UNRULY BTF REVENUE SCENARIO #1: GET DON KING! WE NEED A PROMOTER!

Friday, March 11, 2005

The audit doesn’t look good. A history of fiscal mismanagement seems endemic. The parcel tax didn’t pass. 136.8 jobs lie in the balance. The time is right to . . . file a lawsuit against your colleagues? That’s the surprise announcement Trustee Patricia Martinez-Roach made public at the December board meeting, prompting Trustee George Shirakawa to call Martinez-Roach an ?embarrassment? to the community. And in spite of a bleak budget crisis and a state takeover looming on the horizon, internal fights and personal vendettas are crippling a governing body in dire need of leadership.

The conflict arose after the November election, when Board members reconvened for the first closed session to determine 2005’s Board officers. Though Hererra was chosen as president, Martinez-Roach appears to believe that Hererra and Shirakawa conspired to keep her from the largely ceremonial office.

And she might be right. When the initial list of officers was released in December, Martinez-Roach was designated the clerk, and newcomer Lan Nguyen was appointed to represent the ESUHSD as the state school board organization delegate. Mann, having survived the election largely due to ballot placement and the laws of incumbent theory, failed to receive an appointment. Martinez-Roach alluded to Mann’s lack of a position in her surprise statement. Following the meeting, the state Board rep position was taken from Nguyen and given to Mann. (Editor’s note: Does this mean Craig Mann gets to attend another conference on the district’s dime? In case you forgot, remind yourself here: www.metroactive.com)

If backroom politicking dominated the selection of board officers, the strategies in play were not necessarily misguided or self-serving. Some members of the Board recognized they had tough times ahead, and they knew they needed a leader who would inspire confidence in all of the stakeholders. Given the track records of the other three incumbents, for most political insiders, including an unruly informant, Herrera was the logical choice. He has the most history with the Board and good standing with the community at large. Nor is he a polarizing figure, unlike Mann. Nguyen is obviously a school board novice. Shirakawa’s greatest strength seems to be recognizing his own limitations; he didn’t want the presidency. While Martinez-Roach has a strong track record with labor groups and other stakeholders, past controversial decisions and her convoluted political history (she is one of San Jose’s perennial candidates, having run for—and lost—a number of local and state elections) do not inspire confidence.

Roach wanted the presidency. Mann might have leaned that direction, but given the on-going public scrutiny, odds are he also wanted a lower profile in the coming year. For certain, the November election altered the balance of power on the Board. The rumored 3-2 closed session decision that initially put Zendejas into power had shifted, and as Team Unruly notes in the “editorial” section, Lan Nguyen won a seat on the Board despite being singled out as the “worst candidate” by the Mercury News simply because he did not unequivocally support Zendejas. That power shift gave Herrera and Shirakawa an edge to deal not only with the budget crisis, but to also curb the eroding morale problem and stifle the self-promoting politics that has dominated Board policy over the previous four years.

How the Board will deal with the morale question over the coming months will be critical, perhaps more critical than the budget crisis. But to buy out Zendejas’ contract would require at least two of the four Board members who hired her to admit they made a mistake. A profound act of that nature takes a level of courage and humility the East Side trustees have failed to demonstrate. They seem to have no problem publicly airing their dirty laundry though, even in light of the worst financial crisis the district has ever faced.

The best part of the fight? Not only did Roach threaten her Board colleagues with a lawsuit, she requested that the Board cover all of her legal expenses!