Larry Sykes

I witnessed the Toledo Public School Board of Education meeting tonight and it was a barrel of laughs, around the "horseshoe" many concerns by myself and other spectators and maybe violations of the sunshine laws, by the board members. But then what do you expect, that was how Three for Children was born, Larry Sykes (he's baacck), Deborah Barnett and Steve Steel.

Remember this theft happened while Larry Sykes and Eugene Sanders stood up with their financial oversight committees and said everything is good, trust us. TPS continued to say trust us, then Dan Burns gets caught in Cleveland. TPS scrambled saying we have no clue how much he took from us. Well now we trust you never will look after our money even when you tell us to trust us. For many years, board members including Larry Sykes said that the rest of the State looks up to us. Well I don't know how may districts had 700k stolen from them right under their noses.

Wow, who would have thought Dan Burns would be indicted for stealing money in Cleveland. What could have caused such a praised man here in Toledo to mysteriously become corrupt. Larry Sykes, when he was on the board before, said everyone looks up to TPS and had nothing but praise for Dan Burns. One has to wonder why he went to the dark side so quickly or was it quick????

From the Plain Dealer, the only newspaper to follow this story.
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The following quotes came from the City Papers' April 6, 2005 edition in an article titled, "The harried citizen’s guide to Toledo Board of Education President Larry Sykes"

"She got caught like Janet Jackson, with her [profanity filter won't let it be posted] out." talking about Francine Lawrence

"She reminds me of a dog that can’t pass a fire hydrant without urinating on it." referring to Anita Lopez

"She has gotten those jobs not on her ability but basically because she’s a Mexican with a law degree and a female." referring to Anita Lopez

Larry Sykes, most likely the dumbest person to have ever held elected office in the area as well as one of the biggest racists in Lucas County, has ticked off a lot of people. He has ticked off so many people that one person took his/her time to create a sign highlighting Larry's comments using one of Ben Konop's large signs, and then nailed it up on at least one telephone pole (in the Broadway/Segur area to be specific). A user on this site had the opportunity to see it and grabbed it for me. I really wish I knew about this before the election because I would be happy to have posted this before. The poster, which you can see a larger version of by clicking on the attachment below, details Larry's wonderful remarks about Anita Lopez, calling her a Mexican and only able to get jobs because she was a Mexican and a female (again those are Larry's words not mine). Anyway, now that he is back on the school board, for the next 4 years he will be sure to cause much embarrassment and humiliation to the board and the district given his past antics. Everyone have your cameras ready because Larry Sykes is a viral video waiting to happen.

"Officials briefly discussed the possibility of investing with Abbey National Bank LLC of the United Kingdom. Mr. Sykes said he opposes overseas investments and prefers to put money into banks that have a local presence.

Unlike area financial institutions, Abbey would not likely send money across the Atlantic Ocean to help pay for a levy campaign in Toledo, Mr. Sykes noted [ADMIN EDIT: AKA A KICKBACK] "We do business with businesses who do business with us," he said.

Open Letter to the Black Community and anyone else interested in fair play, fair dealing and the truth,

I had the opportunity of attending the Toledo Board of Education's interviews for filling the vacancy left by the abdication of Steve Steel, the inveterate politician.

The interviews were held with Bob Vasquez presiding over the proceedings. Present were Ms. Darlene Fisher, Mr. Bob Vasquez, Ms. Lisa Sobecki and Mr. Jack Ford.

As most would know I have attended Toledo Public School Board meetings for over ten years. When Pete Silverman was president he called me names from his seat as president, I had been silenced when Larry Sykes was the president, and now that Steve Steel is president the rule is that if I ask a question the board members just look at me and don’t say a word. I guess this is some sort of intimidation tactic.

Larry Sykes who caused chaos, confusion and discord on the Toledo Public School board has been appointed to the Lucas County Children Services Board. Who makes these appointments? In no way should this man be on any board that has anything to do with children, especially our most vulnerable children.

There are well documented instances where he has denigrated women and Hispanics and not so well documented anecdotal information where he has belittled adopted children and children in general.

Here is a report of the TPS board meeting today scheduled for 8:00-10:00AM

The meeting began at 8:05 with Steven Steel, Larry Sykes and Darlene Fisher in attendance, with myself, Blade reporter and a TV station in the audience. They took the roll, pledged allegiance to the flag and then the fun began.

Toledo Public Schools needs to retool its negotiations with William Harner. We are at the point where the credibility of TPS is clearly on the line. And, as much as I admire the extensive work of Larry Sykes at LMHA, at TPS, at the Metroparks, it is past time for Sykes to take a break and catch up on some peace and quiet.

I know Sykes has the heart of a lion but enough is enough. Larry, you have meant more to the community in your cumulative effort than just about anyone else in the past 25 years. Your served the schools, on the city parks board, Metroparks, minority banking

Originally posted 2/20 - The board voted 5-0 to enter into contract negotiations with Bill Harner. While there was not much public school board meeting tonight, it went long behind closed doors. Audio and video will be posted soon. I missed the first part of the meeting, but you will be able to see the video.

While Harner was selected, the process is not over yet. If you remember when Sanders came in, in Toledo and in Cleveland it was after the search process. Hopefully things will go well and they will hire him, but it won't surprise me if things get messed up.

Let me tell you a little tale that I hope does not come true.

New TPS boss may hit salary ceiling

From the story in the local daily:

David McClellan, president of the Toledo Association of Administrative Personnel, told The Blade that an agreement between the school system and its unions prohibits the board from paying Mr. Harner more than former superintendent Eugene Sanders until union members get a raise.

I am not HistoryMike, so don't expect perfect English.

Note: I release all photos on this page from copyright. Use and duplicate as you wish.

After today's retreat, when I left the building, I noticed one of our board members parked in a handicap spot (see photos). I guess rules don't apply to that board member. A lot more happened at the meeting, but that will be in a different report.

Can you guess which one it was? Yes, you were right Larry Sykes. Maybe he has a handicap sticker in his car, I did not see one. So take this as you want. I will tell you I have never seen him park in a handicap spot at board meetings.

The TPS Board recently voted to increase spending allowance for the service fund.

In the Toledo Blade today we find:

Ms. Fisher again cast the lone dissenting vote. She said $15,000 for a school year should be sufficient and each board member should be limited to $3,000.

Instead, she said, more than $7,000 has been spent on Mr. Sykes' travel since he was elected while she has spent none.