THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 21, 1995 TAG: 9501200023
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A32 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
Last week a jury found Virginia Beach School Board member Charles Vincent guilty on nine counts of illegally soliciting a gift.
This week he remained on the School Board. Why?
The latest reason is the refusal of most of the board to shame him into stepping aside, at least until the judge decides whether the jury verdict should be set aside.
The statute on which Mr. Vincent was indicted requires that the prosecution prove not only that someone illegally solicited gifts but that he did so ``willfully.'' But does ``willfully'' mean someone intentionally did something the law forbids? Or does it mean someone intentionally did something he knew the law forbids? The Circuit Court will rule on that issue next month.
If the judge upholds the jury's verdict, a second legal debate will ensue. The statute says a public official found guilty of violating its provisions must give up his public office upon conviction. Does that mean Mr. Vincent may retain his School Board seat while he pursues appeals of his convictions?
The meaning of ``willfullness'' and ``conviction'' are interesting legal issues. But the question of whether Mr. Vincent should remain on the School Board has never been just a legal matter. It is not just a legal matter now.
It is also a matter of his appropriateness for the position, given his poor judgment. His own attorney acknowledged his poor judgment in open court. The letters he wrote, reprinted below, demonstrate it.
Mr. Vincent failed to perceive the impropriety of asking suppliers to the school system for money, particularly after helping select those suppliers and before the School Board's final approval of their con-tracts.
He failed to abide by the manual of School Board policies and regulations, including ethics considerations, though the board had provided him the manual months before.
But Charles Vincent's major failure was not ignorance of the law, which may in this instance spare him legal penalties. His major failure was not ignorance of the School Board manual, which is vo-lu-mi-nous.
Charles Vincent's major failure is incomprehension: incomprehension that his conduct even might have been unethical until the law intervened, and incomprehension even now why his failure to understand his ethical lapse makes him unacceptable as a School Board member.
Why are most of his colleagues on the board so tolerant of his lapses? Their refusal to join members Joe Taylor and June Kernutt in requesting that he step down until his case is finally decided can only encourage Mr. Vincent's refusal to resign his seat. It can only discourage public confidence in the board.
Why is the Virginia Beach Education Association silent? Its political-action committee endorsed Charles Vincent in advertisements and contributed $250 to his campaign.
Here is a man whose defense against criminal charges was, as Commonwealth's Attorney Bob Humphreys summed up, `` `I'm too stupid to be a criminal.' '' Here is a man who doesn't belong on the School Board. If public officials and the judiciary cannot manage to remove Charles Vincent, petitions from the public will start the process that can. MEMO: Reprinted here is the text of a letter typical of those Charles W.
Vincent addressed to private firms selected as suppliers to the Virginia
Beach school system and introduced as evidence in his trial on nine
counts of violating an ethics provision of the Virginia Public
Procurement Law.
Gentlemen:
It was a pleasure meeting with you on August 29th when you appeared
before our committee. I am pleased to have been a part in the selection
of your firm for the Addition to Green Run and Kingston Elementary
Schools.
On another matter . . . I am trying to retire (or at least trim) my
campaign debt from the recent School Board election. If you would like
to contribute please send your checks, payable to VINCENT FOR SCHOOL
BOARD CAMPAIGN, in the enclosed envelope.
Thank you for your support. I look forward to working with you over
the next four years as, together, we build the schools necessary to take
our dynamic city into the next century.
God bless you! I remain,
Your friend,
Charles W. Vincent, Ph.D. by CNB