I was interested in this passage from Susan Luzzaro's story below:
In retrospect, some people still wonder how Gandara was selected back in 2006. The district initially paid a headhunter group $30,000 to select him.Susan acts as though Gandara is significantly different from most other superintendents. I would say that Gandara's mistake was getting involved in small-time corruption. He should have stuck with the corruption that is sanctioned by San Diego County Office of Education. I myself consider the crimes Gandara was charged with to be less harmful to the public good than the wrongdoing that is considered normal policy by SDCOE.
The fact is, it's both extremely difficult and extremely easy to know what you're getting when you hire a new superintendent.
First, the easy part. You know you're almost certainly getting someone who goes along to get along because that's how a person becomes a candidate for most big jobs. Sometimes you get a surprise, like the cardinals got recently when they chose Pope Francis, but usually you get someone who won't rock the boat.
Then there's the difficult part. Your husband could have told you about this, Susan. I remember in the eighties at Montgomery Elementary in Chula Vista when I taught with Frank Luzzzaro. He was on the interview committee that chose a new principal. The female candidate interviewed well, charming everyone. But Frank soon regretted his choice, and said that he would never again sit on an interview committee. He voluntarily transferred to another school.
As Frank learned, it's just not possible to truly know most of the people you meet in this world. In fact, most of us don't even know how we ourselves will behave until we are tested.
By the way, kudos to whomever it was who came up with the great headline for this Reader story:
Gandara to go on 60-day lobster fast
Former Sweetwater superintendent “earned the right to go to prison.”
The Sweetwater Union High
School District corruption case crescendoed in the South Bay courthouse
on June 27. Former Sweetwater superintendent Jesus Gandara was led out
of the courtroom in handcuffs. He was sentenced to 220 days in custody;
60 of those days will be served in jail and the rest under house arrest.
In addition, judge Ana España ordered Gandara to pay a $7994 fine and
perform 120 hours of community service.
Gandara pleaded guilty to one
charge of felony conspiracy and has admitted to accepting gifts of
travel, meals, and event tickets in excess of $4000.
Prior to the sentencing, community members advocated for jail time.
Jaime Mercado, who served as a
trustee during Gandara’s tenure, accused Gandara of “corruption,
intimidation, and reprisal.” He said Gandara had “earned the right to go
to prison.”
Frances Brinkman, one of the
people who originally took corruption complaints to the district
attorney, applauded all of the unsung heroes who dared to speak out
while Gandara was superintendent. Brinkman recited names such as Katy
Wright, Tony Alfaro, Diana Carberry, Nancy Stubbs, and more…all people,
she asserted, were unjustly fired by Gandara.
Kathleen Cheers, another
community member who took corruption complaints to the district
attorney, said that the majority of Sweetwater students received
subsidized meals.
Cheers said she doubted if many
of them “had ever tasted lobster.” She reminded the court of the
lobster dinners that Gandara and his family enjoyed, paid for by vendors
who worked for Sweetwater.
Attorney Paul Pfingst, who
represented Gandara, pointed to Gandara’s remarkable career in education
and his “commitment to children.” Pfingst lauded Gandara for getting
the voters to pass Proposition O and referred to design awards that
Proposition O projects received.
On the other side, deputy
district attorney Leon Schorr said Gandara’s story was about “greed and
ambition” and that Gandara was “hired into a situation that was ripe for
corruption.”
Schorr argued that by punishing Gandara, the judge was warning “every other public official in the county.”
España said she had reviewed
the material Pfingst submitted about Gandara’s accomplishments. She
referred to his earlier career in Texas, then asked, “What happened
along the way?”
España said Gandara “used his
power to personally insert himself into negotiations with the
contractors who were giving gifts to get jobs.”
Perhaps the tipping point for Gandara’s career came in 2011 when the U-T
reported that Gandara hosted a wedding shower for his daughter at
Murrietta’s restaurant in Bonita. Former Sweetwater trustees Arlie
Ricasa and Jim Cartmill and still-current trustee John McCann attended
the party. Vendors doing business with the district were also invited.
The shower invitation announced there would be a money tree available
for those inclined to pin on some greenery.
In retrospect, some people
still wonder how Gandara was selected back in 2006. The district
initially paid a headhunter group $30,000 to select him. Then the
district paid Ricasa and Cartmill, who have both pleaded guilty to
misdemeanors in this corruption case, to travel to Texas to vet Gandara.
The curious things is, Gandara
hailed from the same little part of Texas where former Sweetwater
superintendent Anthony Trujillo had retreated to after Sweetwater gave
him his walking papers — and pension. Trujillo left Sweetwater to become
superintendent of a small school district in Ysleta Texas and Gandara
served as assistant superintendent there for a while. Gandara even acknowledged Trujillo in his doctoral thesis.
Sweetwater’s current superintendent, Ed Brand, is stepping down in October. Turning toward
the future, many are already wondering — how will the new superintendent
be vetted?..
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