Poway Superintendent Collins charged with 5 felonies

Ex-Poway Superintendent Is Facing Five Felony Charges

By Ashly McGlone

Voice of San Diego

August 7, 2017

 

John Collins is facing five felony charges for allegedly misusing public money, vacation, sick and leave time while superintendent of the Poway Unified School District, according to a complaint filed by the San Diego County district attorney’s office on Friday...

Collins enjoyed a close relationship with the teacher’s union during his tenure as superintendent, which was credited for helping to avoid a strike and layoffs during difficult economic times.

The district was thrust into the national spotlight in 2012 when news emerged about a costly $1 billion capital appreciation bond deal struck on Collins’ watch in 2011, and Collins faced criticism locally during his last year on the job for, among other things, edits made to a consultant report and so-called “me-too” clauses in Collins’ contract that allowed him to benefit from teacher and manager pay negotiations...



[Comments by me and Chris Brewster--and Charles Sellars:]

Chris Brewster

So Poway school board member Charles Sellers says the board offered to work out an "amicable solution" for his departure from the district and the repayment of the funds that he misappropriated. What responsible public entity endeavors to work out an amicable solution with someone who has misappropriated over $300k? This suggests to me a serious lack of judgment on the part of the school board, which is probably already evident in that they kept this individual employed for so long.

Maura Larkins

@Chris Brewster Litigation is very costly and time-consuming. All civil cases should be settled. When they're not settled, it means one or both parties is being unreasonable (unless there is a genuine uncertainty about the law applicable to the case). Clearly, in this case, Collins is being unreasonable, and he wants to do as much harm as he can to the school district.

Chris Brewster

Ms. Larkins: I agree that litigation can costly and time-consuming. I do not agree that all civil cases should be settled. Some, for example, are initiated to intimidate or for other inappropriate reasons. A good example is the civil case against Taylor Swift, which was recently tossed by a federal judge, but only after she contested it in court. Had she settled, she would have implied some degree of personal responsibility, which the judge found lacking. Settling to avoid court costs is a tactic that avoids costs, but can add insult to injury.
The suggestion of my post however is that the members of the school board who presided over the district during this individual's tenure were seriously negligent in allowing someone who has now been charged with felonies to engage in the alleged activities. Trying to mediate with someone you believe has stolen public funds is a fool's errand and even if successful, allows the person to retain some of the purloined public funds. One might suggest that something is better than nothing, but there is principle involved. For example, do you negotiate with someone who has robbed your bank and settle for half of the funds they stole?

Maura Larkins

@Chris Brewster
I would like to amend my comment to say,
"All civil cases should be settled or dropped (unless there is genuine uncertainty about the applicable law)."

Of course, dropping a case is a sort of settlement. In fact, frivolous lawsuits are sometimes settled in favor of the defendant when the plaintiff comes to his senses. Taylor Swift's case could have been settled in her favor, with the plaintiff apologizing to her and perhaps paying her legal fees.

The idea of settling for half the funds stolen might make sense if the money has already been spent and the defendant has no other resources. You can't get blood from a stone, but you can waste a lot of time and energy trying. But remember that it is also possible to settle for ALL the money and then some. Surely you'd approve of that????

I do not believe in the principle of draining a school district of money and people-hours and peace just out of revenge. The first duty of a school district is to the public, not the desire for revenge.

Maura Larkins

@Chris Brewster Also, it is ridiculous for you to pretend that Sellars has responsibility for keeping Collins employed so long. Sellars opposed Collins from the start. Sellars was elected in November 2014. In April 2015, VOSD reported on Sellars:
"John [Collins] and Candy [Smiley, president of Poway teachers] cut up the pie,” said school board member Charlie Sellers, who was elected in November. “The previous board simply rubber-stamped their action and this board is actually questioning their actions and they don’t like it.”
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/education/how-poway-unified-went-from-big-happy-family-to-family-feud/

Chris Brewster

Ms. Larkins: Could you kindly point out where in my remarks I suggested that Mr. Sellars has responsibility for keeping Mr. Collins employed for so long? I'm unable to find any such implication. As for your other point, I agree that the first duty of a school district is to the public, not the desire for revenge. The school board clearly made some terrible decisions here. The question is, once they determined this gentleman fleeced them, would the best option not be to turn the case over to the DA and ask that as part of the prosecution, the defendant be required to pay the school district back? Achieving an out of court settlement for half (of what they think he stole for example) is not, in my view, in the best interest of the school district or justice. It is Mr. Sellars who is quoted as believing the some mediated settlement would have been desirable. It is with that sentiment that I disagree for the reasons noted.

 

Maura Larkins

@Chris Brewster
If you tell me that you didn't intend to blame Sellars for keeping Collins employed, I believe you.

But let me explain how a logical reader would read your statements (although your final clause might not have accurately reflected what you wanted to say).

To start with, you mentioned Sellars by name, saying, "...Charles Sellers says the board offered to work out an "amicable solution" for his departure from the district and the repayment of the funds that he misappropriated."

You thus pointed out Charles Sellars as the one board member who took public responsibility for the effort to settle with Collins. We can assume that a majority of the board supported this effort, but we don't know who the other individuals were.

You then made clear that this effort by Charles Sellars and these other unknown individuals  demonstrated a lack of judgment: "What responsible public entity endeavors to work out an amicable solution with someone who has misappropriated over $300k? This suggests to me a serious lack of judgment..."

You then added another accusation against Sellars and the unknown individuals, "This suggests to me a serious lack of judgment, which is probably already evident in that they kept this individual employed for so long."

"They" obviously refers to Sellars and the unknown individuals.

I believe you if you didn't mean to implicate Sellars in keeping Collins employed so long. If you didn't mean to implicate him, I'd be interested to know that.

Maura Larkins

@Chris Brewster
Regarding your point that settlement is bad because the DA might want to get a judgment for ALL damages, I agree with your sentiment that the money should be paid back in full if Collins has the ability to pay.

But the man seems to be broke. In other words, he is judgment-proof.

You can't get blood from a stone. If he had turned over what he still had at the time of the settlement offer in return for the district waiving the rest of his debt, the students would be ahead.

I doubt Collins will ever pay a cent to Poway Unified.

Chris Brewster

Ms. Larkins: I know nothing about Mr. Sellars other than what I have read here (i.e. his quote). I think the action he supported was unwise and inappropriate. I think that if a public entity becomes aware that a person in their employ has acted unlawfully, they should turn the information over to the proper authorities. Full stop. I think this is a continuation of bad decisions by the board, Whether Mr. Sellars was involved in some or all of them is not something I am in a position to dissect. 

Maura Larkins

@Chris Brewster
Chris, you have every right to believe that the settlement offer was "unwise and inappropriate."
But you are wrong to deny that the new board with Mr. Sellars and Kimberly Beatty did an investigation and turned their results over to the proper authorities.
That's exactly what they did.
They also are suing Collins to get the money back. Are you saying that they shouldn't be suing Collins to get the money back?
We are talking about two separate things here: the criminal case and the civil suit.

And I must disagree with your insistence that "the board" continued the same kind of decision-making after Mr. Sellars and Kimberly Beatty were elected. There was a significant change. For some reason, perhaps a political reason, you don't want to give Sellars and Beatty credit for any change.

Charles Sellers

@Maura Larkins @Chris Brewster Ms. Larkins, thank you for your support it is much appreciated.  Mr. Brewster, what I meant by "amicable" was "mutually agreed".  While I cannot divulge the content of these negotiations, rest assured that our goal as a Board was always to minimize any damage caused to the District.  Sometimes that involves not throwing good money after bad.  While we strongly believe that Dr. Collins owes PUSD all these monies, if not more, there is no guarantee that a court will agree with us.  Even if it does, there is no guarantee that we will ever collect in full from Dr. Collins.  We simply attempted a settlement that would have yielded the most dollars in the least time.  However, Dr. Collins was simply not amenable to negotiation, much less compromise.  Perhaps if he had shown remorse for his actions, paid back what he could, resigned instead of having to be fired, settled instead of forcing us to sue him, he might not be facing jail and the loss of his pension, even though you (and many others) feel that is what he deserves.  I can't speak for the authorities.  We simply followed the law and turned over our findings.  The decisions to  criminally prosecute and strip him of his credentials were made by others.  I'm just saying that had he agreed to do what was best for Poway Unified, he may also have been doing what was best for himself.  While he had numerous opportunities to do just that, he always chose not to and only he can say why. Perhaps he will, in court. - - Charles Sellers, PUSD Trustee.

Chris Brewster

Mr. Sellars: Thanks for taking the time to reply. Much appreciated. My view is that if a public entity, such as yours, has reason to believe that crimes have been committed, that information should be turned over to the proper prosecutorial authorities and they should handle the case. If that was done expeditiously, it is not apparent to me from the stories I have read. 

 

 

Charles Sellers

@Chris Brewster When we fired Dr. Collins for cause in July of 2016, we immediately turned over the results of our forensic audit to both the District Attorney and the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, as required by law.  I can only assume that appeals with the CTC and negotiations with the DA are what took up the past year.  As they say, the wheels of justice turn slowly.

Chris Brewster

Mr. Sellars: Thank you for enlightening me and anyone else reading this thread. If the board expeditiously turned over the audit to the authorities noted, I clearly think that was the right thing to do.

Is there a code of silence that protects bad teachers? Teacher Suspended After Defending Co-Workers Accused Of Sex With Students

Teacher Suspended After Defending Co-Workers Accused Of Sex With Students

The Huffington Post

By Simon McCormack

01/23/2015

 

An art teacher is in trouble after he reportedly published a Facebook status defending teachers accused of having sex with students, claiming that the victims should have kept their "mouths shut."

[Maura Larkins' comment: I was told to keep my mouth shut about harassment by teachers at Castle Park Elementary.  It was amazing to me that teachers who thought of themselves as honest and law-abiding wanted to cover-up bad behavior.]

Sean Patrick, who teaches at South Hills High School in West Covina, California, has been placed on paid leave following the incident, according to NBC Los Angeles.
Patrick's alleged comments came after two teachers at the school, Melody Lippert, 38, and Michelle Ghirelli, 30 were arrested Saturday and accused of having sex with students during a non-school-sanctioned beach party.

The ages of the victims were not reported.

The curse-laden Facebook post from Patrick's account captured by the New York Daily News said:

I just got one thing to say. As many of you know especially those of you whom were once former students and now adults and are my friends on facebook and posting about it two female teachers (colleagues of mine) got arrested for going on summer vacations with and sleeping with some of the male students... Hey... all I gotta say is EVERYONE KNEW MISS [redacted] who was the high school algebra teacher (who also flunked me twice for not "showing my work") w/as fucking the popular senior boys at my highschool when I was there. So what?!.. All I want to know is what the fuck is in the heads of the dudes who banged these ladies and then squealed? ... Shit man! You should have just kept your stupid mouths shut and enjoyed it. I have no idea what the fuck is going on anymore.
Everyone has lost their fucking minds.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/23/teacher-suspended-defending-teachers-sex-students_n_6532348.html

Ex-San Ysidro district superintendent Manuel Paul admits squeezing contractor for donations

If we look at the extremely high percentage of women and people of color among the officials indicted by the District Attorney's Public Integrity Unit over the years, we are forced to conclude one of two things:

1) either women and people of color are more corrupt than white males; or

2) the people who are targeted for prosecution do not enjoy the same protections and immunities that white male public officials in San Diego tend to enjoy.

I'm not saying that the DA is racist.  I don't think that's it.  I think the explanation for the gender and color imbalance is simply that the public officials with the most power tend NOT to be women or people of color.  The truly powerful public officials are mostly white males, and the DA wouldn't dare go after them.

And the big money isn't in parking lots in San Ysidro.  It isn't even in $20 million solar panel deals.

A few years ago the FBI was investigating kickbacks to public entities in San Diego from insurance companies. Nothing ever came of that. My guess is that they couldn't find an ideal defendant to indict: someone without connections in the high ranks of the San Diego political establishment.

Here is a link to my page about the County of Santa Clara vs. Driver Alliant Insurance Services, Inc., et al lawsuit.  These are the types of transactions that involve significant amounts of money.  The really big deals are not as much fun for the political establishment to talk about as a small cash envelope in a parking lot--so you don't read about them much in the paper. The big players almost always avoid criminal court. Note the lack of prosecutions in the 2009 Financial Crisis that was caused by the greed of the wealthy and powerful.

The big guys generally don't see the inside of a criminal court, and their civil cases get settled, not tried, where the public might get wind of what actually happened. (Of course, the Manuel Paul case wasn't tried in court, either. Why no trials? Who knows what information might come out in a trial that might expose a big fish?)

Here's a sample of a school district deal worth $1 billion: Superintendent John Deasy of Los Angeles Unified school district (LAUSD) probably isn't worried. I suspect that you need a lot better political connections to become superintendent of LAUSD than you do to get the top spot in San Ysidro School District.

Given that we live in a system in which huge corporation and billionaires believe they can buy elections, it's sort of embarrassing that the FBI is chasing down such small-time players.

Clearly, Bonnie Dumanis and the FBI aren't going to be able to stop campaign finance corruption.

But wouldn't it be nice if the public--and Bonnie Dumanis--started looking a little closer at some of the well-heeled districts on the north side of town?

In CVESD we also had a superintendent using his power to affect the school board election.



See all posts on white chalk crime.

Ex-San Ysidro district superintendent Manuel Paul admits squeezing contractor for donations
Channel 10 News
Aug 20, 2014

SAN DIEGO - A former San Ysidro School District superintendent pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to extracting political contributions from a prospective contractor by threatening to withhold work on future building contracts.

Manuel Paul, 63, faces up to a year in federal prison and a $100,000 fine when he is sentenced Nov. 18.

According to his plea agreement, Paul admitted he asked a contractor to contribute $3,600 to three political candidates for the 2010 School Board election...

Read more.

Why Two Convicted Sweetwater Union High School District Officials Can Run for Re-Election

See updates on South Bay Indictments.

Judge Ana Espana said that 24-year Sweetwater Union High School District trustee Jim Cartmill was among the "least culpable offenders" convicted in the South Bay school official scandal.

He and Bertha Lopez have decided to run for re-election.

It's fine with me. I don't think Jim or Bertha were more harmful to students than the average school official--which is not to say that Jim and Bertha aren't responsible for their support of business-as-usual behavior that keeps schools in failure mode.

Even if the bad behavior that got them in trouble were completely eliminated from every district, I don't think it would make much difference for students.  The most serious problems in school governance were never addressed in the scandal.  In fact, I think the reason there were no trials was that the District Attorney didn't want these small time crooks spilling the beans about how San Diego County Office of Education runs schools for the benefit of those in power.

Why Two Convicted Sweetwater Officials Can Run for Re-Election
Bianca Bruno
Voice of San Diego
July 22, 2014

Former [Sweetwater Union High School District] board president Jim Cartmill filed earlier this month for a spot on the November ballot. Cartmill is running for a seat representing District 3, which includes schools on the east side of Chula Vista. Former trustee Bertha Lopez, one of 18 officials convicted in connection with the scandal, said at a hearing last week that she plans to run for re-election but has not yet filed the official paperwork, according to the Registrar of Voters...
San Diego Superior Court Judge Ana Espana initially ruled that Cartmill and Lopez could continue to serve in their elected positions until the end of their respective terms  but later reversed that based on a California code that suspends public officials from office after they’ve entered a guilty plea.
At Cartmill’s sentencing, the judge ruled he could run for re-election.
Cartmill was sentenced in June to three years’ probation, 40 hours community service and just under $5,000 in fines.


See all posts re South Bay Indictments.

Sweetwater probe nets first jail sentence; Former Sweetwater board member gets 45 days

See all posts re South Bay Indictments.

Sweetwater probe nets first jail sentence
Former Sweetwater board member gets 45 days
By Greg Moran
San Diego Union-Tribune
June 20, 2014

Gregory Sandoval, a former Sweetwater schools trustee, on Friday became the first defendant in the South County schools corruption probe to be sentenced to jail for accepting fancy meals and other gifts from contractors seeking business with the district.

Sandoval, who is also a former administrator at Southwestern College, pleaded guilty in April to a felony conspiracy charge and a misdemeanor charge of failing to report gifts he received from school construction executives on required disclosure forms in 2008.

Superior Court Judge Ana Espana sentenced Sandoval to six months in custody. She ordered him to serve 45 days of that in jail, and serve the remaining 135 days on home detention.

He was also fined $7,995, ordered to perform 120 hours of community service and put on probation for three years.

Espana denied a request from Sandoval’s lawyer to reduce the felony to a lesser misdemeanor. She also ordered him into jail custody immediately, to begin his sentence.

Sandoval, 60, is one of 18 trustees, school officials and contractors who were charged in an expansive probe into the cozy relationships between school officials and the contractors angling for work funded by voter-approved bond programs.

The investigation focused on Sweetwater Union High School District but also included officials from Southwestern College and the San Ysidro School District.

Most have pleaded guilty and received sentences of probation or home detention, as well as fines and community service work.

But prosecutors with the San Diego County District Attorney’s office said that Sandoval was one of more corrupt of the defendants, receiving lots of gifts and meals.

For example Jaime Ortiz, a construction management executive with the firm SGI that was involved in the construction work, testified in front of a grand jury empaneled for the case that Sandoval demands for dinners and being treated to other social events was “constant.”

One time Ortiz said Sandoval called him when Ortiz was in SGI offices in Los Angeles and said he wanted to meet. He said he wanted to go to a luau at a Pacific Beach hotel that evening. Ortiz boarded a plane for the short flight then paid for the dinners for himself, his wife and Sandoval and his wife.

Sandoval was initially indicted on 29 charges including bribery and perjury. He ended up admitting in his plea deal to accepting $2,770 in gifts from another contractor, Henry Amigable, and not reporting those gifts on his state-mandated economic disclosure forms.

Jeremy Warren, one of his lawyers, said in court papers that Sandoval accepted responsibility for his acts. He said at the time of the wining and dining Sandoval recently had lost his job at the college in the wake of sexual harassment accusation that he was later cleared of, but he remained a Sweetwater trustee. Warren said he was at a low point in his life when he began being courted by Amigable and others.

In 2010 Sandoval got a new job as an administrator at Moreno Valley College, but resigned from that $151,811 job after his guilty plea in April.

San Ysidro School District wants no mention of cash handoff, burning records or criminal charges in EcoBusiness case

San Ysidro Schools doesn't think opposing attorneys should be allowed to see public records showing how much San Diego County Office of Education has paid to San Ysidro's lawyers for work in the EcoBusniess case. See also story at bottom of this post of punishment of a teacher who called in law enforcement when he saw documents burning in a San Ysidro school dumpster.

See all posts re Manuel Paul.
See all posts re Dan Shinoff.
See all posts labeled San Ysidro School District; also, a few stories are listed under "San Ysidro SD".
See all posts re Ecobusiness or Manzana/Ecobusiness.

MORE EFFORTS TO CONCEAL EVENTS IN SAN YSIDRO SCHOOLS AS CIVIL AND CRIMINAL CASES PROCEED

Our school tax dollars are hard at work in San Ysidro School District where the public is paying lawyers to tell the Superior Court that the burning of district records had nothing to do with a pending $18 million lawsuit about San Ysidro School District's decision to drop a contractor.

Photo: Aaron Burgin, SDUT

San Ysidro's lawyers also told the court that a cash handout from a contractor to Superintendent Manuel Paul sheds no light on how San Ysidro officials make decisions about contractors.

Stutz law firm was chosen by San Diego County Office of Education's Joint Powers Authority, which provides legal liability insurance to schools.

The California Bar Association says that public entity lawyers have no obligation to the public and are only beholden to the public officials they represent. If they are right, as they may well be, perhaps the law needs to be changed.

I think a school district belongs to the people who pay for it and the people for whose benefit it was created, not to the officials and others who have obtained power in its hierarchy.

P.S. I am wondering why the San Diego Union-Tribune laid off Watchdog reporter Aaron Bergin. It probably didn't help when Bergin wrote about another school attorney firm, Fagen Friedman Fulfrost, and its shenanigans at Carlsbad School District. SDUT owner Doug Manchester perhaps decided he had one Watchdog too many.

CNN reports that education attorneys at Lowndes County Schools insist the video they released recently of the day student Kendrick Johnson died is "a raw feed with no edits."

However, forensic video analyst Grant Fredericks says, "(The surveillance video has) been altered in a number of ways, primarily in image quality and likely in dropped information, information loss," he said. "There are also a number of files that are corrupted because they've not been processed correctly and they're not playable. I can't say why they were done that way, but they were not done correctly, and they were not done thoroughly. So we're missing information."

--Maura Larkins



San Ysidro tries to limit testimony
District wants cash handoff, criminal charges excluded from civil matter
By Jeff McDonald
SDUT
Nov. 17, 2013

Manuel Paul, 61, San Ysidro schools superintendent, is accused of filing false documents, perjury, and accepting gifts above state limits Manuel Paul, 61, San Ysidro schools superintendent, is accused of filing false documents, perjury, and accepting gifts above state limits.

Lawyers for the San Ysidro School District filed several motions last week in an $18 million lawsuit over solar installations, attempting to exclude any mention of cash handoffs, burning of district records or criminal charges against officials.

Daniel Shinoff, the attorney defending the South County district in a dispute with EcoBusiness Alliance, asked a judge to bar from the upcoming trial references to former Superintendent Manuel Paul’s admission that he accepted $2,500 in cash from a contractor looking to secure business.

Paul has said the money was for political signs, and the motions also ask the judge to omit references to amended campaign disclosure forms filed by trustees after Paul testified that’s what the money was for.

The district argues that its former superintendent is not involved in the lawsuit.

“First, this is a breach of contract action between the San Ysidro School District and EcoBusiness Alliance,” one motion states. “Manuel Paul is not a party.”

The documents also ask the judge to exclude witnesses and references to an FBI investigation into district business practices and an FBI probe into the burning and shredding of documents on district property in July.

The motions have yet to be ruled on by the judge hearing the suit, in which EcoBusiness Alliance is objecting to the 2012 cancellation of its $18 million contract to install solar power systems at district campuses.

The company is attempting to prove that the contract was canceled in part because officials maintain a “pay to play” culture that awards contracts to vendors who contribute gifts or cash to top district officials. The district rejected that claim, saying the deal fizzled because the company did not act on the agreement.

The attorney representing EcoBusiness Alliance called the motions a ploy and a waste of public funds.

The lawsuit is unrelated to criminal charges filed against Paul and Trustee Yolanda Hernandez, who were among 15 South County educators indicted by the grand jury a year ago on corruption charges. The DA is attempting to prove a pay-to-play atmosphere regarding school construction contracts in South County, at San Ysidro and two other districts.

Hernandez has pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge of filing a false form. Paul has pleaded not guilty to six remaining corruption charges.

The criminal case is scheduled for trial in 2014. The civil suit is expected to go to trial early next year.


MORE EFFORTS TO SILENCE REPORTS OF EVENTS IN SCHOOLS



Did Manuel Paul illegally burn San Ysidro School District papers?
Whistleblower placed on administrative leave
By Susan Luzzaro
San Diego Reader
Aug. 4, 2013

Curious reports continue regarding burned papers retrieved from a burn barrel in the maintenance yard of the San Ysidro School District...

A new twist to the story, however, is that the district has placed the whistleblower on administrative leave.

The sequence of events on July 3 began when a San Ysidro school teacher got a call from his union president who informed him of the possible burning of documents. He called his acquaintance, Art Castanares, one of the owners of EcoAlliance, a solar-power company. EcoAlliance has filed a breach-of-contract suit against the district.

The teacher and Castanares showed up at district headquarters at about the same time and found the burn barrel. They called the FBI and the San Diego police.

“I can’t even have an open burn in my backyard," said the teacher in a recent interview. "It doesn’t look right for someone in the district to be doing this.” The teacher said what appeared to be legal documents were visible among the ashes.

Though the teacher declined to release his name until he meets with his attorney, he worries he is already suffering the consequences of being a whistleblower. The district placed him on administrative leave on Tuesday, July 30...

South Bay judge upholds majority of indictments in pay-to-play

See all posts on South Bay indictments.

South Bay judge upholds majority of indictments in pay-to-play
New charges were dismissed in three South Bay school districts' alleged pay-to-play charges--the bulk still hold
By Susan Luzzaro
San Diego Reader
October 10, 2013

Twenty-two charges were dropped for defendants in a South Bay corruption case during hearings held on October 8 and 9. Twenty charges were dropped by the people, as represented by Deputy District Attorney Leon Schorr, in a pre-trial paring of 232 indictments handed down by the Grand Jury in January 2013.

The case initially became public when high-ranking school officials, trustees, contractors, and a bond salesman linked to South Bay school districts, had their homes or offices raided by the DA's office in 2011. By December 2012, as a result of a broadening investigation, the Grand Jury charged 15 defendants with charges which included perjury, bribery and filing a false statement.

Most charges relate to alleged pay-to-play activity which involved Sweetwater Union High School District's Proposition O for $644 million and Southwestern College's Proposition R for $389 million.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Judge Ana Espana listened to the defendants' attorneys' arguments for additional dismissals; however, in the majority of cases she remained unconvinced.

After the October 9 hearing Schorr commented, "We are very pleased with the outcome of the hearings. Judge Espana's rulings confirm the hard work of the grand jurors and their desire to hold these defendants accountable for their actions."

Two additional charges were dropped for Sweetwater trustee Pearl Quinones following arguments presented by her attorney Marco Carlos, one perjury count and one count for filing a false instrument.

In an October 9 interview Carlos said the charges were dropped because of insufficient evidence. Carlos feels confident that when his defendant comes before a jury, the jury will understand "that my client was doing what every other elected officials does."

Carlos also believes that the former program manager for both Sweetwater's and Southwestern's bond construction, Henry Amigable, who has provided a lot of the testimony on which the charges are based, will prove to be "a weak witness."

Carlos said, "Amigable's memory is horrible, and on direct testimony before 8 or 9 experienced lawyers he will not be able to stand up."

That all politicians do this kind of wining and dining seemed to be a common argument presented by several attorneys.

Paul Pfingst, attorney for former Sweetwater superintendent Jesus Gandara, took issue with the much-publicized lobster dinner that Gandara received--paid for by Amigable. (The lobster was flown in for the occasion and described as "still kicking.")

Pfingst argued that there were no business discussions at the meal and that it was a social occasion and should not be considered bribery.

Schorr countered that the $1,383 dinner at Bacis, which was also attended by Sweetwater's former trustee Greg Sandoval and current trustee Arlie Ricasa, was intentionally lavish to demonstrate "this is how we will take care of you if we are selected."

Schorr also noted that this meal and many others were not disclosed on Gandara's 700 conflict-of-interest form.

Espana did not dismiss the bribery charge. She said that the meal appeared in the context of other meals or events that happened prior to Sweetwater trustees selecting Amigable and his company.

The lobster dinner in question took place in March 2007. The company which Amigable worked for at that time, Gilbane, along with Seville Group Inc. were selected to manage Sweetwater's Proposition O in April 2007. R

Rialto Unified superintendent and deputy placed on leave to make sure investigation of embezzlement is unbiased

Something similar to this happened at my school, Castle Park Elementary. The PTA president embezzled $20,000 but she wasn't charged. The San Diego DA seems to have a special, and odd, relationship with the south county. (So does the media in San Diego.) Stories about embezzlements in other parts of the county are common, but south country seemed to lie in a zone of silence. But while embarrassing embezzlements weren't allowed to roil the waters of Republican school board members like Cheryl Cox, the DA's Public Integrity Unit has focused on Democratic officials in South County.


Rialto Unified School District Superintendent Harold Cebrun, right, denies any criminal wrongdoing during a school board meeting at Preston Elementary School in Rialto on Aug. 14, 2013. He and Deputy Superintendent James Wallace, left, were placed on paid administrative leave... (Rachel Luna/Staff Photographer)

Rialto Unified superintendent and deputy placed on leave
By Beau Yarbrough
The Sun
09/12/13

Schools Superintendent Harold Cebrun has been placed on administrative leave in connection with the investigation into a former district accountant accused of embezzling from the district.

The Rialto Unified school board made the decision in closed session at its meeting Wednesday night.

Cebrun’s chief of staff, Assistant Superintendent of Student Services James Wallace, was also placed on administrative leave.

“The superintendent and the deputy superintendent are on administrative leave with pay,” district spokeswoman Syeda Jafri said Thursday. “The board of education will make its recommendation after the conclusion of the investigation.”

The investigation in question revolves around Judith Oakes, the former Rialto Unified accountant recorded on video stuffing school lunch money into her bra. She was arrested on Aug. 7 on suspicion of embezzlement.

Associate Superintendent of Business Services Mohammad Z. Islam was appointed acting superintendent for the district, according to Jafri.

When reached for comment Thursday evening, Cebrun said he agreed with the board’s decision.

“They wanted the investigation to be fair and clean and, especially if I was around, or Jim was around, the public might think it would be tainted in (some) way,” he said. “No one can say I interfered or offered any barriers to them getting what they needed to do.”

The Rialto Police Department, San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools Office and a private investigation firm hired by the Rialto Unified school board are all conducting audits of Rialto Unified’s Nutrition Services Department.

The board expects to receive the audit from Rancho Cucamonga-based Stewart Investigative Services Inc. in time for its Sept. 25 meeting.

“That’s what we’re waiting for, that next report, to guide us in the right direction,” board President Joe Ayala said. “Then we’ll be in a better position to make a decision.”

At the board’s Aug. 14 meeting, Cebrun hotly denied any involvement in Oakes’ alleged crimes.

“I have not violated any district policy,” he said. “I have not committed a crime, been associated with a crime or had knowledge of a crime.”

No charges had been filed against Oakes as of Thursday afternoon.

The board also voted on independent legal counsel for board members behind closed doors.

“On issues where (the school board) may need guidance and advice on legal issues ... if there are attorneys representing the district, there can be a conflict of interest at times, depending on circumstances,” board member Nancy O’Kelley said Thursday. “It’s very common for boards to have separate legal counsel.”

Cebrun’s absence from the district office isn’t new. He’s been out on bereavement leave since Aug. 21, according to Jafri.



Judith Oakes

Search warrant: Rialto Unified accountant stuffed money in her bra
By Joe Nelson
San Bernardino Sun
08/30/13

A former Rialto Unified School District accountant suspected of stealing thousands of dollars in student lunch money was caught on video surveillance on at least two occasions stuffing large amounts of cash into her bra, according to a search warrant affidavit.

Judith Oakes, 48, resigned from her job as accountant for the school district’s Nutrition Services Department the day after her Aug. 8 arrest on suspicion of grand theft, embezzlement and burglary. Police allege that Oakes had been stealing money from the district since June, possibly longer.

Oakes had worked for the school district for 16 years.

Derek Harris, the school district’s risk manager, called police on Aug. 7 after Oakes’ supervisor, Cindi Stone, told him she saw Oakes on video surveillance on at least two occasions concealing large amounts of cash in her bra, according to the affidavit, filed Wednesday in San Bernardino Superior Court.

Thousands of dollars in student lunch money passed through Oakes’ hands daily as it was collected from district schools and sent to her to inventory and deposit into the district’s bank account. Daily bank deposit slips dating back to June, obtained in the initial stages of the police investigation, noted a discrepancy of $2,000, according to the affidavit.

Oakes had a private office with access to a department-issued desktop computer, according to the search warrant affidavit, but police on Friday said it was premature to suspect Oakes of fudging the Nutrition Services Department’s accounting records.

Rialto police Capt. Randy DeAnda said his team of detectives working the case are awaiting an audit of the Nutrition Services Department from the school district before making that determination.

“We’re hoping to find out if there were any other financial discrepancies,” DeAnda said Friday. “That’s what the forensic audit will reveal — if there are any abnormalities or discrepancies in the accounting in which Judy Oakes would be responsible for.” v The District Attorney’s Office is conducting a forensic audit of its own, and the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools Office announced this week that it too would be conducting an audit of the school district’s Nutrition Services Department.

Police received authorization from Judge John Tomberlin to search Oakes’ San Bernardino home, the Nutrition Services Department and Oakes’ personal banking records at Arrowhead Credit Union, where, according to the search warrant, she has an account for herself and joint accounts with her two sons.

Oakes had a large amount of cash in her possession the day she was arrested, and a subsequent search of her home turned up more cash and other evidence related to her position with the school district, police said.

Police seized from Arrowhead Credit Union a CD containing Oakes’ financial records that could be useful in their investigation, according to the search warrant affidavit.

A police inventory of what was seized during the search of the school district’s Nutrition Services Department remained under seal with the court.

Sweetwater scandal: Ed Brand’s claims contradicted

Sweetwater scandal: Ed Brand’s claims contradicted
Did he or didn’t he ask for $40,000?
By Susan Luzzaro
San Diego Reader
June 2, 2013

On May 30, the U-T published the testimony of Sweetwater Union High School superintendent Ed Brand, given to the San Diego County Grand Jury late last year.

In November–December 2012, the grand jury conducted secret hearings to inquire into the alleged corruption of trustees, administrators, and contractors in three South County school districts. Ultimately, 15 trustees, administrators, and contractors were indicted as a result of the proceedings.

Brand told U-T reporter Aaron Burgin on May 30, “If I knew what I know when they asked me to come back [as superintendent of the Sweetwater school district], I wouldn’t have done it.” (Brand's first stint as superintendent spanned 1995–2005; he returned in 2011.)

Brand also complained to Burgin that there was too much contractor influence in the district and that three trustees had asked him to go to the president of Seville Group Inc, Rene Flores, for campaign donations. (Seville Group Inc, or SGI, managed the district’s $644 million Proposition O bond until January 2012.)

The U-T reported: “He [Brand] said that within the first six to eight days of his arrival, [Bertha] Lopez, [Pearl] Quiñones, and John McCann asked him to solicit campaign donations from SGI President Rene Flores and Jaime Ortiz, the company’s bond manager.”


In the grand jury transcripts, deputy district attorney Leon Schorr asked Brand: “Did you ask him [Flores] on behalf of McCann, [Jim] Cartmill, [Arlie] Ricasa, Quiñones, or Lopez for any contributions?” Brand answers: “No. Never.”

But in another volume of the transcripts that have been officially released to the public (Brand’s were not) Flores tells deputy district attorney Schorr:

“I want to say something very quick. Dr. Brand in December asked me to give an additional $20,000 to both John McCann and Jim Cartmill and I didn’t do it right away during December for tax purposes. And so I didn’t do it. So he suspended us [SGI] without any reason…and subsequent to that there’s been evaluations done and we have been cleared — my company has been cleared of any wrongdoing.”

So, it seems there is a contradiction in the sworn statements.

It's Not the Test That Made Them Cheat

It's ridiculous to say that teachers and administrators in Georgia and elsewhere committed crimes only because they had to give high-stakes tests to students.

The Georgia indictments are, in fact, just the tip of the iceberg of White Chalk Crime in schools.

The indicted educators tried to get rewards that they had no right to, and to take them away from those who deserved them. This happens all the time in schools. It's the reason the education system is failing. The wrong people are in charge of most districts, and too many of the wrong people are teaching kids.

If we had a system for correctly evaluating teachers, like this one, we wouldn't need to test kids so much, and we would save billion dollars a year. We could trust the teachers to do their job, and part of that job is to know exactly what each child knows and how each child learns best. Standardized testing could go back to its original purpose: to make an official determination of which kids are most advanced academically.

It's Not the Test That Made Them Cheat
By Michael J. Feuer
Edweek.org.
April 9, 2013

News came down, or up, earlier this month about the indictment of the former Atlanta schools chief Beverly Hall and 35 other current and former officials for their alleged roles in a massive cheating scandal that has rocked the city for the past three years.

The best coverage of this story is by Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Heather Vogell and her colleagues, whose fine journalism uncovered the muck.

There is nothing good to say about cheating on tests, which, in this extraordinary case, involves allegations of tampering with student answers, racketeering, theft, influencing witnesses, conspiracy, and making false statements. It’s wrong, period, and if Ms. Hall et al. are found guilty, they will hopefully use their time in jail to think about the damage they have caused to the kids, to the system, and to the public’s trust in schools and in the measures we use to gauge their quality.

Still, some of the reactions to the scandal have been surprising, if not scandalous in their own right. The most troubling response comes from people opposed to standardized testing generally and to current federal policy specifically. They somewhat gleefully use this sorry episode as the ultimate smoking gun, the perfect we-told-you-so case that clinches their claims about the evils of testing, and, by extension, the entire reform movement. It’s a big nail, they hope, in the coffin of test-based accountability.

"Shall we excuse individual or group criminality because certain social institutions create pressures for greed and misconduct?"

Among the more remarkable statements is one posted by William C. Ayers on Valerie Strauss’ Washington Post blog. For Bill Ayers, an education professor emeritus from the University of Illinois at Chicago, the Atlanta story proves that “teaching toward a simple standardized measure and relentlessly applying state-administered (but privately developed and quite profitable) tests to determine the ‘outcomes’ both incentivizes cheating and is a worthless proxy for learning.”

Mr. Ayers goes further. Not only does he attribute the alleged cheating to the testing policy, thereby essentially absolving Ms. Hall and her colleagues of their own ethical and professional lapses, but he uses the example to issue a sprawling condemnation of the U.S. Department of Education, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and even the president. As he puts it, “the road to the massive cheating scandal in Atlanta runs right through the White House.”

I have four problems with this logic (echoed in other commentaries, such as Jason Stanford’s bold assertion in the Huffington Post that “high-stakes testing makes cheating inevitable”; and FairTest’s pronouncement in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution op-ed last year that “[t]hese scandals are the predictable result of overreliance on test scores”).

First, shifting the blame for egregious mischief away from the perpetrators and onto the system strikes me as morally and politically bankrupt. Here’s an analogy to consider: Do we react to the worst instances of tax evasion by condemning the concept of taxation rather than by prosecuting the evaders? I assume that Mr. Ayers would not call for abolition of the graduated income tax as a way to finance public goods and redistribute wealth just because the system has its imperfections and because some people lie on their tax returns. Shall we excuse individual or group criminality because certain social institutions create pressures for greed and misconduct? Banking executives accused of fraud will be delighted.

Second, even if one could make an evidence-informed case that testing “inevitably” leads to illegal behavior—as if high-stakes testing overwhelms the human capacity for moral choice—there is the added problem of guilt by association. Pinning the responsibility for the Atlanta disaster on the White House is an extravagant example of misdirected blame. Maybe current federal policies lead to unwanted outcomes, such as narrowing of the curriculum and teaching to the test, but that’s a far cry from the outright fraud of the sort listed in the Atlanta indictment. Nothing in the No Child Left Behind law requires states or districts to use test scores to fire teachers and principals or to protect and reward those who achieve targets by tampering with answer sheets. In any case, there’s no evidence that federal policy causes cheating, or that “cheating is inevitable.”

Third, indicting testing, rather than cheating, undermines the possibility for reform in the design and uses of tests. The compelling logic in Campbell’s Law—“The more any quantitative social indicator is used for social decisionmaking, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures ...” —is supported by abundant empirical evidence on the effects of overreliance on tests for accountability.

But what’s often ignored in the popular frenzy against testing, especially in the wake of cheating scandals, is the benefits side of the argument: Tests can help gauge individual learning, give teachers additional information about their students’ progress, provide objective indicators of student achievement, and expose inequalities in the allocation of educational resources.

We may never be able to completely “overturn” Campbell’s Law, but what’s needed is a sensible approach to assessing the ratio of benefits to costs and to the design of mechanisms meant to keep the ratio strongly positive.

Fourth, it turns out that in Atlanta there were schools, and kids, that actually did improve during Ms. Hall’s tenure, according to data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress. As U.S. Commissioner of Education Statistics Sean P. “Jack” Buckley noted, “There were obviously rampant violations of testing integrity going on there, but there were also schools there that were legitimately improving.”

We shouldn’t allow score gains inflated from cheating to be misconstrued as evidence that any measured improvement in student learning—especially among poor and minority children—must always be the result of cheating or other mischief. This kind of smoking-gun logic saps the morale of educators, parents, and policymakers working in behalf of our most disadvantaged students and provides free ammunition to those who believe investments in public education are essentially futile. Just when we education researchers and social scientists are facing increasingly mean-spirited political challenges to our profession, Bill Ayers’ and others’ evidence-free diatribes further erode public confidence in the credibility of our work. One can only hope that the temptations of guilt by association won’t prevail, and that the research community as a whole won’t be blamed for the shoddy logic of some of its members.

Michael J. Feuer is a professor of education policy, the dean of the graduate school of education and human development at the George Washington University, and president-elect of the National Academy of Education.

South Bay Diners' Club: Is SDCOE any less corrupt than indicted board members?

I suggest that the Reader be more vigilant about nasty personal comments. And I agree with the commenters who say, "Welcome back, Susan Luzzaro!"

See comments below with my notes attached.

Documents hint at Sweetwater board’s diners’ club
High school student investigated 10 years ago
By Susan Luzzaro
San Diego Reader
Jan. 11, 2013

The latest round of indictments handed down by San Diego’s criminal grand jury is so extensive, people wonder if corruption is just another name for South Bay. Fifteen defendants from three separate South Bay school districts, a construction company CEO, and a bond financier face 256 charges.

In the case of the Sweetwater Union High School District board, four current trustees — James Cartmill, Bertha Lopez, Pearl Quiñones, Arlie Ricasa, and former trustee Gregorio Sandoval — will be arraigned on charges on January 30. The district’s former superintendent Jesus Gandara will also be arraigned on that day.

By now many people have read about the lavish meals South Bay trustees and school administrators enjoyed at the contractor’s expense. Given what we know about Sweetwater in particular, maybe it’s time to ask if dining out is endemic to the district culture.

Document--Ed Brand’s calendar, January 29, 2001–February 2, 2002
Document--Ed Brand’s district credit-card receipts, July 2000–October 2003

Well before he was indicted, the U-T was reporting on former superintendent Gandara’s dining habits. According to a May 2011 article, Gandara, before having his district credit card yanked, “had charged more than 300 meals to taxpayers over three years, even though his contract paid him $800 a month for expenses.”

The same article tells us: “Some $12,560 was charged to Gandara's district credit card for 366 meals from November 2007 to March 16, when he stopped using it.

“The most common meal partners for Gandara were members of the school board, who took part in 238 of the meals.

“Trustee Arlie Ricasa dined with the superintendent 92 times, followed by trustee Pearl Quiñones at 49 times. Former trustee Greg Sandoval met with Gandara 41 times, according to the records, while trustee Jim Cartmill met with him 38 times and Bertha Lopez met with him 11 times.

“Newly appointed board member John McCann appears seven times, including once as a Chula Vista councilman before his job on the school board.”

Gandara justified his use of the credit card by saying that without it “community members would have to come to the district office for coffee or water instead of being treated to restaurants.”

Many people in the South Bay wonder why taxpayers pay for administrative offices that are not the setting for business meetings — whether with trustees or contractors.

But Gandara did not invent the fine art of dining out.

In 2002, a Sweetwater student began investigating the district. Gordon Siu was a reporter for his Bonita Vista High School paper. In a January 9 interview, Siu, a 2010 Yale graduate, said he began to get a sense that the district administration “was doing things the wrong way.” It appeared to Siu that “the trend was that these officials were more concerned with making themselves look good than they were with education.”

Before Siu graduated from Bonita Vista in ’06, he put in two public record requests: one for then-superintendent Ed Brand’s calendar and the other for Brand’s credit card receipts spanning 2000–2003. (Brand was superintendent of Sweetwater from 1995–2005. He returned to Sweetwater on the heels of Gandara’s buyout in June 2011.)

When he received the record, Siu was taken aback when he saw that Brand ate out almost every day and sometimes twice a day. Siu wondered: “When did he have time for students and teachers?”

Looking at the South Bay scandal today, Siu commented, “I tried to tell everyone years ago what was going on.”

[Maura Larkins comment: I hear you, Gordon. I tried, too.]


COMMENTS

...oskidoll Jan. 11, 2013 @ 3 p.m.

Perhaps NOW the County Board/Office of Education might pay attention? 15 indictments, including at least 3 for extortion, should certainly bring the South County education establishment messes to the attention of the body that is supposed to oversee operations, especially fiscal matters, of the school districts in their jurisdiction. The next meeting of the [SD]COE will feature the seating of the new representative from District 2, Lyn Nealon. It will be Wednesday, January 23 at 6 p.m. Perhaps she will be more responsive to matters in South County than the prior representative.

By the way, I see an interesting entry in Brand's old calendar: a meeting with Sandoval and Rudy Castruita, the former CEO of the CBOE [also known as SDCOE]. Castruita now pulls down a handsome STRS pension in his retirement, perhaps the highest in the entire county. Seems that Dr. Granger Ward [correction: Randolph Ward], his successor, should be doing something for his pay.

[Maura Larkins note: SDCOE has some issues of its own. Rodger Hartnett's lawsuit included information about the SDCOE Diners Club at the Rancho Bernardo Inn. Many people are alarmed by the actions of Dan Puplava and Diane Crosier. Randy Ward and the SDCOE board allow Crosier to conceal the gifts she receives.]


timtim Jan. 11, 2013 @ 5:49 p.m.

Wow Bertha Lopez indited on 19 counts and Susan writes about Ed Brands lunch schedule from 10 years ago? I smell a Pulitzer for this Hack


angrybirds Jan. 14, 2013 @ 10:25 a.m.

...Hey wow, I think this timtim sounds like McCann or Grossman two Republicans pouting because they didn't get their way in the elections.

[Maura Larkins note: Many Democrats disapprove of corruption on the part of Democrats. I have said for years that Bertha Lopez is corrupt, but I believe that the small-time skimming of these defendants is not the worst kind of corruption in our schools. I would have voted for Lopez if I lived in her district because I think she was the lesser evil.

As for serious corruption, I believe that SDCOE corrupted Lopez (and almost all board members in the county) more than any contractor did.

Guess who helped direct Bertha Lopez' actions when she first became a board member of CVESD?

None other than former and current SUHSD Superintendent ED BRAND!!!

He was on SDCOE's Legal Services Council and was also a regional chair of ACSA, so he is doubly responsible for travesties like the Mary Ann Weegar case in Sweetwater and is also partially responsible for my case at CVESD. I was fired, in part, for filing grievances and a lawsuit. The other part was that I refused to come to work until an investigation was done. Here's how my case started. The "investigation" was never completed.

Why not, Bertha Lopez?

For some reason, the teachers union doesn't like to talk about my case, and, perhaps as a result of that, the Reader won't write about it. The teachers union clearly didn't want an investigation in my case because it would have exposed crimes by Robin Donlan, a friend of CVE President Gina Boyd.

SDCOE's JPA sent instructions to school boards through representatives. One of the instructions is "Deny all claims." Patrick Judd was SDCOE's representative at CVESD when Bertha arrived. Judd, Larry Cunningham and Pamela Smith had control of the board, and Bertha went along with them. Also, CVESD Superintendent Lowell Billings was on the Superintendents' committee that directed how lawsuits would be handled.

White Chalk Crime is the term coined by Karen Horwitz for what is going on in many schools and county boards of education. It seems to be thriving here in Enron by the Sea.]


COMMENTERS ATTACK YOUNG PERSON

[Maura Larkins note: Why does the Reader publish comments attacking a person's height and weight and calling names??? Is anyone at the Reader actually reading the comments?

I am not happy to see teachers and other adults ridiculing a student (timtim) and commenting on his chances of academic success. Why not say something to reach out to him and offer a bit of information that he can absorb with his current mind set? That's what a good teacher would do.

I am appalled that an adult would make fun of a person's size and a teacher would resort to name-calling of students. Appalled, but not at all surprised. It's what I heard in the teachers lounge for decades. Often, these same teachers punish children for bullying behavior. But students report that this bullying by teachers takes place inside classrooms, too. What are kids supposed to take away from such mixed messages?]

Here is a separate Reader article in which supporters of teacher/board member Bertha Lopez verbally attack a young person who wants to be a teacher.

Some of the comments are included here:

timtim Jan. 11, 2013 @ 5:52 p.m.

It was pretty simple....sorry it sailed over your head,and no I am not a learning center packet checker wanna be teacher like the rest of you


Visduh Jan. 11, 2013 @ 9:05 p.m.

Eastlaker, I was waiting for someone to take timtim to task for his poor spelling, poor grammar, lack of punctuation, and generally not knowing the conventions of typing, such as a space after the comma and . . . In a couple previous go-rounds our pal anniej would do that, but you've done it well. If I can get past all the language challenges, timtim seems to be saying...

And, timtim, I'm not a wanna-be teacher (note punctuation), I am a teacher with a heck of a lot better language skills than you will ever have, even it you live a century.


eastlaker Jan. 11, 2013 @ 10:36 p.m. [In the comments in the "Diners Club" article at the top of this post, eastlaker also makes fun of Ed Brand's former girth.]

I guess we will have to add unfamiliarity with the correct use of tense. As in present, past, future, etc.

Pretty sure timtim wouldn't be able to pass the high school exit exam if this is all s/he is capable of.


Visduh Jan. 13, 2013 @ 9:01 p.m.

If timtim doesn't want to take hits for grammar, spelling, punctuation, syntax and a host of other language skills, then he should clean up his act and make his message clear. It isn't just his sloppy typing that misses the mark, it is that his comments seem all but incomprehensible.


jibaro Jan. 14, 2013 @ 4:10 a.m.

Visduh, I think you were my 10th grade English teacher ! :} :} :}

[Visduh has indeed mentioned being a teacher. Jibaro seems to be a subtle, humorous person.]


anniej Jan. 11, 2013 @ 10:24 p.m.

Tim Tim: according to one of your high school teachers you were a puts as a teenager, and have grown up to be an older, even though not bigger putts. Could it be that the net has not been pulled all of the way in? Might there be more fish? Hmmmmmmmmm

[Maura Larkins note: I think it's spelled "putz". I'm not a stickler for precise spelling, but I thought you'd like to know. It's Yiddish.]


jibaro Jan. 12, 2013 @ 4:39 a.m.

Sorry to see Tim Tim taking hits for grammar, spell, etc. Open season for his positions. That having been said, I will note that Dr. Brand does what the majority of the Board allows him to do. Three votes, they all understand three votes on a five member board.


COMMENTERS GLAD THAT SUSAN LUZZARO IS WRITING AGAIN



anniej Jan. 11, 2013 @ 4:20 p.m.

Ms. LUZZARRO: When the South Bay thinks of reporting the news The Reader and you are what we think of. Not sure where you went, hopefully you were having fun, but hip hip hooray YOU ARE BACK!!!!!!!


Visduh Jan. 11, 2013 @ 4:01 p.m.

Susan, we have missed you. When one round of new indictments was announced, I expected a report and there was none. Then the following day five more were indicted, and I was sure you would report. Hope you are back and on the job doing what you do so well, keeping us up to date on this ongoing scandal.


VigilantinCV Jan. 12, 2013 @ 11:28 a.m.

OMG! So glad you are back, Susan Luzzaro. Your voice in the South Bay is invaluable to those of us who want to know the hard facts. Thank you, Susan and The READER.


dbdriver Jan. 11, 2013 @ 8 p.m.

By the way, thank you Susan, for once again bringing such information to light.


erupting Jan. 11, 2013 @ 2:51 p.m.

Out of the mouth of babes as the saying goes. Here is a past student that was aware of the culture of Sweetwater way before any of us. Wow this article is a real eye opener. Brand was feeding at the trough long before Gandara came and longer. Someone told me that he also bought his rental car that we supplied him for the time he was with us at a generous discount. Does anyone know about this? Glad to hear from you Susan Luzzaro.


jibaro Jan. 11, 2013 @ 4:15 p.m.

Susan, great to have you back!


anniej Jan. 11, 2013 @ 4:30 p.m.

Jlbaro: Off topic, but in Ms. Luzzaro's absence I was trolling thru some of her old articles and found I had missed a reply you made to me regarding one of the board members. PLEASE KNOW, my comments were not aimed at you. I was speaking of someone else.


susan Jan. 12, 2013 @ 12:57 p.m.

Gordon Siu, we must admit, was a remarkable student and journalist and continues to contribute to the community. He has his own website which contains other pieces of journalism related to the school district which may interest those who follow the subject. Thanks for your work, Gordon.

UPDATED: Arraignments of fifteen defendants connected with South Bay schools

See all posts regarding South Bay school indictments.

JAN. 23,2013 UPDATE REGARDING SAN YSIDRO SCHOOLS' LAWYERS

TWO UPDATES REGARDING SAN YSIDRO SUPERINTENDENT MANUEL PAUL:

1) Civil lawsuit against the district
Jeff McDonald of the Union-Tribune reports on Jan. 15, 2013: "An $18 million lawsuit against the San Ysidro School District has been pushed back by at least three months because a key witness — Superintendent Manuel Paul — is facing criminal corruption charges.

Judge Steven Denton agreed to the delay after the district’s lawyer said Paul planned to invoke his constitutional right against self-incrimination and refuse to answer any more questions in depositions.

“Mr. Paul has been indicted, and I am informed and believe that the superintendent will be asserting the Fifth Amendment on every question posed,” attorney Arthur Palkowitz wrote in a motion to the judge...

2) San Ysidro school board decisions:
B San Ysidro School District parents forced the school board on Jan. 16, 2013 to reject a plan to pay $100,000 each for Manuel Paul's and Yolanda Hernandez' criminal legal defense. (Of course, Stutz Artiano Shinoff & Holtz is still being paid to work with Mr. Paul regarding the civil case mentioned above.) The board also reversed its Jan. 8, 2013 decision NOT to put Mr. Paul on administrative leave.

ORIGINAL POST REGARDING JANUARY 7, 2013 ARRAIGNMENTS

I was surprised to see ubiquitous school attorney Gil Abed at the criminal court yesterday for the arraignment of fifteen individuals connected with three South Bay school districts.

Lawyers from Mr. Abed's law firm, Stutz Artiano Shinoff & Holtz, generally restrict themselves to the civil courthouse one block west.

Apparently San Ysidro taxpayers were paying Mr. Abed to sit next to San Ysidro Schools Superintendent Manuel Paul, providing moral support. Mr. Paul didn't have to testify, so he didn't need his lawyer to prepare him for testifying. In fact, Mr. Abed is Mr. Paul's civil attorney and wasn't directly involved with the arraignment proceedings.

Channel 10 News reports that the San Ysidro school board has shown remarkable generosity to Mr. Paul recently. Shortly after it was revealed that he'd accepted $2,500 cash from a contractor, they gave him a $10,000 raise! I trust that this isn't hush money. The day after his arraignment, the trustees announced that Mr. Paul's job is safe--for now, at least. Board member Yolanda Hernandez, a fellow defendant of Manuel Paul, was not at the January 8, 2013 board meeting.

The highlight of the event
for me was watching the arraignment
of former CVESD board member, and current Sweetwater Union High School District trustee, Bertha Lopez.
Bertha has provided a continuous stream
of fodder for my blogs for many years. Bertha and her fellow CVESD board members channeled a large number of dollars to Dan Shinoff of Stutz Artiano Shinoff & Holtz for civil court legal work when she was a CVESD board member.

I think that the type of corruption being dealt with in these indictments is penny-ante stuff.  There are much bigger problems that should be dealt with.

The real corruption is not so obvious. It's dressed up in legal language. Judges and juries often let the education establishment get away with running a corrupt system because no one likes to pick on schools.

The things that go on at San Diego County Office of Education are shocking, but no one except Jerry Rindone ever complains about it. SDCOE even approves indemnification of their lawyers, a rare policy that was much criticized when Otay Water District indemnified Jaime Bonilla.

DRAMA OUTSIDE THE COURTROOM

San Ysidro Schools employee Jimmy Delgado provided some drama after the hearing by aggressively pointing his finger in the face of Alex Anguiano, president of Sweetwater Education Association, and threatening to sue him if he said anything untrue about Delgado. Apparently Mr. Delgado was angry that Mr. Anguiano (and the large group of Sweetwater teachers accompanying Mr. Anguiano) were NOT supporting Pearl Quinones. The teachers were quite miffed with the arraigned board members and with former superintendent Jesus Gandara, another defendant.

UPDATE: The San Diego Reader has a video of the last few seconds of the encounter. The Reader reports that Jimmy Delgado heads the Latino Political Action Committee of San Diego, which contributed $1000 to Pearl Quiñones in the last election. Ironically, just a few months ago Jimmy Delgado was in court testifying on behalf of Sweetwater board member John McCann's unsuccessful effort to get a restraining order against parent Stewart Payne. Ed Brand says the taxpayers paid about $2,400 for that effort, but others estimate that the cost was over three times that amount. (See the short account of the TRO hearing at the bottom of this post.) Delgado testified that Payne “...aggressively pointed his finger in McCann’s face.” McCann thought this behavior warranted a restraining order, but the judge did not agree.



Indictments Rain Down Across South Bay
By Wendy Fry
Union-Tribune
Jan 7, 2013

More defendants have been snagged in the District Attorney's corruption probe into South Bay school construction projects.

The San Diego Superior Court docket for Monday lists a 2 p.m. appearance date for 15 defendants in the criminal probe. The corruption investigation has expanded in recent days to include new defendants from those originally charged with criminal complaints last year.

The defendants are current and former school officials, elected trustees, and contractors who did work at San Ysidro schools, the Sweetwater school district and Southwestern College. Many have already entered "not guilty" pleas on prior and identical complaints, including Gandara, Sandoval, Ricasa and Quiñones.

The Grand Jury began meeting in early November in a major "pay-to-play" public corruption case that now stretches across three South Bay school districts.

Prosecutors say the school officials traded their votes on multi-million dollar construction contracts for gifts and other favors.

Those who are scheduled to appear in court to be arraigned on indictments include:

Financier Gary Cabello, 53, who did work at both Southwestern College and Sweetwater. Cabello's home and former offices were raided in May 2012. As an underwriter, Cabello was tasked with calculating the size of the bond measure and the tax rate needed to finance the Sweetwater school district's wish list of building projects. His company, Alta Vista contributed $25,000 to the campaign to get the Sweetwater bond measure approved by voters, and then won a contract underwriting the bond. Cabello later worked for Cabrera Capital Markets, LLC., which had a contract with Southwestern College for financing on Proposition R bond funds. He could not be reached for comment, but his attorney said on Dec. 28 that she had not received any documentation that her client had been indicted by the Grand Jury.

Current Sweetwater trustee Jim Cartmill, the CEO of a nutritional supplement company. Cartmill received a $20,000 campaign contribution from a company doing work with the Sweetwater school district. The donation was allegedly procured by then-Superintendent Dr. Jesus Gandara while Cartmill and Gandara were on a trip to Mexico with others, according to court documents. Current Superintendent Dr. Ed Brand was an investor in Cartmill's company, according to bankruptcy documents with the Securities Exchange Commission. Messages left on Cartmill's voicemail since Dec. 28 have not been returned.

Jeff Flores, the president of Seville Construction Services, a construction firm that won a $2.7 million contract to do work under Southwestern College's Proposition R. Court records show Flores had an inside track working with Southwestern College officials on the project before it was officially bid. Some emails in the court affidavits indicate the contractor was allegedly involved in writing the request for proposals, or bidding documents for the college official. The court records also show he wrote the interview questions for the screening process. Flores' company has released repeated statements about the situation, including: "We believe SCS has operated and acted in good faith throughout our relationship with the (Southwestern College) district, including the termination of an employee a year ago for inappropriate actions that included violation of our corporate code of conduct. We believe the independent actions of individuals previously involved in the program are negatively affecting both organizations and the community.”

Former Sweetwater Superintendent Dr. Jesus Gandara. In 2006, Sweetwater trustees Jim Cartmill and Arlie Ricasa flew to Texas to interview Gandara for a position at the recommendation of the head-hunting firm Hazard, Young and Attea & Associates. His rocky tenure included borrowing bond money to pay off daily general fund expenses; inviting contractors to a "money tree" event for his daughter's bridal shower; hiding PR expenses from the board and a controversial exit strategy under investigation by state pension regulators. Prosecutors say he and several other board members spent night after night at expensive meals, sporting events, and trips, funded by contractors seeking work with the district. He has pleaded not guilty.

Current San Ysidro board member Yolanda Hernandez. Hernandez was the alleged recipient of a $2,500 cash drop-off made by a contractor to the San Ysidro Superintendent Manuel Paul in a restaurant parking lot. She also pays the majority of her campaign funds to a company she owns, according to state documents. She has declined repeated requests for comment.

Sweetwater trustee Bertha Lopez whose home was raided December 2011. Lopez was an early whistleblower, alerting officials to the corruption in the South County school districts. She was re-elected in November to her seat.

San Ysidro Superintendent Manuel Paul is listed in court documents accepting meals from contractors and dining with Sweetwater Superintendent Gandara. He also admitted in a June deposition to accepting thousands in cash from a contractor in a Chula Vista restaurant parking lot.

Sweetwater trustee Pearl Quiñones, 59, was an educator in the San Ysidro School District. Quiñones was also re-elected to her seat in November with strong support from Mayor Bob Filner. The long-time National City resident is listed in court documents for dining at expensive meals and allegedly soliciting a paid position on a state commission in 2006 from a contractor working for the district. She has entered a "not guilty" plea.

Sweetwater trustee Arlie Ricasa, 48, works as an administrator at Southwestern College. Court papers show Ricasa contacted a Sweetwater construction contractor with her college email account to arrange a $3,900 campaign contribution for a state Assembly bid. The contractor, Rene Flores, pleaded "no contest" in April 2012 to a misdemeanor of aiding in the commission of a misdemeanor. Ricasa also asked Flores to fund her daughter's $1,800 trip to the National Young Leaders State Conference, and did not disclose the gift on state-mandated forms, the court records show. She has pleaded not guilty.

Former Sweetwater trustee Greg Sandoval, 58, also worked at Southwestern College as an administrator. He served on the Sweetwater school board for 16 years until 2010. According to court records Sandoval allegedly asked a business development executive working for a Sweetwater district contractor to pay $500 to enter Sandoval's daughter in a Miss South County pageant. The prosecutor's affidavit used to obtain a search warrant at Sandoval's home states Sandoval “had his hand out asking for gifts or donations so often, even employees from SGI remarked that he ‘has no shame.’” He has entered a "not guilty" plea.

Former Southwestern college official Nicholas Alioto, 47, resigned in 2011 amid controversy after the UT San Diego reported on a Napa Valley trip with a construction contractor who weeks later won $4 million work with the district. When the search warrants were served in December 2011, Alioto was found living in the guest house of the Poway home of that contractor. Alioto has entered a "not guilty" plea.

Former Southwestern Superintendent Raj Chopra was brought to Southwestern College in 2007 by the same head-hunting firm that found Gandara for the Sweetwater district. In the wake of state budget woes, Chopra enraged the South Bay community college employees with deep budget cuts. He also presided over the passing of Proposition R, a $389 million bond measure for school construction. There are only scarce mentions of Chopra in the D.A.'s affidavits served in 2011. However, an internal college probe found commingling of funds between the bond campaign and the college's general funds.

Former Southwestern trustee Jorge Dominguez. Dominguez said on Dec. 28 he was unaware he had been indicted by the Grand Jury. He added he declined an invitation to provide testimony during the Grand Jury proceedings, after advice of an attorney.

Former Southwestern trustee Yolanda Salcido. Salcido was a political rival of Dominguez. Her romantic involvement with Southwestern official John Wilson was the subject of a citizen's Grand Jury report several years ago.

Southwestern official John Wilson recommended Seville Construction Services receive the $2.7 million construction management contract in 2009, and then went to work for the company a couple months later.

Last year, three contractors who did work at Southwestern and Sweetwater pleaded to lesser misdemeanor charges and agreed to cooperate with investigators. They were: business development executive Henry Amigable; contractor Rene Flores, and an architect Paul Bunton.


One year ago:

When the Trouble Started for Sweetwater Schools
Rob Davis
Voice of San Diego
January 23, 2012

...investigators have searched the home of Bertha Lopez, a Sweetwater trustee whose husband, Jose, is the Otay Water District's president. They've also searched the homes of two former Southwestern College officials, Nicholas Alioto and John Wilson.

Investigators have interviewed the mayors of Chula Vista and National City, county supervisors and a San Diego city councilman. Jaime Bonilla, another Otay Water District board member, is also mentioned in search warrants; Bertha Lopez and Seville employees had an appointment to dine at his house...

Concerned parents routinely went to board meetings throughout 2009 and 2010, criticizing the board for its oversight of construction spending and for accepting campaign donations from companies working for the district. One parent, Stewart Payne, said he thought the board's behavior was strange enough that he went to the FBI in early 2011. Then he and other parents went to the district attorney.

"I just said: Something's wrong here, I don't know what it is, but something's not making sense," Payne said. "Something was just wrong."


Sweetwater Activist Cleared of Allegations Made by Boardmember
By Susan Luzzaro
San Diego Reader
May 10, 2012

...Jimmy Delgado, an employee of the San Ysidro Elementary School District, provided a witness statement for McCann. According to Delgado, [Stewart] Payne “...aggressively pointed his finger in McCann’s face.” Delgado's description of Payne's gestures agree with Payne’s formal response.

Payne says he backed away from McCann’s advances that night: “I had retreated so far that I could feel other people on my heels…. At this point I became concerned that Mr. [John] McCann was becoming irrational and intending to do me harm. It is at this point that I extended my hand pointing my finger to establish my personal boundary and told him not to come closer or I would protect myself.”

Payne, who defended himself during the May 9 proceedings, said, “Have you ever seen anyone who was going to hit someone with their finger?”

McCann was represented by an attorney at the hearing. According to a May 10 U-T report, “Sweetwater superintendent Ed Brand approved the legal expense. He said the affair may cost the school district around $2,400 in attorney’s fees for McCann.”...

[Maura Larkins note: I've heard other estimates of the amount of money Sweetwater spent to intimidate Mr. Payne in the $8000 to $9000 range. Ed Brand has a habit of spending outrageous sums on lawyers. See articles on Sweetwater lawyer Bonny Garcia] (who appears in documents supporting board member indictments).]