Norfolk city council member Daun Hester was the subject of an article in today’s Virginian Pilot. Hester has been working for a company that is trying to get a contract with the Norfolk School Board.
Because council members appoint the School Board in Norfolk, if Community Education Partners pays Hester more than $10,000 in one year, then a contract between the company and the school division would violate Virginia’s conflict-of-interest law.
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“I wasn’t aware it was a potential conflict,” she said. “I don’t think about stuff like that. Maybe I should. … I hope I haven’t messed up this opportunity for our children.”
I believe Hester. She is committed to doing what is best for the children in Norfolk and would not have intentionally done anything to jeopardize that.
A couple of other points, though. Why, if the School Board is “lukewarm” to the idea, is this even news? Honestly, it reads like an attack on Hester, who would like to run for mayor in the future. Wouldn’t it have made more sense for someone to tell her that it looked bad for her to be pitching an idea to the very board she helped appoint?
More than anything else, though, is the fact that Norfolk is still in the dark ages with an appointed school board. If Norfolk had an elected school board, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.
UPDATE: In case you think I’m kidding about this being an attack, take a look at Scott’s article on this afternoon’s headline.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Daun’s interest is in the children. The story here should be about a public school system that trys to control programs that are not working. The proof is in the product. Norfolk Public School System’s dropout rate is totally unacceptable. Alternative school programs understand children that do not have the parental influence in their lives that stresses the importance of an education. Daun Hester has been singled out unfairly here for who knows what political reason. Daun Hester has always had a fire in her belly to better the lives of the less fortunate in our City.
If CEP doesn’t get the deal, though, consultants’ services are often no longer needed, he said.
Maybe this is why she is pushing so hard for the deal!
“I wasn’t aware it was a potential conflict,” she said. “I don’t think about stuff like that. Maybe I should.
As a councilwoman, I would hope in the future she “thinks” about this stuff.
just the same old stuff from downtown!!
I cannot imagine a woman with Ms. Hester’s supposed political savvy not being aware of conflict of interest in this situation. I also wonder, and asked the question, what does she do for this company out of Nashville that is trying to get a contract in Norfolk. Smells fishy to me, folks.
Reporting facts, by the way, is not attacking a public official.
There’s a grain of truth both ways here:
1. There’s an obvious conflict of interest she should have been aware of.
2. The V-P doesn’t miss the chance to attack Hester because the downtown establishment doesn’t want her as Mayor.
Perhaps the Norfolk Council needs some training on what constitutes conflict of interest. Knowing Daun, I really do believe that she didn’t think about it; otherwise, she wouldn’t have done it. Should she have been aware? Yes, she should have been. But if she wasn’t, I still say someone should have told her about it. Heck – shouldn’t the School Board members or the superintendent have brought it up with her when this first started?
As for outside companies hiring locals – that happens all the time. It’s just the way business gets done and it’s nothing new. Go back and look at how Norfolk ended up with Cox Cable as its provider. They called it “rent-a-shareholder” at the time. And we weren’t talking about $10,000, either. If I recall correctly, Cox ended up paying those folks over $300,000 each.
HMR – there’s more than a grain of truth in your item #2. Exhibit A: the headline in the story, calling it “Hester’s company.”