A longtime member of the Birmingham Water Works Board is suing his cohorts, accusing the board of violating Alabama’s open records law by hiding information about legal expenses from the public.

George Munchus last week filed the lawsuit in Jefferson County Circuit Court, asking a judge to order the Water Works to make its detailed legal invoices available to the public.

“This lawsuit is about focused transparency and accountability for the ratepayers and citizens who genuinely care about this public utility,” Munchus, who has served on the board for more than a decade, told AL.com.

The Water Works board has not yet responded to the lawsuit in court records. The Water Works did not respond to a request for comment on Monday morning.

In the lawsuit, Munchus says Michael Johnson, the general manager of the Water Works, denied his requests to view and take copies of the utility’s monthly invoices for legal expenses. Johnson cited the board’s policy, which only allows the public to see a summary of the legal bills, according to the lawsuit.

“Due to their sensitive and confidential nature, invoices detailing the legal services being provided the Water Works Board by its legal counsel(s) shall only be maintained in the offices of the General Manager and the Board Administrator for the board of directors,” the policy states. Members of the board seeking to see the full invoices may only do so while in the executive offices of the Water Works.

His lawsuit maintains that invoices paid for with public money from a public agency are public documents.

“Basic things like legal services should be open to the public so that the ratepayers and the public can make informed decisions about how ratepayers and the public about how the resources of the water works are being used,” said Richard Rice, the Birmingham attorney who represents Munchus in the lawsuit. “But without any transparency we don’t have an opportunity to hold them accountable.”

While the board regularly votes on monthly invoices, Munchus said that approvals are made without adequate information because board members are voting on totals, while details of the bills are kept under lock and key. According to the policy, only a summary page of legal bills is available to the public. The board’s meeting agendas list the name of the law firm and how much the utility is paying, but they do not provide details about the legal services or cases.

According to the lawsuit, Munchus made requests for monthly invoices submitted by each law firm for the calendar years of 2015 through 2023.

First appointed in 2012 by the Birmingham City Council, Munchus is the most senior member of the nine-seat Water Works board.

Though Munchus almost always voted with the majority in his earlier years on the board, Munchus has more recently become a maverick, frequently voting alone in dissent.

He does not chair nor officially sit on any standing committee. Still, he remains a regular attendee of committee meetings.

At the board’s latest meeting last Wednesday, the same day he sued his colleagues, Munchus objected to another policy that he said limits the rights of the public. He said that, although he voted in favor of the agency’s media policy in 2022, he now objects to it. The policy directs all media requests to the public relations manager, who will serve as the public spokesperson.

“Where appropriate, someone other than the spokesperson may be designated to address the media on a particular topic,” it states.

Munchus argued the policy intimidates employees and leaves them in fear of losing their jobs if they speak to news reporters, even in their personal capacities. Munchus also said the policy is designed to muzzle board members like him.

He has asked to place it back on the agenda so he can reverse his vote to a ‘no.’

“Oddly enough I voted in the affirmative for this resolution,” he said. “I want to put this item back on the agenda. And I want to vote no.”

Munchus raised the issue just days after Birmingham Water Works employees gave a vote of no confidence in senior management, saying that morale has dipped to an all-time low at Alabama’s largest water utility. The Birmingham Water Works Employee Association in a letter detailed grievances regarding inequity in discipline, promotions, and salaries.

“I’m not a big fan of the media but it has come to my attention that there are employees who feel they can’t engage in formidable debate with the media,” Munchus said during the last board meeting.