One last chance for the Fleming Trustees to do the right thing.
When James Fleming asked the district to reimburse him for legal costs, I read many comments along the lines of how outrageous it is that he expects the school district to fund his defense, particularly when what he is being accused of is misusing school funds. The district should be suing him to get their money back, not paying for his defense!
Not that I am justifying his request, but I can certainly understand him giving it a try. He is looking at felonies and jail time, and a lot of money to defend himself.
The real fault here will lie with the trustees if they grant his request. I am certain we can count on the new trustees (Anna Bryson, Ellen Addonizio, and Larry Christensen) to deny it. The trustees that were in office during Mr. Fleming’s reign (Sheila Benecke, Mike Darnold, Marlene Draper and Duane Stiff) should recuse themselves due to their personal involvement in this matter. The DA has indicated that an investigation of the involvement of the trustees is ongoing. It is a clear conflict of interest for them to be voting to provide funds to Fleming when there is a possibility they could become co-defendants.
Let’s hope they do the right thing. If not, it will just give more fuel for the recall.
Mark Bucher
Chairman, Education Alliance
When James Fleming asked the district to reimburse him for legal costs, I read many comments along the lines of how outrageous it is that he expects the school district to fund his defense, particularly when what he is being accused of is misusing school funds. The district should be suing him to get their money back, not paying for his defense!
Not that I am justifying his request, but I can certainly understand him giving it a try. He is looking at felonies and jail time, and a lot of money to defend himself.
The real fault here will lie with the trustees if they grant his request. I am certain we can count on the new trustees (Anna Bryson, Ellen Addonizio, and Larry Christensen) to deny it. The trustees that were in office during Mr. Fleming’s reign (Sheila Benecke, Mike Darnold, Marlene Draper and Duane Stiff) should recuse themselves due to their personal involvement in this matter. The DA has indicated that an investigation of the involvement of the trustees is ongoing. It is a clear conflict of interest for them to be voting to provide funds to Fleming when there is a possibility they could become co-defendants.
Let’s hope they do the right thing. If not, it will just give more fuel for the recall.
Mark Bucher
Chairman, Education Alliance
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