School board treasurer’s status challenged
Friday, January 8, 2010
By DIANA DILLABER MURRAY Of The Oakland Press
PONTIAC – A community activist is asking the state to take action to require teacher Mary Barr to give up her job or step down from the school board.
Barr, a Pontiac Middle School teacher, was elected in November to a partial one-year term and sworn in to office Monday night.
“I believe the actions of the Pontiac Board of Education at its organizational meeting and official business meeting held on Monday, Jan. 4, 2010, were in violation of the law and that every action taken must be revisited and considered null and void,” wrote Kevin Stewart, in a letter to state Rep. Tim Melton, DAuburn Hills.
Barr was part of a voting bloc that replaced former board president Damon Dorkins with former vice president Gill Garrett. On the same night, Barr was voted in as board treasurer and newly elected trustee Caroll Turpin as vice president by the same 4-3 voting bloc of Garrett, Barr, Turpin and Trustee Robert Bass.
Contacted in Lansing Thursday morning, Melton said he had been told he was being asked to get an Attorney General’s opinion and he would do so after he received the request. Stewart said that on Thursday he faxed a copy to Melton’s office, one to the Pontiac city attorney and one to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office. In part of his complaint, which cites state law regarding incompatible public offices, Stewart said, “I am disturbed that the school district of the city of Pontiac is in violation of the law ... to allow an employee to receive confidential information while still employed with the school district.”
Stewart said he tried to file a complaint at Pontiac Police Department more than once and was told they could not take the complaint because there was no crime. Police and prosecutor’s office spokesperson’ were not available for comment. He said he was also looking into filing a complaint at the Oakland County Sheriff ’s Department and the Pontiac City Attorney’s Office.
Melton said he had already sent the school district three previous attorney general opinions Monday before the organizational meeting that indicated an employee cannot serve as employer.
This puts Barr in a similar situation as Mark Seay, a Pontiac firefighter, who was elected to the Pontiac City Council. In Seay’s case, he maintained he should be able to do both. Eventually, he was ordered by an Oakland County Circuit Court judge to either give up his seat on the Pontiac City Council or his job. Seay opted to give up his job so he could serve on the council.
This is the first time anyone has taken a step to challenge Barr’s right to hold both positions.
Nick DeLeeuw, spokesman for the state Attorney General’s Office, said the office had not been previously requested to examine the details of Barr’s situation.
However, he released a fourpage letter written in 2005 that addresses a similar situation. In the letter to State Sen. Wayne Kuipers, who posed a question on whether a school employee could serve on a board, Chief Deputy Attorney General Gary Gordon stated, in part: “The board of education of a school district has direct supervisory authority over school district employees ... Therefore, because one public office is supervised by the other, simultaneously holding both positions is prohibited under the statute.”
Barr was not available for comment, but when the issue came up after she was elected as top vote getter in November, she said, “I feel that I will always have challenges, so whatever challenge I have, I will address it.”
Garrett said what concerns him is that there are no checks and balances to ensure this does not happen to a board or to the person who is seated on the board.
“People knew who elected her that she was a teacher in the school district. What about the people who elected her?”
Contact staff writer Diana Dillaber Murray at (248) 745-4638 or diana.dillaber@oakpress.com.
Barr, a Pontiac Middle School teacher, was elected in November to a partial one-year term and sworn in to office Monday night.
“I believe the actions of the Pontiac Board of Education at its organizational meeting and official business meeting held on Monday, Jan. 4, 2010, were in violation of the law and that every action taken must be revisited and considered null and void,” wrote Kevin Stewart, in a letter to state Rep. Tim Melton, DAuburn Hills.
Barr was part of a voting bloc that replaced former board president Damon Dorkins with former vice president Gill Garrett. On the same night, Barr was voted in as board treasurer and newly elected trustee Caroll Turpin as vice president by the same 4-3 voting bloc of Garrett, Barr, Turpin and Trustee Robert Bass.
Contacted in Lansing Thursday morning, Melton said he had been told he was being asked to get an Attorney General’s opinion and he would do so after he received the request. Stewart said that on Thursday he faxed a copy to Melton’s office, one to the Pontiac city attorney and one to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office. In part of his complaint, which cites state law regarding incompatible public offices, Stewart said, “I am disturbed that the school district of the city of Pontiac is in violation of the law ... to allow an employee to receive confidential information while still employed with the school district.”
Stewart said he tried to file a complaint at Pontiac Police Department more than once and was told they could not take the complaint because there was no crime. Police and prosecutor’s office spokesperson’ were not available for comment. He said he was also looking into filing a complaint at the Oakland County Sheriff ’s Department and the Pontiac City Attorney’s Office.
Melton said he had already sent the school district three previous attorney general opinions Monday before the organizational meeting that indicated an employee cannot serve as employer.
This puts Barr in a similar situation as Mark Seay, a Pontiac firefighter, who was elected to the Pontiac City Council. In Seay’s case, he maintained he should be able to do both. Eventually, he was ordered by an Oakland County Circuit Court judge to either give up his seat on the Pontiac City Council or his job. Seay opted to give up his job so he could serve on the council.
This is the first time anyone has taken a step to challenge Barr’s right to hold both positions.
Nick DeLeeuw, spokesman for the state Attorney General’s Office, said the office had not been previously requested to examine the details of Barr’s situation.
However, he released a fourpage letter written in 2005 that addresses a similar situation. In the letter to State Sen. Wayne Kuipers, who posed a question on whether a school employee could serve on a board, Chief Deputy Attorney General Gary Gordon stated, in part: “The board of education of a school district has direct supervisory authority over school district employees ... Therefore, because one public office is supervised by the other, simultaneously holding both positions is prohibited under the statute.”
Barr was not available for comment, but when the issue came up after she was elected as top vote getter in November, she said, “I feel that I will always have challenges, so whatever challenge I have, I will address it.”
Garrett said what concerns him is that there are no checks and balances to ensure this does not happen to a board or to the person who is seated on the board.
“People knew who elected her that she was a teacher in the school district. What about the people who elected her?”
Contact staff writer Diana Dillaber Murray at (248) 745-4638 or diana.dillaber@oakpress.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment