UW Regents closed session likely breached open meetings guidance, legislative attorneys find

MADISON – A closed-door meeting Tuesday of the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents may have flouted legal guidelines for compliance with the state's open meetings law, according to a new memo from the nonpartisan Legislative Council.

Legislative attorneys found the description of the business to be conducted in closed session at the special meeting "does not appear to comply with the notice requirements for a closed session of a governmental body as interpreted by the Wisconsin Attorney General."

The memo was prepared at the request of Rep. Dora Drake, D-Milwaukee. Drake, who leads the Legislative Black Caucus, had urged Regents to hold the meeting in public.

Drake told reporters she's calling on Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne and Attorney General Josh Kaul to investigate whether the open meetings law was violated.

A spokesman for the UW System did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the memo.

The memo's release comes as the Regents deliberate over a deal brokered by UW System President Jay Rothman with Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Burlington, that would restructure 43 diversity positions and freeze jobs through 2026. In exchange, universities would receive $800 million for pay raises and building projects, including an engineering building for UW-Madison.

The board is scheduled to vote at 5 p.m. Wednesday on the same deal it rejected Saturday. It will be the board's fifth meeting in a chaotic seven days.

More:State superintendent Jill Underly calls for delay in UW Regents vote on diversity, pay raises

The six-month standoff with the Republican-controlled Legislature over campus diversity programs hit an impasse Saturday with the board's stunning 9-8 rejection of the agreement. Conservatives criticized the move while liberals praised it.

To call a meeting Wednesday to vote on the same proposal indicates at least one board member wants to change their vote.

The resolution is being recommended by Rothman, Regents Ashok Rai and Kyle Weatherly — both of whom voted for the deal Saturday — and board vice president Amy Bogost, who voted against the deal.

Rothman has been tight-lipped about what took place behind closed doors on Tuesday.

"We had a closed session, and I'm not at liberty to speak about what happened," Rothman told reporters.

The agenda for Tuesday's meeting said the board would "deliberate and negotiate funding proposals and matters that require a closed session for competitive or bargaining reasons."

That, according to the Legislative Council analysis, does not provide sufficient information to comply with the state Department of Justice's guidance for compliance with the state's open meetings law.

"It seems likely that a court would find that the (Board of Regents') notice fails to permit members of the public to determine whether a valid 'bargaining or competitive interest' exists nor give board members 'enough information to allow them to make an informed decision whether to vote to close the meeting,'" according to the memo. "Therefore, it appears the BOR’s notice does not comply with the AG’s guidance regarding the proper notice of a closed session."