Once upon a time, Board of Ed member Cynthia Vaillancourt was concerned that the Giant in Hickory Ridge was 'carding' for condom purchases and she mentioned it in passing during a dinner between Board sessions. Remember that?
And her fellow Board member Ellen Giles thought that was The End of the World. Vaillancourt must be chastised. She must be censured. She must undergo remedial sexual harassment training. Ms. Giles was so adamant that she even wrote the newspaper about it.
Recently Board member Ann Delacy sent out a fundraising email to over twenty-five people using their Howard County School System emails, including the Superintendent, and Ellen Giles thought that was just fine.* In fact, she thought it was just fine right up until she got a letter from State Senator Gail Bates looking into the matter as a possible ethics violation.
Even then, Ms. Giles did nothing more than say she would ask the school system's ethics panel about it. That's it.
Recently I have read some glowing accounts of Ms. Giles that praise her for her intelligence, experience, and hard work. I don't doubt any of that. What I doubt is whether her actual job performance as a member of the Howard County School System qualifies her for re-election. When someone uses a position of power to create scandal for one person when none actually exists, and then virtually ignores a scandal which just about hits her in the face, well, that's a problem for me.
A stumbling block.
I've talked quite a bit about responsiveness, transparency, and accountability in the Board of Education race. You know what else is needed?
Good judgement.
*How do I know? She was asked about it.
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