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Ethics officer finds credible threats by school board member, urges formal referral for censure
Summary
An ethics investigation found credible evidence that school board member Karen Stokes made politically coercive comments during an April meeting and recommended referral for formal censure; the Board of Ethics voted to forward that recommendation to the school board.
The Board of Ethics voted July 22, 2025, to recommend that the school board consider formal censure of Karen Stokes after the board’s ethics investigation officer concluded Stokes made politically coercive remarks during an April 21 meeting.
The ethics investigation officer, Andrew (ethics investigation officer, name as provided in the meeting), presented a report adopted June 20 that examined two allegations: disclosure of nonpublic information to a local reporter and politically coercive threats to fellow school board members. "This cannot be countenanced. It cannot be ignored," Andrew said, summarizing the officer’s finding that Stokes attempted to stifle debate by making threatening remarks and recommending referral to the city council or school board for formal censure.
The report found no ethics violation on the…
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