Suburbs

As everything shook out this week, we come back to the question of a lawsuit, a Germantown school board candidate and whether it deserved to be reported.

Obviously, since we reported the lawsuit by the family of school board candidate Vicki Gandee against the Germantown Municipal School District’s board, we considered that last question pertinent.

As reporter Abigail Warren wrote earlier this week, Gandee, a candidate for Position 5 on the school board, has a $5 million lawsuit pending against the same board for which she is seeking office. The complaint deals with an injury to her son while he lifted weights as a member of the Houston High football team.

The 2016 suit claims the injury occurred because her son was not properly supervised during the weight training. This is not to debate the merits of the Gandee family complaint. Chancery Court may cast the ultimate decision on the responsibility for the injury, and whether someone should pay.

This is about whether the lawsuit — in connection with the school board candidacy — is newsworthy and a part of the campaign.

We often wrestle with what missteps of the past should be considered when a candidate runs for political office. To represent the citizens on a publicly elected board.

Does a pot possession arrest from high school decades ago warrant a story?

Does a DUI offense at a sobriety checkpoint during a candidate’s college days speak to their qualifications 20 or 40 years later?

What about a divorce with irreconcilable differences? There was a time that might have drawn a news story or at least inclusion in a candidate’s profile.

I outlined several weeks ago the things we considered minor enough, such as political-yard-sign-stealing, not to draw publicity.

But what about a bankruptcy for a candidate who wants to oversee the government’s budget of millions and millions of dollars? Or a racial rant caught on camera? The days of ignoring spousal abuse are long passed.

Let me emphasize that none of the Gandee’s actions are criminal or even underhanded or unethical. She decided to seek responsibility for their son’s injuries.

That is certainly their right. And that right should not prevent Vicki Gandee from seeking office.

But to us it seemed like a factor for voters to consider in their study of the candidates seeking the school board office. That a candidate with a pending $5 million lawsuit against the very board where she is seeking office seemed important.

The Gandee campaign issued a statement later in the week outlining the specifics of the injury, the treatment, the recovery and their take on who was responsible. Several of the points made in the lawsuit were cited in Warren’s story about the case.

Gandee has made the point that she sought legal advice on the matter regarding her candidacy and was told there shouldn’t be a problem. That if the matter came up while in office, that she should just recuse herself.

“I have no interest in making this lawsuit a part of my campaign,” Gandee said in a release this week. “However, if anyone raises concerns about my conflict of interest, I have pledged to recuse myself from any part of the lawsuit should it come before the board.”

So, I guess that clears up any connection regarding her participation in discussions regarding the case. Still, it is worth noting the situation and let voters decide whether the lawsuit is an issue to her campaign or not.

“The lawsuit isn’t about politics or this campaign,” Gandee said in her statement, later adding: “I trust the voters of Germantown to hear my story, come to their own conclusions, and cast their ballot accordingly.”

And in the email sent with the statement, the campaign said: “This will be the last time we will be discussing this.”

— Suburbs editor, Clay Bailey

We hope you enjoy reading the latest news from our suburban reporters. If you’re a Daily Memphian subscriber, we appreciate your support. If not, consider signing up for unlimited access to all of our local news coverage.