William J. Hierstein

Dr. William HiersteinHawkeye Community College

Way back on Aug. 9, 1999, the Courier filed a lawsuit against the Hawkeye Community College trustees maintaining they had violated the state open meetings law during closed sessions on June 22 and July 27 to lay the groundwork for the termination of then HCC President William Hierstein.

The June meeting had prompted a July 1 letter to Hierstein that the trustees had "voted to consider termination of your contract, effective at the end of the next school year (June 30, 2000)."

All Hierstein had to do was keep quiet, and he could look for a new job without the stain of his contract not being renewed.But he was upset by the way the matter was handled, and on July 26 he took his grievances to Courier Managing Editor Nancy Raffensperger Newhoff and myself.

A day later, the trustees met in a closed session, then announced July 28 that Hierstein had been suspended in an "emergency action" because he had changed his office locks and kept his administrative assistant from getting to her office.

The Courier lawsuit maintained the board illegally held the closed session without public notice as required under Section 21.9 of the Iowa Code called "Employment conditions discussed."Those "conditions" include wages, hours, insurance and setting evaluation procedures, but not evaluating the performance of an employee.

Section 21.5 would have been appropriate -- allowing a closed session to evaluate an individual's performance.However, the individual being evaluated must request that it be closed.That was never broached with Hierstein.

We believe Section 21.9 was used illegally to maximize the secrecy.

In addition, state law stipulates no binding decisions can be made in closed session.

William J. Hierstein, Ph.DPresident, Hawkeye Community College

William J. Hierstein , Ph.DPresident , Hawkeye Community College

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The newspaper filed an open meetings lawsuit against the college in 1999, alleging Hawkeye's board of trustees held illegal closed-door meetings that led to the termination of President William Hierstein.

The Courier sued Hawkeye Community College (HCC) in 1999, alleging the college's board of trustees held illegal closed-door meetings that led to the termination of former college president William Hierstein.