Neal Kirby is not a perfect man.
I know that because a website that sprang up in 2013 told me so.
As the former Edison Elementary School principal pursued a seat on the Centralia School Board, an Internet domain bearing his name was forwarded along to The Chronicle.
The page brashly unfolded a laundry list of accusations against the educator, itemizing past brushes with the law, accusations of flip-flopping political allegiances and unverifiable claims of malfeasance.
Then, the website disappeared.
We produced a story on its claims, and sought to identify the creator by investigating the backend of the website. It was registered by GoDaddy, but the person who crafted it paid to have it published by proxy.
We consulted with experts who assured us nothing short of a subpoena from the state Attorney General’s Office would provide the answers we were looking for. Since Kirby didn’t meet the technical definition of a whistleblower, the office has declined to take such action.
The website creator had paid to keep his or her identity a secret, and the investment has so far proven effective.
As we consider the findings of internal investigations into events that led to a hefty financial burden for the school district, it’s essential to remember that the man who brought it to the surface was attacked by a faceless character assassin.
One of the claims on the website rings with the type of obsoleteness that renders it almost humorous.
“Principal Neal Kirby alleges teachers and principals in six buildings committed fraud in the Medicaid Match Program. The truth is the Administrative Council and Superintendent said unanimously: THE STUDENTS THAT GENERATED THE FUNDING SHOULD GET THE MONEY BACK. This made Neal VERY ANGRY, so Neal ran to the newspaper, Lewis County Health Department and then drove to Liberal Olympia to speculate about fraud to the Attorney General.”
The statement proves that time can transform undue certainty and a misplaced allegation into a beacon of ignorance.
Kirby’s allegations were validated. The council and the superintendent were woefully wrong. The Attorney General’s office listened to the “speculation,” and then swooped in with a $372,000 hammer.
It’s another of the websites allegations that creates the most interesting questions, though.
The creator included a letter of discipline produced by former Superintendent Doug Kernutt after Kirby’s relationship with a teacher came to light years ago. It was more than 10 years old by the time it reached www.nealkirby.org.
To an engaged observer, that means one of three things: Someone within the district was involved in the website; Someone made a public records request to obtain it; or Kirby simply released the document himself at some point between the time it was issued and when it became fodder for a second-class online media maven.
Kirby laughed off an assertion that he was the source.
Obviously, no one within the district has admitted a role.
The district keeps track of public records requests, but did not cite them in the findings of two internal investigations.
Of the two reports detailed in today’s front page story, only interim Superintendent Steve Warren’s mentioned the website.
His account referred only to The Chronicle’s coverage, a single story that allowed Kirby a chance to respond to each of the allegations as he mounted an eventually successful school board campaign.
Warren noted Kirby was no longer an employee when the website went live, and that though Kirby pointed the finger in a few potential directions when it came to his suspicions, nothing ever came of it.
“No evidence has been uncovered to date establishing that school district employees were involved or otherwise identifying who created it,” he wrote.
On Friday, during a meeting at the administrative office, I presented both Warren and district communications and public relations coordinator Ed Petersen with content pulled from the website before it disappeared into the fog of the Internet.
It was the first time they had seen it themselves, they said.
This is surprising, considering The Chronicle would have been happy to provide it had investigators asked.
This is not an implication that the district, or a member of the administration or staff, was involved. No evidence proves that with any degree of certainty. It does, in my opinion, expose a gaping hole in the overall inquiry.
The publishing of the website proved that Neal Kirby is not a perfect man.
The inability to find out who created it shows that neither were the investigations into the person, or people, who so cowardly smeared him.
The pursuit of perfection is a funny thing, because if done correctly, it never ends.
The Chronicle’s efforts to expose those responsible haven’t come to an end, either.
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Eric Schwartz is the editor of The Chronicle.
