The Washoe County School Board has approved a budget of up to $500,000 to engage external legal representation in response to Trustee Jeff Church’s numerous lawsuits. The district’s chief legal counsel has reported that Church has initiated or backed 31 legal actions against the district and the estimated cost of these actions is around $345,000.
Jeff Church was also a retired sergeant from the Reno Police. He is also a lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force and he also has been a member of the Washoe County School Board since 2021. But now he is again seeking for the re-elections.
Church has been a contentious figure on the board, narrowly avoiding censure in 2021 for potential violations of board policy. Jeff Church submitted a petition for a writ of mandamus in December and that petition he urged the Washoe County School District (WCSD) to disclose records related to a district committee appointment that the district had previously refused to release to Church.
Jeff Church submitted another petition on March 1. In this petition he demand from the district to initiate an independent investigation into what he described as “false accusations of harassment, sexual harassment, or intimidation” made against him by two female whistleblowers.
These women alleged that Church approached them in a parking lot following a board meeting last summer.
Both petitions request that the district cover Church’s legal expenses and attorney fees.
Luke Busby, Church’s attorney, expressed concern in a March 10 letter to the school district about what he perceives as a tendency among some district employees to obscure and withhold public records and serious issues. He stated that Church’s objective is to bring the facts to light and ensure they are presented to the public and the board, thereby moving away from what he describes as a culture of concealment that permeates WCSD, particularly its general counsel’s office.
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Before the vote, Church concurred with the decision to hire an external attorney for the district, citing tension between him and Neil Rombardo, the district’s chief legal counsel. Church also read a statement from his attorney offering to relinquish any potential claims against the district in return for the appointment of an external investigator. He further offered to resign and withdraw his re-election bid if the allegations he claimed were made against him were substantiated.
Church stated on Tuesday, “If you … give me an independent investigation that I went out in that parking lot and I harassed women absolutely you’ll have my resignation.” According to Rombardo, since his election in 2020, Church has filed four open meeting law complaints and two lawsuits against the district. Rombardo also stated that Church has backed 22 open meeting law complaints and three lawsuits against the district.
During the Tuesday meeting, Rombardo estimated that all the complaints and lawsuits that Church has filed or supported have cost the district approximately $345,000. He did not provide a breakdown of the costs of the complaints and lawsuits filed directly by Church.
Rombardo calculated its estimated cost and he said that it could be cost up to $500,000 to the district to hire an external legal counsel who would collaborate with his office to defend the district. He also said that this cost or fund could be sourced from the general fund of district.
Rombardo clarified at the Tuesday meeting, “This item is not about silencing Trustee Church. He is welcome to file as many lawsuits as he wants and we will defend as long as they’re not vexatious, of course, and grounded in good faith.”
Rombardo reported that the district has successfully defended against the 31 lawsuits and complaints initiated or backed by Church. He also noted that Church has filed five lawsuits against other local entities, including the City of Reno and Washoe County, all of which were dismissed.
