Final Ethics Complaint Against Conservative Board Member Dismissed

Image Credit: Wilson County Schools & Google Maps

The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –

The last remaining ethics complaint against conservative school board member Joseph Padilla was dismissed Tuesday night. 

In February, the Wilson County School Board Ethics Committee heard a total of ten complaints against Padilla who ran as a Republican in the first partisan school board race last year. The three-person committee dismissed nine of the ten complaints. A number of the complainants were constituents who appear to have interrupted their usual habit of voting Democrat to crossover and vote in the Republican primary in which Padilla ran.

The one complaint not dismissed by the committee was presented to the full school board last night in a special called meeting in Lebanon, Tennessee, for consideration of a public censure.

The complaint dealt with a story that Channel 4 News ran featuring the Wilson County school district. The station had interviewed Padilla about a proposed policy to remove LGBTQ Pride flag stickers from classroom doors and move them instead to school lobbies. A high school teacher at Green Hill High School said that the story included a shot of her classroom door and that her name was on the door. The teacher felt this put her and her family’s safety at risk as she sponsors her school’s Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) Club for students. She accused Padilla of taking a picture of the door and giving it to the news station.

On Tuesday night, only one board member said they had watched the original newscast, the remaining board members chose not to seek it out as they wished to remain unbiased and only look at evidence submitted to the board.

Padilla said that the teacher’s name was illegible in the quick clip, and that the name of the school was also not mentioned in the story. No evidence was provided that pointed to Padilla having given any photos to Channel 4 News, and the picture itself was at one time posted publicly on a Green Hill High School Facebook page.

The same teacher also complained that Padilla had posted a link to a website that referenced her salary, in an attempt to “dox” her. However, Padilla did not mention her name in the post and the website is open to the public, listing all the salaries of all Wilson County employees, including his own wife who worked as a teacher at the time.

The board voted unanimously to dismiss the complaint and not censure Padilla who chose to abstain from the vote.

About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.