It’s parliamentary, sort of

Local political watchdog and expert on parliamentary procedure Brahama D. Sharma didn’t like what he read in the Enterprise-Record about how Chico Unified School District Trustee Andrea Lerner-Thompson was elected board president back on Dec. 7.

The story goes that Trustee Jann Reed was first nominated to the post, but the nomination died when it didn’t get seconded. Trustee Eileen Robinson then nominated Lerner-Thompson, who seconded the nomination herself. She was elected on a 3-2 vote, with Reed and Trustee Liz Griffin in the minority.

Sharma contacted the school district to argue that one cannot second oneself when nominated.

Bob Feaster, the district’s assistant superintendent, said the new president had written Sharma addressing his concerns. “The Board does not have to follow parliamentary procedure,” she wrote, “or any other procedure other than their own Board Policy and By-Laws.”

Those by-laws list what the board president can do and include No. 7: “Rule on issues of parliamentary procedure.”