After 19 Years Advising Schools, Lawyer Caught Up In Webb Case -- Counsel Mike Hoge Has Great Influence In Seattle District

In spring 1990, Mike Hoge gave a routine piece of legal advice that helped to shape a decision now embroiled in controversy.

Hoge, general counsel to the Seattle School District, told former personnel director Ray Cohrs the district did not have legal grounds to fire Clint Webb, an employee convicted of manslaughter 10 years earlier. Webb was charged this month with third-degree child rape of a 14-year-old student.

Hoge's legal opinion was just one of thousands he has given over the past two decades that have influenced the evolution of Seattle public schools. Since joining the district in 1976, Hoge's legal interpretations and advice - on issues ranging from desegregation to employee discharge - have set the boundaries for policy decisions made under five superintendents.

His influence reaches beyond Seattle public schools. He has led attorneys from other local districts in efforts to challenge state laws.

He argued and won a U.S. Supreme Court case in the early '80s that cleared the way for the district's mandatory busing program.

Today, Hoge (pronounced "Hoagie") is the longest-serving senior staff member at the district. His advice is sought by teachers, principals, administrators and his "clients" - the superintendent and Seattle School Board.

Over the years, Hoge has been a key contact on touchy personnel issues, and he was confident when advising Cohrs about Webb.

Webb's conviction was a decade old, Hoge reasoned in 1990. While Webb left the question about criminal convictions on his job application blank, he hadn't lied outright. His crime didn't involve children.

Hoge's advice was accepted, and Webb wasn't fired at the time. Monday, the district reviewed Webb's recent arrest and fired him.

The situation has turned attention to the district's decision-making process, and Hoge's role in it.

Influence beyond legal issues

Because of the legal issues facing a public-school district, the job of general counsel is critical. Every piece of board policy is drafted and reviewed by Hoge. His interpretations of law guide board members' policy discussions.

Some call Hoge's job one of the most important in the district.

William Kendrick, who is leaving the district Sept. 1 after nine years as superintendent, says Hoge is one of his closest advisers, even on non-legal issues. Kendrick says Hoge has offered policy advice on topics ranging from controlled-choice busing to district restructuring.

"He believes strongly in civil rights. He wants to make sure people are fairly treated," says Kendrick, who calls Hoge "one of the brightest attorneys I've ever met."

Many say that without Hoge, 46, the district would lack an institutional memory.

"I've often had nightmares about what if Mike would leave," says Ellen Roe, elected in 1975 and the only member who predates Hoge at the district.

Running a school district is a complex and challenging task, fraught with risks and liabilities, Roe says. "Mike's the one who has to steer us through it."

A conservative influence

But some say a combination of time and agenda have put too much power in Hoge's hands, creating a legal emphasis at the district that constrains debate and bogs down policy decisions.

They say his views have influenced his legal advice on desegregation and other key issues.

Too often, some say, Hoge's advice has been legally conservative, unnecessarily protecting the district at the cost of alternative ideas.

"In some cases, policy began to be made on decisions of whether or not it was legally defensible, not whether or not it was the right thing to do," says Michael Preston, a 15-year board member who has disagreed with Hoge's advice about the district's desegregation plan.

For his part, Hoge says he's merely doing his job: help the district avoid risk and liability.

Hoge, tall, with shaggy hair, is quick with a smile and soft laugh. Allies and adversaries alike praise his easygoing, professional manner.

While he's been the point man during legal crusades and public crises, he's avoided much of the political spotlight. He likes it that way.

As general counsel, he has a chance to blend legal interests with his strong belief in public education.

"It's a pretty important thing," Hoge says, "trying to prepare thousands of children for citizenship in this diverse and rambunctious democracy, and to prepare them to be competitive in the labor market."

The Supreme Court case

Born and raised in Yakima, Hoge studied zoology as a UW undergraduate. He spent summers on survey crews in the forests in Eastern Washington. Then, after wandering Europe, he returned to law books and the Northwest.

Hoge came to the school district one year out of the University of Washington Law School. He did contract work for the district during a year with the law firm Foster, Pepper, Shefelman. Gary Little, then general counsel for the district, liked the work and recruited Hoge.

He stepped into legal turbulence. A districtwide teachers' strike disrupted classes. Desegregation became an urgent issue. Daily dilemmas, some involving significant constitutional questions about students' and teachers' rights, were common.

Hoge focused much of his legal energy on desegregation.

A 1977 board vote set the wheels turning toward a full-scale districtwide busing plan.

Desegregation opponents countered with lawsuits. A statewide initiative, which passed 2-to-1, made mandatory desegregation illegal.

But earlier court actions across the nation made the options clear, Hoge says. If Seattle didn't willingly adopt a mandatory busing program, the federal courts would likely have ordered it. The board agreed.

With Hoge as point man - he was promoted to chief legal counsel in 1979 - the district challenged the state law to the U.S. Supreme Court. In March 1982, at age 33, Hoge argued and won the case.

"It was scary. But obviously a high point, a thrill," he says.

Later, some felt Hoge had become too big a player in the debate. His legal counsel in the late '80s stifled proposals to change the desegregation policy, some say.

"That issue didn't move until Mike Hoge gave his political permission," says Amy Hagopian, a former board member who fought to relax desegregation rules.

Hoge says desegregation, more than any issue, required much of his time, energy and commitment.

"I think one can go to a socioeconomically mixed high school and come out with a good education," he says.

Since the late '70s, Hoge has also taken a lead in the district's efforts to get more state funding. And his interpretations of complicated rules have guided decisions on school levy proposals and budgeting.

Building an empire?

Over two decades, Hoge's priorities have shifted. Early associates remember a man who would work through the night, holes worn in the soles of his shoes.

In 1990, he married Valerie Hughes, an attorney at Perkins Coie who once worked for the district as outside counsel. Since, Hoge has spent less time climbing mountains - Rainier, Adams, Hood and Kilimanjaro - and flying planes. He spends more time with his wife and young daughter.

But his commitment to the district has not changed, supporters say.

"There are relatively few people like Mike who are very dedicated and stay there (in the public sector) and bring some continuity to things," says Dave Burman, a Perkins Coie attorney who has worked with Hoge and the district for years.

"He knows he's the lawyer, not the decision maker, but he's able to offer some perspective."

Bruce Colwell, president of the Seattle Education Association, says the district is too quick to push teacher grievances and other contract questions to arbitration hearings or court action.

Colwell says he's not certain what Hoge's role in that quickness is, if any, but "issues that haven't necessarily needed to become legalistic have become legalistic."

Board member Preston says the legal department is too big. While other areas of the district have been cut, Hoge's staff, which includes two assistant attorneys, hasn't.

The district also farms out much work - including some contract negotiations and extensive litigation - to private firms. In the 1993-'94 school year, the legal department spent more than $1.5 million.

Hoge has made the legal department his "empire," Preston says.

"The reality is, it's a unique position that gives him no master," Preston says.

But Hoge says legal conservatism can save money in the long run.

"It's hard for someone not close to here, for non-lawyers, to appreciate perhaps how resource-intensive it can be to defend the various matters that come before us," Hoge says.

The Webb matter

With all the possibilities for trouble, it's been a smooth ride, he says. But one of the bigger bumps came two weeks ago when Hoge returned from the summit of Mount Rainier to find a flood of inquiries about Webb's arrest.

The advice not to fire Webb, he says, was logical and sound.

"To me, it's an example of the right decision going wrong."

For now, the district is conducting an investigation into the decision not to fire Webb five years ago. Investigator Robert Heyn has conducted other inquiries for the district, usually reporting to Hoge. In past cases, Hoge has weighed Heyn's findings then given legal advice.

But Hoge and Kendrick realize Hoge's involvement in the Webb decision may make that arrangement inappropriate, Hoge says.

For the first time, Heyn will report to someone else.