PLAINFIELD – A city school board member has been cleared on ethics complaints filed by several of her colleagues.
A five-count ethics complaint against Carmencita Pile was brought to the state Department of Education's School Ethics Commission by fellow board members Emily Morgan and Richard Wyatt as well as board president Cameron Cox.
The complaint alleged that over the past year, and in violation of board policy, Pile repeatedly disrupted board meetings, both in public and executive session, by deliberately interrupting meetings with public outbursts and without being recognized by the board president, according to the decision from the School Ethics Commission.
It also claimed that Pile would insult her fellow board members through the use of vulgar epithets and accuse them of a lack of personal integrity.
Pile would allegedly repeatedly demand reconsideration of a resolution after it was clear that the board had no interest in such a resolution and impugn the reputation of her fellow board members through personal insults regarding their families, while ignoring the repeated admonitions of the board president for her to stop and desist her disruptive conduct.
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She allegedly caused the board president to take recesses to refocus from her outbursts.
The complaint also claimed that Pile violated state school board statutes by being a member of the board of directors of HOPES Community Action Partnership, an organization that provides community services that responds to the social, educational and training needs to individuals in an effort to overcome poverty.
According to the board members who filed the complaint, HOPES has a “current and active contract” with the board of education, providing services to the students in the school district and in the Plainfield community. The board members claimed that Pile's membership on HOPES and the board simultaneously violates the state school board ethics statutes.
The board members who filed the complaint also alleged that Pile has repeatedly taken executive session discussions and "either shared confidential information at the public portion of the meeting, or otherwise shared confidential information with other persons."
The board members said they tried to "enlighten, train and support" Pile about correcting her behavior, but she has “spurned any attempts to support her need to correct her abusive, disruptive and inappropriate conduct.”
Pile was served the complaint on Jan. 9. On Jan. 31, she filed a motion to dismiss the complaint and alleged that the complaint was frivolous.
In her response to the complaint, Pile maintained that the complaining board merely made "several conclusory allegations" that her conduct during board meetings was inappropriate. She further argued that board members “failed to provide any proofs which establish" that she "failed to recognize the board’s authority," according to the School Ethics Commission's decision.
She said her role with HOPES is a volunteer position and she does not receive a “financial or personal benefit." She also said the board members did not “reference any substantial conflicts that arose" due to her involvement with HOPES since 2016.
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The School Ethics Commission placed the complaint on its agenda for a special meeting on March 27.
At the meeting, the School Ethics Commission the granted the motion to dismiss in its entirety for the board members' failure to bring "sufficient, credible facts to support the allegations" that Pile violated multiple state school board statutes.
The commission, however, rejected Pile's claim that the complaint was frivolous and denied her request for sanctions.
Email: ngmuscavage@gannettnj.com
Nick Muscavage is a watchdog reporter for the Courier News, Home News Tribune and MyCentralJersey.com. To get unlimited access to his investigative work that has exposed wrongdoing and changed state law, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
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