Tonight the Richland 2 school board elected two officers who are not eligible to hold office! Teresa Holmes was elected as Chair in a 5-2 vote, and Amelia McKie was elected as Secretary in a 4-3 vote. James Manning was elected Vice-Chair in a 5-2 vote.
Voting was by secret ballot because there was more than one nominee for each office.
During the public participation segment of the meeting I addressed board andthe urged them to allow only fully-qualified persons to be nominated. They all knew I was referring to McKie and Holmes. Fully-qualified meant they had to have taken the oath of office legally! I asked the board to deny an illegible nominee.
Since February 2019 I have complained that McKie and Holmes are not legitimate members of the board. Tonight I reminded the board that two of the people have never taken the oath of office legally.
And so, what happened when the agenda reached the time for election of officers. The superintendent runs the election, and he called for nominations for Chair.
Mr. Manning led the pack in jumping right in with his nomination of Teresa Holmes for Chair. Right out of the box!
The superintendent should have raised the issue of legitimacy. Another board member should have called a Point-of-Order.
Manning KNOWS that Holmes is not a legitimate board member. Holmes has never taken the oath of office legally. Yet Manning quickly spoke up to noiminate her. The Squad lined right up with Manning, and the vote was 5-2.
For Vice-Chair, Manning was nominated, and the vote again was 5-2.
For Secretary, Amelia McKie was nominated. The Squad lined up again, and she won with a 4-3 vote. McKie is not only not a legal board member, she is not eligible to be a board officer. And she also is not eligible to the the District's nominee to the South Carolina School Boards Association for Regional Director. But there she is.
Last year I contacted the Richland County Sheriff's Department and SLED about McKie and Holmes. SLED investigators interviewed me at the S.C. Attorney General's office. For a while it really looked like the A.G. was going to file charges. And then he didn't.
However, now it's a new story. This Board cannot function with two illegitimate officers. The taxpayers must demand that only duly-qualified board members should serve as Officers. And ALL board members should fully qualified, which McKie and Holmes are not.
The Chair and the superintendent set the direction of the District, because they control the agenda.
Get ready, folks. The District 2 ship is setting sail for even more dangerous waters.
