Earl Nissen Letter to Board of Education

To the LCPS Board of Education: The Investigation of Dr. Diaz

I read in the Sun-News this morning that the attorney that is conducting the investigation of Dr. Diaz is Andrew Sanchez from the Cuddy, Kennedy, Albetta and Ives law firm in Santa Fe. If you recall this is the same attorney that gave you the wrong advice on answering to my request for the financial records of the Superintendent’s Discretionary Fund in July 2005. I filed a complaint with the Attorney General because I was denied the records and had to send the Las Cruces Police to get them. The Attorney General on April 4, 2006, ruled against the LCPS because of Andrew Sanchez’s actions and stated “We will maintain the complaint in our files as a matter of public record, and if a pattern and practice of violation is established in the future, the Office may take further action.” This attorney causing this kind of action against you is now the one you are placing in charge of the investigation. This at best is a questionable decision on your part. So I will certainly have some deep concerns about the findings issued by this individual.

I recently requested and received the financial statements for the Superintendent’s Discretionary Fund for the months of July, August and September, 2006. After examining them, I find the same spending for items for the Superintendents office that were present when Mr. Martinez was in office. Apparently there was about $47,237 left from vending machine money on July 1 with $12, 729 more added to the account from vending machines by November 1, 2006.
The purchase orders include :
Administrative Retreat in Cloudcroft: $13,444.79
Speaker for the Retreat: $4,882.16
DAC/SAC Annual Dinner to Kick of the School Year: $3,759.23
Lunch for Hatch School Employees-Aug. 17, 2006: $800
Two office chairs for Supt’s office – Original cost was $395 each but were exchanged for
Chairs at $499 each for a total of $998.00
Many purchase orders for flowers, hospitality items for Supt’s office and School Board meals and central office supplies.
These items represent free spending and should require school board questioning since all these expenses were authorized with Board approval. Again, we must remember that these expenditures were made from school children’s money that went into the vending machines.

While you are investigating things, you might ask the following questions:
1. Did we send Mr. Marsilo to a conference in Phoenix on Sept. 15-17, 2006 with Mr. Gant and Mr. Coker and paid for his expenses before he became an appointed employee? Then we brought him here after the conference as an advisor to the Superintendent. How much did we pay him as a consultant? Are we in any way contributing to his commuting back and forth to Bridgeport until he moves here?
2. Did Sharon Wooden sign a purchase order to approve Dr. Diaz’s expenditures for relocating that exceeded what was allowed in her contract?
3. Why was Dr. Diaz’s per diem for attending the Cloudcroft Retreat for two days reimbursed for $2,223.88?
4. When Jose Martinez from Puerto Rico was hired to be a consultant why was the original agreement for $4,000 increased to $6,667.10?

I would hope that you diagnose these expenditures as free spending and that you have to say that these represent some questionable administrative decisions.

I would like to add that while serving on the interviewing committee for Dr. Diaz that it was not made known to us about the apparent non renewals of her contracts in New York City and Bridgeport and the Bridgeport buy out. As a matter of fact, when our committee had Dr. Diaz explain her stay in Bridgeport she said she left there because she had been a key witness at a corruption trial in Bridgeport resulting in her having police protection for a year. She chose not to continue there under those circumstances. If she were bought out her version of leaving there doesn’t coincide with the news articles from Bridgeport.

I feel we should get our $48,000 back from the consultant since we did not get all the information on Dr. Diaz as a candidate.

Please bring this to closure next Monday so the district can get its sanity back.

Dr. Earl Nissen