On Tuesday, Democrat Tim Merrick said the New Hanover County school board had come together to make a “timely and decisive” move to cut ties with Crossley McIntosh Collier Hanley & Edes, P.L.L.C. attorney Brian Kromke.
Over the weekend, Kromke had posted an inflammatory remark in response to ICE-related killings of protestors in Minnesota. However, he did quickly delete it and apologize.
Unlike a traditional district employee, Kromke was paid through his firm's contract with Crossley. It's not clear if the firm has dismissed him or taken other internal disciplinary action, or what the exact mechanism the board used to ensure he would no longer do any work for the district. No public vote was taken on the issue as, technically, Crossley's contract with NHCS remains in effect.
The Crossley firm will still represent NHCS mainly through attorney Norwood Blanchard until June, but afterward the board could pursue a new contract. In a 4-3 vote, with Republican members David Perry, Pat Bradford, and Josie Barnhart dissenting, the board opted to discuss the issue at their meeting next week, where they'll debate posting requests for qualifications (RFQ) for a new firm.
Both Merrick and his Democratic colleague Judy Justice said they appreciated the services that the district had received from the Crossley firm, but signaled that they wanted one with more educational law experience.
NHCS Chief Financial Officer Ashley Sutton said that if they did an RFQ that they would keep it open for at least 30 days, and they would need about two to three months to evaluate the firms.
Perry jumped in to say that he disagreed with Kromke’s statements on social media but disliked what he saw as an attempt to punish the firm overall. Perry said he had confidence in their ability to represent the district.
Merrick responded that this wasn’t punitive but that it was time to review their options.
Bradford said that Kromke’s post was “offensive, inappropriate, unequivocally, just flat out stupid,” but noted that he apologized and took ownership for his comments.
She then said that before “we character assassinate this man” to remember "scripture of a woman caught in adultery that was brought to Jesus for comment, and he said, ‘Those of you who are without sin, you cast the first stone.’ So I would like to put that out there to you. There's some of you that made some really offensive posts, and it did not come to this kind of uproar, because the people on the side of that argument politically didn't come after you, so I do believe it's politically motivated.”
While the motion passed to add a legal RFQ discussion and vote at its February 3 meeting, the board could decide to retain Crossley after June and not open the search.
Bradford was also the sole dissenting vote against hearing information on a resolution celebrating Black History Month — and also voted against hearing updated information on Perry’s proposed employee benefit and retention committee.
With respect to the Black History Month resolution, she said she supports “all history, all the time,” but the board didn’t need to be “distracted by making proclamations.”
Merrick responded that yes, resolutions can seem like empty statements but “the idea that we can give voice to marginalized communities such that they feel heard and included, there's value in that, even if it doesn't come with an increased funding or with specific changes in policy, simply to be able to say, ‘We understand both the contribution and the hardship.’”
In her dissent on Perry's bonus committee discussion, she said she didn’t have the updated information on it.
