No-Class Deal

Soboroff merited a vigorous defense from fellow oversight-committee member David Abel, even though Abel is an adamant critic of Mayor Riordan. ”I thought the leadership that Steve tried to bring to the citizens-oversight function was quite constructive and impressive at times,“ said Abel. ”With the better staff that the district now has in place, it’s come to light that the numbers and information we had been receiving were poorly constructed and unreliable.“ In other words, Soboroff had a right to be ornery.

Since Soboroff left the oversight committee, added Abel, ”We no longer command the respect and attention we once did from the district, from the neighborhoods or from the larger community that we did when Steve was present.“

Abel didn‘t know the particulars of the CarMax episode, but said he’s not surprised that a company would seek a buyer other than the school district: ”In any business, reputation counts a lot when you‘re trying to make a deal. With the school district, you never know that they’re going to complete the transaction.“

Not good enough, said a facilities administrator: ”That was Soboroff‘s middle finger that pushed the fax button sending the purchase and sale documents to the buyer. If you want to give him the benefit of the doubt, let’s just say that he was using performance art to demonstrate that the district moves inefficiently.“

Researcher Dave Perera contributed to this story.