Attorney Brad Miller, a central character in the successful campaign to recall three Jefferson County school board members, resigned Monday from his position representing the board.
Recall organizers portrayed the conservative board majority’s hiring of Miller at $90,000 a year as wasteful and unnecessary.
In a letter to the board and Superintendent Dan McMinimee, Miller wrote that the new board members have made clear they no longer want to retain board counsel.
“As you are aware, I have maintained that the Board of Education, if it wishes not to be a rubber stamp for administrative priorities, should have continuing access to independent legal counsel,” he said.
Before Miller was hired, the Jeffco school board contracted as needed with the law firm of Caplan and Earnest and others. Between 2009 and 2013, the board spent on average $41,241 on legal fees, according to data on the district’s financial transparency page.
In 2014 and 2015, after Miller was hired, the average more than doubled to $95,756.
Miller resigned last week as attorney for the Thompson School District Board of Education. His role there also began a campaign issue, for similar reasons. As in Jeffco, the election result all but certainly meant that Miller’s days as board attorney were numbered if he hadn’t stepped aside first.