Letter to the Editor: Delano must resign

Dear Editor:
Karen Delano, the Auburn City Schools Superintendent, must resign. Immediately. When I read the letter to the editor a couple of weeks ago that Delano he awarded the rights to broadcast Auburn High School sporting events to convicted felon Mike Hubbard’s radio station, I had no idea that Hubbard had bid zero dollars and zero cents, while two other local radio stations had offered tens of thousands of dollars for the same contract. Furthermore, Hubbard’s station is by far the weakest of the three stations that made bids. Delano, obviously forgetting that AHS is a public school that doesn’t belong to her, shamelessly turned down $57,500 over five years, which could, and should, have gone to our students. Instead, she further enriched her friend, Mr. Hubbard, the disgraced felon.
This is the same Superintendent who told the community in 2013 that if we didn’t support a massive property tax increase, that we were not “for the children of Auburn.”  She claimed that the tax hike was necessary to fund the new $96 million high school and to avoid cutting sports, music, arts and even buses. Well, the tax hike was easily defeated 54{44c616e11cf70d617c8dd92fb0bc15f41001df771f775c6b004238009c89a3f0} to 46{44c616e11cf70d617c8dd92fb0bc15f41001df771f775c6b004238009c89a3f0}, yet the new high school will open on schedule, and I hear the AHS band playing beautifully every day on Dean Road. Delano also found over $600,000 to put in astroturf at Duck Samford Stadium, where natural grass has sufficed for nearly half a century, hired the highest paid football coach in Alabama, then she recently found $6.8 million for two lots of dirt to possibly build another high school, even while the new $96 million high school is under construction.
Delano insists on blaming others; however, her decision to walk away from this large sum of money for our children doesn’t pass the laugh test. Although ACS had a prior dispute with the high bidder, she concedes the contract was paid in full. Why would she invite them to bid again if their proposal was going to be problematic? Furthermore, money  is not the issue with Delano as she gave the five year contract to Hubbard for zero dollars and zero cents. This is unconscionable malfeasance and corruption from a PUBLIC official. We pay her salary. She hasn’t earned it. She must resign. Immediately.
Sincerely
Mike Hooks
Auburn