A member has been ordered to appear in court to answer allegations she's unlawfully and unconstitutionally serving as the District 5 representative.
Following the and the school system's proposal to property taxes, individuals and on the validity of the board's February of Anna Sullivan to fill the unexpired term of Larry Parker, who to head up Bartow's new .
As a result, elections officials called a to fill Parker's unexpired term; Sullivan and Greg Bowen have to seek the District 5 seat in both the special election and Republican primary, both set for July 31.
But Sullivan continues to serve as a member of the school board, despite calls for her resignation or removal, including a urging the board to . Opponents argue it trumps state law, disallowing appointments and requiring special elections to fill vacancies.
Bartow Tea Party Director Gail Engelhardt and Rydal resident Paul Nally today filed suit against Sullivan, requesting a Superior Court judge intervene and determine whether she legally fills the seat.
In the lawsuit, which is attached as a .pdf, the plaintiffs request a writ "for the purpose of inquiring into the legal authority of Anna Sullivan to hold her office."
They say not only was Sullivan's appointment illegal, but also her acceptance of the position, amounting to "an unlawful deprivation and taking of the property interest of all the taxpayers in the county."
Judge Carey Nelson ordered Sullivan to appear June 13 for a 9 a.m. civil hearing in answer to the suit, which also asks that:
- State law allowing board appointments be declared unconstitutional;
- Bartow school board policy "upon which Sullivan has relied" be declared unconstitutional;
- The court find the only lawful process to fill a board vacancy is a special election;
- The court issue its conclusions on the legality of Sullivan holding office;
- All monies paid to Sullivan be ordered returned; and
- Sullivan be disqualified as a District 5 candidate in the July 31 primary "for illegally holding said office."
School system attorney Boyd Pettit has maintained the board was within its right to appoint Sullivan, reported.
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When we allow people to violate the law just because they are such nice people, we are no longer the nation our Founders imagined. Nice people and good teachers aside, we have to expect better out of our leaders. Momof4, because you are new here, you probably don't know about why the law was changed in the first place. The same thing happened back around 2001, in the same district, only then it was legal to appoint. The lady that was elected resigned after less than a year and the board appointed someone to finish the term. Though it was legal at the time, residents of that district were understandably upset that the board did not instead have a special election, so they felt disenfranchised for 3 1/2 years. There was such an outcry that the law was changed in 2003. In 2004, the board member from Post 3 resigned, and a special election was held to finish the last 2 years of the term. If functioned just the way it was supposed to function. I am sure everyone just forgot about the law change, but we must follow the law nonetheless. While this may seem like a minor matter, no one benefits in the long run. Think of it this way: if your congressman had to resign, would you like it if Congress illegally just replaced your rep for you and then told you to let it go if you asked them to have an election instead?
Wake up. If we don't speak up when we see wrongs being committed, we are just as guilty as the perpetrators of those wrongs. It is our civic duty. Unfortunately, the problems we have in our Country now with our economy, loss of jobs and lack of respect for God and Country all start at the Local level and work their way up to the State and Federal. As a legal professional I am all about obeying the Law and not violating the trust of the people I serve on behalf of my employer who is a Georgia Attorney. If we don't change the bad things as you call them, they will be continued on and on and then you have anarchy.
I am not part of this suit, but we have been trying to let people know about the law violation. I know for our part (Bartowpolitics.com) we have nothing against Ms. Sullivan personally and think she seems like a nice person. We have been trying to get the board to fix this mistake from March 26th. The board was informed of the problem on March 19th. If they had fixed this problem immediately, it is my belief that Ms. Sullivan would have qualified for the special election and the primary without opposition. As far as Ms. Englehardt and Mr. Nally, I believe they are pursuing this option not to get Ms. Sullivan off of the ballot or to attack her personally, but to make sure our school board always follows the laws on the books and that the seat will be vacant (as legally required) until a special election is held. You say you don't understand the law. You can read a synopsis of the laws in question here: http://www.bartowpolitics.com/school_board_information.html It isn't really complicated. Local law requires a special election, not an appointment.