Ammons’ contract can only be terminated by a supermajority vote
of nine of the thirteen board members.
“Frankly, I don’t see that there are nine members of the
board with the courage to remove him,” Gabordi wrote on his blog.
We all probably heard this type talk on the playgrounds when
were kids. Somebody would taunt you by saying: “I would double-dog dare you to
do it. But I already know that you won’t do it because you’re a scaredy cat.”
Gabordi is also associating a desire to get rid of Ammons with courage. Maybe he thinks that Rufus Montgomery, who is the biggest anti-Ammons member of the board, is a courageous person.
But how much courage does it really take to be an
empty-headed, political hack who screams “Yes Boss!” anytime the governor says
to do something?
Gabordi did get close to truth by suggesting that many FAMU
trustees are scared of something. Many of them are scared of creating a pathway
for the Tea Party governor’s office to take control of FAMU.
The Florida Tea Party led by Gov. Rick Scott hates Ammons in
much of the same way that the national Tea Party hates U.S. President Barack Obama.
They go crazy when individuals like Ammons and Obama gain major
positions of power and refuse to be pushed around.
There are some people at FAMU who are willing to play a
Herman Cain-style role. Rufus is one and Barbara Barnes, who is desperate to be the president
of FAMU, is another.
A Barnes presidency would be like a second-coming of ex-Interim
President Castell Bryant. That would probably make Scott and Castell telephone
pal Gabordi happy. But it would put FAMU back on the path to closing down.