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Ellis Resigns As LBUSD Boardmember by Ryan ZumMallen | Archive | 08.06.09 |
+ August is supposed to be a slow news month, but dog days these are not. Michael Ellis, District 3 Boardmember in the Long Beach Unified School District, resigned his position today - according to this Press-Telegram report - after missing nearly three months of meetings and following a District Weekly report that there is a warrant out for Ellis' arrest following a probation violation. In a phone interview with the LBPOST.com this afternoon, LBUSD spokesperson Chris Eftychiou indicated that the resignation letter was found today, and that Ellis' resignation is effective on September 1. There are board meetings on August 18 and September 1, which Ellis could possibly attend. "At the moment, Mr. Ellis is still a boardmember," Eftychiou said. He also said that the District's legal counsel is currently reviewing the City Charter to determine how to proceed with filling the seat - whether through appointment or special election. Eftychiou could not say at the moment, but noted that there is a 30-day residency requirement for anyone interested in filling the position. Ellis' District 3 covers most of downtown Long Beach. Article XXII, Section 2207 of the City Charter indicates: Sec. 2207. Vacancies. So, it looks like we're in for a special election, and the Board has 30 days following the official resignation (effective Sept. 1) to call it. The announcement ends a bizarre three-month long episode as the LBUSD and news outlets attempted to reach Ellis, but failed because letters to his mailing address went unreturned and he had apparently been evicted from his apartment. The only contact Ellis made came in June, when he promised LBUSD officials that he would attend the following week's board meeting. He didn't. So Ellis' strange tenure as District 3 Boardmember ends, but who will replace him? Does it matter, as long as that person shows up to meetings? We'll have more information as it rolls in.
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18 Comments so far.
Barbara It is about time. The board has enough to consider without looking or giving him space in the paper or ways he can continue. let`s get on with what this year brings to our schools. Peace Keeper Are you sure it is really from HIM? Seriously, has anyone actually scene Ellis? Is her still alive? Nick Fiesta Considering the district he... ahem, allegedly served. Don't be surprised if another union stooge takes his place. Ellis reportedly has been busy helping Michael Vick navigate through a rough stretch in his life. Sam Shame on the LBUSD Board for not being proactive. This what it looks like to 'sit on your hands.' Ellis should have been voted off the Board long ago. Where's the leadership? Charlie GOOD RIDDENCE... Mary An ignominious chapter in a tragic story, which may continue. Meanwhile, let's focus on finding someone who will give the best leadership on the School Board. Stu As I said to some friends a few weeks ago....Ellis COULDN'T attend meetings because he was probably incarcerated somewhere, or in some sort of involuntary rehab program. Either way, his absence was a PLUS, as he wasn't able to cast his worthless vote. Finally Finally! hopefully the board will do something proactive for a change; Hope the cops catches up with him and put him where he belongs; in an 8 X 10. Tracy An appointment should be made to save money. There is already an election City Wide in Long Beach in April. It appears that 120 days makes the date for a special election sometime in December or early January, not a good time for an election. Let the public choose and save money. Appoint now, LBUSD has done without the fourth person this long, a few more months more shouldn't matter. Their are many former administrators and/or prominent citizens who could fill in. Dennis Sam the LBUSD had no power to just vote him off the board, he was elected by the voters in his district. They could have removed him with a recall but the petition effort came up short. Regarding a special election, I hope it does not come to that since it will cost LBUSD a couple of hundred thousand dollars and the seat is up in the next round anyway, if there is a way an appointment could be made to save the money of an election that would be preferable. Ellis was the result of anti-administration element within the Teachers Association of Long Beach taking control of the union. They hired Scott McVarish to be their Executive Director and he put together plan to take control of the LBUSD board. Current LBUSD board member David Barton was a TALB candidate, member Mary Stanton narrowly defeated her challenger from TALB, has she lost... Integrated into the McVarish period was the TALB legal counsel whose termination from TALB is somewhat vague, but now she is suing TALB for various allegations--Gerrie Schipske. Ellis' resignation hopefully ends the story and a qualified member of the community will be able to fill the seat. bill b It's unfortunate that the voters were duped into thinking this was a person of integrity. Am I correct in believing he was one of the candidates that was heavily endorsed by TALB? If mymemory serves me correct, he was one of the three that were touted by the teachers union, which spent tens of thousands of dollars inth eelection. mary The biggest losers in this whole matter are the LBUSD teachers who, under the direction of elections chair Michael Day, spent nearly $100,000 of their hard-earned money to elect Ellis. Day should be called to account for his responsiblity in this debacle. LB resident What is with the bizarre statement "...the resignation letter was found..."? FOUND? Was it lost? Buried in a pile of junk mail? Very odd. I'm also quite sure that Eftychiou and crew had "determined how to proceed" weeks and weeks ago! This is no surprise. I second Charlie - good riddance and let's get focused now! John Greet There's a column in the works on this topic (there's always a column in the works, it seems) but a few thoughts, here, if I may: The PT's headline on the matter states: 'Michel Ellis quits school board', as if this just happened today. Michael Ellis 'quit' the school board months ago and he 'quit' fulfilling the oath of his office and his responsibilities to his constituents and as a responsible citizen farther back then that. Whatever Ellis has been doing doesn't really matter. It was clearly preventing him from properly carrying out the duties of his elected office and, knowing this, he should have demonstrated some integrity and personal responsibility and simply admitted that and resigned long ago. Ellis' former School Board colleagues didn't have the power to remove him, but I think they could and should have been far more pro-active in petitioning the State Department of Education to take action on this matter. Likewise his constituents should have demonstrated the responsibility necessary to sign the recall petitions, conduct an election and boot him out of office. In truth our State regulations are sadly lacking in assuring appropriate accountability in this area. No elected public official should be able to retain their office once arrested for any public offense. Ellis did. No elected public official should be able to retain their office while on criminal probation, summary or otherwise. Ellis did. No elected public official should be able to retain their office once a warrant for their arrest has been issued. Ellis did. No elected public official should be able to retain their office after being absent, without a valid explanation, for 30 consecutive days. Ellis did. Ellis, it seems, did a lot of things. Too bad serving the students and parents in our School District wasn't among them. Sam Daniel - excellent clarification, thank you! I'm obviously not familiar with the School Board process. My response was based on the absolute shame and frustration I feel. So......I'm wondering if the next LBUSD Board Charter/Constitution revision cycle could allow the Board to vote off Board members who are unable to perform their duties and appoint someone temporarily (until the next election cycle). rickatsea My first thought is good riddance Mr. Ellis. My second thought is the teachers union spent tons of money for what to show their ignorance by trying to promote 'diversity'. Diversity happens when you allow the natural flow of talented people to move forward, not when you 'select someone because he /she professes a life style and a political view that sounds absolutely politically correct'. Now we have lost a lot of time and representation on the board. Has anyone considered that just maybe the board should take Mr. Ellis to court and ask for the money he has stolen from the public? If this does not sit well with the board maybe the wealthy teachers union can pay the district (in the form of a 'donation'), for the loss we (the public) have suffered due to their political, high paying push for a favored person to sit where he could not contribute anything other than a name plate on the desk at the board meetings. A pox on the teachers union, I doubt they have learned a lesson here. Hopefully the voters may take notice and remember when the teachers union endorses another. l. davis, lb teacher I hate TALB and I hate CTA. They tarnish the good names of teachers and treat teachers, supposedly their members, with contempt by pushing representatives such as Ellis, McVarish, Day. Capster I for one would welcome a stipulation that anyone even being considered for a school board position, who is found to have even a passing friendship with anyone associated with a teacher's union be immediately disqualified! Do I sound anti-union? How funny, and true. Just do some research on the whole Sacramento picture and the union influence on further bankrupting this state. Unions have been very needed in certain industries at certain times, but they have largely grown to become political mafias who are doing their best to suck the coffers dry, while taking huge sums of money for doing not much of anything. And no, I am not insensitive to our teachers, my daughter is one. Take the union money, throw out the union, and give that money back to the teachers. Let the teachers form their own representation scheme based on volunteering their time to it on a rotation shift basis, and we, and they, will all be better off. And while we're at it, let some bright reporter do some homework on the ratio of education administrators to teachers in the U.S. versus Europe and other countries, who are now beating the pants off us in education quality. Gee - how do they manage to get their children a good education with only a fraction of the administrative overhead we seem to require here? I've taken a sneak tour through the LAUSD headquarters and it's disgusting! The money spent on a lot of that carpeting and furniture belongs in our classrooms!
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Ryan ZumMallen has served as the managing editor of the LBPOST.com since 2007. He graduated from CSULB with a degree in Print Journalism in 2008 and is a member of the 2009 class of Leadership Long Beach. You can find him on various basketball courts around the city.
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