School board hires outside counsel to get half-cent sales tax but city says that's illegal

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — In an emergency meeting, the Duval County School Board voted 6 to 1 to hire outside counsel to get the half-cent sales tax referendum on the ballot this year.

The move goes against the advice from its designated attorney that it would be a violation of city ordinance to hire outside counsel because the city's Office of General Counsel is the board's counsel.
 
Problem is, the school board disagrees with the Office of General Counsel, which is the entity that is supposed to represent the board.

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Lori Hershey, school board chairwoman, said retaining outside counsel is the only option they have. 
 
"When will the voters be able to decide? We feel like the only way to answer that question is by taking the action we did today," said Hershey.
 
The only school board member who voted against hiring outside counsel was Charlotte Joyce who advocated trying one more time to reach an agreement with city council.

School board vice chairman Warren Jones said he's open to continuing a dialogue with city council members but also agreed on hiring a third party to represent them.

"The school board was put in a very untenable position. We need outside counsel," said Jones.  "Historically you don't want to go down that road because the city of Jacksonville did consolidate."
 
The decision came the morning after a heated city council meeting Tuesday night at which a bill that would've put the half-cent sales tax on the ballot was withdrawn.
 
Council President Scott Wilson threw everyone out of the chamber when the crowd began booing and chanting.
 
One big issue is charter schools and how potential revenue would be shared with them.

"The elephant in the room is the charter schools and how we share those dollars and I think that's the holdup," said Jones.

But Hershey said she's been clear about how the money from the half-cent sales tax would be spent to fix aging schools.
 
"We will ensure that dollars from this referendum are shared with all public schools," she said.
 
"It's sad that the school board is choosing litigation instead of collaborating with city officials so that the right program goes to the voters in 2020," said Brian Hughes, the mayor's chief administrative officer.
 
"Do you think that these relationships can be mended at this point?" asked Lorena Inclán.

"Absolutely, I think that any relationship can be mended," said school board member Elizabeth Andersen. 
 
Time is not on the side of the school board. Jones said the only option would be to get the issue on a mail-in ballot for December.

Scott Cairns, from their team of attorneys, says they will be discussing next steps over the next week or so.

"We analyze what the best steps going forward are and then we'll talk to the board and decide," said Cairns, from the MaGuire Woods law firm.

In the meantime, the office of general counsel sent a memo to the school board Wednesday requesting that they "cease and desist" from engaging outside counsel.

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The city's lawyer, Jason Gabriel, said that doing so violated city charter and city ordinance and that those who authorize such an expenditure would be subject to "personal liability."

But the team of school board attorneys labeled that "a threat" and countered with a letter to the school board  saying that there will be no expense to the district at this time eliminating the risk of potential liability.

Hershey said this is their chance to get it right.

"Even if we do bring in greater revenue than anticipated I would suggest that that money be used to ensure that we don't ever find ourselves in this place again," said Hershey.

Cox Media Group