School board member blasts superintendent at political forum

At a Monday political forum in Key West, Ed Davidson, the Monroe County School Board member running for re-election Aug. 30 against political newcomer Mindy Conn, didn’t sugarcoat the gruff, guns-blazing demeanor he has displayed at board meetings since he took office in November 2012.

Superintendent Mark Porter has got to go, Davidson said, accusing the first hired schools chief in the Florida Keys of trying to hide a principal’s blunder this year and violating his contract by job hunting.

“He’s no longer the person to lead us into the future,” Davidson said before a couple hundred people —including Porter — at Hometown PAC’s forum held at The Studios of Key West, 533 Eaton St.

“Mr. Porter has inflicted upon himself a great deal of damage to his integrity,” Davidson said, adding he was originally a fan of the superintendent.

But Conn laid the blame for any bad blood between Porter and the board at Davidson’s feet.

Conn, who previously practiced law in New York and is raising children on Sugarloaf Key, said, “As long as one or two individuals on the School Board continue to put him down and not be willing to work with him in any way or matter, it’s very hard for him to do his job.”

Then Conn added, “If you’re that unhappy with him, you should have let him go,” drawing cheers from the audience.

After Davidson said Porter “covered up” for former Horace O’Bryant School Principal Mike Henriquez during a day- care scandal in which $21,000 in cash went missing this year, Conn defended Henriquez, who was removed from HOB and named coordinator of alternative education.

“I hate picking on people that are in our employment,” Conn said. “We have to give him a chance and see what he does with the program.”

Davidson also said Porter helped out Henriquez because of his name, which appears on the administration’s building, which is named after his father, A.J. “Bookie” Henriquez, a former longtime superintendent.

“There is a remnant subculture which is tolerant of a great deal more misbehavior in the public domain than they ought to be and that people are in a lot of other places,” Davidson said, after being asked to elaborate on Key West locals he calls “Bubba beneficiaries.”

“It gets less colorful the more often it happens,” Davidson said.

Since School Board races are nonpartisan, this election will be settled Aug. 30. All registered Monroe County voters may cast a ballot in the contest, as candidates run countywide for the board despite the geographic districts in which they live.

This story was originally published August 10, 2016 at 10:16 AM with the headline "School board member blasts superintendent at political forum."