Back on December 18, Florida Board of Governors Inspector
General Joseph K. Maleszewski released a report that covered questions
about the contracts FGCU President Wilson G. Bradshaw gave to Chief of Staff
Susan Evans and Athletic Director Ken Kavanagh.
According to the Naples Daily News:
“The Board of Governors may wish to provide additional guidance to university boards of trustees with respect to employment contracting for senior administrators and to ensure that the General Counsels, as direct reports to the boards of trustees, maintain the ability to communicate directly with the board,” Maleszewski wrote in the report.The inspector general's 55-page report also questions whether FGCU General Counsel Vee Leonard has the independence to take legal concerns to the university's board of trustees.
Leonard — who said she had reservations about the appropriateness of the draft employment contracts but reviewed them only for legality and form — noted she “received direction to work through either (Bradshaw) or (Evans) when seeking to interact with the board of trustees,” according to the report.“As a result, she did not express her employment contract reservations and concerns to any member of the FGCU Board of Trustees,” the report states.
Back at an August 5 FAMU Board of Trustees committee meeting, then-Chairman Rufus Montgomery and Vice-Chairman Kelvin Lawson asked General Counsel Avery McKnight to look into the shift of the $12,996,539 core operating budget of the College of Engineering from FAMU to Florida State University. They made the request just minutes after the Special Committee on Governance (which includes all the members of the board) approved a proposal to have the general counsel report to the BOT in addition to the president.
At that meeting, Rufus said that Vice-President for Finance
and Administration Dale Cassidy had called him and asked him to consider a
potential deal to replace McKnight with a new general counsel. According to the
Tallahassee Democrat, the chairman claimed “he was told the call came at the
request of Mangum.” Mangum refused to give a “yes or no” answer when the
chairman and vice-chairman asked her if she had any knowledge about the alleged
call.
McKnight later told the BOT at an emergency conference call
on October 22 that Mangum’s contract had been violated. He said that four
capital improvement projects above $10,000, including the construction of a
garage, took place at the President’s House after the start date Mangum’s
contract without being presented to the BOT for its approval.
On December 1, WFSU reporter Lynn Hatter broke the news that Mangum had fired
McKnight.
The FAMU interim general counsel, Shira Thomas, was recently
mentioned in the news coverage about FAMU Assistant Vice President of
Communications Elise Durham’s suggestion that the faculty senate exclude
reporters from its meetings.
The FAMUan reported that: “A statement sent by Shira Thomas,
FAMU’s interim general counsel on Thursday, Feb. 26, following a public records
request for the initial email, argues that the Faculty Senate is not subject to
the Florida Sunshine Law, because although it is an advisory body, it is not
making joint decisions or deliberations with the ‘ultimate decision-makers.’”
FAMUan reporter TyLisa C. Johnson asked the Florida attorney
general’s office for a comment on the issue.
“Pat Gleeson, general counsel to the Attorney General of
Florida agreed with [First Amendment Foundation Barbara Petersen] that the
Faculty Senate meetings are open to the public,” Johnson reported.