The Sad Case of School Board Director Cy Douaihy's "Father's First Cousin's Niece Through Marriage"

You can read the particulars HERE.

When is nepotism considered, well, nepotism?

In the example of Scranton School Board Director Cy Douaihy and his "Father's First Cousin's Niece Through Marriage" (or however it actually goes) I don't see a case for attempted nepotism.  Heck, by that definition, I'm actually related to 90% of Scranton's population of Irish ancestry.

This is not, however, the real issue.

The real issue in this case is the fact that Director Douaihy actually does have a  current, real, actual conflict of interest.  As noted in my blog posting from July 7, 2014

"Mrs. McGuigan, a member of the minority, also questioned whether Mr. Casey, Mr. Douaihy and Mr. Martinelli should be involved in negotiations. Mr. Douaihy and Mr. Martinelli are retired Scranton teachers, and Mr. Douaihy’s wife, Mr. Martinelli’s daughter and Mr. Casey’s mother are all Scranton teachers."

Yes, Director Douaihy's wife is a Scranton School District teacher.  This puts Director Douaihy in the enviable position of being able to increase his own household income via voting on a labor contract for district teachers.  Show of hands:  How many others out there would like that ability?

Anyway, forget the imaginary conflicts of interest, as there are plenty of real ones to go around.

Given the whole "I can vote my wife a raise" fact, is it any wonder that the public and others are keenly and intently looking for shenanigans in the search for a new Superintendent for the Scranton School District?  I think not.  If anything, there should have been more scrutiny in the past and even more scrutiny in the future.  Director Douaihy can make a small case for shabby journalism in this case, but that argument is long overshadowed by the fact that his own service on the Scranton School Board is enormously tainted by his real conflict of interest.

The Bottom Line?  
Director Douaihy and others should stop complaining about the extra scrutiny in this case as, quite honestly, he (and the rest of the Scranton School District Board) deserve it.