BOARD Why did the attorney general’s office break its oWn rules to get the Washoe school board?
O
n July 22, two Washoe County School Board members—Barbara Clark and Barbara McLaury—and board attorney Randy Drake approached Superintendent of Schools Pedro Martinez to inform him of questions raised anonymously about his credentials as a certified public accountant and of an initial inquiry in Illinois that raised additional questions. In a badly handled day, the three eventually drew the other members of the board into the matter as the superintendent tried to negotiate a severance package and then allegedly threatened to orchestrate a public support campaign reaching from the governor to the Obama cabinet. Before the matter was resolved, Martinez left the school district offices and began orchestrating that campaign and so never knew what the outcome was. He wasn’t the only one who didn’t know the ending. Although the first answer to the first question at a subsequent board news conference said the superintendent had not been fired, many reporters arrived late and reported he was fired anyway, extrapolating from what board members didn’t say.
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OCTOBER 23, 2014
Inexplicably, the board did not say it had put Martinez on paid leave, only that he was “relieved of his duties.” It was one in a series of blunders. Martinez, who until then had been the target of harsh attacks for his firing of a popular schools police chief, quickly mobilized supporters who cast him as a victim. There was little question that open meeting law matters were at issue. Partway through the day, the two board members and lawyer effectively added the matter of Martinez’s CPA credentials to the activities of a board meeting already underway, though no such agenda item had been posted. There was language in the open meeting law that such requirements could be waived in an emergency, and while the CPA matter had jolted everyone involved—“That was a big shock to everybody,” deputy superintendent Tracy Davies said—and what board members described as the superintendent’s unprofessional demeanor did the same, whether it qualified as an emergency was a judgment call. From the first moment, the city’s daily newspaper tried to generate public outrage, and some television reporters took their cue from the newspaper—though others were skeptical of Martinez. Seemingly, few wanted to wait until the facts emerged before taking positions and excoriating the board, which barely defended itself—though when, at the end of July, the board filed a blockbuster court document containing its bill of particulars against Martinez, the newspaper deemphasized it. The participating school board members were subsequently charged under the open meeting law and accepted fines (paid from their personal funds). Much of the adverse reaction to the school board’s actions resulted from the one-sided situation—board members failing to explain themselves while vituperation poured down on them. There were several hints that
that the public did not have some information. One source says the board members were instructed to remain silent so they did not give Martinez ammunition in any possible lawsuit. That poisonous instruction reportedly came from board counsel Randy Drake.
Framing the issues
On Aug. 5, the Reno Gazette-Journal published an article by Anjeanette Damon that singled out two school board members in particular: The story was one of the flurry of RGJ coverage that helped set the tone in the community, and deserves a close look as a sample of that effort, since the newspaper’s campaign made it a player in the dispute as much as a newsgatherer. “Tucked away from public view, deliberating on the future of the district’s leadership with no prior notice to the public or the individual in question, alarm bells should have been sounding in at least one trustee’s head. Howard Rosenberg had been in a very similar position just about a decade ago when he sat on the University Board of Regents, which chose to fire a college president in a [2003] closed meeting. That saga didn’t end well for the board. They were found guilty of a Nevada open meeting law violation, the university system lost more than a half million dollars in legal settlements and a high-profile battle ensued at the state Legislature. ... Perhaps, however, Rosenberg’s history on the subject should have given him pause as [the board was] arriving at their decision. ‘He should’ve been well aware of what the requirements were,’ said Barry Smith, executive director of the Nevada Press Association. Rosenberg did not return phone calls seeking comment.” The story seems to suggest Rosenberg should have greater familiarity with open meeting law that other school board members,
