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By Eduardo Rueda
taken to jail after sentencing in 2014
The Sweetwater Union High School District approved two legal settlements at a special board meeting Thursday that will bring the District $8.5 million and end the last remaining lawsuits stemming from a 2012 corruption scandal that led to 15 indictments.
The settlements resolve a series of lawsuits and cross complaints involving contractors that participated in what prosecutors called a “pay-to-play” scheme that led to the prosecution of several school board members, contractors, and then-Superintendent Jesus Gandara.
The District sued several contractors in 2014 to invalidate their contracts and demanded more than $14 million in refunds, claiming the contracts were illegal because they were awarded through the contractors’ use of campaign contributions and illegal gifts to school board members which violated state law.
Former Contractor Runs for Sweetwater School Board
By Alberto Garcia
The contractor that helped expose a corrupt “pay-to-play” culture at Sweetwater school district is now a candidate himself for a seat on the Board.
Hector Romero, who along with his company HAR Construction, sued the District in September 2011, claimed he was the victim of extortion by school board members and then-Superintendent Jesus Gandara.
In 2011, Romero turned over documents that helped District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis investigate and then charge 18 school officials and contractors from Sweetwater, San Ysidro school district, & Southwestern College. Every one of the defendants eventually pled guilty to a range of charges.
Sweetwater Union High School Distric
t (SUHSD) has agreed to settle a five-year lawsuit with a contractor that claimed his contracts were wrongfully terminated in retaliation for not giving political contributions to a school board member.
The multimillion-dollar settlement was reached with HAR Construction, and its principal, Hector Romero, more than five years after his contracts to build two schools were abruptly cancelled in 2011. Romero claimed he was wrongfully terminated when he refused to participate in a “pay-to-play” scheme that existed at the time.
“HAR Construction is pleased with the settlement,” Romero said after the Board’s vote on Monday night. “We thank the new board and administration for their changed approach and constructive efforts to resolve this matter in a fair and equitable way,” Romero added.
will encourage banks to look for more profitable options beyond the ecb. international energy agency says the global economic slow down can put a lid on oil prices but cautions there s a risk that nasty supply surprises could ignite a market rally. news this morning that the new york fed will release libor documents. that s coming up tomorrow. central bank official says the information will show that the regional fed bank could prompt action four years ago to highlight problems with the benchmark interest rate and press for reform. the new york fed may have discussed problems setting libor with barclays possibly as far back as 2007. congressman requested a transcript of those conversation between the fed and british bank. now back to joe. we should bring the clock up but initially as long as we have it it should be for simpson-bowles until warren buffett. agree with that plan. then when they are done the next big thing will be jpmorgan. up until 8:00, we have one cloc