…which means Sen. Bradley Byrne will be the new chancellor of the state’s two-year college system ASAP. Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
The Alabama Education Association filed a lawsuit Monday in Reese’s court claiming the school board and Gov. Bob Riley conspired in secret to hire Byrne, a violation of the state’s Open Meetings Act. AEA lawyers also alleged Byrne’s hiring on May 10 violated the board’s own personnel policies, an action that made it impossible for others to apply for the position, especially women and minority candidates.
AEA asked Reese to issue a temporary restraining order that would have prevented the board from hiring Byrne while giving AEA time to prove that the board and Riley broke the law. Reese denied the request in a one-sentence order giving no explanation for his decision.
While the restraining order was denied, AEA lawyers said they expect the lawsuit to proceed.
I’m of two minds about this. Although I think the AEA leadership is being a mite hypocritical in their objections, they also have a point about the lack of a real search for the best candidate. Even the Birmingham News, no fan of the AEA, agrees. OTOH (snerk), soon-to-be-former-Sen. Byrne may just have the inside knowledge and political support to clean out the cesspool. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
I tried to put together something snazzy with PDQ, FUBAR, and SOP, but there’s no point in trying to start some kind of alphabetical pissing contest.
I would agree with you about the wrongness of not having a real search, but…the players in this game have all been on a less-than-level field for years now, and I don’t think squareness and fair play, to mix the metaphor a bit, will work to fix things now. I’m sure there is a proverb that expresses what I want to say, probably an Italian one.
“…alphabetical pissing contest.”
Hey, nothing more soothing than a nice warm cesspool!
Potential just means you ain’t done anything yet (Bear Bryant), and Mr. Byrne is loaded with potential. So far, I’m impressed. He’s a different character altogether than Tom Corts (very nice gentleman; clearly in over his head; saw the light, then hit the door). As I said, someone decisive who will lead is what we need. Can’t wait to see how Byrne begins…
I predict we’ll see some movement on some college presidents’ stories in the next few weeks (Shelton, Bishop, maybe).
If Mr. Byrne (with his background, and Bob Riley’s backing) can get the Board pulling all in one direction, that will be crucial. They’ve done all the spotlight-grabbing and squabbling possible, milked it as much as possible; now it’s time to get back to work.
AEA’s point is well-taken. Unfortunately, a nationwide search would eat up 6-12 months (yes, really) that we just can’t spare, not to mention a ton of money which might all go for naught, if we hired another Corts-type who threw up his hands in frustration in short order.
Thanks, Jeff. I hope we’ll see some real progress in short order. Keep us posted as you can.