(Created: Thursday, October 18, 2007 9:56 AM CDT)
By GREG C. HUFF - Sun Newspapers
Having defeated 46 school-funding ballot initiatives, Paul Dorr's reputation precedes him when another opposition group hires him. Such was the case after Citizens Acting for Responsible Education - 281 CARE - hired Dorr to lead its campaign to oppose the $9.7 million operating levy Robbinsdale Public Schools is requesting in a referendum.
In a Sept 26 letter to District 281 Superintendent Stan Mack, Dorr announced his hire and requested much information about the district's finances, enrollment, staffing and academic performance - a dozen specific requests. Mack, familiar with the reputation Dorr has built in opposition campaigns in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Missouri, agreed to accommodate Dorr's requests, but cautioned in an interview that if Dorr or 281 CARE "twist the information, or play games with us and dissuade the public, we will call them on it."
Similarly, a report posted on the Minnesota Association of School Administrators' website alleges that Dorr "skews" enrollment and test-score information, "distorts numbers and information," and that "his literature is less than truthful." It also acknowledges that he has "a very good legal sense" and "uses the law to get the information that he desires."
The report on the MASA website says it comprises "comments from superintendents in Iowa and Minnesota who have had Paul Dorr oppose referendum campaigns." A specific author is not cited.
Dorr declined to discuss specifically his Robbinsdale Schools campaign, but agreed to respond to some of his critics' characterizations of his tactics. "I never have knowingly skewed numbers," he said in an Oct. 2 e-mail interview, adding that a client of his was "falsely accused of such," and that a Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings panel dismissed all charges against the client. MOAH records indicate that a citizens' group that supported a school-bond referendum in the Howard Lake, Waverly-Winsted district "failed to establish" that an opposition group and its chairperson violated a Minnesota law which prohibits "preparing and disseminating campaign material with respect to the effect of a ballot question that [is] false and that Respondents [know is] false or communicated to others with reckless disregard as to whether it [is] false."
They said, he said
The report on the MASA site alleges also that Dorr intentionally creates "mistrust in district information." To that, Dorr responded, in part, "I assist in bringing a healthy breath of fresh air to local communities - the task, sadly many local voters believe that local newspapers are failing at. ...
"It would then appear by my record that most voters trust my clients and me, and it is the district they don't trust. Such mistrust I find existed well before I arrived."
He said he's opposed 54 ballot questions, defeated 46, and that one remains tied up in court. Dorr was characterized also in the report as someone who "likes to keep things private until the end of the campaign," and "times his literature and radio spots so that he gets the last word."
To that, Dorr said, in part, "Each campaign strategy is different, based on message, target and resources. Remember, my clients don't have access to massive sums of taxpayer dollars and so often, free positive spin in the local media to get their message out, as do the proponents."
Neal Lawson, assistant superintendent for business in the Orono school district - in which Dorr in 2005 opposed four separate funding requests - said Dorr's requests for information "are somewhat time-consuming and resource-intensive to provide," Dorr explained that the documents he requests "should be readily accessible" because "they are mostly relevant to the very matter the district is trying to promote."
If Dorr doesn't get the information "in a timely fashion," Lawson cautioned, "he will indicate publicly that he was not given information he requested." Dorr acknowledged that if a district "was not being cooperative and were dragging their feet (the bureaucratic 'slow walk'), I would advise my clients to let voters know that."
Mack said earlier this month that the district will fulfill Dorr's requests as quickly as is possible, and that, "I'm never uncomfortable discussing school operations or school finance." On Oct. 8, Dorr copied to Sun Newspapers a letter to Mack asking if any of the information he requested was available. By Friday, Oct. 12, the district had provided what Mack described in a letter to Dorr as a "partial response" - documents he said would satisfy three of Dorr's requests.
District 281 provided copies of those documents to Sun Newspapers. A press deadline prevented Sun Newspapers from reporting further on the documents this week, but complete coverage will follow in an ensuing report. For more about the information Dorr requested, read a previously published Sun Newspapers report archived on this website: at www.mnsun.com/articles/2007/10/04/news/rs04dorr.txt.
Fee, finances
Dorr declined an opportunity to discuss his campaign's finances - or the fee he is charging 281 CARE - but called "foolish" an estimate in the report on the MASA website that he "gets between $10,000-$15,000 ... not including expenses." Asked what he charges his clients, Dorr answered, "A small fraction of what a Minnesota school superintendent receives on a monthly basis."
Mack's three-year contract with District 281, which expires June 30, 2009, sets his base salary at $159,962 a year - about $13,330 a month. Mack's contract also provides a $750 monthly allowance - up to $9,000 per year - to use for tuition, travel and technology and/or for business use of his private automobile. He also receives a cell phone stipend of $50 per month; 12 paid holidays; and 50 working days of annual paid leave.
Countering a question about his fees, Dorr asked if Sun Newspapers "will be reporting on Springsted Incorporated's ... fees collected so far and their contingent fees if the vote passes? They receive public tax money, mine is private."
Sun Newspapers reported in May 2006, that the District 281 School Board "approved a $36,620 contract with Springsted, Inc., to provide services for a school district survey and referendum election consulting services."
Dorr is a consultant with Copperhead Consulting Services in Ocheyedan, Iowa. Asked if he owned the company, and how many people it employs, he said, "No comment on the structure of my business." And although Dorr disputed a characterization in previously published news reports that he targets levy referendums, he said "I sometimes make them aware of my services and they often contact me first."
He did not say if he solicited Care 281, or if they solicited him. 281 CARE hired Dorr after running advertisements in Sun newspapers in July that listed a phone number, 763-519-0001, and e-mail address, RdaleKids@yahoo.com, people could use if interested in joining a referendum-opposition effort. Repeated e-mail messages and calls to the number have not been returned. For more coverage of both 281 CARE and of a group supporting the proposed levy, see the related article on this website.
Proposed levy
Robbinsdale Schools is seeking voter approval for a $9.7 million operating levy, which it would merge with a 10-year, $13.1 million levy approved in 2001. The result would be a $22.8 million levy effective until 2017. If the requested levy passes on Nov. 6, it would automatically sunset the 2001 referendum. If the levy does not pass this fall, the 2001 referendum will remain in place through 2011. If the levy is approved, district officials have estimated, the owner of $240,000 home would pay an additional $228 per year in the school-funding portion of their property taxes. If the referendum does not pass, district officials have said, they would have to cut $5 million from the 2008-09 budget and $4 million from the 2009-10 school year.
Additional reporting by Sue Webber.
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