Anyone who ever read Lee DeCesare Drury’s acerbic and convoluted column in the trilingual La Gaceta weekly knows that she had it in for the folks over at the Hillsborough schools. She was a constant critic of doings over the school board central. But when she intimated that some administrators got their jobs through the “casting room couch,” Superintendent Elia had enough. During a meeting withLa Gaceta publisher Patrick Manteiga, Elia complained about the tone and accuracy of Drury’s columns and reminded Manteiga of the school district’s long business relationship (it spends tens of thousands on advertising). Shortly thereafter, Drury tendered her resignation. Fortunately, Manteiga was able to replace her with the equally loopy Andrea Brunais.
This article appears in Sep 13-19, 2006.