Cape Ann TV and the Rockport Override

Yesterday, I started out with a new assignment before I continued my article about the blues musician from the previous week. The executive director of Cape Ann TV, Sinikka Nogelo, is retiring from the station after 30 years working with public access TV. In her honor, the people at Cape Ann TV are throwing her a farewell gala. At her request, it will also function as an auction with the proceeds benefitting Cape Ann TV.
While I was doing the interviews and research for this article, I kind of realized what a culture Gloucester has. There are a few people in town who literally EVERYONE knows--Sinikka being one of them, along with Stacy Randell (who I work with at Cape Ann Families) and this woman Ruth Pino. All of the stuff with Gloucester politics is fairly interesting, too--I like gaining new understanding about how everything works in regional and local government.
Take, for instance, the Rockport override. On the surface, almost anyone would vote for it: who wants the school to lose music programs? That's terrible! But when you look below the surface, administrators and budget makers can be tricky. It is my understanding that sometimes, when it comes to overrides, they pick the issues that will "tug at the heartstrings" of the community. Couldn't they simply cut one of the administrative or upper-management positions in the school district instead of chopping off music programs? Well, they could, but they choose not to. Instead, it appears to me that Rockport teachers will take the hit if the override passes--which, when you consider the importance of a teacher to the school compared to that of an upper level management administrator, really doesn't make sense. A teacher absolutely can't teach two classes at once: administrators, on the other hand, seem significantly less important. I think, overall, that schools need to reevaluate what kind of people they want to cut the salaries of. Every Rockport citizen should think about that before they vote for or against the override.

UPDATE: HERE is my article about Cape Ann TV!