Delaware 105.9 Reporter Rob Petree Sworn In As Kathy McGuiness’ Executive Assistant

I wasn’t expecting this!  Rob Petree, a now former reporter for Delaware 105.9, is the new Executive Assistant for Delaware State Auditor Kathy McGuiness.  I find this to be a very interesting choice on McGuiness’ part.  I am not against this choice either.

Petree is a good guy and, as a reporter for 105.9, he wasn’t afraid to go after folks and get the real story.  We need more of that in Delaware and I’ll miss Petree’s reporting.  I have no doubt he will do a great job with McGuiness.  That office has been very quiet and I’m curious to see what comes out of it in the coming months and years.  But hiring a reporter as your Executive Assistant lends credibility to her campaign promise to bring more transparency to that office.

Petree wrote the following on his Facebook account today:

I am excited to announce that I have officially been sworn in as the Executive Assistant for Delaware State Auditor Kathy McGuiness!

 

The People Speak On Delaware DOE Calling The Police On Me Yesterday!

It has been a little over 24 hours since I had to deal with the Delaware DOE calling the police on me yesterday as I sat in the lobby of a public building.  I do want to give a shout-out to the Capitol Police for their fast response.  I know a lot of them from Legislative Hall.  They are great guys!  I don’t blame them for the incident yesterday.  They were just doing their job.

I’ve received many responses, publicly and privately in regards to the situation and my blog post about it yesterday.  Rob Petree with Delaware 105.9 put up an article about it on their website this morning.

This is what the people of Delaware had to say:

Delaware 105.9 Article On Susan Bunting Disappears From Google Search **UPDATED**

When I had a big article about Delaware Secretary of Education Dr. Susan Bunting get reported to Facebook as “spam”, I guessed someone reported it.  When hundreds of people reported to Facebook it was not spam, it came back.  But how does something disappear from a Google search?  When it is from mainstream media?

Bunting Has Technical Wiggle Room But That Is Also A Lie

Yesterday, I posted a controversial article about how Susan Bunting failed to disclose vital information to the Delaware Auditor’s office.  There was at least one (as of this writing) complaint against Indian River’s former Chief Financial Officer, Patrick Miller.  Since then, new information has materialized that sheds some additional information on what I am calling Millergate.  Once again, as in yesterday, there is language in this article that is not safe for work.

Cape Henlopen Under Fire For Failure To Report Employee To State Police

Rob Petree with Delaware 105.9 reported Cape Henlopen School District lied about an offensive touching incident three years ago.

The incident, where an employee grabbed a female student’s pants to see her rear, was shocking enough.

“…and before she knew it he had stood up, grabbed the back of her pants, pulled them away from her body to get a look at her rear-end.”

But the school district told the student’s parent they reported it to the Delaware State Police.  Turns out they never did.

“The alleged incident was not reported to the Delaware State Police in May 2015 and handled by the Administration at the school,” said Sgt. Richard Bratz, Director of Public Information for Delaware State Police. “The school advised this did not rise to the level of a mandatory school report and that the school district resolved it.”

If the man was still at the school years later it doesn’t sound like the district “resolved” anything.  They made the employee work after hours when students were not present.  They openly lied to a news organization about reporting it to the police.  How is that okay?  In a way, this makes the original offense even worse for the victim.  It is saying “we don’t care, we stand by our employees”.  It is not okay for an adult to do that.  It is not okay for the same adult to walk around with racist comments and innuendos.

The response from the district sounds like one I’ve heard before when all of a sudden they are in the hot seat:

The Cape Henlopen School District said “due to the nature of the allegations made by the family and privacy rights of individuals involved, the district is not able to provide specific comments about the concerns.”

Yup, time for the game of say nothing, do nothing.  Sorry, they should have spoken loud and clear three years ago!  Should Superintendent Robert Fulton resign over this?  Any adult in a school is a person of trust.  By keeping an employee that does what he did, lying about how you reported it, and failing to protect students, Fulton allowed this erosion of trust.