Divided She Stands

Is controversial DISD trustee Lois Parrott a champion of the little guy, or the bitter core of the board's infamous civil wars?

A A A Comments By Jonathan Fox Thursday, Aug 16 2001

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Why do Parrott's and Roman's recollections differ so vastly? The answer may lie in a June 27 deposition taken by attorney Jeff Tillotson in preparation for Rojas' slander lawsuit. Simply put, the interview revealed that Parrott's grasp of reality is perhaps less than concrete.

In the deposition, Tillotson recounted Roxan Staff's suspicion that Parrott masterminded the "Thug" letter and asked Parrott if Staff had ever lied to her. "Define lie," Parrott replied.

Mark Graham

Along with Lois Parrott and others, Harry Trujillo, a Hispanic activist and tax preparer, sued to stop DISD's contract with Edison Schools. That lawsuit failed, and the district wants him to pay its legal fees, but he says "you can't squeeze blood from a turnip."

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"Wait a minute now," an astonished Tillotson said, "you're on the board of trustees of the DISD, and you need me to tell you what a lie is?"

Pressed to define truth, Parrott said it's what's "in your own perception, what you think." Tillotson replied with another question: "So whatever your opinion is is the truth?"

"Not always," Parrott shot back. "Relative."

Flabbergasted, Tillotson continued: "That's what you believe, that truth is relative?"

"No, truth is truth," Parrott replied. "But it has to do with one individual's perception at a particular time."

Parrott embarked on a similar path when the Observer questioned her about her responses in the deposition. Staff doesn't have all the facts, Parrott argued, so she doesn't know she's lying. She also noted that different cultures and religions see truth differently.

But isn't a lie a lie no matter what? Pressed on the point, Parrott mixed existentialist philosophy with discursive babble. "Do you think I read Shakespeare the same way you do?" she asked. "Let's call a meeting. Tell your editors, your attorneys and the district's attorneys. I'll give a lecture on the lie, the history of the lie, perspective on the lie and historical, religious and political innuendoes of the lie."

In a few months, Tillotson will go down the rabbit hole again when Rojas' slander case is tried in court. If Parrott hadn't tried to get a promotion for her pal Vestal, Tillotson thinks a chain of caustic events might never have transpired. The implication: Rojas, despite poor relations with other board members besides Parrott and Brashear, might have remained superintendent.

"She played a particularly evil role because she sought [Rojas] out to advance her own particular agenda," Tillotson says. "When it fell apart, she went after him most viciously."