The people on the Zoom started typing in, asking if they could speak in a Public Comment. The people in physical attendance in the audience began shifting in their seats. Ali T. Muhammad shouted from the back of the room up to the Board members, asking them to listen to the community. They responded by telling him he was speaking out of turn.
Ali got up, approached the microphone, and began speaking. “Can you hear me now?” he asked, and then began imploring the Board to listen to the community, as Meredith, Craig, and Antony, told him he was talking out of turn.
It wasn’t until Anthony White told Ali to “please respect the Board,” that Ali raised his voice.
“Please respect us!” Ali yelled. Craig responded that yelling does not work.
“True,” Ali answered. “Yelling does not get us what we we want. And clearly, sitting there (motioning to the Black community on the left side of the room) and showing up doesn’t get us what we want either. You’re disrespecting every single person who showed up here.”
Meredith responded by threatening to call a Recess of the Board “if you can’t sit down.”
Ali responded: “Call the Recess.” Meredith responded: “Ok, I’m calling the Recess,” to which Ali followed up with: “Ok, thanks,” and returned to his seat with applause. Not before he reached his seat, however, candidate Barb Fisher spoke up for the first time of the evening to ask how this was helping her fellow candidate Jasmine, who Barb was sitting next to. “Excuse me, but how exactly does this include Jasmine in this conversation at all?” Barb went on to describe what the Board was doing, that they were waiting a month to the next appointment. Ali feared it was a year, and Barb corrected him to a month.
Ali questioned: “What do we need that one more month for?” to which Barb began to answer, but Ali cut her off each time. Barb stood up from her seat to match Ali’s height as he stood in the aisle, to begin telling him: “So that other members of the community…” but she was cut off again by Ali who retorted: “They had their chance. They could have ran.”
Then, Ali seemed to not know that Barb herself was a candidate, when he said: “If you’re paying attention, join in.” Craig Wolf spoke into the microphone about following the process, which fueled Ali. Barb quickly responded: “I did join in. I applied through this process along with Jasmine and John and my husband (Travis Fisher). And honestly, I’m happy to remove myself from this process,” as she gestured to Jasmine, implying she would remove herself to make room for Jasmine. Ali responded: “Then remove yourself! That would be the admirable decision.” To which Barb disagreed, and insisted on being removed as a point of “merit.”
The Board Leaves The Table
At this time, the Board was still sitting at the table. Until Anthony White suggested they walk away. Which they did, clutching their belongings and pacing behind their chairs, uncertain of what to do. The audience began asking the Board members when the next meeting was. Meredith returned to her microphone to reassure the public that the meeting was continuing, that they were just waiting to continue. The Board members began tossing their things back onto the table, and huffed into their seats.
While people in the audience were still talking among themselves, Meredith made a motion to resume the meeting, to which Flora seconded it. However, Antony Tseng suggested they wait a minute more, to which everyone agreed, except Anthony White, who addressed the people in the back take their conversation outside.
The Board voted to open the appointment up again for a 2nd application process for others to apply with a 6-1 vote, with Anthony White opposed. He wanted to wait until the election in May 2021.
The Nomination and Vote
The nomination and voting process went relatively quickly. The Board went over the process of how the election would work in 2021. There would be 4 open seats (2 resignation seats, and 2 current board member seats that would be up for reelection). Jeff Simms of the Highlands Current confirmed that the following Board members would be up for reelection: Flora Stadler and Elissa Betterbid.
Meredith gave each applicant the ability to speak one more time. Only Travis Fisher opted to speak from Zoom, but his microphone was bad and no one could understand him, so he gave up.
Meredith and Kristan continued the meeting by praising “process,” and the nominations began.
Antony Tseng nominated John Galloway Jr. Then Kristen Flynn nominated Jasmine Johnson. No other nominations were made. According to Meredith, of the candidates, a nomination must be made in order to vote on the person. Of that nomination, whoever is nominated first gets the first vote. Says Meredith to ALBB when asked how that process works: “John was the first to be nominated so his vote went first. Had his nomination passed, Jasmine could not have been nominated.” Essentially, Meredith confirmed, the order of nominations goes by whichever Board member is quickest to their buzzer.
Meredith proceeded to start the vote for John Galloway Jr.. Craig Wolf spoke up to voice his favor of John, but asked for clarification. Meredith needed to state the vote more clearly: “Are you in favor of the nomination of John Galloway?” Craig replied: “Yes.” The rest of the Board answered: “Opposed. Opposed. Opposed. Opposed.” Those in opposition would be Kristan, Flora, Elissa, Anthony and Meredith.
Meredith announced that the vote did not pass, 2-5. However, Anthony White pointed out that she herself did not say the word “Opposed,” to which she answered by stating into the microphone that she was Opposed.
Meredith opened the vote for Jasmine, to which everyone voted yes with an “Aye.” Meredith then announced the vote passed 7-0, and looked to Jasmine in the audience and said as a welcome: “Be careful what you wish for,” and went on to question when Jasmine would be sworn in.
Next Steps: John Galloway Continues, Travis Fisher Withdraws
ALBB reached out to the candidates to learn more about their intentions. Travis shared with us his letter of withdraw that he sent to the Board, stating: “It seems clear you will have at least one energetic candidate who brings diversity and much-needed community connections. If I would stay in the running it would be mostly to make sure again you have a choice of candidates with different strengths. But at this point I think it is clear that the strengths I offer are not what the Board most needs in the current moment.”
John Galloway Jr. intends to keep his application current for the next appointment in one month. If he is not selected, he intends to run in the next election. Barb Fisher intends to help Jasmine keep her appointed seat by helping Jasmin win the public election in May 2021.
A Little Beacon Blog reached out to Board members and some audience members for followup responses to the actions taken this evening. Read those responses in full here.
Style Note On Lighting
The lighting is very dark in these Board Of Education meetings, contributing to an ominous tone. Perhaps the lighting above the audience could also be turned on, which would create an immediate inclusive effect. The Board members themselves are barely lit, which is standard for how these meetings have gone have gone over the years. While these meetings are in a theater, the lighting does not have to be so dramatic.
In the Beacon City Council meetings, as well as Zoning and Planning, the lights are on in the entire room.
