Board to keep legal fees report secret

Terry Webster

Friday, Sept. 29, 2000 | 10:59 a.m.

Taxpayers will continue having a hard time learning how much the district spends on legal fees as the result of a Clark County School Board decision.

School Board member Lois Tarkanian proposed Thursday that the quarterly legal report be made public, minus any information that would reveal the district's legal strategy.

Although board member Shirley Barber supported the measure, it was opposed by board President Mary Beth Scow and members Susan Brager, Sheila Moulton and Ruth Johnson. Board member Larry Mason was absent.

"I think that having the general public see this information would be a real problem," Scow said.

Barber saw no problem with it.

"I thought that everything we did, except personnel matters, was open to the public," Barber said.

Even though her motion was defeated, Tarkanian said she felt better for trying.

School attorneys urged the board to keep the report under wraps.

General counsel Bill Hoffman said he doesn't like seeing reports in the public that he knows came from documents he issued. He said having information about legal cases out in the public -- particularly for the amount spent on individual cases -- gives opposing attorneys an unfair advantage.

Taxpayer George Cantu questioned whether the School Board is in charge. He said that many taxpayers sense that "administrators want to run the district as they please, without accepting the consequences for their actions."

A copy of the legal report for the quarter ending March 31 -- obtained by the Sun -- indicates the district paid, to date, a total of $2,444,785.40 on various legal cases. The report shows a total of 125 cases, 14 of which are closed.