BREAKING: Prior to Teacher’s Union Candidate Forum, IRCEA President, Jennifer Freeland, held private meeting with selected candidates.
Eyewitness confirms a meeting took place with Dr. Peggy Jones, David Dyer and his manager, Jeff Andros. Questions remain.
On May 8th, the teacher’s union held a candidate forum at their offices. The Indian River County Education Association (IRCEA) represents 62% of teachers in the school district. In April, the union leadership held “emergency meetups” to obtain 350 membership authorization signatures because their union certification was challenged. Ultimately, they reached their goal.
All 4 candidates were eventually invited to the forum. Representing District 5, was incumbent, Kevin McDonald challenged by David Dyer. In District 3, it was real estate business owner Rob MacCallum challenging incumbent, Dr. Peggy Jones. The IRCEA forum was put together rather quickly. Mr. MacCallum confirmed he was first contacted “around” Tuesday, April 30th, just eight days prior to the forum. Mr. McDonald confirmed he wasn’t initially contacted until Friday, May 3rd. He accepted on Saturday, May 4th for the forum scheduled 4 days later.
Prior to the forum which was conducted by President Freeland, she met with selected candidates, Dr. Jones & Mr. Dyer along with campaign manager, Jeff Andros. Mr. MacCallum witnessed the 4 of them entering her office which is down a hallway out of public view and away from the conference room where the forum took place. Reached for comment, Mr. MacCallum described, “They remained in there for about 15-20 minutes. It felt a bit awkward considering I was there for a candidate forum. After the meeting ended, Ms. Freeland came out to me and invited me in to sit with the candidates in the office, but I casually declined.”
Backlash for vetting the claim
The Sunshine Journal received an anonymous tip of the private meeting but did not have an eyewitness. Based on the tip, on the late afternoon of May 9th, an email was sent to President Freeland asking for a statement confirming or denying it, with follow-up questions about who organized it, did anybody decline an initial invitation to the meeting, subjects discussed and whether questions were revealed that were to be asked at the forum that evening. She has yet to respond to the request. In the meantime, The Sunshine Journal interviewed attendees of the forum and reached Mr. MacCallum in that process. He described his observations of what took place. The Sunshine Journal followed up a second time.
However, the next day, after The Sunshine Journal sent their initial request for comment only to Ms. Freeland, the Journal’s owner received a preemptive threat of a lawsuit from Mr. Andros through an intermediary if the publication ran this story. Moms for Liberty Chair, Jennifer Pippin said, “[Mr.] Andros texted me saying, ‘I hear your buddy, Kenny, is making extremely false allegations of cheating about the forum.”
Thomas Kenny is Editor-in-Chief and Owner of The Sunshine Journal. To be clear, this article presents no allegations about cheating. It presents facts and voices the questions pertaining to those revelations. Ms. Pippin continued, “I asked him if the meeting happened. He said, ‘[I’m] not answering any questions. [ I ] triple dare Kenny to put his lies in print… Print the lies and let’s see how it plays out in court and the real media.’”
In April, after the Taxpayer Association forum, Mr. Andros confronted Mr. Kenny concerning the usage of David Dyer campaign photos. He informed that The Sunshine Journal’s parent company would be receiving a cease and desist letter regarding the use of official campaign photos because he owned the copyrights. The Sunshine Journal removed all official pictures and replaced them with the one below where warranted by the editor. The picture is not of David Dyer. The Sunshine Journal has yet to receive a cease and desist letter but will continue to respect the wishes of the manager of the David Dyer campaign.
The Forum was announced on the IRCEA Facebook page on May 5th. It was sparsely attended considering the union’s representation within the school district. In all, about 30 people were in attendance which included President Freeland’s staff, Sheriff Flowers and his new bride, Alyssa, a few teachers, a campaign manager, Mr. McNulty, as well as, advocates on both sides of many issues.
In the 2022 election cycle, the IRCEA attempted to schedule a townhall for their preferred candidates, Cindy Gibbs and Teri Barenborg. It was to take place at Sharky’s Cafe on the campus of Sebastian River High School on August 18th, five days prior to the primary. It is illegal to hold a political event on school property. The other 4 candidates in the race were not invited. The townhall was cancelled when the email invitation from President Freeland to Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Barenborg was found through a public records request and shared across social media.
We NEDD? lol