The Española School Board got an expensive Open Meetings, Governmental Conduct and Inspection of Public Records acts tutorial from the Santa Fe law firm the District hired to handle its legal matters.
Attorneys Tony Ortiz and Geno Zamora conducted a two-hour presentation at the Oct. 21 meeting, that reviewed several laws Board members need to follow in order to remain in compliance with the state’s sunshine laws. The firm bills the District $200 per hour, so the entire presentation will set taxpayers back about $400.
Ortiz started the presentation by emphasizing the importance of following the state’s Open Meetings Act. Besides hammering home the point that a public meeting’s agenda should be properly noticed, Zamora stressed the need for elected officials to stick to their assigned duties.
He said too often Board members travel into uncharted territory in an effort to please their constituents and end up finding themselves in an uncomfortable situation.
“I was just involved in a lawsuit where there was an employee that was complaining about something and eventually it turned into a Whistleblower (Act) lawsuit,” Ortiz said. “When the employees alleged he started making the complaints he started talking to a board member and when that case turned to litigation do you know who was witness A?”
To avoid being witness A, school Board members should honor the District policy and send the unhappy employee or angry parent to the superintendent who should be equipped to handle the matter, Ortiz said.
The attorneys said their are also practical reasons for the Board to steer clear of personnel matters. For one, the Board handles all administrative appeals and if a school Board member intervenes in a particular personnel action, it could interfere with the appeal process.
Board member Pablo Lujan sought clarification on when he or any of his colleagues should recuse themselves.
Ortiz said that while it is up to each individual Board member to make that determination, he cautioned them from participating in a procedure where they are familiar with the specifics. But before making that choice the Board member should ask him or herself a couple of questions.
“Are you able to put that (information) aside an make a decision based on the what you hear in a hearing?” he said. “And, if it (the decision) passes the smell test? Is everyone going to think I am fair? I owe it to the public to be beyond reproach.”
His partner Zamora covered several dos and don’ts that could help the Board members streamline information. For one, he said the Board could instruct staff to post policies and other information on the District’s website to reduce the number of Inspection Act requests it receives from the public.
Zamora also stressed the need for Board members and District employees to use the email addresses and telephone numbers assigned to their duties as an elected official or staff member.
“Always use District emails for school business,” he said. “Because it keeps the District’s IT staff from searching personal email accounts.”
Lujan prompted a round of laughter when he asked Zamora was it against the law or a conflict of interest for a sitting school board member to have a contract with the District.
Zamora replied it was quite inappropriate for a Board member to even attempt to get a contract with the District.
Española Valley High School Parent Willie Williams attended the meeting to present the Board with a list of concerns she drafted after Superintendent Eric Martinez shuffled several principals around Oct. 14, midway through the first semester.
She said she believes the presentation was just another attempt to stifle the voice of District parents.
Board member Ruben Archuleta said the training was an expensive waste of time.
That is because each year the information the attorneys presented is provided at one of the national or local conferences the elected officials attend.
Archuleta, who is a vocal critic of the Board, said he believes much of the training was targeted toward him and is an effort to silence his critique of the governing body’s day-to-day business activities.