Following an 80-minute closed session Monday night, Sept. 29, Sweet Home School Board members voted unanimously to take no action on complaints filed by member Mary Massey Speck against Chair Mike Adams.
Massey’s complaints mirrored concerns she had voiced at the board’s Sept. 8 meeting, centering on alleged mismanagement of meetings by Adams, who was elected board chair at the board’s Aug. 11 meeting, replacing Floyd Neuschwander, who was on a trip.
The controversy began in July when Neuschwander, with agreement from Adams, who was then vice-chair, and Massey-Speck, who was board secretary, scheduled a special meeting to consider ousting Supt. Terry Martin.
The announcement of the meeting came literally four days after new board members Rachel Maynard, Dustin Nichol and re-elected members Adams and Amanda Carter had been sworn in. On July 21, the day the meeting was scheduled, it was cancelled on, Neuschwander later told The New Era, the advice of attorneys.
The announcement of that meeting prompted accusations of illegal “serial” meetings between board members, which resulted in complaints filed with the district, which were forwarded to the Oregon Government Ethics Commission, which eventually declined to act on them.
The board’s August and September regular meetings focused heavily on those complaints and resulted in the ouster of Neuschwander as chair and Massey-Speck as secretary.
Adams was elected chair in the August meeting and longtime Board Member Dale Keene was elected vice-chair, while Member Jenna Northern was elected secretary, both at the Sept. 8 meeting.
Massey-Speck, in her complaints filed with the Superintendent’s Office, alleged that Adams had not been forthcoming with his role in agreeing to the July 21 special meeting. She also alleged that Adams had mismanaged the August and September meetings, which resulted in her losing her board secretary position, and also asserted that she was wrongly implicated in the serial meetings prior to July 21.
The board emerged Monday evening following its closed session discussion of Massey-Speck’s complaints, and voted 4-2 against Massey-Speck’s motion to censure Adams for mishandling the situation, Massey-Speck and Maynard supporting the motion. Voting no were Adams, Carter – who was participating remotely, Keene and Nichol. Northern was absent.
The board then unanimously, including Massey-Speck and Maynard, voted to take no action.
The board’s next meeting will be its regular monthly one at 6 p.m. on Oct. 13, following a Strategic Planning Meeting at 3 p.m., all in the district boardroom.