The facts are quite clear; Gloria Mercado-Fortine is an elected board member of the Hart School District and she is employed as the Vice President of Education for the Desert Sands Public Charter School in the Antelope Valley. The Desert Sands School serves as an “umbrella” organization for several charter schools across various school districts including the Mission View Charter School which is chartered by and operating within the boundaries of the William S. Hart School District here in the Santa Clarita Valley.
The California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) ruled in a letter to Hart School District Superintendent Robert R. Challinor that “any income received from a charter school is not “income” within the meaning of the Act because the school is a local government agency and compensation from a local government agency is not “income” under the Act.”
Further, the FPPC cited the Act’s conflict-of-interest provisions which apply only to conflicts of interest arising from certain enumerated economic interest. The FPPC listed the provisions as follows:
- A public official has an economic interest in a business entity in which he or she has a direct or indirect investment of $2,000 or more. (Section 87103 (a); Regulation 18703.1(a).) Hart School Board member Gloria Mercado-Fortine appears to not have an ownership in the charter schools that we are aware of from our review.
- A public official has economic interest in a business entity in which he or she is a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee, or holds any position of management. (Section 87103(d); Regulation 18703.1(b).) Hart School Board member Gloria Mercado-Fortine is an employee of Desert Sands Charter School, the “umbrella” organization to the Mission View Charter School in the Hart School District, and apparently receives approximately $185,000 annually salary plus bonuses which takes her compensation north of $200,000 a year. Would that be considered “economic interest”?
- A public official has an economic interest in real property in which he or she has a direct or indirect interest $2,000 or more. (Section 87103(b); Regulation 18703.2.) Hart School Board member Gloria Mercado-Fortine does not have an interest in real property in the charter schools that we are aware of from our review.
- An official has an economic interest in any source of income, including promised income, totaling $500 or more within 12 months prior to the decision. (Section 87103(c); Regulation 18703.3.) Hart School Board member Gloria Mercado-Fortine is an employee of Desert Sands Charter School, the “umbrella” organization to the Mission View Charter School in the Hart School District, apparently receives approximately $185,000 annually salary plus bonuses which takes her compensation north of $200,000 a year. Is a bonus promised income?
- A public official has an economic interest in any source of gifts to him or her if the gifts total $420 or more with 12 months prior to the decision. (Section 87103(e); Regulation 18703.4.) Hart School Board member Gloria Mercado-Fortine is an employee of Desert Sands Charter School, the “umbrella” organization to the Mission View Charter School in the Hart School District. Could annual bonuses be considered by some gifts from the employer for performance on the job?
- A public official has an economic interest in his or her personal expenses, income, assets, or liabilities, as well as those of his or her immediate family. This commonly referred to as the “personal financial effects” rule. (Section 87103; Regulation 18703.5.) Hart School Board member Gloria Mercado-Fortine is an employee of Desert Sands Charter School, the “umbrella” organization to the Mission View Charter School in the Hart School District. She votes on matters at the Hart School Board that can have a material effect on her employer the owner of the Mission View charters school; i.e. how many children the charter schools can accept which equates to revenue for the charter schools, revoke or renew the charters for Mission View, etc. Could these decisions have a “personal financial effects” on her?
Yet under the Act the compensation that Hart School Board Member Gloria Mercado-Fortine receives from the Desert Sands School as Vice President of Education is not technically considered income under the definition of this particular State Act. So if the Act did consider the compensation “income” then she would have been found to have a conflict of interest and in violation of the state statute.
This harkens back to the Clinton Presidency and what the definition of “is” is. As one individual close to the Hart School Board said; “This is Twilight Zone stuff!” It’s no wonder why this matter is still being hotly debated and why there has been a call for a legal opinion from the California State Attorney General.
California Sate Senator Tony Strickland, 19th District, has sent a letter to Supervising Deputy Attorney General Ms. Susan Lee asking for a legal opinion regarding conflicts of interest provisions and employment within a school district. Strickland wants to know if; “A member of the school district’s governing board is employed by and receives monetary compensation from a charter school authorized by another school district. The two charter schools are economically related by the fact they move funds between each other in order to assist with operating expenditures and have the ability to control or significantly influence the management and operating policies of each other.”
The crux of Strickland’s letter asks some very important and common sense questions:
- Does Government Code Section 1090 prohibit the school district board from taking action related to its authorized charter school? If the school board itself is not prevented by Section 1090 from deliberation and action related to its authorized charter school, may the board member who is employed by the other school participate in such deliberation and action?
- Does the Political Reform Act of 1974 prohibit the board member, who is employed by the other charter school, from participating in an action taken by the school district board regarding its authorized charter school?
- Is it a violation of Government Code Section 1126 for a school board to be employed by a charter school that is economically related to a charter school authorized by and operating within the jurisdictional boundaries of the school district of which the individual is a board member?
The bottom-line here is that there are serious questions that have been raised and still appear to be unanswered about the possible conflicts of interest by Hart School Board Member Gloria Mercado-Fortine. So much so that Mrs. Mercado-Fortine should acknowledge the fact that this issue doesn’t pass the common sense smell test for the average person; to many there is clearly an appearance of a conflict-of-interest.
As I wrote last week, there seems to be a deterioration of the moral compass of some individuals in which they either flagrantly disregard the rules or skirt them on technicalities. I am of the mind that everyone one should fully disclose relationships that could have or could appear to have a conflict or interest. That is only fair and honest!
The State of California needs to revisit the definition of “income” as it pertains to the conflicts-of-interests statutes since the Political Reform Act of 1974 was enacted before there ever were any charter schools. (According to Wikipedia; Minnesota was the first state to pass a charter school law in 1991. California was second, in 1992. As of 2009, 41 states and the District of Columbia have charter school laws.) The fact that FPPC is ruling that Gloria Mercado-Fortine’s salary from the Desert Sands charter school is not income is pure folly and is nothing more than a microcosm of our mismanaged and ridiculously over-regulated State.
As for Mrs. Mercado-Fortine, she should fully disclose her employment and any other relationships with the Desert Sands & Mission View Charter Schools. She also needs to either recuse herself from any Hart School Board deliberations and/or votes in relation to those Charter Schools, which she appears to have done in the past, or she should resign from the William S. Hart School Board. It’s time for her to do the right thing and put these recurring ethical questions to rest once and for all.
Now, more than ever, we need openness, honesty and integrity from our elected officials. We sure as hell aren’t getting much in Washington D.C. but at the very least we can push for it in our local community and school districts! We’ve got to start someplace!!
Dave Bossert- Commentary
Dave Bossert is a community volunteer who serves on a number of boards and councils. His commentaries represent his own opinions and not necessarily the views of any organization he may be affiliated with or those of the West Ranch Beacon.