Can't the "winning" side ask the court for attorney's fees to be paid by the "losing" party? If so, regardless of who loses, someone could end up paying big time. <br><br><b><i>Tom Hansen <thansen@moscow.com></i></b> wrote:<blockquote class="replbq" style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;"> Dedicated to the Moscow School Board.<br><br>In the words of Joan Baez . . .<br><br>"Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'round"<br>http://www.tomandrodna.com/Songs/AGLN_Baez.mp3<br><br>>From today's (July 25, 2007) Moscow-Pullman Daily News -<br><br>"'This negotiation would have to be with the 56.7 percent of people that<br>voted for it,' she [Margaret Dibble, board vice chairwoman] said.<br><br>---------------------------------------------------------------<br><br>Moscow school board won't negotiate<br>MSD wants courts to decide outcome of levy lawsuit; next hearing postponed<br>until Oct. <br><br>By Kate Baldwin, Daily News
staff writer<br><br>Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - Page Updated at 12:00:00 AM<br><br>The Moscow School Board will return to court in October for the next hearing<br>in its $7.6 million lawsuit despite listening to appeals Tuesday night from<br>patrons who want the district to seek a settlement.<br><br>"The delay makes things difficult, but we're not afraid of the ultimate<br>decision of the court," said Margaret Dibble, board vice chairwoman. "We<br>certainly believe in the law. We want to do the right thing and we believe<br>that is abiding by the will of the electorate."<br><br>Voters approved a $1.9 million increase to the district's indefinite<br>supplemental levy March 27. The increase brought the total amount of the<br>levy to $7.6 million.<br><br>Moscow dentist Gerald Weitz challenged that election with a lawsuit he filed<br>on May 4. He also threatened the full levy amount because his lawsuit<br>alleged the district failed to follow state law.<br><br>The district lost
an attempt to dismiss the case at its last court hearing<br>June 29. The same day, the district's attorneys filed a motion for summary<br>judgement and received a hearing date for Aug. 24, when the judge would hear<br>the facts of the case and issue a ruling.<br><br>MSD attorney Amy White sent a notice to the district Monday with information<br>that Weitz's attorneys have filed a similar motion. The legal procedure<br>extended the deadlines and required the hearing date to be pushed back. With<br>Second District Judge John Bradbury unavailable for a hearing in September,<br>the earliest date available for the hearing is Oct. 5.<br><br>"The district continues to remain optimistic that they will prevail on this<br>matter and firmly believes that they complied with all the legalities for<br>this election," White wrote.<br><br>About 14 people attended Tuesday's meeting and many participated in a heated<br>exchange that brought people out of their seats as they argued for
and<br>against the possibility of negotiating a settlement.<br><br>The board's decision to stay within the court system upset Moscow resident<br>Don Harter, who spoke in favor of his plan for conciliation. His proposal<br>would require the district to rerun its levy as an ordinary supplemental<br>levy that would need to be repeated annually or biannually in exchange for a<br>legal agreement from Weitz to drop his lawsuit.<br><br>"You have more options and more control than your opponent," he said.<br><br>Harter predicted a winning outcome would lead to a worse situation because<br>he believes Weitz would appeal and carry the process out another 18 months.<br><br>"If you win, you'll immediately go into prayer," he said.<br><br>Harter also predicted that if Weitz won, the district would have to pursue<br>its option to appeal, which he equated to "you shoot yourself in the foot by<br>keeping in turmoil another 18 months." He warned that staying within the<br>court system
could keep escalating the case.<br><br>"Good luck with your legal expenses to see it all the way through the<br>Supreme Court," he said.<br><br>Moscow property owner Isabel Bond spoke about her concerns with the levy<br>while she offered her support for Weitz's agenda to have more<br>professional-technical education in the district.<br><br>"I'd like to see some negotiation," she said. "I'd like to see the taxpayers<br>have a real say in what's going on."<br><br>Bond didn't think voters understood the election and she questioned the<br>election because she said there was a low voter turnout.<br><br>Moscow resident and former teacher Bob Weisel stood up to support the<br>election results.<br><br>"I voted in that levy. I knew what I was voting for," he said. "Anybody that<br>didn't understand what they were voting for should've asked somebody."<br><br>He also spoke to comments Bond raised about Weitz's educational philosophy.<br><br>"For some strange reason, we've got
somebody who feels he knows more about<br>education than the people we hire to run" the district, he said.<br><br>Moscow parent Michael Jennings was concerned that negotiating with Weitz<br>would cause instability in funding that would eventually "deconstruct" the<br>schools.<br><br>"I want to encourage the board to stay with the law, to move forward within<br>the legal system," he said.<br><br>Jennings brought up Weitz's tumultuous history with the district, including<br>both his time on the board and his resignations from it at times of<br>disagreement.<br><br>"He's a bully," Jennings said. "He's held our children hostage to blackmail,<br>to wanting to do it his way."<br><br>Board chairwoman Dawn Fazio had to call the room to order as the comments<br>from opposing sides intensified. She pointed to the arguments as an example<br>of why "we can't resolve this here."<br><br>At the end of the night, Dibble said the district followed its legal counsel<br>and held "a perfectly
good, democratic election."<br><br>"This negotiation would have to be with the 56.7 percent of people that<br>voted for it," she said.<br><br>---------------------------------------------------------------<br><br>Seeya round town, Moscow.<br><br>Tom Hansen<br>Moscow, Idaho<br><br>"I think one of the best ways to support education is to make successful<br>private schools like Logos prosper through tax exemption."<br><br>- Donovan Arnold (July 11, 2005)<br><br><br><br>=======================================================<br> List services made available by First Step Internet, <br> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. <br> http://www.fsr.net <br> mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<br>=======================================================<br></blockquote><br><BR><BR>Tom & Liz Ivie<p> 
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