District has 30 days to dispute Texas Attorney General ruling.
Craig Follins, former Northeast Lakeview president, was given a made-up position as special projects administrator at the district offices shortly after being removed with cause as president on Oct. 29.
The district position did not exist before Follins needed one, so there was no advertising of the position and no hiring committee.
For whatever a special projects administrator does, he will retain the $205,387.03 salary he collected as president.
In the termination memorandum, Chancellor Bruce Leslie said Follins again “engaged in a pattern of unacceptable behavior.”
So this was not the first time Follins “violated expectations.”
Apparently, it was bad enough to be removed but not bad enough to be fired.
The problem is the public, which is footing the bill for his pay, does not know what he did.
Apparently, the documents contain sensitive and embarrassing information.
Well, too bad. Follins is a public leader working at a public college paid for with public taxes.
The public has a right to know what its leaders are doing.
The Ranger submitted a Public Information request in December, which Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton ruled in favor of Tuesday.
That means the 10 days the district put off requesting the ruling are gone. Also past are the three months we waited for a response.
Now, the district claims it has 30 days to dispute the ruling and still won’t release the documents.
This is getting ridiculous.
The information needs to be available, and drawing out the process only makes those involved look worse for trying to hide it.
Follins responded to the news by spouting the district’s favorite buzz word, student success, bringing his family into the fray and talking about the future.
He still refused to reveal anything about the cause for his termination.
Everyone has a family; this is not a good reason to leave the public clueless about the misconduct of its leaders.
The future is important to look toward, but when the past caused termination and the future contains the same salary in a fabricated district position, the initial documents need to be released.
Is district worried the documents will reveal Follins should not be working for Alamo Colleges?
And if that is the case, what does Follins know or have that keeps him from being fired?
This district has a history of trying to keep settlements secret to hide misdeeds.
Release the documents already. It could be we have imagined something much worse than the reality.