Can elected official miss 10 months of meetings?
A Seminole school board member has
Jeffrey Bauer, a Seminole County School Board member paid $41,040 a year, has not attended a meeting in 10 months nor taken part in any school board business since February of last year.
Bauer, elected in 2014, also no longer lives in the Casselberry home he listed as his residence on election documents, on his voter registration form and with the Seminole school district.
That home, owned by his father, Frederick Bauer, was badly burned in a fire in August, county records show. It now stands empty, its front door, garage and windows covered with plywood. The Orlando Sentinel could not determine where Bauer now lives. By state law, school board members must live in the district in which they ran.
The 49-year-old Republican could not be reached for comment, despite several messages left on his school board, home and cellphone numbers and at-
tempts to reach him through his father and sisters.
Bauer suffered a stroke in June 2016, according to interviews he gave to a local political website. But he continued to attend school board meetings, via telephone or in person, and to take part in county Republican Party politics for months after that.
At the school board meetings during that time, he was seen in a wheelchair and was unable to stand for the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance or when board members handed out awards to students. He last attended a school board meeting on Feb. 28, 2017, officials said.
Bauer faced a “health issue” and was “engaged in rehabilitation under a doctor’s care” around that time, which also forced him to miss board of trustee meetings for Seminole State College, according to a letter sent by that board’s chairman to Gov. Rick Scott.
State law requires college boards to alert the governor if a trustee misses three consecutive meetings, which Bauer did in March, April and May of last year. Bauer remains a trustee on the college’s board but has not attended a meeting since Jan. 23, 2017, the college said.
Bauer’s fellow school board members expressed sympathy for him and were unwilling to discuss his situation or to comment on whether he should resign.
But Chairman Amy Lockhart said if she faced a health crisis that prevented her from attending school board meetings, “I certainly would let the seat go.”
She added, “This is about serving the citizens of Seminole County.”
Bauer’s four-year term concludes at the end of 2018. An insurance agent and political consultant, he ran for the seat left open after his mother, Diane Bauer, died while in office in 2013. Diane Bauer, who died after a series of strokes, had been on the school board since 1998, serving alongside some current board members.
State law does not specifically discuss school board member absenteeism or spell out that they must attend the meetings where school policies, attendance zones and spending priorities, among other matters, are decided. Board members can be removed from office by the governor for “malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty, drunkenness, incompetence, permanent inability to perform official duties, or commission of a felony,” according to the Florida Constitution.
The Florida School Boards Association said historically governors have only removed school board members because of criminal acts. When informed of Bauer’s absences, Scott’s office said in an email, “Our office will review it and we welcome any input from the school board on this issue. The Governor expects all elected officials to perform their duties for the families they serve, so long as they are able.”
State law does require that school board members live in their district. Bauer ran for the Seminole board’s District 1 seat, listing as his address his parents’ Casselberry home, which is in that district. The Aug. 9 fire at that house on Eagle Circle started accidentally and caused nearly $200,000 worth of damage, according to the Seminole County Fire Department.
Public records suggest the father, Frederick Bauer, moved to a home in Winter Springs after the fire. That Winter Springs address is in the school board’s District 2 — represented by board member Karen Almond — so if Jeffrey Bauer is living there, he is no longer in his district.
A reporter could not visit the Winter Springs home because it is in a gated community. A letter sent to that address elicited no response from the family.
In April, after Bauer had missed three consecutive school board meetings, Lockhart redid committee assignments so the other school board members covered Bauer’s duties. Board members said the board was functioning fine with four members, and Lockhart said there had been no split 2-2 votes since Bauer stopped attending meetings.
In his May 15 letter sent to Scott, Seminole State Board Chairman J. Alex Setzer wrote, “Mr. Bauer suffered a health issue earlier this year and is still actively engaged in rehabilitation under a doctor’s care. His intention is to return to activity attending the meetings once his health improves. At present, the attending physician has limited any activity other than those related to his rehabilitation.”
In an interview with the Orlando Political Observer published on Aug. 6, 2016, Bauer described his stroke, said he was in a rehabilitation center in Apopka but hoped to return home soon. In a video interview with the Observer dated four months later, Bauer, who worked on the campaign of Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, mentioned the stroke he had that June but spoke mostly of his efforts to get conservatives elected and what later proved to be an unsuccessful campaign to get himself elected chairman of the county GOP.
“Trying to get conservative Republicans elected to office is a contribution I think I made to my community, my state, my country,” he said on the video.
He attended a school board meeting later that month, then one in January 2017 and two in February. He has missed every meeting since then.
“I certainly would let the seat go. This is about serving the citizens of Seminole County.” Seminole County School Board Chairman Amy Lockhart about what she would do if she faced a health crisis that kept her from attending meetings