Background:
In June, the two Board members without conflicts of
interest were supposed to negotiate the superintendent’s new contract.
Mr. Quatrone wanted to select his own negotiations
committee. He wanted members with
conflicts of interest. He wanted members whose relatives work under him. He wanted to use “doctrine of necessity” to
allow those members to negotiate. This
was never done before and was at odds with past Board practice. The Board Attorney gave her opinion that she
was in support of it. Five Board members
with conflicts of interest supported it.
At the June meeting, Mr. Qutatrone had some union
activists cheering him on as he was trying to break the rules. At one point, I told them they didn’t
understand what they were cheering. They
booed me.
If they had their way, Mr. Quatrone would have
selected his own negotiations committee and he would have written his own
contract (just like he has always done).
Three Board members knew that rules were being
violated and spoke up. Those members
were Al Mastrofilipo Jr., Jeff Telep, and myself.
I and Al Mastrofilipo submitted a question to the SEC seeking an
advisory opinion.
Click below to view that question:
The SEC agreed with us and disagreed with Mr. Quatrone
and Ms. DiChiara.
Click on the link below to view the advisory opinion
dated October 31, 2017:
What drove them to break the rules? Money!
What they did was shameful. These parties weren’t putting “children first”. They were putting paychecks first.
In the real world, employees don’t choose their own bosses
and write their own contracts.
The parties involved tried to take advantage of the
Lodi taxpayers. The only thing that stopped
them was three Board members.
This is the first thing the “machine” candidates
released for their campaign: “It is our
job to stand behind the Superintendent of Schools and trust his or her
judgement and recommendations. Current board members talk negatively about
those that they were elected to serve.”
The Superintendent was wrong in this case. He has been wrong in many cases. It is the Board’s job to protect the Lodi
taxpayers when the superintendent is wrong.
Because the Superintendent would not negotiate with the two members without conflicts of interest, the district lost points on its QSAC score.
A 100% conflicted Board will lead to complete chaos and lawlessness.
Because the Superintendent would not negotiate with the two members without conflicts of interest, the district lost points on its QSAC score.
A 100% conflicted Board will lead to complete chaos and lawlessness.
