor” background checks meets an reasonable amount of care standard in dealing with others? 

Do you have an Age of Majority requirement for your “instructors” or students?  Ya know, the age at which an individual is considered legally capable of conducting themself responsibly. 

Are your “instructors” in an agency relationship with you since you pay them as independent contractors? 

Have you done any sort of background check that any of your “instructors” are really aggressors who just might acquire another in a take-over attempt such as a pedophile or other type sexual predator would do? 

What are your “instructor’s” qualifications?  Or are you just using a logic analogy as a trade-off by assuming that if the instructor tells you they are qualified that they are?  That implies a course of dealing that is based on a false understanding, and that you are trading off the safety of the public attending those courses for your desired result of “courses” to fill up your schedule. 

Are you using anticipatory repudiation as to why you have not done “instructor” background checks or verified qualifications? 

Why are you relying on your “instructor’s” apparent authority to teach their proposal class instead of verifying it’s real? 

Aren’t your “instructors” practicing appropriation, the act of making the Novato Parks and Recreation Department their own, or exercising or making use of the Novato Parks and Recreation Department to subserve the “instructor’s” own interest? 

What do you think of the assumption of risk doctrine if one of your “instructor’s” questionable activities has been repeatedly brought to your attention and you still keep on the instructor?  Doesn’t the laches’ doctrine and negligence per se kick in at some point? 

What do you think of the doctrine of attractive nuisance if one of your “instructor’s” is using the venue the Novato Parks and Recreation Department to lure children by something enticing therein? 

What do you think of beyond a reasonable doubt when assessing your “instructors?”  What would make you hesitate before acting in a matter important to you such as filling out your schedule offering versus the safety of a child or vulnerable woman? 

Have you utilized categorical imperative as an ethical standard in the hiring of your instructors? 

What do you think of consequential damages to students as they are reasonably foreseeable when “instructor” qualifications and backgrounds checks are not done? 

What do you think of the likelihood of “instructor” duress on their students? 

Does the Novato Parks and Recreation Department undertake any activity up to the point at which the marginal benefit equals the marginal cost? 

So there you have it.  How does that sound?  If you’re interested, drop me a line. 

This story is the fourth I’ve now written that was inspired by a Broo author’s story.  This one has been bouncing around in my head ever since I read Feasting at the Public Trough by Mistress Doctor in BroWaha.  In that story, the complaint was put forth as a syllogism that a public entity, as the major premise is unfairly subsidizing “instructors.”  Then as a minor premise, that “instructors” are not first checked for their qualifications.  Therefore the conclusion that “instructors” have a high potential to be dangerous to the public.  That got me wondering.



About the Writer

Craig B is a writer for BrooWaha. For more information, visit the writer's website.
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11 comments on Get All Those Instructors You Can - Or Maybe Not

Log In To Vote   Score: 3
By Annonymous on January 11, 2008 at 04:51 pm

Sounds like you know something and aren't telling us.

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Log In To Vote   Score: 8
By Craig B on January 11, 2008 at 07:23 pm

No, anonymous, stupid and illerate coward, if you knew how to read you would have read my comment in this article "This story is the fourth I’ve now written that was inspired by a Broo author’s story.  This one has been bouncing around in my head ever since I read Feasting at the Public Trough by Mistress Doctor in BroWaha.  In that story, the complaint was put forth as a syllogism that a public entity, as the major premise is unfairly subsidizing “instructors.”  Then as a minor premise, that “instructors” are not first checked for their qualifications.  Therefore the conclusion that “instructors” have a high potential to be dangerous to the public.  That got me wondering."  Thank you for the 1.  I of course consider the source and discount it to such as there is a lot of you and your 1's running all over Broo.  I as the author could of course delete your "comment" but the satisfaction I get from re-reading your moronic comment is just too much to not appreciate.  Thank you for the laugh - at you, especially since I don't write for you.

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Log In To Vote   Score: 9
By Keely on January 12, 2008 at 11:50 am

Thanks Craig, for making me think. I've tended to naively assume, whenever I have enrolled my offspring in anything run by a governmental agency, that I can be less wary than I otherwise would be. They only the public good in mind, with state-of-the-art screening systems in place, HR and legal departments that do everything possible to ward off lawsuits, no? No, is what you're telling me. Very well-written article.

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By Craig B on January 12, 2008 at 02:10 pm

Thank you Keely.  I also hadn't thought much of it until I read Feasting at the Public Trough by Mistress Doctor in BroWaha.

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Log In To Vote   Score: 8
By Morgana on February 04, 2008 at 06:59 pm

“Teaching for pay makes an amateur a professional,” according to the United States Dance Sport Eligibility Committee.  For several years now, the cities of Reno & Sparks, Nevada and Washoe County, Nevada has all required finger printing and police cards for their instructors of city recreation programs involving youth under the age of 18, and One Million Dollars in liability insurance.  Washoe County, Nevada also requires accreditation from a member organization of the National Dance Council of America (NDCA), city, county and state business licenses, and BMI, ASCAP & SESAC music performance licenses from their dance instructors and that their instructors pay business and personal income taxes on their revenues, like any legal business owner.  These requirements eliminated many of the "instructors."

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Log In To Vote   Score: 9
By Maryam on July 21, 2008 at 05:14 pm

More reasons why we left Northern California for Sparks, Nevada.

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Log In To Vote   Score: 8
By Lucy Ong on October 22, 2008 at 09:44 pm

The author nailed it there.  These city Recreation departments are only interested in filling their schedule.  Time and time again I’ve heard or read too many stories of exactly what is written here.  Did this Recreation ever get back with any answers to these important questions?

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Log In To Vote   Score: 9
By Craig B on October 23, 2008 at 08:28 pm

Hi Lucy, I e-mailed the Novato Parks & Recreation, but no answer back.

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Log In To Vote   Score: 10
By Diana's Art on February 21, 2009 at 04:07 pm

Outstanding article!  As correctly questioned in Feasting At The Public Trough @ http://www.broowaha.com/article.php?id=2763, aside from the obvious unfair financial advantage given to those that “teach” at these recreation departments without licenses, insurance or any check of their experience or credentials to “teach,” recreation facilities are major attractions of pedophiles and for that reason this link lists implications for recreational professionals to ensure they are keeping children safe by not hiring pedophiles. Realize that pedophiles and sexual predators of adults can be charming individuals who live double lives very well.  County commissioners have put a proposed ordinance on hold that would ban anyone who had ever been convicted of a sex crime from public parks or recreation centers.

The City of Novato, California Parks and Recreation Department’s email is prcs@ci.novato.ca.us.  They and the City of Novato, California must know they have some very grave injustices going on here as well as a publicly paid for invitation to sexual predators.

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By Greene on July 17, 2009 at 05:25 pm

I also naively assumed these sort of questions were being asked and satisfactorily answered before an instructor was hired.

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By Craig B on October 12, 2009 at 05:28 pm

I also naively assumed these sort of questions were being asked and satisfactorily answered before an instructor was hired.

Greene, you and a lot of others.

Let me say this clearly to those that complain here and allegedly complain about what I write –

I’m just an ole city cowboy trying not to fall out of my saddle. Here’s what another editor had to say about threats and complaints he gets.

D. Brian Burghart (brianb@newsreview.com) is as good as they get for an editor. Brian, who has many awards, wrote in the April 30, 2009 Reno News & Review:

“Let me say this clearly: There are all kinds of newspapers, pamphlets and magazines in this area that posture their advertising as articles and stories. We don’t do that. It is never my job, other editors’ jobs or freelance writers’ jobs to promote any business, be it local, big or small. It’s not our job to pretend objectivity or balance or that we can be absolutely comprehensive. It is our job to write about our experiences from our idiosyncratic and independent points of view and to be honest as possible. If we have conflicts of interest, we avoid or disclose them. We write for our readers and nobody else. I don’t know how else to say this: We put out the best newspaper we can with the knowledge and resources we have.”

That position, which I agree with, echoes the Mission Statement of the News & Review, a paper in Sacramento and Chico, California and Reno, Nevada that is highly respected, popular and the recipient of many industry awards. That Mission Statement is:

“To publish great newspapers that are successful and enduring. To create a quality work environment that encourages employees to grow professionally while respecting personal welfare. To have a positive impact on our communities and make them better places to live.”

I’ve modeled my writings on Brian Burghart and what I’ve read in the Reno News & Review.

So, I’m gonna paraphrase Brian and the News & Review’s Mission Statement here:

Let me say this clearly: I write my stories to have a positive impact on my community and make it a better place to live. There are all kinds of newspapers, pamphlets and magazines that posture their advertising as articles and stories. I don’t do that.

I want to publish in great newspapers and blogs that are successful and enduring that create a quality work environment that encourages employees and their freelance writers to grow professionally while respecting personal welfare.

It is never my job, editors’ jobs or other freelance writers’ jobs to promote any business or individual, be it or they local, big or small. It’s not my job to pretend objectivity or balance or that I can be absolutely comprehensive. It is my job to write about my experiences from my idiosyncratic and independent point of view and to be honest as possible. If I have a conflict of interest, I avoid or disclose them. I write for my readers and nobody else. I don’t know how else to say this: I put out the best stories I can with the knowledge, that I have verified, and resources I have.

I'll always give you the benefit of the doubt. If I didn't, what does that say about me and my ethics?

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