Lacey School Board Member Says Its Difficult To Get Information About Legal Bills

by Patricia A. Miller

Although the Lacey school district has had a policy in place for nearly five years detailing how and why legal expenses are to be paid, it’s not enough for Board of Education member Regina Discenza.

“I think we need to get a handle on our legal bills and actually see what’s on the bill, instead of just reviewing the bills,” Discenza said at the July 20 board meeting.

Discenza was elected last November, after many runs for the school board.

Discenza read the current policy into the record before she said she has had” great difficulty” obtaining information about the nature of bills submitted by longtime school board Arthur Stein.

That includes filing OPRA requests that have been made and not receiving the information, Discenza said.

“The legal bills are vendor bills, like any other,” she said.

Her comments prompted an angry response from Board President Maureen Tirella.

“We are fully compliant,” Tirella said. ”She’s not asking about anything this board is currently working on.”

Tirella said some of Discenza’s OPRA requests dated back years.

“When she came to the board, there were certain things she wanted to investigate,” Tirella said. ”She continues to take that tact and continues to file OPRA requests. We’ll continue to work with her and provide what we can.”

When Discenza attempted to interject, Tirella said she had not interrupted Discenza’s comments.

“Mrs. Discenza, stop interrupting,” Tirella said.

The public needs to see how much time the district staff spends ”catering to Mrs. Discenza,” rather than concentrating on students, Tirella said.

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