Banning School Board Candidates Discuss Nepotism, Conflicts of Interest

Seven candidates are vying for three seats on the Banning Unified School District board in the Nov. 8 elections.

The district is one of the largest employers in the San Gorgonio Pass, with about 450 employees, and a current budget between $35 million and $37 million.

The seven hopefuls are Alfredo Andrade, Alex Cassadas, Ray Curtis, Deborah Dukes, Larry Ellis, Maxine Israel, and David Vanden Heuvel.

The candidates appeared at a forum Sunday afternoon at First Missionary Baptist Church in east Banning, where the forum was moderated by Banning teacher Troy Sheldon.

Sheldon asked the candidates a total of seven questions or prompts. For a report on the first prompt and candidates' responses, click .

For the second question Sunday, each candidate was asked to define "conflict or interest" and "nepotism," and to express their views on each.

Ellis, a retired science teacher, was selected to respond first:

"Conflict of interest, that of course, is always a problem, because we give the representation, we don't get what people were voted there to do. And that of course hurts our city and it hurts everyone else that is outside that conflict, or is in that particular clique or group.

"So obviously I'm opposed to conflict of interest.

"Nepotism, hiring of one's friends or relatives and so forth, seems to be happening. I've only heard in roundabout ways and that, you know, we've had nepotism in Banning for a long time.

"Some people have hired their family members and they were excellent employees. Others have, and they haven't been. To say against it I would think it would depend on the job. If they were the most qualified they obviously shouldn't be eliminated.

"But if they're not the most qualified and they're being hired, then we have a true problem. And it shouldn't be occurring, and we need to look at our hiring practices and that if that is occurring. My time's up. Thank you."

Andrade, a "para educator" or paraprofessional school employee, responded:

"I oppose conflict of interest. . . . People need to understand that if there's something conflicting with our interests we need to step aside and make sure we don't vote on that issue.

"When it comes to nepotism I oppose it as well. The hiring practices are in place in order to hire the best-qualified individual for any position. So we need to make sure that you know we're not hiring our family, we're not, we're not taking part in the nepotism.

"So we need to make sure to stop that, period. It shouldn't happen, at all."

Israel, a parent, responded:

"Conflict of interest, automatically step aside. You're only going to hurt yourself, or you're going to hurt what your interest is, the part that is your interest. It's wrong.

"I can't say that other word. Nepotism. I'm sorry. It's wrong. We should not be going out and hiring family members because . . . we need to do what's right for the kids."

Curtis, a retired administrator, responded:

"As long as those two items are listed up for discussion, they should not be tolerated. Board policy should be in place to not allow conflicts of interest or nepotism.

"If it is not in place, shame on the board of education. If it is in place and the board of education has violated that, shame on the board of education and the superintendent. That should not happen.

"Appearance in employment and hiring is crucial to build trust and pride and wanting to work for an organization. If you work your tail off and all of a sudden you get passed over because you are not friends or an acquaintance with someone in a supervisory position, that spreads like wildfire throughout the organization and that is not good.

"Every one of our employees goes the extra mile for kids, and if we have any hint of conflict of interest or nepotism, you are down, down, down. And when that goes down, test scores go down, and the whole morale goes down.

"We're all in this together, and we need to pull together to make things work. Conflict of interest, nepostism, the board sets policy, and they need to enforce the policy, and if they're violating the policy remove them."

Dukes, an incumbent Banning Unified School District board member and its current president, responded:

"Conflict of interest I think is not good at all and everyone here has said the same thing. It is not acceptable.

"If a board member is there and the reason they're there conflicts with the reason that they're supposed to there, I think too that that board member should be removed.

"It breaks my heart when a board member would say, 'Oh I gotta see how this affects me,' compared with how this affects kids.

"Nepotism. I don't think it's right. I believe we should be hiring people on their merits. However in Banning, there's a tradition of nepotism here. It's been here for years. It didn't just start in the last four years."

Cassadas, a child care worker, responded:

"My point of view on nepotism is of course it should not happen and as a board member I would make this promise, that I would try to be objective as much as possible. If I knew a person or if I went to school with him, because we live in this community, we know a lot of people, so it's hard to act that way and it's hard to show that even though this may be your best friend, you still have to be objective because you have been appointed by the people. You're supposed to represent the people.

"And as a school board member we're not supposed to do that. We're supposed to not make any bonus for anybody that we know. And I would stand firmly and speak against anybody who would vote or who was making a vote for anybody that they did know.

"And hat's why I say when conflict of interest does occur we have to stay out and publicize this, because we are not trying to hide anything here. As a school board member, we're supposed to be transparent with the community, and we're supposed to be very open and not try and hide something negative within our community because when you elect me, I'm a different conduit to how you want me to go.

"I want to hear your opinion and if there's something going wrong I would let you know. That's my duty as a school board member is to keep you informed, keep everything transparent, to show you when there is conflict of interest or nepostism and to show how we actually fix that issue. That's what I would do as school board member."

Vanden Heuvel, a retired teacher, responded:

"Conflict of interest needs to be carefully watched. Contracts for friends and family need to be above board and very clear. I've heard vague things . . . but I'm not going to get into that.

"Nepotism was one of Martin Luther's main sins, this is the church, one of his main sins against the Catholic Church at that time was nepotism, hiring your brother.

"What we need to have is openness, so we know about these, when somebody's got a contract with a plumber, we need to know about in advance that so we can make a decision.

"The reason you want me on the board of trustees is so I can watch out for that. You need somebody to watch out for that stuff. We have policies.

"The fact that nepotism goes beyond the last four years is not an excuse for the last four years. For the last four years nepotism's been going on. It's time to stop it.

"Ok, the problem with conflicts is not always clear. I'm with Marvin Gaye. 'Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see.'

"Ok, so I'm against conflict of interest where it interferes with things, but I think that it shouldn't be against the rules that just because one person works for the district that nobody from that family can work in the district.

"What you need to have is openness, so you know what the connections are. Then you can make a rational decision. Not just letting it slide in, like it appears it's been going on. Thanks."

The Banning Teachers Association, the union that represents more than 200 teachers in the Banning Unified School District, has endorsed Cassadas, Curtis, and Ellis.

Banning Unified School District serves about 5,000 students in a 300-square-mile area, from kindergarten through 12th grade, according to the district's web site.

The district includes four elementary schools, two middle schools, one comprehensive high school, and one continuation high school.

The Banning Unified School District board is responsible for hiring the district superintendent, holding regularly scheduled meetings to conduct the business of the district, approving employment and termination of district personnel, and approving the district budget, the district web site states.

The revised district budget as of Sept. 2, 2011, was between $35 million and $37 million, which included total projected revenues of $35,005,383, total projected expenditures of $36,717,196, and a deficit of $1,711,813, according to board meeting minutes.

Stay with Banning-Beaumont Patch this week for more from the candidates' forum Sunday at First Missionary Baptist Church.

The next scheduled forum is 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26, at Johnny Russo's Italian Kitchen, 1335 W. Ramsey St., Banning.