Friday, July 27, 2012

Trustee Nancy Bingham "mainly criticized trustee Carla Ranger"


On yesterday Dallas Morning News reporter Tawnell Hobbs reported that Trustee Nancy Bingham "mainly criticized trustee Carla Ranger."

More Here - Education Blog - DMN
"Note, Nutall didn’t mention Bingham in the quote above. I called Bingham and she wasn’t too happy upon hearing why I was calling. She mainly criticized trustee Carla Ranger, who she said had disclosed information about the issue that was said during a closed session of the board.

“I think the bigger issue is that Ms. Ranger violated a closed-door session,” Bingham said."
Trustee Bingham's accusation is no surprise to me. It is to be expected.  

Trustee Bingham expressed no responsibility  or remorse for the allegations made by Trustee Bernadette Nutall on last Saturday. 

There has been no denial that Trustee Nutall described the recorded conversation between Trustees Nancy Bingham and Mike Morath as racial. This is a serious allegation.

For some strange reason there was no Board attorney present during any of the closed meeting - just Trustees and the Superintendent.

Regarding Trustee Bingham's accusation that I violated the closed session, former Texas Attorney General Jim Mattox issued an opinion (July 11, 1989 - Opinion No. JM-1071) that established the right of a public official to comment on the subject matter of a so-called closed session. 

I posted the entire Attorney General opinion on this blog on April 3, 2012. The link is below:


A San Antonio Investigative reporter John Tedesco (San Antonio Express-News) reported on a similar closed session issue on Tuesday, February 17, 2009.

Here is the link:


The 2009 San Antonio Express-News article concluded:
" Actually, Cisneros and other officials are perfectly free to talk about what happens in executive session. That’s according to a 1989 opinion from then-Attorney General Jim Mattox."
"So if you want answers about a topic that interests you, wave a copy of this AG opinion anytime a public official tries to tell you she can’t talk about closed-door meetings."

There was no violation of the closed session.

 Editorial: Why the Texas Open Meetings Act matters - DMN-Published: 03 August 2012 05:21 PM