Nope, I was off a bit about the State Constitution. The School Board should have almost as much trouble removing one of their own as the voters but it still requires more than having Attorney Rupp wave his magic wand.
This is what Minnesota’s constitution says it takes for the removal of an “inferior officer” like a school board member. It is far more specific than the vague law the District is hiding behind.
Sec. 5. Removal of inferior officers.The legislature of this state may provide for the removal of inferior officers for malfeasance or nonfeasance in the performance of their duties.
So is “shoving” malfeasance? I doubt it, especially when the shoving is contested. As for nonfeasance no one can accuse of Art Johnston of doing nothing to collect his school board stipend.
Jana Hollingsworth reported in a story a week or two ago that three school board members have been removed by school boards. I wonder. One of those removed never attended meetings (nonfeasance) and didn’t even show up for the hearing to determine whether he/she should be removed. That won’t happen to Art.
Another one that I’ve heard about was accused of plagiarism of all things. The story I’ve heard is that he asked and received permission of an author to borrow and amend the author’s work for a speech. His accusers labeled this plagiarism. Heck, Vice President Biden got into hot water for plagiarism once in the Senate an no one thought to impeach him. As for the copy happy school board member he was going to leave the area to get an advanced degree so he didn’t bother contesting his removal if that’s what the resulting vacancy was.
If these are the best examples of the success of the state’s vague removal statute they don’t inspire much confidence. It looks to me as though the Constitution trumps the statute.
We may soon see if our Courts are willing let a local school board remove a Board member for speaking hi/her mind. It could be an expensive lesson. Its cost other Minnesota elective bodies over a million in legal fees when they tried to shut up a colleague rather than let him/her make use of the Right of Free Speech.
