Taylor v. Margo

• Decision Date: 16 September 2015
• Docket Number: No. 08–14–00066–CV,08–14–00066–CV
• Citation: 508 S.W.3d 12
• Parties: Charles N. TAYLOR, Jr., Appellant, v. Dee MARGO, in his individual and official capacities, and Michael Williams, in his individual and official capacities, Appellees.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

508 S.W.3d 12

Charles N. TAYLOR, Jr., Appellant,

v.Dee MARGO, in his individual and official capacities, and Michael Williams, in his individual and official capacities, Appellees.

No. 08–14–00066–CV

Court of Appeals of Texas, El Paso.

September 16, 2015

Charles N. Taylor Junior, pro se

Melissa R. Holman and S. Anthony Safi, for Appellees

Before McClure, C.J., Rodriguez, J., and Chew, C.J. (Senior)

OPINION

ANN CRAWFORD McCLURE, Chief Justice

Charles Taylor, appearing pro se, appeals from an order dismissing his lawsuit against Michael Williams, Commissioner of the Texas Education Agency, and Donald "Dee" Margo, the President of the Board of Managers, who was appointed by Williams to manage the El Paso Independent School District. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

FACTUAL SUMMARY

This litigation stems from a corruption and cheating scandal involving former El Paso Independent School District (EPISD) Superintendent Dr. Lorenzo Garcia and six unindicted coconspirators, wrongdoing committed by EPISD employees, and mismanagement by the EPISD Board of Trustees.¹ On June 13, 2012, Garcia pled guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. The guilty plea related to charges that he defrauded the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and the United States Department of Education by providing fraudulent data regarding the grade classification and demographic makeup of students, which artificially inflated the District's state and federal accountability scores to secure federal funding under the No Child Left Behind program.² Garcia created false demographics by discouraging students from enrolling, improperly causing students to withdraw from school, denying foreign students properly earned credits, and improperly reclassifying tenth grade students to the ninth or eleventh grade by changing passing grades to failing and failing grades to passing and by deleting earned student credits.³ It was later determined that the Board of Trustees did not take immediate, decisive action in response to Garcia's guilty plea, nor did the Board immediately and decisively modify the District policies that enabled the superintendent to engage in fraud.

On August 13, 2012, in response to the corruption at EPISD, the TEA lowered the District's 2011–2012 accreditation status from "accredited" to "accredited-probation." On December 6, 2012, Commissioner Williams sent a letter to the school board president and interim superintendent announcing his plan to appoint a Board of Managers to exercise the powers and duties of the District's Board of Trustees under the authority of TEX.EDUC.CODE ANN. § 39.102(a)(9) and pursuant to the requirements of TEX. ADMIN.CODE ANN. §§ 97.1073(e) and 97.1059(b). The letter stated that TEA had requested preclearance from the United States Department of Justice, and that upon receipt of preclearance, the powers of the current Board of Trustees would be suspended, and the Board of Managers would exercise all of the powers and duties assigned to the District's Board of Trustees by law, rule, or regulation, pursuant to TEX.EDUC.CODE ANN. § 39.112 (a), (b). In the interim period before the installation of the Board of Managers, a conservator was appointed to oversee operations of the district.

Following the issuance of Commissioner Williams' December 6th letter announcing the appointment of a Board of Managers, EPISD requested a record review of the proposed action. A record review is a meeting under TEX.ADMIN.CODE ANN. § 1037(e) wherein TEA representatives meet with the superintendent and/or representatives of the District to receive oral and written information relative to a proposed order by TEA. After the record review in this case, the designee of the Commissioner of Education found that Commissioner Williams had legal authority on several grounds to appoint a Board of Managers. The designee also noted that the Board of Trustees failed to "identify, prevent, and timely and appropriately respond to the intentional, unethical, and illegal acts of its superintendent and staff." The designee emphasized that "the problems in El Paso ISD stemming from fraudulent actions of the former superintendent and his co-conspirators were extremely serious and were the worst that the agency's governance senior director had ever seen in his career." The designee thus held that EPISD's record review challenging of the appointment of the Board of Managers should be denied.

The designee further ordered that the Board of Managers assume the title, duties, and authority of a Board of Managers with regard to TEA's oversight of EPISD. Pursuant to TEX.EDUC.CODE ANN. § 39.112(e), the designee ordered that not later than the second anniversary of the date the Board of Managers is appointed, at the direction of the Commissioner, the Board of Managers shall order an election of members of the District Board of Trustees, and that thereafter the Board of Trustees would resume all powers and duties assigned to them by law.

On April 26, 2013, the Department of Justice provided preclearance for the appointment of a Board of Managers. On May 7, 2013, the members of the Board of Managers were sworn into office. On May 11, 2013, an election was held for four EPISD trustee seats. This election was ordered by the Board of Trustees prior to the Board of Managers being sworn into office. Following a run-off election on June 15, 2013, Charles Taylor was elected to the Board of Trustees for District # 5. He filed this lawsuit on July 22, 2013 against Commissioner Williams and the President of the Board of Managers, Donald "Dee" Margo.

In his original petition, Taylor sought injunctive relief alleging:

6.1 The underlying suit arises out of actions by Defendants for failure to complete Post Election Procedures as outlined in the Texas Election Code, violations of statutory law under the Texas Education Code and the Texas Constitution, and violation of Due Process and Deprivation of Liberty as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.

6.2 On May 7, 2013, Mr. Williams officially installed a Board of Managers headed by Mr. Margo suspending the elected board of trustees in an effort to stabilize the operations of EPISD.

6.3 Pursuant to Sec. 39.112(e) the Board of Managers must order an election of the Board of Trustees within two (2) years of their appointment.

6.4 An election was held May 11, 2013 where new members for the Board of Trustees were elected satisfying the mandatory statutory requirements of Sec. 39.112(e) well within the two (2) year requirement.

6.5 Plaintiff was successfully elected to the EPISD Board of Trustees, District # 5 following a runoff election June 15, 2013.

6.6 On June 25, 2013 EPISD pursuant to Sec. 67.001 through 67.017 Tex. Elec.Code did canvass the vote declaring the results of the runoff election.

6.7 Following the canvass Defendants have failed to complete the certificate of election as mandated by Sec. 67.016 Tex. Elec.Code.

6.8 Defendants continue to deprive Plaintiff the execution of the Officer's Statement as mandated by Art XVI (1)(b) of the Texas Constitution.

6.9 As a result of depriving Plaintiff of completing the Officer's Statement and without the certificate of election Plaintiff is ultimately deprived of taking the oath of office thus barring Plaintiff from the duties of the office pursuant to Sec. 11.061(a) Tex. Educ.Code.

* * * * * *

10.1 WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, Plaintiff prays that Defendants Mr. Margo and Mr. Williams, individually and officially, be cited according to law to appear and answer herein; that before notice and hearing an Ex Parte TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER be issued; that after due notice and hearing a TEMPORARY INJUNCTION be issued; that this matter be set for trial; and upon final hearing a PERMANENT INJECTION be issued restraining and enjoining Defendants, their successors, assigns, officers, agents, servants, employees, and representatives from making representations, doing the acts, and engaging in the unlawful practices set out in the preceding paragraphs within El Paso County, Texas as follows:

A. Depriving Plaintiff of his duly elected office as district# 5 Board of Trustee in EPISD.

1. Deprivation of certificate of election.

2. Deprivation of officer's statement.

3. Deprivation of Oath of office.

4. Deprivation of right to office.

Margo sent Taylor the Certificate of Election on December 3, 2013, which Taylor complains was 160 days late. Taylor was instructed where to obtain the requisite Statement of Officer and the Oath of Office. Taylor signed the former on December 5, 2013 and the latter on December 6, 2013. Although it is not entirely clear from the pleadings, his reference to the "deprivation of right to office" has been construed by Appellees as failing to allow him to officially take office because the Board of Managers was still in control. In a nutshell, Taylor claims that the 2013 election ended the Board's control and that Taylor was entitled to assume office as a Board Trustee after the appropriate canvassing of the election. Appellees respond that the Board of Managers remained in control of the District until the May 2015 election. The presiding judge of County Court at Law No. Three, the Honorable Javier Alvarez, denied the request for temporary restraining order on July 30, 2013. Taylor filed an amended petition and the temporary restraining was denied again by Judge Alvarez on August 21, 2013.

Both Williams and Margo filed pleas to the jurisdiction. On December 18, 2013, the trial court, with Judge Susan Larsen presiding, entered an order granting Margo's and Williams' pleas to the jurisdiction and dismissed the case with prejudice. The portion of the order dismissing the case with prejudice was in error, because Margo still maintained a counterclaim against Taylor for attorney's fees. Margo filed a motion to modify the judgment and on January 17, 2014, Judge Larsen entered a modified order granting Williams' and Margo's pleas to the...