Below is the first page explaining the ethics complaint filed against Representative Melony Bell today. If you’d like to see everything including the timeline and screenshots, click the link at the very bottom. Click this link here to read the column from the Washington Post.
To Whom It May Concern:
The following is a statement of facts—including a timeline of events and pictures that
document said events—regarding the unethical behaviors of Melony Bell-R, HD56 that
transpired on January 21st through the morning of January 23rd.
During a public meeting of the House PreK-12 Innovation subcommittee on January 21st, while examining HJR157, Rep Bell said the following:
“I’m a believer in Home Rule…but we have a school board member in Polk County, and
I’ll go on record, who most likely needs to be removed and the governor has not
removed him (emphasis mine)…Time after time, he just disrupts the whole School
Board and teachers and the association. With term limits, I could see, this is probably
going to be the only way to remove him from office.”
The “school board member in Polk County” is duly elected Billy Townsend, District 1. It seems both unethical and downright undemocratic for a sitting state legislator to call for the removal of another elected official from office simply because of a difference of views. Mr. Townsend has done nothing wrong and has the support of thousands of citizens all over Polk, both from within the confines of the education establishment and beyond.
This is a summary of the first charge of unethical behavior; it amounts to falsehoods being spread by Representative Bell, potentially undermines the democratic rights and votes of the 140,000+ citizens who elected Mr. Townsend, and could be considered slanderous and defamation of character, both of which go beyond the purview of ethics and are, in fact, illegal.
The second charge of unethical behavior stems from how I was censored on social media. As noted in the Washington Post article that is included beneath this opening statement, you will read about numerous court cases from across the country concerning elected officials who operate on social media and that, by providing a public forum, cannot censor dissenting viewpoints, which is exactly what happened to me when I expressed my dismay at her comments about Mr. Townsend. In the following pages, I have included evidence of said censorship, and I hope that you take all due action to deliberate this matter and censure Representative Bell for her careless and slanderous remarks, as well as to ensure that she no longer censors other dissenting viewpoints from appearing on her Facebook page or any other social media platform she may use as an elected official.
Teacher Voice 