Douglas County School Board Court Fight Getting Uglier

On April 25, a week after Wise filed discrimination charges against DCSD as a precursor to a lawsuit, Gessler Blue, the latest law firm to represent the board’s conservative majority of president Mike Peterson as well as members Becky Myers, Christy Williams and Kaylee Winegar, asked Dougco’s district court to toss or narrow an order requiring them to stop conducting one-on-one meetings that allegedly violate Colorado Open Meetings Law.

Meanwhile, Douglas County resident Robert Marshall, whose complaint triggered the ruling that Peterson and company are protesting, has launched a GoFundMe campaign to finance yet another complaint related to the state’s so-called Sunshine Laws, which he argues continue to be abused by the board members who ousted Wise.

In what is technically known as a “Motion to Reconsider or to Clarify Order Re: Plaintiff’s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction,” attorney and former Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler and partner Geoffrey Blue contend that the judge in the case “misapplied the law and did not make sufficient findings regarding the factors that need to be proved to justify the implementation of a preliminary injunction. As such, the Court improvidently entered the Order, and it must reconsider that decision.”

Gessler and Blue believe the Court erred in the following three ways:

1) The Court determined that the Colorado Open Meetings Law (“COML”) prohibits members of the Douglas County School Board from discussing public business between two members;

2) The Court failed to make findings to satisfy the factors Plaintiff must prove to justify imposition of a preliminary injunction; and,

3) The Court entered a preliminary injunction that is confusing and overly broad and regulates the Board’s conduct indefinitely.

The frustration over the order isn’t far beneath the surface, as indicated by this passage castigating Marshall’s legal theory: “Plaintiff bears the burden of proof to show a threatened future harm, yet he introduced no evidence whatsoever demonstrating any possibility that any Board Director would violate the COML in the future — he merely argued that because Defendants are defending their actions, they will continue to act in the same way. This is not sufficient. If Plaintiff’s view stated the law accurately, a defendant could never defend its actions in the preliminary injunction context without essentially conceding this factor — obviously an absurd result.”

Marshall continues to closely monitor the board, and he doesn’t like what he’s seen lately. In a message shared with Westword after an April 26 Board of Education meeting, Marshall wrote that he would be interested “if the BoE disclosed to the public that the parameters of a settlement of the COML lawsuit had been offered to the BoE where the plaintiff would drop the claim to reinstate Mr. Wise and the BoE would simply follow the Sunshine Law like the Court directed in its order and let the injunction remain in place.”

Then, on April 28, Marshall created a GoFundMe page under the heading “Sunshine Law: Colorado Open Meetings Act.” In its introduction, he contends that “the Douglas County School District continues to violate Colorado’s Sunshine Laws and refuses to comply due to their apparent belief that no one will challenge them and take them to court.”

Marshall specifically mentions four items “that I want to obtain for the public interest,” including binders given to the new board members at a retreat in late 2021 in Estes Park; notes and voicemails referenced by Christy Williams “regarding her decision to hire Gessler as counsel,” as well as a message from Gessler asking about the case; an email from minority board member Elizabeth Hanson, who opposed Wise’s ouster, to board president Peterson where she “explained the ethics complaint she filed” against the conservative bloc’s previous attorney, Will Trachman; and documentation about Trachman’s representation withdrawal.

The page’s goal is $2,700, which Marshall explains with this: “These funds will be used to move forward on a 14-day letter and discussion with the DCSD as a prelude to a CORA suit (likely requiring about $2K) and then the suit filing fee and initial costs for the suit (approximately $700).” However, he stresses that even if the full amount isn’t obtained — $665 has been pledged as of this morning — “this action will move forwarded for the public interest no matter what.”

Click to read the motion to clarify or reconsider the order in Robert Marshall v. Douglas County Board of Education, et al.