Meanwhile, at ManyPublicAgencyMeetings, USA:
"A surprise — and possibly illegal — move to hire an outside law firm for District 51 resulted in a conversation at the Board of Education meeting Tuesday night about trust and transparency before the effort was ultimately tabled.
"As the meeting at the CMU University Center ballroom stretched into its fifth hour, board members debated the merits of approving a contract for Colorado Springs-based Miller Farmer Law Firm for the district's legal services. The board members unanimously committed to a retreat, to establish a coherent plan moving forward after voting 5-0 to table the vote.
"District A representative Doug Levinson said he found out about the potential change from a local attorney who called him Friday night. District B representative Kari Sholtes was equally surprised when she learned of the business item.
"Because some new board members appear to have unilaterally communicated and reached an agreement with Miller Farmer Law Firm without discussing it in a public meeting first, the attempt to hire the firm violated Colorado's Open Meetings Law, according to Denver lawyer and Colorado Freedom of Information Act President Steve Zansberg.
"'It seems pretty clear-cut that three members of this local public body discussed public business outside of a public meeting, and that violates the Open Meetings Law,' Zansberg told The Daily Sentinel.
"The action item included an 'engagement letter' that had already been drafted and signed by Brad Miller of Miller Farmer Law. The letter explained the scope of services Miller Farmer Law would provide as well as hourly rates. According to the engagement letter sent to the district, Bryce Carlson, a senior associate at the firm, would be primarily responsible for engaging with the district.
"'It was disheartening for me as a board member, and I really had to rack my brain around this, to say, "How does this happen?"' Levinson said. 'Our board was re-established on Nov. 30 and days later, less than a week, I see a letter from this law firm in Colorado Springs saying that we've requested a proposal and all this stuff. We may end up, at some point, saying, "That's the firm we need," but that's step 20 and we haven't even done step one to really decide if we're at a point that we need to be looking for counseling?'
"'I think it's embarrassing to our community that we've thrown out the word "transparency" so often, and what does that look like?' Levinson asked the board.
