CHAOS: Board President Gwen Dowdy-Rodgers Under Fire for Allowing Colleague to Harass Public Speaker, Prompting Safety and First Amendment Concerns

San Bernardino County — Nov 2025

A routine meeting of the San Bernardino County Board of Education on November 10th took an alarming turn when Wil Greer was called for public comment and used his time to confront and verbally attack a meeting attendee. Board President Gwen Dowdy-Rodgers responded not by addressing the harassment or Brown Act violation, but by chiming in to chastise the members of the public who objected, issuing them a “warning” while completely disregarding the misconduct by her long-time friend and colleague.  Mr. Greer identified himself as an educator in San Bernardino County and appears to be the Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at San Bernardino City Unified School District where Dowdy-Rodgers was formerly a board trustee.

Board President Dowdy-Rodgers faces scrutiny for permitting harassment and failing to uphold the Brown Act during meetings.

Greer approached the podium and, rather than addressing any item within the Board’s jurisdiction as required by Board Policy 114 and the Brown Act, he launched into a personal condemnation of a woman who had earlier raised concerns about excessive public spending. She had questioned the now-public revelation that former SBC Board of Education trustee and current Upland Unified School Board member Sherman Garnett was paid in excess of $3,000 per hour as a consultant for the County Superintendent, Ted Alejandre. This rate is approximately 8-10 times higher than the hourly rate law firms charge school districts.

During his remarks, Greer admitted that he had not seen Garnett's contract and was unfamiliar with the arrangement. Yet he appeared to condone Garnett receiving payments that equated to over $3,000-per-hour of public funds based solely on his personal relationship with Garnett. He mentioned that he had known Garnett personally for many years, which is exactly the concern that had been brought up by previous speakers - personal relationships resulting in special treatment and large windfalls of public funds in consulting agreements meant for education of students.

Dowdy-Rodgers failed to restore decorum while Greer accused the speaker of “ad hominem attacks,” even as he personally attacked her, repeatedly questioning her background and telling her she did not have the right to speak. Greer specifically asked her:

Who are you to question? What have you done? Have you shown up? Have you stood in the gap?  If the answer to that is no, then please kindly sit down and do not come up here again!

This conduct is explicitly prohibited under the Board’s own public comment policy, which bars personal attacks and requires remarks to be directed to the Board — not other attendees. Instead of addressing the harassment or enforcing the Board’s civility rules, Dowdy-Rodgers warned the members of the public who objected to the conduct— not the person engaging in personal attacks. She took no action to stop, correct, or even acknowledge the inappropriate behavior, perhaps due to her decades-long affiliation with Mr. Greer.

Greer noted that he had known Dowdy-Rodgers for over 20 years, and used some of his comment time to lavish her with praise, raising questions if that long-standing relationship played a part in her allowing him to continue to chastise a member of the public against board policy and state law.

Multiple witnesses saw Greer walk past the woman after leaving the podium and shout something at her — behavior several attendees described as threatening and aggressive. The next speaker immediately alerted President Dowdy-Rodgers to Greer’s conduct, yet Dowdy-Rodgers again did nothing, ignoring the speaker's concerns of public safety. Some attendees expressed shock at the lack of leadership displayed by Dowdy-Rodgers and her failure to stop the harassment of a female citizen by her male associate.

Allowing comments outside the jurisdiction of the board could be considered an intentional Brown Act violation, and can be met with both civil and criminal penalties. Criminal violations are considered misdemeanors which can carry heavy fines and jail time for the elected official.

Observers noted that Greer’s remarks actually proved the point raised by public speakers — that favoritism and conflicts of interest abound with excessive public dollars appearing to flow to friends, colleagues, and political allies without meaningful oversight or transparency. (See related story: Upland Board Trustee’s Son Sues District Amid Ongoing State Ethics Probe of Father)

An SBCUSD employee asking a member of the public, “Who are you to question?” referring to Sherman Garnett’s consulting arrangement with SBCSS equating to over $3,000 per hour in some instances. 

Community members also pointed out that Dowdy-Rodgers has repeatedly allowed praise and flattery for herself, other board members, and the Superintendent - while cutting off or chastising speakers who ask questions about public spending, conflicts of interest, or governance failures by the Board of Education.

“She allows people to speak over their time if they are complimenting her, but shuts down members of the public who ask where our public dollars are going,” one attendee said. That is considered “viewpoint discrimination” and is prohibited under the First Amendment which requires that criticism be allowed if public praise is permitted.

This is not the first time speakers aligned with Board leadership have used the podium to attack members of the public. At the October meeting, several of Dowdy-Rodgers’ associates labeled parents and community members “racists” for raising concerns about financial transparency — a pattern that attendees say is now escalating by the chaos created by Dowdy-Rodgers. The attacks on those members of the public by former SBCSS employees and Dowdy-Rodgers allies continued after the board meeting with derogatory social media posts. One likened the speakers to angry white parents in the 1960's who didn't want a black child to attend school.

Another post from the same former long-time SBCSS employee stated, "A special interest group that operates like Project 2025 supporters are on the attack targeting SBCSS and SBCBOE leadership and staff. Kudos to those individuals who showed up today to to expose them!" Laura Mancha, SBC Board trustee who is employed by Board Supervisor Joe Baca Jr. commented, "I (sic) was good to see your friendly faces out there. We need you!" The posts and comments included references to public speakers as "Karens," "Victimizers" and even stated they were "like Terrorists."

These posts prompted speculation that Gwen Dowdy-Rodgers and Laura Mancha have orchestrated these attacks on members of the public to silence criticism about the Board's governance and lack of oversight of tax dollars. The First Amendment specifically protects speech that some may deem as "criticism." Furthermore, bringing concerns to elected officials in public forums is the core of the democratic process and the means by which improvements in government can occur. Attempts by elected officials to silence critics have been met with multiple lawsuits throughout the country. Board Policy 116 requires the Board to ensure opportunities for a diverse range of views, avoid preferential treatment, operate openly with trust and integrity, and to obey all local, state and federal laws.

In response to the increasingly hostile atmosphere and lack of enforcement of the Brown Act by Dowdy-Rodgers, several members of the public have contacted the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office requesting security presence at future Board meetings. At least two police reports have also been filed.

Will Greer, defends Sherman Garnett, Upland Unified School Board member, receiving $3,000+ per hour of public funds in a consulting arrangement with the County Superintendent, Ted Alejandre. Board President Gwen Dowdy-Rodgers can be heard warning attendees objecting to Greer's comments attacking a meeting attendee which violated the Brown Act as well as board policies.