Dankelson reviewed the law for the commissioners and said that according to state law, the resignations go into effect the moment they are tendered and do not have to wait to be approved by the board. Board policy requires the approval, Dankelson noted, but state law trumps board policy.
The key resignation, Dankelson said, was that of Landis, who has made it clear in comments to the media that he resigned specifically to force the Commission to appoint three new board members.
Landis and Steele, both of whom obviously had some help in interpreting state statutes, claimed that the board violated their right to resign when it refused, by a 2-2 vote, to accept those resignations. Dankelson said that an 1896 ruling confirmed that right to resign and that there were no more recent rulings that would contradict it.
Once Landis resigned, that left the board with three vacancies and that is when the County Commission can step in, according to state law, Dankelson said. The law requires written notification from the board. The copies of the three resignations are that written notification, he added.
Left unmentioned, except during the public comment time during a rambling statement by blogger and frequent Joplin Globe guest columnist Anson Burlingame, was the statement issued by Board President Jeff Koch Monday night, which draws into question whether there were ever three resignations at one time.
In his statement, Koch noted that there is nothing in the law that requires four votes (the majority of a complete seven-person board) to appoint a new member and that there were only two resignations on May 26 when Koch, Debbie Fort and Jennifer Martucci voted to appoint Jim Kimbrough, with Landis and Lynda Banwart voting "no."
Koch says that vote should have placed Kimbrough on the board, which would mean that when Landis quit there were only two vacancies.
Dankelson told the Commission that anyone they appoint has to meet four qualifications- citizen of the United States, a resident of the school district, a Missouri resident for at least one year, and at least 24 years old.
46 comments:
Hard to believe the commission and dankelson really want in this hot frying pan so badly.
Dankelson is a poor excuse of a prosecutor along with the rest of his office. To advise the county commissioners to fill the vacancies as soon as possible sounds fishy to say the least. There are quite a few more legal questions that need answered before we let Dankelson foul up this situation any more than it already is. Did I mention he's a poor excuse for a prosecutor?
What about the fact that the school district is in two counties, something that evidently wasn't allowed before school district consolidation? I suspect the law on replacements was passed before consolidation was allowed.
Although without legal action it doesn't look like any of these considerations will be addressed, and that costs money. But it might be worth it to simply stop the old guard from another 10 months of ruinous rubber stamp business as usual, unless the Globe and company manage to convince those of weak hearts that all these public disagreement means they should vote out Martucci and vote in more of the usual suspects next April.
I neglected to mention it, but Dankelson said that in situations where two counties are involved, the county in which the school has the highest valuation, in this case Jasper County, makes the decision, according to case law.
It's hard to believe the attempts at covering corruption are continuing to spread. All of the people involved need to hear from the patrons of the Joplin R8 Schools, and Mr. Koch needs to take to court his claim that there were not three openings at one time since Kimbrough was not being voted on to be and employee, but was appointed to an unpaid seat. Take it to court, Jeff. I'm betting you can find some legal assistance.
Hope that bag Banwart is proud. We will remember this for a long, long time.
I'm a teacher for R8. I love my students and my coworkers, but this decision makes me feel sick and to want to leave. Any other place and any other job will be better than working for another year under the Huff regime. He doesn't have to be there to destroy us. He can get his puppet Board to put in a puppet superintendent and destroy the whole mess from his comfy chair at home. You can bet they are going to get someone who won't be looking at their books too closely. I have no hope at this time.
But what will they do after the next April election? We will remember when we vote, if any of us are left.
Wouldn't that be taxation without representation for the people in Newton county?
Regardless of the two-county issue, there are problems with this Jasper County takeover of our schools. We all know that many in Carthage, Carl Junction, etc., look down their noses at Joplin.
Dean Dankelson is from Carl Junction.
Jim Honey is from Carthage.
Darieus Adams has a huge conflict of interest.
It is still taxation without representation. I will not recognize ANYONE that these three appoint to our board unless they appoint Jim Kimbrough first. If the Commission seizes control of our BoE, then it is time for an initiative by the people to hold a special election.
I would rather see the State take charge than this band of political cronies.
Don't be surprised if, on the advice of counsel, the commissioners name Jim Kimbrough as one of the three.
Jim is the one person who clearly has standing to enact a court challenge of this process. I say that because I think Jeff Koch has had the law explained to him spot on. It gets the commissioners off the legal hook they'll otherwise continue to be on.
If the commissioners to do not appoint Kimbrough, it will be his decision whether to seek injunctive relief and a declaratory judgment installing him on the board, but I do think he will be successful if he chooses to do so, but even that might require a trip to the Southern District.
I just came across this blog over the past few days. It sure is.......lets say interesting. Seems like a lot of people sure do have some issues.
I am not a resident of Joplin but I am a resident of Jasper County. I find it horrible that the commission is trying to get in the middle of a Joplin schools' issue, especially based on very questionable legal interpretations. I will not vote for a commissioner that gets into this issue (unless they just appoint Kimbrough, then the next two highest people the board had voted on). The commissioners already embarrassed themselves with a well-publicized feud with the Sheriff's office for years...getting into another legal fight in a district where only 1 of the 3 reside (with the one have clear conflicts of interest) will be my breaking point.
The school district is now screwed.
Someone needs to make a movie about all of this crap, you can't make this up. I do not live in Missouri, not even close, but I have been following this situation for a while now and it's clear, you have two definite sides - one side who appears to want to do the right thing, for the right reasons, and then you have this other side of people who are hell bent on making sure things go their way, regardless of the law, common decency and for their own benefit. People who are paranoid or desperate come uncorked when challenged about what they have done when money is involved. It is clear, the tornado is doing more now then it did four years ago all because of the almighty dollar and who has it...
Let's not fold our tents up yet people! It's not set in stone yet that the commission gets to "settle" this. I'm sure Koch isn't going to roll over on this until dankelson's information can be confirmed. To bad waldo didn't do her job yesterday. Where would appointees come from anyway? Won't they need to post and take applications? If they don't how would one know they want appointed? Yes, too many questions yet unanswered to give up yet.
"The Lady doth protest too much, methinks"
The commission will consult with the cart board and Jpc to see who they have in mind and will proceed from there.
They should admit it's a board matter, not county and let BOE fill their own sests. If Mr Koch has figured out how to handle it let the man handle it. He's been appointed by a "true" vote, before all this let the man do his duties! Stay out of it county commission or start counting your votes. Elections aren't that far away. The number of citizens has grown thinking this is out of control. As news spreads of the last BOE actions it's getting larger. Beware of the spurned citizen voters oh wise county commission, everyone's replaceable. Mightier have fallen......
I'm glad you posted that. It validates that an impartial person can see through the smoke.
The books out & can't wait to read it!
The County Commission needs to bear in mind the cardinal rule in politics: "Never judge a beauty contest. You make one person happy and all the rest mad." For their own political security, they should appoint one member and disengage the vacancy rule. Thereafter, the BOE can appoint the other two.
Lawyers make arguments. Judges decide.
If they're smart they'll pass. Either way they lose. But this makes as much sense as it can.
As a teacher in the district, I pray the county commissioners go out and talk to teachers, privately of course since we are all still living under the vengeful Huff regime (whether he's here or not). Everyone working in the district has been so miserable and unappreciated for the last seven years. We need change. Our students need change. Student achievement absolutely will not improve if we can't turn this district around. We would like to be proud of our district and enthusiastic about our jobs...that would be nice for a change! I'm praying the county commissioners listen to our most recently elected board members...members the public clearly wanted on the board...and not to the CART and the PAC and the arrogant little morons like Mike Landis. For the love of God, can't someone somewhere be man enough to put their personal egos and agendas aside and TRULY do what's best for our kids??? MAN UP!
I see no hope for Joplin Schools as long as the Huff regime is hanging on. I want out. Many of us do now.
Hope you're happy, Lynda. You've made a lot of people miserable today. It's a proud moment for the corrupt members of JPC and CART. I hope you all have a wonderful time celebrating and enjoying your victory at the expense of Joplin's children tonight at your little club. You are a despicable bunch of thugs dressed in expensive costumery.
Wasn't it Jeff Koch who voted to give CJ the big "retirement" package? Wasn't it Jeff Koch who wouldn't vote for any candidate to be school board president until his name was nominated? Seems as if the self proclaimed numbers guy had no problem crunching the numbers for CJ's big golden parachute but he can't count to 4. He's no better than the rest of them. You will see as this all plays out. And he definitely needs to learn that being the board president means you run the meeting, and help set the agenda...period. He's not in charge of the school district, as he might think he is. He's just one vote. His doesn't carry any more weight than the others.
Where is the State BOE??? Shouldn't they be coming in and cleaning house? Is there really NOBODY that is sincerely in this "for the kids"? Makes me very very sad. I wish I could move my kids away. :( Feels like I'm doing them an injustice by keeping them in Joplin Schools.
LETS STOP THE CORRUPTION,CALL YOUR ATTORNEY GENERAL OFFICE 573 751 3321 OR EMAIL THE OFFICE AGO.MO.GOV,TEEL THEM WE WANT A ELECTION,OR LET OUR BOARD MEMBERS APOINT
THEM,OURSCHOOLS BELONG TO ALL JOPLIN TAX PAYERS NOT JUST TO THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OFFICE
We will (;
Wow, where were you when Queen Anne was totally in charge?
OMG! I just saw the local news report on the meeting of the county commissioners. The local TV station put Asshat Burlingame front and center as their authority on the current BOE. Is there a possibility that the commissioners will appoint this fat fool to the BOE. Chilling. Please tell me it isn't possible.
IF THE COUNTY COMMISSION GETS INVOLVED WITH THE TAX PAYERS SCHOOLS,I CAN VERY WELL SEE even more tax payers leaveing joplin,
who do you think will pay for this,not just the hard working tax payers that are left.but our children,our schools are called public schools for a reason,stand up joplin for your schools.
4:10 PM: I guess that's what happens when the area's "paper of record" elevates such a person as Burlingame.
Unfortunately looks like Mike Landis is right elections really don't matter it is the people with the most money....
Does Dankleson even have the authority to tell any governmental body what to do???? I didn't know prosecutors could do that.
Hopefully he does not get the position another person with an agenda.
Move along troll
Please do not speak for me. I am not "miserable" nor do I feel "unappreciated". I am proud of my district and I'm enthusiastic about my job! Why? Because we are more than a divided school board, we are more than the issues and problems, the decisions and choices! I am about the 7000+ children who come to school every day, who count on ME! Why am I not miserable, why do I feel appreciated, why am I proud and enthusiastic? Because I don't work FOR a school board, I don't work FOR administration...I work FOR kids! And they are the best bosses I could ask for!
It's time for a change next election. They are no different then the Democrats in Washington DC.
Also how about mandatory term limits.
5:03
My thoughts are the same as yours!
What say does a Prosicuting Attorney have about School board member appointments?
Someone has been doing massive research for dankelson to come up with these cases. Im thinking not him. So his office?
^^Yeah right^^
He thinks he's God....so naturally he thinks he can.
And republicans.
5:29, Don't be so naive. It's insulting to the rest of us (district employees). It's your blind complacency that has helped put Joplin Schools in this mess. We all love kids or we wouldn't be teachers, but make no mistake about it, you DO work for the BOE. Wake up and grow up...it will make you a much better role model and teacher.
JUDGES MAKE RULINGS! NOT LAWYERS!
Who's the idiot here? You've obviously missed the meaning of taxation without representation that we are talking about. Just because Jennifer lives in Newton county doesn't mean anything. If Jasper county commissioners seat 3 members to the board that weren't elected then the people in Newton county are not being represented in a situation that involves paying taxes.
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