District won’t censure

The Ocean View School District board didn’t censure anyone at its meeting Tuesday. As it turned out, trustee John Briscoe failed to submit all the proper documents to bring a censure vote against the board’s own president, Debbie Cotton.

But Briscoe’s motion against Cotton, and the heated discussions that followed, laid bare animosities that have colored board meetings for months — even years.

“We’re going through budget cuts right now,” board member George Clemens said at the meeting. “I’m tired of Mr. Briscoe constantly tearing down our superintendent. I think we need to stand behind him and give him all the support we can.”

The censure debate started when every board member but Briscoe voted to give the body the power to censure members by majority vote. As soon as it passed over his one “no” vote, Briscoe turned in the very first request for censure against Cotton, who put the item up for vote in the first place.

Other members took issue.

“How do you know how to do the president’s job?” trustee Tracy Pellman said.

There have been other recent disagreements.

Briscoe occasionally sends out news releases about issues he has with district policy, such as the use of Internet cookies on the district website.

In response, the other four members formed a “litigation committee,” apparently to meet on legal issues that might arise from Briscoe’s actions.

At Tuesday’s meeting, the other four members asked Cotton to prepare a resolution to counter various statements Briscoe has made to the public “with what we feel is an accurate reflection of the situation,” as Pellman described it.

Briscoe disagreed, saying most of his concerns were that board members didn’t appear to be treated equally by district staff.

“Board policy is clear on these things,” he said. “We’re five equal trustees elected by the people.”

A conciliatory note came from trustee Norm Westwell, who called for calm on both sides.

“In my personal experience I have been the outsider in various debates over public policy,” he said. “I know that can be difficult and very trying. I would encourage all of us to be as tolerant as possible of dissenting opinions. But at the same time we should remember this is all about the children, and we need to come together.”