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A never-before-heard-of group is protesting the seating of Willie Pat Hembree as a Board member. |
Willie Pat Hembree was elected to the Plainfield BOE last November. However, she was not sworn in in January because of an interpretation of a state rule. She is being required to wait until 180 days after her retirement, which was on September 1, 2019.
This would mean she should be sworn in and seated in March, perhaps at the March 3rd Work/Study meeting. (The District's website has no agendas at all for 2020 online. What has happened? The District website was always totally up-to-date.)
In any event, a group calling itself Citizens for an Ethical School Board is circulating complaints against Ms. Hembree, the District and the Board of Ed.
The group, which does not list any members or spokespersons, alleges that Ms. Hembree filed a claim against the BOE on 9/6/19. This would apparently violate the state's rule that incoming board members can have "no interest in any contract with, or claim against, the board."
The group further alleges that the Board's attorney Phil Stern apprised some Board members of the situation. It is further alleged that these Board members kept the matter secret "until it was discovered by others" (the Board members not notified?).
The group further states that it has filed a complaint with the Union County Prosecutor's Office, where the Special Prosecutions Unit oversees election violations.
Further, the group claims a violation of the IRS' "return to public employment" policy -- even though Ms. Hembree would be a volunteer as a Board member, not an employee.
The amount of detail in the allegations would lead one to suspect that the information came from a source within the Board of Ed itself.
However, after all the huffery and puffery I suspect that any violations -- if pursued by a competent authority -- would be deemed insignificant and Ms. Hembree will be seated.
Am I wrong? We shall soon see.
One jarring note: the group uses the City of Plainfield's seal as its letterhead. This is a no-no. The city seal as a letterhead can only properly be used on stationery of an official of the city.
The Board of Ed Work/Study meeting is Tuesday, March 3, at 8:00 PM in the PHS Conference Room.
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