"District officials declined to say how much was spent on each item, citing attorney-client privilege as a reason to keep line-item billing confidential. District spokeswoman Shelly Hausman acknowledged that legal bills have grown." Legal discussions are confidential, how much tax dollars is spend on legal fees is not. A taxpayer funded public information officer is paid to get more information to the public, not less. If the district wanted to -not- provide information and to seed mistrust, then MV does -not- need to hire a spokesperson to do that.