INCOMPLETE ASSIGNMENT

"The mayor stated earlier that [Matsch's] court decision prompted him to ponder the decision, to decide whether it affects the focus," says Harmer. "He's trying to assess that. Plus, all the time he's got to dedicate to educational issues he's devoted to passing the [DPS] mill levy."

Webb's latest public statement on the education czar came two weeks ago, at a League of Women Voters meeting. At that point, notes Harmer, the mayor said he'd make a decision on November 8, the day after the mill-levy vote. That way, says Harmer, "he doesn't have 285 of the 286 people who applied angry with him before they vote."

Just how Webb arrived at that logic is hard to say: 282 of those people conceivably would already carry a grudge, since the names of the four finalists were published two months ago. And if Webb does name his education czar this week, it will be the first time he's met a deadline since beginning the search process.

Boigon, still twisting in the wind, says she hasn't heard anything from the mayor since she dropped off her financial information back in late August. The members of Webb's search committee are also waiting for an answer--and may launch a few political broadsides of their own if Webb winds up tossing aside their recommendations.

"He's the one who requested that we speed up the process, and now he's going to invalidate it by not selecting one of the finalists?" school board member Lynn Coleman responds with rising anger. "I'd be very disappointed in that decision. So many people thought this [search committee] was going to be a genuine offer. Our time has been wasted!"

"I can't believe he'd do that," says Foster when told that the mayor may start the process over. "It was a very good panel of people, and he had great expertise. I don't know why he would do that."

Kay Schomp also won't be pleased if Webb abandons the committee's work. "There were a lot of very, very credible, well-known, responsible people in [the search committee]," says Schomp. "I don't know how it could have been handled any differently...It's a little like Bosnia in your own backyard.