In August, the Mingus Union High School District governing board agreed in a settlement with the Committee for Better Upper Verde Valley Schools to allow for an election in November of 2019.
The proposed ballot measure would consider consolidation between MUHSD and the Cottonwood-Oak Creek School District to move forward without opposition from the former school district.
On May 31, lawyers at Munger, Chadwick & Denker, representing the consolidation committee, filed a motion with Yavapai County Superior Court Judge David Mackey requesting an extension, allowing them to hold the election in November 2020 instead without Mingus’ opposition.
They argued that an election coinciding with other federal, state and local elections being held in November 2020 would be easier to administer, and that it would allow for an easier petition process for consolidation advocates.
“In particular, the committee requests that its time to initiate an election on the issue of school district consolidation be extended from the Nov. 5, 2019, election cycle to the Nov. 3, 2020 election cycle,” the motion filed before the court reads. “Good cause exists for such an extension in that it will serve the interests of all parties to this matter, as well as the interests of the voters of the Verde Valley.”
On June 19, the attorneys at Ballard Spahr, representing Mingus, filed a response in opposition to the request by the consolidation committee, asking Mackey to deny their attempt to move the date of the election and require them to hold their election this year to comply with the original stipulations of the settlement.
“The finality of judgments matters. That is why altering an otherwise final judgment — particularly a stipulated one on which the parties have relied and set their expectations — is the exception, not the norm,” the response reads. “The remaining reasons posited by the committee amount to an argument that it simply would be more politically advantageous for the committee for the election be held in 2020. Because there are no extraordinary circumstances of hardship or injustice warranting alteration of the stipulated judgment, the court should deny the motion.”
“I feel that we compromised on it, and they’re trying to change it,” MUHSD Board President Lori Drake said. “There was a compromise to begin with, with the stipulated judgment. That’s what the compromise was.”
“We ask the simple question: Why is the Mingus board afraid to allow the taxpayers of their district a chance to vote on consolidation?” the consolidation committee wrote in a press release in response to the response from Mingus. “If the taxpayers are smart enough to vote on property tax overrides, bond issues and election of school board members, then surely they are smart enough and should have the same opportunity to vote on the proposed consolidation.
“The Mingus Union board has been fighting the proposed consolidation efforts of hundreds of local citizens for two and a half years.”
“The Committee for Better Upper Verde Valley Schools 2018 just wants the registered voters to have an opportunity to vote on consolidation,” the committee wrote. “We believe that they are smart enough to make a deci- sion that will be good for all of our students.
“Rest assured, the committee will be moving forward with a consolidation drive in 2020 with or without Mingus’ support.”
