School District Sued For Violation of Public Records Law
On Monday, September 15, 2013, I filed suit against the Monroe County School District for failure to comply with three Public Records Requests. The first dates from August 15, 2013, the second from August 29, 2013 and the third from August 30, 2013. Further, the first two were never acknowledged as received by MCSD which is required by law.
While this is the first time that I have sued MCSD, it is by no means the first time that I have had difficulty obtaining compliance with Public Records Requests. Getting Superintendent Mark Porter to provide the requested documents has always been a struggle, despite the fact that I copy School Board Chairman Andy Griffiths and District Counsel, Dirk Smits to keep them informed. When Superintendent Porter has complied, it is invariably after repeated requests.
You may recall that approximately a year ago, early in the Porter administration, I requested copies of all complaints and resolution thereof received by the District’s Waste, Fraud and Abuse Hotline. Those requests dragged on for over three months as I was continuously rebuffed by Superintendent Porter. It was only after Dennis Ward, then in private practice, intervened on my behalf with the threat of suit that I received the documents. Mr. Ward had to negotiate with Mr. Smits, thus incurring needless legal expenses to the District.
Of course, I am not the only one that has had difficulty extracting documents from the District. I am sure that you remember how the School Board appointed a committee of Dirk Smits, Board member Ed Davidson and Audit and Finance Committee member Stuart Kessler to investigate Change Orders associated with the HOB construction project That group hit a stone wall when requesting pertinent documents from the District. Ultimately, in order to do its work, the committee turned to the contractor to obtain relevant information.
My experience and that of the HOB investigative committee suggests that there is a pattern of willful disregard for the Sunshine Laws. We are not talking about odd or exceptional behavior. Rather, my suit addresses what has become the norm with the Porter administration.
I regret that I have had to file suit, but I do not believe that I had any choice. I only ask that MCSD and its superintendent, who is a lawyer, comply with the law. In addition, there is a principle involved, that the public has a right to expect that a public official comply with the law without having to resort to litigation.
Attached is a copy of my suit.
Dr. Larry Murray
Fiscal Watchdog and Citizen Advocate