The Best (And Worst) Of 2011, Part I

The Valley Indy is off until the New Year — but we’ll have a bunch of year-in-review type stories to get you through the last week of 2011.

Today we start with part one our end-of-the-year superlatives.

This week we will also publish a list of our most-read stories of 2011, plus separate, top stories of the year lists from Jodie Mozdzer and Eugene Driscoll.

See you in 2012!

MOST POISED NEWS SUBJECT
Criteria: Cool under pressure.

James Tate, student, Shelton High School: James Tate didn’t expect to make national news when he asked his friend, Sonali Rodrigues, to the prom last spring. But when the school banned him from the prom after he taped the message to the outside of the school, Tate was propelled into the spotlight. 

He handled the attention with poise, and respect. Tate appeared on national television, had a vast Twitter following and was hounded by news cameras for several days, while the world criticized Headmaster Dr. Beth Smith’s decision. 

Officials eventually decided to let Tate go to the prom. Tate’s response: I’m glad this situation had a positive outcome, but I feel sorry for putting Dr. Smith into this position.”

LEAST POISED
Criteria: Get weirdly aggressive with a reporter and her camera.

Chris Hoffman, New Haven Public Schools: OK, it didn’t happen in our coverage area, but we can’t get over this video from our sister publication The New Haven Independent.

Melissa Bailey tried asking Hoffman why he followed her to a feel good” story at a New Haven school. His response was a high-five of her camera lens, an F‑bomb to her editor and some loosely veiled threats. 

Keep in mind: New Haven taxpayers pay this man for his communication skills. Hoffman resigned a few days later.

TRANSPARENCY HALL OF SHAME AWARD
Criteria: Ignore Freedom of Information laws — and the public — when talking about the most important of public issues: The public’s money.

Ansonia Tax Board. In May, Ansonia officials adjourned a public meeting on the budget, then split into two groups to hold private workshops” immediately afterward — barring members of the public and three reporters from attending.

Ansonia officials erred by first holding the impromptu tax board workshops” — and then messed up again by not allowing the public into the proceedings, FOI experts agreed. 

The Valley Indy published a play-by-play of the bizarre events.

Ansonia Mayor James Della Volpe apologized a few days later.

TRANSPARENCY HALL OF FAME AWARD
Criteria: The realization that Freedom of Information is designed to simply keep the public informed.
Stephen Tracy, Derby Public Schools: Public officials toss around the personnel” exemption to the FOI law like it’s a get out of jail free card on a Monopoly set. School districts get another layer to shield themselves from the public due to the fact they deal with young people. Students’ records are off limits to the public — and rightfully so.

And, let’s face it — school superintendents aren’t always the most accessible group, as anyone who has called to get your district’s super on the phone probably knows.

Don’t believe us? Click here.

Tracy, though, the school superintendent in Derby, has one of the most straight-forward school budget presentations, always makes supporting documents available to the public — and often agrees to Valley Indy experiments, such as when he sat down for a one-hour audio interview about the district’s long-range plan (he did the same thing during budget time last year).

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