The Hamilton County Commission is meddling inappropriately in school board politics, pushing to get a board chairman elected tonight who supports their agenda, a Hamilton County Board of Education member says.
Board Vice Chairwoman Linda Mosley, who for months has been saying she would put her name in the hat for chairwoman, says commissioners Warren Mackey and Fred Skillern have been communicating with Hamilton County Board of Education members, trying to get them to vote the recently re-elected Everett Fairchild as chairman.
"I know for certain of two commissioners who are actively campaigning for school board chair," she said.
Fairchild, along with board members Rhonda Thurman and David Testerman - the two board members who had Fairchild's nomination added to tonight's agenda - has been openly critical of Superintendent Jim Scales.
Mosley said she believes getting rid of Scales is the commissioners' main agenda. She said board members have no business letting county commissioners make their decisions for them.
"The taxpayers need to know that the ones they voted for are not in control," she said. "They voted for independent thinking school board members, and that's not what's happening."
Fairchild initially told Mosley he would support her as chairwoman, but said he called her three weeks ago to tell her he'd changed his mind. He refused to say Wednesday whether county commissioners had talked to him about being chairman, but said he would accept if he is nominated tonight.
"I have discussed this with Linda [Mosley] and I don't think I owe anybody else an explanation," he said. "I told her I'd discuss it with her later, after the fact."
When asked about his contact with the school board, Skillern said he talks to Thurman "two or three times a week," but that was it. He said he also talked to board member Mike Evatt before he was elected to the board in August.
"People ask me who [I support for chairman] and I tell them," he said. "I support [Fairchild] for many reasons."
Mackey did not return a message Wednesday seeking comment.
Board member Jeffrey Wilson said he had talked both to Mackey and at least one school board member about the chairman post.
"There's some jockeying out there," he said. "There are relationships between the commissioners and the school board because they represent the same constituency. Sometimes there's just some friendly discussion about who may be chairman, who may not be."
Wilson, who said he still supported Mosley for chairwoman even though he believed Fairchild had the votes to beat her, said he'd heard there may be a motion tonight to terminate Scales' contract.
"That's the gossip," he said. "There's no mystery behind that, that [Thurman and new board members] feel like they have a majority [against Scales]," he said. "The next couple of months will be extremely interesting."
Scales said he thought discussion between board members and county commissioners over who would serve as chairman was inappropriate.
"Whether my contract is bought out, that should be a school board decision, not a County Commission decision," he said.
Evatt said he always has supported Fairchild, and that he hadn't talked to commissioners about his choice. Newly elected member Joe Galloway said he hadn't yet decided whether he would support Fairchild or Mosley, but was leaning toward Fairchild.
"I want to be open-minded about it," he said.
Wilson also said he believed Thurman and Testerman had violated the open meetings law, which prohibits two or more elected officials from deliberating in private over board-related matters.
"The attorney may have some questions on his hand [tonight]; the open meetings law may come into play," he said. "I don't think it's appropriate for a board member to make a motion outside a board meeting."
Testerman insisted he has not talked with any county commissioners about who should be elected chairman. Adding an item to the board agenda requires two board members' requesting it, and Testerman said Thurman just happened to be whom he chose.
"She was the most readily available," he said.
When asked if he had discussed the chairman position with any other board member, Testerman said, "not really."
Thurman said she discussed supporting Fairchild for chairman before Testerman became a board member. The motion to elect Fairchild, signed by Testerman and Thurman, is dated Sept. 1, the day Testerman became a school board member.
Although she no longer is on the school board, Janice Boydston, who stepped down this year after 29 years, said she had heard the commission has weighed in on the chairman vote.
"I'm really sad that this has happened; this is a school board's decision. Some board members had committed to [Mosley] who have uncommitted now. You don't go back on your word," she said. "Whatever is going on behind the scenes is very unfortunate."
Online: Contact Kelli Gauthier at kgauthier@timesfreepress.com or (423) 757-6249. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/gauthierkelli.