By Donna Miller In October, 2003, the Professional Standards Commission (PSC) voted to suspend the teaching certificates of both Superintendent Bobby Jenkins and his wife, Naomi for a period of one year. The Jenkins appealed the matter and hired Maurice Luther King to defend them at tax payer expense. Maurice King subpoenaed 32 witnesses. The witnesses were all sequestered. Testimony lasted 13 hours the first day and 8 hours the second day. The State presented their evidence and relied heavily on it during the arduous ordeal. King maintained the State's findings were based solely on political and racial issues. The purpose of the hearing for the Jenkins was to discover if the PSC acted in a malicious manner in their investigation and ruling. King verbally assaulted the ears of those in the court room by screaming "It's all about controlling the niggers," over and over again until it was exhausting - maybe in an attempt that if he says it enough times and loud enough, it may become true. It was appalling behavior by a professional. The PSC have nine pages of findings that lead to their decision to revoke the Jenkins teaching certificates. Their findings included over billing, misuse of federal grant money, Teen Center problems, a hateful political letter written by Naomi at school, and distributed by way of elementary children. Time sheets had been stolen from the school and King implied Rep. Greene was behind it. TCN reported on the theft and the fact that police were very slow to respond to the concerns of citizens as it was happening. King insinuated that Commissioner Simmons was the "strong Man" behind the allegations of Jenkins and that George Anderson of Rome, Georgia did Simmons'’ bidding. Anderson is a self appointed ethics watchdog. King insisted the investigation into the Jenkin's activities was improper. King stated the Constitution protects people and many people get overpaid besides Naomi and why did the state choose to look at (only) her? She deserves equal protection. King objected that the payroll documents were only copies and the originals were stolen. He was over-ruled. The auditors from the state all testified of irregularities in the school system bookkeeping. Mr. Sanders told the court that money collected during the Teen Center circus was not handled properly. There were no internal controls and it appeared to have been a personal "slush fund" for Naomi. The money collected during after school events were not handled properly (In an accounting manner). When King questioned the auditors how much money was missing, the response was "all of it." Observers questioned if the moral to this story is, "If you're going to steal money, to just steal all of it." King stated at least a dozen times, his client, Naomi only over billed $900. King attempted to call Dr. Karen Kinsell a racist and referred to her as "you people." Kinsell was visibly offended and told King she was a member of the ACLU and the NAACP at the time. She also ran a homeless shelter for Afro-Americans when she lived in NY. She stated she currently has a clinic in Fort Gaines where a majority of her clients are (poor) Afro-Americans and she did not know what King meant by calling her "You People." He asked her why she paid for copies of documents from the school system. Kinsell stated she was appalled by what was happening (reported misuse of funds) at the school. Henry Cook testified he thought George Anderson complained to the State Attorney General's Office and that was what he believed launched the investigation. Cook also stated in open court he didn't remember if he pled guilty or not to an open record violation. (Cook was found guilty of violating the Open Meetings Act by throwing Michael Montfort & George Anderson out of a BOE meeting.) Cook also said Mr. Jenkins never told the BOE he was being investigated by the PSC, although he stated he spoke to Attorney General Assistant Katherine Allen about the matter. He allegedly said he believed the investigation was racial. Commissioner Evans Simmons took the stand and stated he knew George Anderson as an Ethics Advocate and he tried to help them get documents from the school system. Anderson had filed a suit against Simmons and others he believed had hired him to pursue the school matter and the group failed to raise money to pay him. Simmons stated he believed Anderson thought the group of citizens had a moral obligation to pay for all the records, (much of which was worthless) Anderson had requested from the school. Evans stated he gave Anderson In-kind contributions (meals). Simmons was asked who went to the meetings: Simmons vaguely answered that some who were sitting in the court room had been there. King questioned Simmons if he had ever written for The Citizen News, in which Simmons answered yes. Just as King was about to gloat over his “ah-ha” moment, Simmons continued with, it was his speech (published) that he was not allowed to present at the school board meeting and Simmons had signed it. John Grant, chief investigator of the PSC told the court they investigate when there are complaints. The auditor stated citizens from all over the state frequently contact them asking them to review items and that it is not unusual to be asked to look into certain matters. Grant stated Anderson filed a very broad complaint initially and Grant told him there wasn't enough evidence to investigate. Anderson later submitted documents for review along with the complaint. When King was informed of the investigation, he wrote a letter to Grant indicating he believed the allegations were politically and racially motivated. He stated the teachers had been told by school officials not to say the wrong things to investigators. In early May 2003 Jenkins was advised his school system was being investigated. Grant said when he arrived at the school to conduct his investigation; he discovered two state auditors from the IRS were on site. They had several documents Grant needed and the auditors shared them. Grant stated he was in Randolph County, two or three times during the investigation. Grant also stated that if during his investigation he had discovered the investigation was launched because of racial or political vendetta, he would have indicated that in his findings. He did not. Bobby Jenkins took the stand Tuesday afternoon. He indicated he made $82,000 Hearing, per year from the school system. He also stated he has a $250,000 home in Tift County, also owns a $30,000 home in Randolph County. Jenkins is reportedly building a $400,000 home on Lumpkin Street in Cuthbert - interesting to note in a predominantly white neighborhood. Jenkins said it angers him that he has been subject to public scrutiny. He doesn't believe his wife would steal money because they earn a comfortable living. Jenkins admitted the citizens were not happy when they raise local taxes. Jenkins stated his wife got a fee for writing the grants. He also claimed he told the Board he was being investigated, contrary to Cook's testimony. Mr. Jenkins stated the After-School Program became a bone of contention to the public when buses began running after hours. Jenkins said he was made aware that 5 employees were over paid. His wife and Linda Porter were paid the most. He justified expensive trips to Chicago and other locations. He signed off on all the Teen Center expenses including the magician and radio remotes. Jenkins indicated that at times they would combine the grant monies because it was "common sense" in meeting goals. Naomi stated she wrote several grants including Teen Plus, CAPS, DHR-STAR, and Male Involvement. She also indicated she is paid over $70,000 per year. She too stated she believed the charges leveled against her were racially motivated. Naomi stated she didn't purposely submit fraudulent time sheets - they were human errors; such as billing for time when she was somewhere else. She claims it's not about the money. It's about improving the children's lives. George Anderson, Katherine Allen and Gerald Greene are all due to present testimony in April at OSAH in Atlanta. Anderson is a card carrying member of the ACLU and the First Amendment Foundation of Georgia. He currently has 2 Civil rights cases in court where his own Civil Rights were believed to have been violated. He has filed complaints against Black and White, republican & democrat. Anderson strongly believes in equal fairness & equal protection guaranteed under the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution. Maurice King has failed to show wrong doing up to this point. His ambiguous referral of a group of whites who are behind the matter has grown tiresome with no proof. School System observers are now asking, "Are we to allow the Black Elite to treat average blacks as second class citizens? Is it fair for just one or two to get all the money and the rest of the blacks cover up and suffer just because they are black?" |
