December 1
I was attending an Alabama Association of School Board (AASB) conference in Birmingham.
Two significant events happened that day.
In the morning and afternoon, we had a series of break-out sessions, and we could choose which ones to attend. That morning, my fellow board member Loumeek White and I chose to attend the law session with Jayne Williams and two other attorneys. Jayne is the AASB General Counsel & Director of Legal Advocacy. In my book, they don’t come any smarter than Jayne. Through my years on the board, I consider Jayne a friend as well as a true asset to boards across the state.
Loumeek and I were a few minutes late getting to the session with Jayne, so we stood in the back of the room. I don’t know how many board members and superintendents were there from around the state, but we were not the only ones standing. The room was packed.
Although there were other Escambia County board members attending the conference, Loumeek and I were the only ones in this break-out session.
As the session began, a board member from another county asked Jayne, “Can you tell us what’s going on in Escambia County?”
Jayne looked at me in the back of the room and asked if I minded if she talked about my case – Impeachment and Prayer of Removal from Office. I told her I didn’t mind at all. She talked about the case and District Attorney Steve Billy’s charges – she did not sugarcoat the situation but was outspoken in her opinion of him and his charges. She told them that everyone in that room should be afraid because of what had happened to me.
And then she said, “They’ve tried to force her to step down from the board, but she’s not stepping down.”
And the room erupted in applause.
I told you in last week’s article, there were two times I’ve been teary through this ordeal. This was the second time.
During the rest of the conference, a number of board members and superintendents from across the state encouraged me and lifted me up.
As I said, Loumeek and I were the only Escambia County board members in the room. I wonder what it would have been like for our board members who played a part in all this to have been sitting there – hearing what their peers across the state thought about what they were doing. Personally, I don’t think it would have mattered to them at all. And that’s a shame.
The second event that happened that day was when attorney Earnie White called me. The DA took my and Don Fletcher’s original charges – revealing grand jury evidence – to the grand jury and got indictments against us. Our original arrests in October were on a bench warrant and were not the result of grand jury indictments. With these indictments, we both could have been arrested again for the same charges. Earnie didn’t think Don would be arrested again – that he would just be served the indictment. But Earnie thought the DA might have changed my bail amount even though there was no indication that had been done, but if he had, I would be re-booked and re-bonded. (As I wrote about in a previous article, I was arrested again but not until March when the DA decreased my bail although I don’t know why. And I don’t know if it had anything to do with this action in December. I don’t think it did. As I said before, I think it was a last “gotcha.”)
These indictments affected what was to happen the next week.
December 4
Monday, Don and I were to have a preliminary hearing, but it was cancelled due to the grand jury indictments from the Friday before. It seems that if you are indicted, you are not entitled to a preliminary hearing.
Earnie had subpoenaed the former school superintendent. He firmly believed the DA got the indictments to keep her from having to take the stand. As the DA openly stated in October, he controls the grand jury.
December 8
With the possibility of being arrested again always in the back of my mind, I called Earnie and asked him if he thought I would be arrested again. He didn’t think so. He said he thought they would already have done that.
December 12
When you are arrested on felony charges, you cannot leave the state without permission. I asked Jeri Webb, paralegal in Earnie’s office, to ask the DA if I could go to Pensacola to take Myrna to a doctor’s appointment. The DA’s reply was that he had no issues with my going to Escambia County, Fla., for appointments and shopping.
Even as I type these words, this situation infuriates me still.
I had to ask permission to go to Pensacola – but I did it because I didn’t want to add to the situation in case I was stopped by law enforcement for any reason.
December 15
We held a special Board of Education meeting. We voted to buy out the former superintendent’s
contract – at her request. It was a contentious meeting with the vote 4 to 3 as it had been at the other two meetings on the motion to extend her contract. At some point, I’ll get into the actual votes and why we kept voting on the same issue. Or maybe board member Cindy Jackson will address that when she writes about her experience.
Closing comments on this article:
- The rest of December was uneventful, thank God. I guess the legal system takes a holiday around Christmas, too.
- Everywhere I went, someone stopped me to tell me they were praying for me and for the others who had been arrested.
Through the years, I’ve heard the expression, “I could feel the prayers.” I had never experienced it … until now. Sometimes when I was having a dark day, the clouds would lift, and I knew it was the power of prayer.
So many individuals, so many churches were praying. Still, I have people telling me they prayed for us. Words cannot express how heartwarming that is. And how much those prayers were and are even now appreciated. - I’ve mentioned that eyes were on Escambia County. When I mentioned it before, I was talking about the media around the country. But even the eyes of school boards across Alabama (and I’m sure elsewhere) were on Escambia County and our board of education. The result of the eyes on us was a black eye on us.
- God is faithful.
To be continued.