Has former Spotsylvania County Attorney Mark Taylor declared political war on the School Board?
And has the School Board regularly violated Virginia's Freedom of Information Act?
Those are the questions in the wake of a letter Taylor wrote to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, asking for permission to make public allegations that the School Board has violated public-meeting laws.
School Board members who were shown the letter this week vehemently deny they did anything wrong, and they claim Taylor's letter is politically motivated.
After meeting in closed session Tuesday to discuss releasing Taylor from his attorney-client privilege, the Board of Supervisors did not release the letter.
But The Free Lance-Star obtained a copy.
In the letter, Taylor says that School Board member Ray Lora told him that the School Board, directed by Superintendent Jerry Hill, regularly violates the state's open-meeting laws by discussing matters in closed session that are not listed on the public agenda and taking votes out of the public's view.
Taylor's letter, which contains politically charged statements, did not give specific dates.
"Lora admitted that, under Dr. Hill's direction, the School Board typically discussed and decided essentially all of its business behind closed doors, rubber-stamping its decisions with votes in open session," Taylor wrote.
Lora, who was shown a copy of the letter Thursday, denied the allegations.
"There is absolutely no truth to what Mark is saying," he said. "That is insane."
Jennifer Parrish, who has been the School Board's attorney for more than a decade, said Taylor's allegations that the School Board violates closed-session rules are not true. Parrish, who is at a majority of closed sessions, said she keeps the School Board on topic and within the law.
Taylor, who resigned as county attorney in March 2006, wrote that Lora came to his office "without an appointment" to discuss criminal charges that were pending against Superintendent Hill.
Hill was charged last year with an election-law violation and obstruction of justice. Both charges later were dismissed.
Hill is now exploring a civil suit against the county. He has filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against Spotsylvania over two blacked-out e-mails he obtained as part of his requests for information used against him by the prosecution.
Lora said he has met privately with Taylor only twice, once when Taylor asked him for a letter of recommendation and then to give him the letter. Taylor is now county attorney for Accomack County.
"Why did he ask me for a letter of recommendation and then turn around and put this ugly stuff out?" Lora said. "This is politics at its worst."
Hill, who saw a copy of the letter, said the School Board makes every effort to do its business out in the open.
"I would testify to that and would stake my entire reputation that this board has followed state statute clearly," he said.
School Board member Gary Skinner, who saw the letter Thursday, said it's politically motivated.
"It's a last-ditch effort to try and show we're not doing our jobs. That's not the case."
Two School Board members--Skinner and Charles Cowsert--are running for the Board of Supervisors. Skinner is running against Vince Onorato, one of the more vocal critics of Hill and the School Board.
Onorato, a schoolteacher in Stafford County, is a friend of Taylor. At a coffee shop owned by Taylor and his wife in the Spotsylvania Courthouse area there are two Onorato re-election signs.
Supervisors who were called for this story refused to discuss the letter because it was a closed-session item.
Taylor said late Friday night that his friendship with Onorato has nothing to do with this.
He said the letter speaks for itself, and that it was not the first time he has asked supervisors for permission to make his concerns public.
"Ray Lora did meet with me and painted himself as a stand-up guy who was going to tell the truth for the good of the community," Taylor said.
Dan Telvock: 540/374-5438| During the Spotsylvania Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday, a Free Lance-Star reporter asked County Attorney Jacob Stroman for the letter written by former County Attorney Mark Taylor. Stroman denied the request, saying the letter was exempt under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act because of attorney-client privilege.
Taylor's letter alleges serious wrongdoing on the part of School Board members and cites a conversation he says he had with School Board member Ray Lora. Taylor and Lora do not have attorney-client privilege. The School Board has its own attorney. Taylor states in his letter that he warned Lora that he's not his attorney and "not necessarily his friend" because of then-pending criminal charges against schools Superintendent Jerry Hill that involved a dispute over a bond referendum. George Rutherglen, a professor of law at the University of Virginia, said Taylor didn't need to seek permission from the supervisors to release the information in the letter. Taylor erred on the side of caution, he said. The content of the conversation "would not be privileged because that is going outside the client. The client is only the county." Rutherglen said the letter itself is protected under attorney-client privilege because it was sent to the supervisors, whom Taylor formerly represented. --Dan Telvock |