Saturday, May 14, 2022

Why one, but not the other?

Isn't it the rule in schools that, if kids are fighting, they both (or all) get kicked out of school? Isn't it Zero Tolerance?

Why doesn't that apply in the boardroom?

For example, back on January 25th when Pamela Davis was disruptive and shouting before the board meeting started, why wasn't she escorted out and put on Trespass Notice?

Why wasn't Pamela Davis escorted out and put on Trespass Notice, after she cussed out a 14-year-old student in the boardroom?

A. Because she is Mrs. Baron Davis!

When Baron Davis rushed at Gary Ginn (I believe Gary), why wasn't he escorted out and put on Trespass Notice?

A. Because he is the superintendent and gives the orders to Richland 2 security officers!

Why did Gary Ginn get escorted out and put on Trespass Notice, after he intervened when Pamela Davis cussed out a 14-year-old student who was present?

Why did I get kicked out after introducing myself to Pamela Davis?

A. It was retaliation for writing a blog about Richland 2 for almost three years (at that time), sending many emails to the superintendent and board, criticizing the District's and Board's failure to remove Holmes and McKie for never taking the oath-of-office legally, and speaking out at many board meetings.

Did Richland 2 ever investigate my complaint against Pamela Davis that I filed with the Principal of Blythewood High School, where she is a teacher? I presume he forwarded it up the food chain. On whose desk did it die without action? I'm told it is an "HR Issue" and therefore confidential. But there is a documentated procedure for handling complaints. And one of the steps is NOT "Sweep it under the rug."

And did the S.C. Department of Education ever investigate my complaint against Pamela Davis over her antics in the boardroom on January 25? On whose desk over there did the complaint die?

When I spoke quietly and politely to the black woman I did not know and had never seen before at a board meeting, I had no way of knowing the level of angst that would be immediately created by those four simple, short words, "Hello, I'm Gus Philpott."

I had absolutely no idea who she was. Nor did the two other men or the 14-year-old student. 

Pamela Davis told Judi Gatson, WIS-TV anchor, that she had seen Gary Ginn and me "many times" at meetings. She told Judi she had felt "intimidated", "threatened", "targeted". Is that why she sat down immediately behind where I was standing (and right in front of Gary Ginn, the student and another man?

She must have really gotten some strong coaching before she sat down for WIS-TV.

She said she was "very uncomfortable when they (Gary and I) approached her". She flat-out lied, because Gary and I did not approach it. I stepped around to be in front of her to introduce myself. Why did she lie?

She also lied when she said "one of the men called security over after she refused to answer their question." That isn't how it happened. No one was asking her questions. After I was seated about 20 feet away from her and a security officer was standing between her and me. I told the security officer that I wanted a deputy sheriff as an independent observer. That's when a female deputy came over, and she and I stepped into an adjacent hallway.. 

Pamela Davis was playing the classic victim. Black woman is the victim. White male is the oppressor. Straight out of the CRT playbook.

About two weeks later a black acquaintance told me, "You do know you got set up; right?" Until that day, I had not thought about it in those terms. Once I gave it more thought, I decided he was right.

Why else would Pamela Davis shout, "I KNOW WHO YOU ARE! DON'T TALK TO ME! GET AWAY FROM ME!" as soon as I said, "Hello, I'm Gus Philpott"?

Watch Pamela Davis' performance on WIS-TV right here.

Can Holmes Block Me from her FB page?

Should I be able to access to Teresa Holmes' Facebook page?

She does block me from her "DrTeresa [sic] Holmes" page. Can she do so legally?

Holmes is an elected person. I won't refer to her as an "elected official", because she has never taken the oath-of-office legally. An oath was administered to her on November 13, 2018, but that was three full weeks before she first became eligible to take it. 

However, she considers herself a public official, as does Richland 2.

She was required to take the oath-of-office (legally) before commencing the duties of the office. Yet she was allowed to attend her first executive session (November 13, 2018) and then vote on board motions before her term of office had even begun (November 16, 2018). She filed her SEI on December 4, 2018 and has never taken the oath-of-office since that date.

SECTION 8-13-1110. Persons required to file statement of economic interests.
(A) No public official, regardless of compensation, and no public member or public employee as designated in subsection (B) may take the oath of office or enter upon his official responsibilities unless he has filed a statement of economic interests in accordance with the provisions of this chapter with the appropriate supervisory office.

The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in January 2019 that "the interactive portion of a public official’s Facebook page is a “public forum,” so an official cannot block people from it because of the opinions they hold." [Source: ACLU blog]

The article continues: "As the court rightly held, that includes any time that they’re controlling a Facebook page they maintain in their official roles. Specifically, the court recognized that when a public official uses a Facebook page as a tool of governance — that is, when she uses it to inform the public about her government work, solicits input on policy issues through the page, and swathes it “in the trappings of her office” — she is controlling the page as a government actor.

"And if she opens that page to public comment, the interactive space of the Facebook page constitutes a public forum.ibid.

That decision was in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals; it was a Virginia case. Columbia, S.C. is in the jurisdiction of the same Federal Court of Appeals.

Maybe I'll have a pay to visit to the ACLU office this next week. 

I wonder. Would Teresa ask Richland 2 to pay her legal fees to defend her blocking me from her Facebook page? Would Supt. Davis just put her invoice through Accounting? Or would he say, "No way, José. You're on your own"?

Many thanks to the reader and friend who tipped me off to that article!