Re: Re: MUSIC STORES AND BAND DIRECTORS


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TubeNet BBS ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by A Guy in Virginia on November 30, 2001 at 11:32:32:

In Reply to: Re: MUSIC STORES AND BAND DIRECTORS posted by David on November 30, 2001 at 10:06:36:

Houston is well-known for such shenanigans, though it's not unique. I recall hearing stories of the City of Houston purchasing staff playing poker with some suppliers at the Houston Engineer's Club (Thursdays, as I recall). Some would keep an open calendar of open dates for when suppliers could take them to lunch. Funny how the city guys always won. None of the folks there that I've worked with since that time have been involved in that sort of thing.

The Houston school district is a vast, bloated beast of an institution, diseased throughout its administration with the same destructive political influences that plague all large, big-city school districts. And I would not at all be surprised to hear of some band directors expecting favors of various sorts from music stores. None of the directors I've ever known in that district, however, participated in that beyond the normal amount of schmoozing.

I spent many years working in the public sector. Most agencies have published rules about what is considered acceptable and what is not. In one agency, the rule was $25 a year total from any one supplier, and in another agency, the rule was "accept no gifts that could be reasonably expected to affect the conduct of one's official duties." These are interpreted variously, usually to punish those who are out of favor for one reason or another. Thus, the supervisor under me continued to accept hunting and golfing trips with his favorite supplier, with no response from my boss "unless I could provide legal proof," but that same boss wrote me a reprimand for allowing a consultant to buy me a $6 hamburger--a consultant on a project over which I had no administrative control. (Getting fired from that job improved my resume, and was considered a mark of integrity to others in the business.)

On the other hand, I know several folks at the federal level and several of their contractors who spent a little time in the Graybar Hotel because of a fund established, supposedly for honest purposes, that somehow funded the purchase of a nice automobile for one of those officials.

In another city, I had many friends who were band directors. I suspect that a few of them might have enjoyed a little kick-back, but their district was organized such that the band director had little control over anything that would earn him a kick-back. I suspect that the vast majority in any organization are clean, but there will always be a few.

The fellow who double-billed for repairs in order to get around a district prohibition on buying new instruments would probably have been praised by the parents. He broke the rules, yes, and would be punished if caught. I doubt any jury would convict him of a crime. There is a difference between corruption for personal gain and rule-breaking for the benefit of the students (as long as the money doesn't find its way into the new-car fund).



Follow Ups: