MINUTES OF THE SCHOOL BOARD OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA ETHICS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2005 8:30 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 Judge Seymour Gelber, Esq. Mr. James Howe, Jr. Ms. Jane Moscowitz, Esq. Ms. Daneen Regna Others Present: Dr. Marta Pérez, School Board Member Mr. Herbert Cousins, Jr., Inspector General Mr. Johnny Brown, School Board Attorney Ms. Claudia Sandoval, Administrative Assistant to Superintendent of Schools Ms. Lubby Navarro, Administrative Assistant to Ms. Perla Tabares Hantman Ms. Marisa Toledo Quesada, Administrative Assistant to Dr. Marta Pérez Mr. Jose F. Montes de Oca, Assistant Chief Auditor Ms. Cristina Perez-Ibañez, Administrative Aide Ms. Elsie Montijo, Administrative Secretary Mr. Wil Blechman, Youth Ethics Initiative Mr. Roy Gonas, Youth Ethics Initiative Mr. Robert Meyers, Miami-Dade Ethics Commission Mr. Lester Rosenberg, Miami-Dade Community Relations Board Ms. Susan Kairalla, Parent Mr. Adolfo Perez, Parent
Page 2 of 5 I. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 8:43 a.m. II. INTRODUCTIONS Mr. Thornburg introduced Mr. James Howe, Executive Director of the Greater Miami Region of the National Conference for Community and Justice as the newest EAC member. Mr. Thornburg expresses his delight to have him aboard. Mr. Thornburg also introduced Mr. Roy Gonas, who is with the Youth Ethics Initiative. Mr. Gonas gave a brief history of the Youth Ethics Initiative s function and pointed out that there are two programs which the Youth Ethics Initiative supports. One program is offered at the high schools, and its goal is to encourage students to adopt an existing ethics program. The second is the Academic Year End Youth Ethics Conference, which is substantially supported by the Rotary International Service Club. Mr. Gonas lamented that for some reason these programs have been discontinued and he asked Dr. Will Blechman, former president of Kiwanis International, to join forces with him to keep the program alive. Dr. Will Blechman spoke about joining forces to keep the ethics program alive, because he believes it is of paramount importance in forging character and building good citizens. He was impressed with the involvement of local institutions of higher learning in teaching and promoting ethics. Mr. Thornburg thanked both of them. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR THE JANUARY 14, 2005 MEETING Mr. Thornburg complimented the staff on the minutes. There being no discussion, Dr. Mullane made a motion to approve the Minutes of the January 14, 2005 meeting, which was seconded by Ms. Moscowitz, and it carried unanimously. IV. WEBSITE UPDATE Ms. Regna expressed concern with the difficulties she had accessing the EAC s website. She asked the EAC members to go on-line and review the website.
Page 3 of 5 V. ISSUE OF ADMINISTRATIVE APPOINTMENTS Ms. Regna read the request from Dr. Perez to the EAC. Dr. Perez s request asked the EAC to opine as to whether it is ethical for the Superintendent of Schools to make direct appointments for positions, thereby bypassing the advertising and interview process, and what are the possible repercussions that could result from such a practice? Mr. Thornburg explained the technicalities of the request for the opinion. Dr. Perez explained that one of the reasons why M-DCPS has such a bad reputation with the public, is because of nepotism and cronyism and mostly cronyism. Dr. Perez noted that the practice of direct appointments can lend itself to cronyism. Mr. Thornburg suggested and all members agreed that this is an administrative issue not an ethical issue. Judge Gelber expressed the view that he did not want the EAC to become a political football on issues such as this. Per past practice, Mr. Thornburg will prepare a written response, on behalf of the EAC on this issue and also the issue of the Audit Committee Chair s election. VI. DISCUSSION ON BUDGET FOR EAC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR POSITION Mr. Thornburg suggested tabling this item until the EAC meets with the School Board to discuss clarification on the EAC s future endeavors. VII. REVISIT CABLE-TAP Mr. Thornburg spoke about the EAC having been reluctant in the past to use Cable-Tap for Ethics programming and making its mission and work known to the community. He said the Ethics Coalition is offering the EAC the opportunity to join forces for at least two sessions, where the EAC can be featured. Mr. Meyers spoke about the benefits of participating and stated that the goal of the partnership is to bring different individual groups from the community together. Mr. Meyers encouraged participation from district staff in a couple of these segments, which he believes will be a worthwhile program. Mr. Thornburg asked the EAC members whether the EAC should participate. All members present agreed to participate and Mr. Howe explained that he has had lots of experience with Cable-Tap and thought that partnering with Mr. Meyers was a good idea. He also suggested that the EAC should engage WLRN in the future to expand its reach to the community. Various members of the EAC asked what would be the role and scope of the
Page 4 of 5 committee s participation. Mr. Meyers responded that the EAC will be part of the panel for discussion, which can also include any individual School Board members, or District staff. Ms. Regna made a motion to be a sponsor and a speaker at the Ethics Programming. Dr. Mullane seconded it and Judge Gelber abstained, and it carried unanimously. VIII. FUTURE AGENDA TOPICS This item was not discussed. IX. NEW BUSINESS Mr. Thornburg asked Dr. Perez to explain what happened at the Instructional Excellence and Community Engagement Committee meeting where the Code of Ethics Board Rule was discussed. She explained that after extensive discussion, Dr. Crew was asked to pull the Code of Ethics item because of conflicting language with other School Board rules. Mr. Thornburg noted that Ms. Tabares Hantman expressed concern, at the Instructional Excellence and Community Engagement Committee Meeting, that there was a conflict between the Code of Ethics that was proposed and approved by the School Board and the M- DCPS Code of Conduct. The Chair expressed his disappointment since he had understood the School Board Attorney had addressed and corrected the conflicts. Mr. Brown replied that he had reviewed and addressed some conflicts between the Code of Ethics and Certificate of Compliance, but he would need to research this issue to be sure he is accurate in his assessment. Mr. Thornburg requested that Mr. Brown research this issue and bring it back to the EAC members. Dr. Mullane concurred with Mr. Thornburg and recalled that there had been delays in finalizing the Code of Ethics and Certificate of Compliance and submitting the documents to the School Board because the School Board Attorney s Office wanted to reconcile and resolve all conflicts with the Code of Conduct. Mr. Thornburg digested his disappointing experience at a School Board committee meeting and labeled it a travesty that M-DCPS has a Code of Ethics which is ambiguous in respect to reporting violations and has had a shadow of a doubt thrown over its importance. He said he is not sure if he understood some of the Board Members correctly but it seems that they are not placing enough significance in the work of the EAC. He expressed frustration and concern that the EAC works hard and its work appears not to be accorded the same historical importance that it had enjoyed in order to carry out the EAC
Page 5 of 5 mission as directed by the School Board. Mr. Thornburg also mentioned that they will be working on the Code of Ethics for outsiders, and he hopes it does not get watered down, as well. At the conclusion of these observations the Inspector General emphatically observed that he was also frustrated by the lack of support. Additionally, Dr. Perez expressed frustration with the recurring issues of conflicts, she remembered being part of the process with the code of ethics and she thought the conflicts were ironed out. Mr. Montes de Oca explained that the Code of Ethics Board Rule is still in place; however, according to the discussion that took place at the Instructional Excellence and Community Engagement Committee Meeting, the conflict is with the language in the Certificate of Compliance. Mr. Thornburg asked Mr. Brown to look into this issue and let the EAC know about the conflicts. Mr. Thornburg asked Ms. Moscowitz the status of the draft of the Code of Ethics for outsiders. Ms. Moscowitz told Mr. Thornburg that she would e-mail a draft next week for review. Mr. Thornburg asked Mr. Brown if he would review the draft. Mr. Thornburg stated that the EAC had hoped for well over a year to hold a workshop with the Superintendent and School Board. In light of recent developments, he felt that the convene of such a workshop has become of paramount importance. Dr. Mullane concurred that the EAC had wanted to meet with the School Board since almost its inception. Mr. Thornburg asked Dr. Perez to spearhead and arrange for such a workshop and meeting. Dr. Perez agreed. X. SET NEXT MEETING The next meeting is scheduled for Friday, March 11, 2005 at the School Board Administration Building Conference Room 916, at 8:30 a.m. XI. ADJOURNMENT There being no further discussion, the meeting was adjourned at 10:00 a.m.