Jones quiet when Joyner backed confirmation of FAMU trustee who tried to fire Mangum

Hours before the FAMU Board of Trustees (BOT) voted to accept an exit agreement put forth by President Elmira Mangum on Thursday, state Rep. Shevrin Jones sent out a Tweet stating that he was “disappointed” with the board.

“To the FAMU BOT I am disappointed in you,” wrote Jones, a FAMU alumnus. “But God knows I still love my University. Dr. @RattlerinChief, thank you for your leadership.”

That statement came about 10 months after Jones chose to keep quiet as one of Mangum’s biggest opponents on the BOT cruised to an easy confirmation in the Florida Senate.

Trustee Robert Woody immediately became one of the biggest opponents of Mangum after Gov. Rick Scott appointed him to the BOT on March 27, 2015. He gave Mangum a “Does Not Meet Expectations” rating for every question in his individual evaluation of her in July, 2015 and then moved to terminate her contract “without cause” and with “no confidence” on October 22, 2015. The motion narrowly failed with a 6-6 vote.

FAMU alumna and Senate Democratic Leader Arthenia Joyner, as a member of the Florida Senate Higher Education Committee, later voted in favor of a recommendation to confirm Woody’s BOT appointment on December 1, 2015. The full Florida Senate went on to confirm Woody for a term that ends on January 6, 2020.

If Jones had really wanted to try and save Mangum’s presidency, then he would have publicly battled against the confirmation of Woody. He could have personally appeared before the Senate Higher Education Committee during its November 17 and December 1, 2015 hearings on Woody, called a press conference to explain why Woody shouldn’t be confirmed, or sent out press releases calling for the Senate to reject the appointment.

But Jones decided to be publicly silent on the issue.

Woody continued to be a leading critic of Mangum in the months after his confirmation. He personally made the motion to “take no action” on her employment agreement on June 9, 2016 instead of offering her an extension. That motion passed unanimously.

Woody also gave Mangum very low ratings on her second performance evaluation. He said she “Does Not Meet Expectations” on nine of the 11 categories for the 2015-2016 year.

On September 15, Woody voted in favor of the motion to move forward with an exit plan that included an agreement for Mangum to go on administrative leave that day.

Jones looks like he’s trying to have it both ways. He said he was “disappointed” in the BOT ahead of its vote to part ways with Mangum even though he didn’t work hard to try and block the confirmation of a trustee who repeatedly attempted to terminate her.