No surprise here, Beaumont ISD is once again in the news
for, well, being corrupt. There are actually several new stories of corruption
that I could write about, but I am just going to focus on the two biggest
recent stories. First, BISD has had their planned November School Board
Election declared illegal because, well, it violates Texas state law. Second, a
top BISD Administrator had charges filed and a warrant out against her for
blocking a public entrance and she was given paid suspension while she was
running from the law.
The Drama over at Beaumont ISD is never ending. I am not a
gambler, but if I was I would be willing to bet good money that if you polled
Texans from around the entire State, most of them will have heard of Beaumont,
TX (and Jefferson County) and believe it to be one of the most corrupt places
in all of Texas.
Beaumont ISD Election
Ruled ILLEGAL – BISD Tried to Use Holder’s DOJ to Push Illegal Election via
Voting Rights Act
Ok, so let me make this long story short. Beaumont ISD is
corrupt. The people of Beaumont wanted to really shake things up so they
legally had a petition drive to change the board from 7 single member districts
to 5 single member districts with 2 at large members who would be elected by
the entire city and not from poorly drawn single member districts. The petition
was successful and it was placed on the ballot to be voted on by the entire
city. The people of Beaumont spoke and voted to change the BISD to a 5-2 plan.
The Beaumont ISD districts were also changed during all the
redistricting in 2012. State Law requires all members of the school board to be
up for re-election after redistricting.
Well, election time come around for BISD. The election was
supposed to be May 2013. BISD says a big “forget you” to the people of Texas
and decided they will not implement the 5-2 plan and they also say they will
not put all 7 members up for election.
BISD goes running to Eric Holder’s Department of Justice and
says that a 5-2 plan is racist and must be stopped. Holder used the Voting
Rights Act section 5 and refused to give preclearance to the 5-2 plan. So BISD
decided to move ahead with a 7 member district election.
After a ping pong match between Federal and State Courts,
and after the election got pushed back to November 2013, the Voting Rights Act
giving DOJ automatic preclearance of election changes in Texas got struck down
by the United States Supreme Court.
With DOJ preclearance not needed anymore, BISD no longer had
a reason to refuse to implement the 5-2 plan. They refused anyways and it ended
up in court again.
Just yesterday, the 9th Court of Appeals in Beaumont, TX declared
Beaumont ISD’s upcoming school board election to be ILLEGAL.
Beaumont ISD
Communications Director Jessie Haynes Given Paid Leave while she was
Investigated and eventually Charged and had a Warrant out for her Arrest –
Haynes pleads the race card
Ok, so here is the short story. Jessie Haynes did not want
certain members of the media to be at a press conference, so she blocked the
public doorway in the BISD Administration Building. Jerry Jordan of SETinvestigates.com has
been exposing corruption in BISD and so Jessie Haynes took it upon herself to
deny Jordan the ability to go into the public press conference. School Board
Trustee Mike Neil (one of the good guys) showed up and tried to go into the
press conference. She denied the school board member entry as well. Neil went
to open the door anyways and that is when she took a football tackle stance and
tried it looked like she was going to try to tackle the school board member. Above picture of the incident was taken by
Jerry Jordan.
Charges were filed against Jessie Haynes and she had a
warrant out for her arrest. While she was a fugitive, she was put on paid
suspension and was getting a paycheck. Once she turned herself in and got out
on bail, she was given her job back by Superintendent Timothy Chargois.
Chargois seems to be continuing BISD down the corrupt path that former
Superintendent Carrol “Butch” Thomas.
Oh, and what defense does Jessie Haynes claim? She claims
everyone is racist against her. No surprise she pulled the race card. Oh, and
just to be safe, she added in that she is a victim of violence against women.
Interesting she should bring up violence against women because she was seen
getting bailed out with Tyler Thomas Jr., who was accused of beating his girlfriend,
and also when his father was a deputy for Hardin County his father was caught
in a sting with a prostitute.
