Committee Members Present: Others Present:

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Committee Members Present: Others Present:"

Rodger Russell
5 years ago
Views:

1 MINUTES OF THE SCHOOL BOARD OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA ETHICS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, :30 A.M. - CONFERENCE ROOM 916 SCHOOL BOARD ADMINISTRATION BUILDING Committee Members Present: Mr. Frederick F. Thornburg, Esq., Chair Dr. Susan Mullane, Vice Chair Dr. Susan Angulo Mr. James Howe Ms. Daneen Regna Absent Judge Seymour Gelber, Esq. Ms. Jane Moscowitz, Esq. Others Present: Ms. Evelyn Langlieb Greer, School Board Member Dr. Marta Pérez, School Board Member Mr. Thomas Gary, Special Council Ms. JulieAnn Rico Allison, School Board Attorney Ms. Lubby Navarro, Administrative Assistant to Ms. Perla Tabares Hantman Mr. Luis M. Garcia, Senior Assistant Board Attorney Ms. Mindy McNichols, Assistant Board Attorney Mr. Allen M. Vann, Chief Auditor Mr. Jose F. Montes de Oca, Assistant Chief Auditor Ms. Elsie Montijo, Administrative Secretary Ms. Alysia Carr, Administrative Secretary Ms. Susan M. Kairalla, Florida School Choice Parent Resource Centers Mr. Kenneth Newman, Visitor

2 Page 2 of 2 I. CALL TO ORDER The Chair called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. II. INTRODUCTION OF STAFF AND GUESTS Mr. Thornburg welcomed the new School Board Attorney, Ms. JulieAnn Rico Allison on behalf of the EAC and noted that he had met Ms. Allison some years ago and is familiar with and most impressed by her professional reputation and qualifications. He also complimented Mr. Luis Garcia for the outstanding support and advice he has provided since his assignment as council to the EAC. He then asked all the attendees to introduce themselves. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR THE NOVEMER 9, 2005 MEETING Dr. Susan Angulo noted that she was shown as present in the minutes, when in fact she had missed a November meeting due to a conflict. A motion was made by Dr. Mullane to approve the minutes, which were seconded by Mr. Howe and carried unanimously, reflecting the change regarding Dr. Angulo s attendance at the November meeting. IV. BRIEF UPDATE ON OUTSIDERS CODE OF ETHICS Mr. Thornburg asked for an update on the Outsiders Code of Ethics. Dr. Angulo gave a brief synopsis of the progress being made. She explained that the subcommittee had met twice with Luis Garcia of the School Board Attorney s Office, and cleaned up the language on the document to match Miami-Dade County Public School s structure. Dr. Angulo concluded that a few other issues needed to be discussed and a meeting was scheduled for late December or early January. Mr. Thornburg wanted the document reviewed at the EAC meeting in January and submitted for the School Board s consideration at their

3 Page 3 of 3 January or February meeting. He felt the Outsiders Code of Ethics was of paramount importance. V. DISCUSSION ON ESTABLISHING AN ANNUAL REPORT TO THE BOARD OF THE EAC ACTIVITIES Mr. Thornburg asked the EAC members how they felt about submitting a formal report, as other committees do, to the Board on the accomplishments of the EAC over the four years of existence as a volunteer organization. Ms. Regna concurred with the idea, but felt the annual report should be limited to one-year periods. The committee agreed unanimously. Mr. Thornburg requested Ms. Regna to do the first draft of the document. VI. FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS AND EAC DIRECTION REVISITING ISSUE ON THE EXPANSION, CONTRACTING OR REDEFINING OF THE EAC S MISSION Mr. Thornburg made reference to his Digest of Possible, Future EAC Undertakings and Agenda Topics May 2004, and said that a session should be dedicated to the direction the EAC should take and which areas the committee wants to focus on. Ms. Evelyn Greer explained that she is very interested in the work of the EAC and its future projects. She stated that was the reason why she was sharing with the EAC an item she will be submitting at the next School Board meeting, dealing with campaign finance reform. She felt that persons or companies that conduct business with the School Board should not make campaign contributions to School Board members who are running for re-election, or candidates running for office. Ms. Greer mentioned that she did not accept any money from anyone who did business with the School Board, including friends

4 Page 4 of 4 whose checks she returned, when she ran for office. She felt that if the Code of Ethics is to be respected, and to avoid appearance of impropriety, campaign contributions from vendors must not be accepted. Ms. Greer asked the committee to consider including this item in its Outsiders Code of Ethics. Mr. Thornburg asked Ms. Greer when she wanted a reaction from the committee. Ms. Greer explained that there was a pending workshop for School Board members on this item and she would like to have a revised School Board rule relating to campaign contributions in place before upcoming elections. Therefore, she would also like to have the committee s input over the next several months. Mr. Thornburg suggested making this topic an agenda item for the January meeting, and asked Ms. Greer to share the item with the EAC once it is considered by the School Board. The Chair recommended the EAC formulate its formal position on Ms. Greer s proposal after it has the input from the proposed workshop on the subject. Ms. Greer invited the EAC members to attend the workshop and provide feedback on the item and its impact. Dr. Perez shared her experience when she ran for the Miami-Dade County mayor s seat, and noted that although there was campaign finance reform at the county, in her opinion it did not work and what it does is put some of the candidates at a disadvantage. Mr. Thornburg asked Dr. Perez if her position was not to support Ms. Greer s item. Dr. Perez answered that she does not want to discuss her position publicly, because the item will be coming before the School Board at its next meeting, but she has a lot of reservations about it. Ms. Greer stated that her item is very specific and has nothing do with public financing at the County.

5 Page 5 of 5 She also noted that her proposed board item intends to reform the way lobbyists register. Mr. Vann asked if the campaign contributions include borrowing monies from someone who does business with the School Board. Ms. Greer stated that she had not thought about that aspect of the matter, but felt that input such as this is important. Mr. Thornburg asked Mr. Montes de Oca to put the matter on the agenda for the January meeting. Mr. Thornburg wanted to focus on the four page digest about other possible future projects to discuss at the EAC meeting in January. Mr. Thornburg asked Mr. Montes de Oca to redistribute the digest to the committee for review. There was some discussion among EAC members about the expansion of the committee. Mr. Vann noted that the ethics committee was established by School Board policy, and there was never a School Board rule passed. Mr. Garcia stated that the School Board has the authority to establish a committee by board action or by board rule and the committee would have the same power under either one. After some more discussion on the topic of expansion, Mr. Thornburg suggested to bring back the topic to the January meeting, as well as the topic of having an Executive Director to serve the EAC. VII. INTERNAL ETHICAL MATTER Mr. Thornburg explained that he did not want to belabor this issue, but felt it needed to be addressed because the reputation of an EAC member was being questioned. Mr. Thornburg explained that Dr. Blechman of the YEI contacted him and said he had talked to the superintendent about imbedding in the school curriculum more focus on ethics and superintendent agreed with the idea. Dr. Blechman then asked for the EAC s endorsement. Mr. Howe stated that it was his understanding that Dr. Crew encouraged the YEI to do more than what

6 Page 6 of 6 was presently being done, but one of the problems was that YEI needed money to develop a curriculum. They planned to go before the School Board to obtain the funding, but first they came to the EAC and asked for their endorsement, and a letter was sent to the School Board stating that the EAC felt it was a worthwhile project. Mr. Howe emphasized that he disclosed that he was a member of the YEI s board and fully recused himself in voting on the issue on whether to endorse the YEI efforts, and that unlike a for-profit-company, he did not benefit financially by being a board member. That the intent of this project was for the benefit of the students of M-DCPS. Mr. Howe concluded. Mr. Thornburg said that initially he thought about writing a personal letter concerning what he felt was an unfair accusation in light of the governing and relevant facts. But he decided to hold off writing the letter and to discuss the matter at the EAC meeting. Ms. Greer stated that the minutes clearly showed the EAC had endorsed a program for which one of the EAC members served as a board member of the company and noted that if you were an outside person reading the minutes, there was an appearance of impropriety. Ms. Greer said she was not making an accusation of unethical conduct, but she believed that the committee was comfortable with the situation because they knew the people involved in the issue. Mr. Thornburg reiterated that there was nothing directly or indirectly benefiting Mr. Howe s. Mr. Howe commented that after listening to the tape it should have been clear to Ms. Greer, by the comments of his fellow committee members, what the situation was. Even then she stated that he had joined the board to get a contract, which was an ethical breach, and that he was after money. Mr. Howe emphasized

7 Page 7 of 7 that Ms. Greer, knowing the facts, launched an attack which he thought was abominable. Mr. Thornburg opined the comment and accusation of unethical conduct could not be eradicated from public records but asked the EAC members whether they desired to take a formal position on the matter and to the effect that the remarks were specious, not wellgrounded, unfair and inaccurate. Dr. Angulo moved to set the record straight by noting that there were no improprieties. The move was seconded by Ms. Regna and unanimously approved. As a consequence of the resolution, Mr. Thornburg asked if the EAC should write a letter or simply let the EAC s resolution and action serve to rectify and clarify the situation. The Chair felt the need for a letter was obviated by the EAC resolution, and EAC members agreed. Mr. Howe concurred to leave the minutes for the November meeting as they were, and to let the minutes for the December meeting reflect the conversation and EAC s action on the issue. VIII. OTHER BUSINESS Mr. Thornburg asked Mr. Montes de Oca if Mr. Newman had submitted to him in writing, as requested by the committee, the concerns he had. Mr. Montes de Oca replied he had not received any documents from Mr. Newman. Dr. Marta Perez noted that on the minutes of November 9, 2005 Ms. Greer made reference to a letter that was written to Mr. Franco, when in fact the letter was not written to Mr. Franco. Mr. Thornburg requested the information to be researched and the correction be made. After researching the issue it was established that the letter

8 Page 8 of 8 was written by Members of the School Board to the Members of the Pre-K Committee House of Representatives. IX. SCHEDULE FUTURE EAC MEETINGS Meetings will continue to be held on the second Friday of each month at 8:30 a.m. for calendar year X. ADJOURNMENT There being no further discussion, the meeting was adjourned at 10:30 a.m.

Others Present: Committee Members Present:

Others Present: Committee Members Present: MINUTES OF THE SCHOOL BOARD OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA ETHICS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2005 8:30 A.M. - CONFERENCE ROOM 916 SCHOOL BOARD ADMINISTRATION BUILDING Committee Members