Boulder Employment Attorney

Prezeau will continue her focus on district's graduation rates

Age: 42

Family: Married to Brian Morris; children, Willem, 13; Max, 11; Aidan, 10; and Mekdi, 4.

Education: Liberal arts degree with honors from the University of Montana and a juris doctorate from the University of Colorado-Boulder.

Occupation: Practices law at Hughes, Kellner, Sullivan & Alke

Community service: Board member for the Helena Youth Soccer Association, co-president of the Helena Public Montessori Parents and board member for the Montana Conservation Voters.

In the May 3 school election voters will select three trustees to serve on the Helena School Board. There are four candidates running for two three-year seats and two candidates running for one two-year seat. Voters can cast their votes prior to Election Day at the May Butler Center, 55 S. Rodney. On May 3 polls will be open from noon to 8 p.m.

Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of six profiles on candidates for school board.

With the exception of law school, Cherche Prezeau has lived her entire life in Montana and is now raising her four children here. She grew up in Whitefish, her mother is an educator, her father was a judge, and she is a blend of her parents — working as a local attorney and about to complete her first term on the Helena School Board.

She is one of two incumbents and four candidates total vying for two three-year seats on the board.

Prezeau says while her experience as a lawyer offers an analytical, legal perspective as the board evaluates issues, she believes her role on the board is more than that because she is a mother, the daughter of a public school educator, an involved member of the community and a strong supporter of quality public education.

She pursued law because she likes working with and helping people, but admits she was naive going into the profession.

“It struck me as a very interesting profession and seemed like a good education regardless of whether I decided to be a lawyer or not,” she said.

Prezeau primarily works with employment and construction law, and also practices some guardian ad litem working with parenting-plan disputes. She also does some pro-bono adoptive work.

It took an internal push for Prezeau to run for election three years ago since she considers herself a private person. And, she says, it took nearly two years to really get what she considers an acceptable understanding of the inner workings of the district. It’s for that reason that she wants to continue her service.

Attorneys, CU students help homeless fight Boulder camping law ...

Advocates hope to spur change, raise awareness among city’s residents

Sitting at the edge of a small desk inside a quiet Boulder courtroom one day last month, William Olive put on his reading glasses, hunched over and scribbled some notes on a legal pad.

Flanked by attorneys wearing dark suits, Olive came to court wearing a faded grey zip-up jacket. The 41-year-old father of five wears a thick black beard and long dark hair that sits well below his shoulders. His hands are callused, with dirt ringing his fingernails.

It’s the weathered look of a man who spent the night sleeping outside — which is exactly what landed him in court to begin with.

Olive, like hundreds of other homeless people living in Boulder each year, was caught sleeping in a public place.

But instead of taking the standard deal to perform 12 hours of community service, Olive has joined the ranks of more than 30 other homeless people who are standing up to the city’s anti-camping law by fighting their tickets in court.

With the help of two Boulder defense attorneys — and a group of law students who have taken up the mantle of the homeless’ cause — a growing number of people are fighting to shine a light on the city’s controversial law, and perhaps convince city leaders to overturn it.

Since the challenges began late last year, Boulder Municipal Court has seen a huge spike in the number of camping trials — a 250 percent increase from 2009 to 2010 — even as the number of tickets issued actually decreased in 2010. And the number of camping trials is set to jump evenhigher this year, with each one costing city taxpayers about $1,100 to prosecute. But City Attorney Tom Carr said he doesn’t believe the challenges are affecting the court’s capacity or the city’s bottom line, and that critics should instead focus their efforts on lobbying city leaders who can change the law.

But, he added, “It doesn’t seem like that’s where the political will is yet.”

A call to action

Since the early 1980s, Boulder has had a law on the books forbidding people from sleeping in public places, or on private property without permission. The idea, according to city officials, is to prevent people from living temporarily on public lands where there might not be adequate bathroom or trash facilities, and to preserve public parks for all users.

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