To the editor:

On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of congratulating the newly elected city councilmen in the new council chambers. It was a pleasure, since I know each to be a man of great personal integrity, dedicated to serving the citizens of Suffolk.

To be honest, they looked a little dazed to be sitting in council chambers the day after they won their elections. I hope they were not so dazed that they failed to notice the same thing I noticed.

The sitting City Council passed a resolution of support for the establishment of a regional Governor’s School for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. While this seems like a worthwhile endeavor, the resolution seems to me to be coming from the wrong public body. I heard how the support of the school superintendent would be important to the success of the endeavor but did not hear the School Board mentioned.

As Councilman Charles Parr repeatedly stated during his failed campaign for re-election, the City Council only “writes the check” for school funding. It is the School Board that determines how that money is spent. I wonder if Wednesday’s resolution rightfully should have been passed by the public body that has the responsibility to make decisions about such a project.

I very much hope the new City Council will work with the School Board as an equal partner and not make policy for the School Board.

Chris Dove

Suffolk