Star-Journbal Editor
Four hundred sixty-nine citizens voted yes June 5 in the USD 410 bond election.
A simple majority was needed to approved the sale of $6.625 million in bonds for school building expansions, stadium renovations, and other facility upgrades. The measure was approved, 469 to 413.
But the majority's clear-cut victory has been soiled by one defiant farmer and his high-powered attorney from Wichita.
On Thursday, USD 410 was served with a lawsuit in Marion County District Court, alleging that the district had no right to ask voters for $2.16 million to renovate and co-own the Reimer Field sports stadium complex with Tabor College.
The civil complaint was filed by Raymond Brandt of rural Hillsboro.
In the five-page brief, attorney Susan R. Schrag, contends that state statutes specifically prohibit school districts from entering into joint property ownership or co-maintenance agreements, and issuing bonds for that purpose.
"We do not believe the school board has the right to jointly own this type of facility with any type of third party," Shrag said Monday from her office at Morris, Laing, Evans, Brock & Kennedy, in Wichita.
"The district only has the powers specifically given to it by statute," Schrag added. "If the law doesn't allow you to do it by statute, then you can't do it."
As a remedy, Schrag asks the court to rule the bond election null and void and to stop the $6.625 million bond sale, or, at least, the sale of bonds intended for the Reimer Field project.
It also asks the judge to order the district to pay Brandt's court costs and attorney's fees.
The court requires the district to respond to the charges within 20 days, or by June 27.
On Monday, normally-sedate superintendent Gordon Mohn was edgy about his district being sued. After lapsing into candor, Mohn collected himself and weighed his words carefully.
"I suppose most people are upset when they have a lawsuit filed against something they've done," said Mohn, who added that this was the first time the district has faced a lawsuit in his 14 years as superintendent.
The lawsuit sets in slow motion a civil litigation process in which a court official said participants can expect delays of at least six months before getting their day in court.
"I will tell you that these cases will take a long time to get done," said district court clerk Jan Helmer. "I'm going to tell you that it's not going to get handled out of court, but if you have two good attorneys and they can work things out, it can happen."
Monday evening, Mohn told the board of education that the ordeal could cost USD 410 between $300,000 and $400,000 in project delays, and, $50,000 in attorney's fees.
Brandt said filing a lawsuit against the district was a last resort.
"The first action my attorney took was to talk to the bond attorneys, to try to get them to call off the election, and they refused to do that, so we're going ahead with the suit."
Brandt wrote a letter to the editor in the Hillsboro Star-Journal in opposition to the bond issue, and voiced his disapproval at three of the four public hearings.
"I talked to a lot of people after the letter to the paper, and didn't have anyone tear into me about being on the wrong page on this," Brandt said.
At the public hearings, Brandt said, [USD 410 superintendent Gordon] Mohn was "pretty smug to a lot of the questions I asked. He kind of shrugged them off."
Brandt added, "You know, we actually voted on a $10 million bond issue, when you figure in the amount of interest that will be paid.
"But [Mohn] didn't want to hear that, either."
Mohn said Brandt was "very vocal" about his opposition to the bond election, particularly the Tabor agreement.
"He told us it was illegal," Mohn said. "But if somebody threatens a lawsuit, does that mean you would quit [the vote]? We would never do that.
"The only way we would have stopped the election was if we'd had a court order. The court would have had to have the election stopped."
Brandt said he became convinced that the district's plan was illegal when he couldn't find another instance where funds from a school bond referendum had been co-mingled to establish a co-owned facility.
His attorney agreed.
"I've never dealt with this type of issue before, and I don't believe there are court cases direct on point where this type of issue is addressed," Schrag said. "This issue is laid out in the pleadings, which is: Does the district have the authority to issue bonds and to acquire property in the way [USD 410 intends] to hold it?"
Central to the case will be the judge's opinion on a statute which Schrag says clearly states that general obligation bonds may be issued for improvements, construction or repairs, only if the board of education has title to and is solely responsible for the care and upkeep of the buildings and properties.
While Brandt said the issue could be construed as a church and state issue, Schrag said the fact that Tabor College is a private, church-based entity "is not material" to Brandt's case.
If the Tabor agreement proves to be a stumbling block, Mohn said the district might consider conceding the point and move forward on the other projects approved by voters:
— School expansion, traffic flow and parking lot improvements at Hillsboro Elementary School ($1.69 million).
— A remodeled chemistry and biology classroom, new dressing rooms, new weight training facility, and parking lot improvements at Hillsboro High School ($2.44 million).
— Relocation of the central office, transportation and maintenance facilities to the Hillsboro Business Development Complex (the former AMPI building) ($475,000).
Shrag offered a glimmer of hope that perhaps something could be resolved.
"We are not complaining about the piece of the bond initiative that doesn't involve the athletic facility," she said.
"Whether the district would want to go ahead and issue the other bonds, and whether the court would allow them to, that's beyond what we're talking about in this lawsuit."
With Mohn's guidance, the board moved forward on all of the pending projects at Monday night's meeting — his last as superintendent of USD 410.
"We're still going ahead with the process because there's no reason not to at this point," Mohn said. "But it's very unlikely the Tabor project will stay on target."
Mohn, who is retiring at the end of the month, said it would be unrealistic to expect the new interim superintendent to untangle the legal dispute.
On Tuesday, the board was scheduled to interview an attorney from a Wichita law firm to represent the district in court.
"Most of the work to get this resolved is stuff beyond the scope of what superintendents do," Mohn said. "We're going to have to depend on attorneys."
