School Board Member Sues His Board

Board of Ed member Allen Dyer has filed a lawsuit against the school board over a disagreement about how the system handles e-mails, according to ExploreHoward.

Dyer said his action is in the interest of preserving public records and documents.

“I cannot accept the unauthorized destruction of public records and, therefore, I am preparing to ask the Circuit Court of Howard County to order the end of the destruction of public records by the Howard County Board of Education and its employees,” Dyer wrote in an Oct. 21 letter to school system lawyer Mark Blom informing him of his plan to take the matter to court.

No word on what if anything Dyer thinks is in those e-mails.

ExploreHoward said Dyer has gone to the courts before.

Dyer, who was elected to the school board on his fourth attempt in 2008, has sued the school board in the past on matters dealing with open meetings. After six years of litigation and appeals, that lawsuit was thrown out in 2006 when the state’s highest court denied a review of the case, in which lower courts had ruled that Dyer lacked standing. Dyer, a lawyer, also has represented other parties in lawsuits against the school board.

Since becoming a member of the board, he also has twice challenged board decisions by appealing them to the state Board of Education.

Golf Outing Gone Bad

We know. We know. We haven't posted in a while, but we couldn't pass up a chance to repost this story on ExploreHoward.

Howard County Police Officers’ Association President Gregory Der criticized fellow officers for “inappropriate behavior by a few that left a lasting impression” during a fundraising event at Turf Valley on Oct. 15.

A handful of police officers and other golf tournament attendees were criticized for unruly behavior, such as excessive drinking, jumping in a golf course lake and driving a golf cart into the Turf Valley pro shop. In an e-mail sent to police officers and County Executive Kenneth Ulman, Der said civilian attendees and tournament sponsors called him and said they were “embarrassed to be associated with the police department.”

"I apologize for the lack of judgment that some of our members and golfers utilized,” he wrote.