Shadow Cash? Hertzberg Urges Romer to Come Clean

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Wearing no authority but his name and rep as the "education candidate" who failed to beat Jim Hahn in the mayoral primary, Bob Hertzberg has now nailed a bull to the door of the LAUSD.

It seems Hertzberg is demanding that Supt. Roy Romer cough up reports on the names of donors and donations made to Friends of L.A. Schools, Inc. - the near-clandestine non-profit that Romer formed to flack for the district. So far, it's raised $150,000. No news on what precisely the money's supposed to buy ...

The articles of incorporation say the purpose of Friends of L.A. Schools is "to educate and inform the public about the Los Angeles Unified School District, including its programs and facilities."

Romer said he's spent a total of about $70,000 of the $145,000 on his State of the Schools address and related community forums, as well as on a breakfast for schools that had increased their academic achievement scores.

"This is very much what any organization would do to say, Let's have people understand us," Romer said, "and you go to Friends to help us tell the story."

The district has a communications department with a staff of seven and a budget of $862,000, but it was unable to take on anything more than its day-to-day tasks, said Glenn Gritzner, special assistant to Romer.

Romer said he told the school board about the nonprofit organization, but members said they were unclear on the details.

Hertzberg, who campaigned to break up the LAUSD as a way of curing its ills, huffed to the Daily News over the weekend, "This is ridiculous ... the best P.R. you can get is to do your job." Mayor Villaraigosa, meanwhile, hasn't been quoted on his reaction.

Here's the Hertzberg letter in its entirety:

July 11, 2005
The Honorable Roy Romer
Superintendent of Schools
333 S. Beaudry Ave., 24th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90017

RE: PUBLIC RELEASE OF "FRIENDS OF L.A. SCHOOLS" DONORS AND CONTRIBUTIONS

Dear Superintendent Romer:

I am writing to urge you to comply with the spirit of the state Political Reform Act and the Los Angeles City Ethics ordinances by immediately releasing to the public information with respect to donors and contributions made to Friends of L.A. Schools, Inc.

As you are aware, state law requires the disclosure of contributions made at the behest of candidates and elected officials because the public has a right to know who is trying to influence decision-makers.
Although the government code specifically requires candidates and elected officeholders to disclose information on contributions made at their behest, a recent FPPC decision clearly set the standard of
requiring a public official with decision-making authority over public money to do the same.

In May, the Fair Political Practices Commission reached a $95,000 civil settlement with University of California Regent Ward Connerly and his non-profit American Civil Rights Coalition for failure to make
public contributions made to the non-profit corporation. I am attaching a copy of the judgment and stipulation for your review.

In this new political era, where allegations of pay-to-play politics have dominated the public debate, the taxpayers of Los Angeles and the parents of LAUSD children deserve to know who is contributing to a
newly-created public relations committee headed by you, the superintendent. Specifically, the people deserve to know whether contributors to Friends of L.A. Schools are current contractors with the District, or whether your contributors are seeking contracts with the District.

I urge you to follow the inspired lead of our new mayor of Los Angeles, who set the high ethical standard by requiring that contributions made to the L.A.'s BEST after-school program during his inaugural celebration be made public, despite no specific statutory obligation to do so.

Sincerely,

Bob Hertzberg

Romer reveals donors
Building, publishing firms provided bulk of donations
By Naush Boghossian, Los Angeles Daily News
Staff Writer

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Wednesday, July 13, 2005 - The nonprofit organization Superintendent Roy Romer set up to defend Los Angeles Unified's image against political attacks relied almost entirely on contributions from construction firms, textbook publishers and other school contractors, records released Tuesday showed.

Friends of L.A. Schools Inc., which Romer formed in February just days after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his support for plans to break up the district, received single donations of $10,000 from investment bank Goldman Sachs, DMJM building consultants, Turner Construction and publishers Harcourt Inc. and Pearson Education - all of which have contracts totaling millions of dollars with the school district.

Romer defended the more than $146,000 in total donations, which he sought personally, saying his fundraising never influenced LAUSD business.

"I have absolutely no issue of ethics in doing what I'm doing here. I'm clearly representing the district here and I have no hesitancy in going to people for money," Romer said after releasing the list. "I'm not going to skinny down in some hole like I did something wrong."

Still, the list raised questions among a number of political observers.

"It's an ethical question," said Bob Stern, president of the nonpartisan Center for Governmental Studies.

"The question is why are these companies giving? They're giving because they want to curry favor from the school district and by giving money to this fund they will gain an advantage. Decisions are supposed to be based on the merits, not on who's giving to Roy Romer's fund. The perception is that you have to give if you want to receive benefits from the school district - that money has an impact."

Romer said he created the nonprofit to counter "brutal" attacks. In February, mayoral candidate Bob Hertzberg made reform of the LAUSD a major issue in the campaign by calling for breaking up the nation's second-largest school district. Schwarzenegger backed his call and other major candidates proposed their own reform plans, including the city's new mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, who called for direct authority to name school board members.

Romer, the former governor of Colorado and erstwhile head of the Democratic National Committee, said his fundraising was no different than what the governor and mayoral candidates do to get money for their campaigns and their own causes.

"Don't put a standard on a school superintendent that you don't put on everybody else," he said.

Romer does not get involved in awarding contracts, said special assistant to the superintendent Glenn Gritzner.

Romer's office will release by the end of the week a detailed account of the fund expenditures, but the money was spent on the district's State of the Schools address in May and related community forums to get its accomplishments out to the public, Gritzner said.

"There's no correlation between the people who do business with us and whether or not they contribute. What about looking at how many people do business with us that don't contribute," Gritzner said. "It's a perfectly legitimate and understandable effort to communicate more effectively, more often, with a wider group of people."

Kathay Feng, executive director of California Common Cause, said Romer's fund and its activities raise serious ethical and legal questions and should probably be investigated or audited by an outside authority, although she was not certain whether county or state officials would have jurisdiction.

Such organizations are not allowed to advocate for or against candidates, she noted. And they are only allowed to spend 20 percent of their time and resources on issue advocacy.

Because Romer's group was formed during a mayoral campaign, and apparently in response to issues raised by one of the candidates - and at a time when there was no specific legislation or ballot measure proposed - the group stepped into a "gray area" between advocating for issues and advocating for and against candidates, she said.

"As a 501(c)3 (an IRS-designated charitable organization), they're speaking to an issue. Where there is no initiative or something you can point to that is not related to a candidate's race, it makes the 501(c)3's advocacy much more questionable," she said.

"The timing of the creation of the 501(c)3 was at the very moment when we were engaged in a mayoral race, again where no initiative was on the ballot and this was not an issue being discussed outside of the mayoral race, (which) really puts into question whether or not this 501(c)3 legitimately advocated on these issues."

One question that an investigation should examine, she said, is how much of the organization's time and resources were spent on promoting an issue, and whether the group has a life outside of that issue. In other words, did the group cease its activities after the mayoral campaign ended? The law says such groups can only spend 20 percent of their resources on advocacy, she said.

"The problem of somebody who is holding a public service office soliciting money from people who are vendors to that office - that raises serious questions about the ethics of the relationship between the officeholder, Roy Romer, and the vendors," Feng said. "It raises serious concerns for us that there is pay-to-play politics involved."

Hertzberg, who now heads Villaraigosa's transition team, called for full disclosure of the donors.

In a letter to Romer sent late Monday, Hertzberg urged him to "follow the inspired lead of our new mayor of Los Angeles, who set the high ethical standard by requiring that contributions made to the L.A.'s BEST after-school program during his inaugural celebration be made public, despite no specific statutory obligation to do so."

Nonprofits are not required to disclose the names of donors.

"We really need to examine this from a public-policy point of view. Should a superintendent who has power over contracts raise money in this way? These are important questions given the ethical issues that we've been facing in Los Angeles government," Hertzberg said.

Ed Burke, chief of staff for school board member Jon Lauritzen, said the only problem they have with Romer's nonprofit is they were not "in on it in the beginning." Otherwise, they laud Romer's abilities to raise funds for a district that needs it.

"It's not like these companies are going to get something from him because they're already involved with the district. Most of those people believe in what the district is doing and they are people who tend to be friends. It's the board who awards the contract, not the superintendent. We think Romer's strongest point is the fact that he's able to raise funds and do this for the district. He's a good defender and cheerleader for the district."

Naush Boghossian, (818) 713-3722 naush.boghossian@dailynews.com

Friends of L.A. Schools Donors

Here is a list of the contributors to Superintendent Roy Romer's nonprofit agency, formed to promote the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Donor, Connection, Amount

Francie Alexander Unavailable $500

Suellen Atkinson Unavailable $355

Celeste DeCuir Publishing representative, Glencoe/McGraw Hill $500

Chet Foraker Vice president, SRA/McGraw Hill $525

J. Stuart Horsfall President, Sopris West Educational Services $375

Theodore Mayer Unavailable $500

Shirley M. Owens Unavailable $500

Patricia L. Williams Unavailable $1,000

Apple Computer Inc. Computer equipment and curriculum software $10,000

Bovis Lend Lease Inc. Construction and project management $10,000

Cambium Leaning Inc. Instructional materials, services and technology $12,500

CCG/Harris Construction management $10,000

DMJM H+N Architecture, engineering and construction services $10,000

Goldman-Sachs Investment banking and securities $10,000

Harcourt Inc. Educational publisher $10,000

HMC Architects Construction planning and design $10,000

Parsons Corp Construction and engineering $10,000

Pearson Education Educational publisher $10,000

PinnacleOne Inc. Construction and consulting $10,000

Scholastic Inc. Educational publisher $10,000

Time for Kids Time Magazine children's publication and Web site $2,500

Turner Construction Co. Construction $10,000

William J. Yang & Association Provides minority- and women-owned business directories $10,000

Total $146,755

SOURCE: Superintendent Roy Romer; Daily News research

Firms Tied to Schools Gave Money
Charity was created to tout successes in the L.A. district. Romer says he didn't want to use public funds for it. An aide denies any quid pro quo.By Joel Rubin and Cara Mia DiMassa
Times Staff Writers, July 13, 2005

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Los Angeles schools Supt. Roy Romer tapped more than a dozen construction and publishing companies - many of which have business with the school district - to raise money for a public relations effort begun during the mayoral campaign.

Late last year, mayoral candidate and former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg introduced a plan to carve the Los Angeles Unified School District into smaller districts. Other candidates, including former Mayor James K. Hahn and current Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, introduced their own reform plans for the district. In April, Villaraigosa called for the mayor to have "ultimate control and oversight" over the school system.

It was in that environment, Romer said in an interview last weekend, that the decision was made to create the nonprofit Friends of L.A. Schools in February. Romer said he sought private funds to tout the district's accomplishments - including its more than $15-billion campaign to build about 185 more schools by 2012 - and to highlight its success in raising test scores among elementary students.

"Since everybody was talking about LAUSD, we thought we should be very open and available to people to tell the facts about how we were doing," said Romer, the charity's president.

The superintendent said the decision to fund a charity operating independently of the school district was made to avoid spending public funds on the public relations campaign.

"People sometimes criticize you when you want to spend money on communications ... rather than on children," he said. "I thought it was a meritorious thing to do this and not to use public money."

Friends of L.A. Schools has raised $146,755 so far, according to district officials. The district released a list of donors Tuesday. It included Cambium Learning (which gave $12,500), which provides instructional materials; Apple Computer Inc. ($10,000); publisher Harcourt Inc. ($10,000); construction consultant PinnacleOne ($10,000) and publisher McGraw Hill ($7,500).

Other donors include Pearson Education, whose subsidiary, Pearson Digital Learning, distributes the Waterford Early Reading Program, a computer reading program used by some district schools that has been criticized as failing to improve students' skills. Pearson gave the charity $10,000.

Rory DeJohn, vice president and general manager of Turner Construction Co., said his company gave $10,000 in part because of Romer's pledge not to spend any of the school district's nearly $7-billion budget on the public relations campaign. Turner has 12 projects with the district representing up to $191 million in contracts, according to DeJohn and district officials.

The company got a solicitation letter from the charity earlier this year, DeJohn said, describing it as "a contribution request for a public outreach campaign to better inform the community as to what the school district is doing. We think it is a tremendous good that they are doing, and that's why" the company donated, he said.

Glenn Gritzner, special assistant to the superintendent, said that when the charity was established, there was concern among district officials about the appearance of conflicts of interest.

"Any time you turn to the private sector for help, you face these types of questions," he said.

He added that none of the construction firms and education companies that gave to the charity were bidding on district contracts.

Gritzner defended the decision to ask such firms for donations. "These are groups that have benefited from their relationship with the district," he said. "Of course they are going to want to help us. It is not quid pro quo, and it is not inappropriate.... You are going to ask people who are most likely to help. Look at what this district does: We teach kids, and we're building schools."

District officials estimate that of the nearly $150,000 raised so far, about half has been spent. Some was used for banners, invitations, sound and lighting for Romer's state of the schools speech, to bring what one official called "pomp and circumstance" to the annual event. It was held this year at a nearly completed high school in South Los Angeles.

The superintendent asked Hahn and Villaraigosa to attend after they became increasingly vocal about city schools. Hahn attended; Villaraigosa did not.

Other funds were spent on five community discussions throughout the district and a breakfast to acknowledge teachers, parents and administrators at some of the district's high-performing schools.

Gritzner said Romer was not currently soliciting money for Friends of L.A. Schools, in part because the superintendent hopes to build support for a $3.8-billion bond measure that could go on the November ballot.

But Gritzner said Romer might return to fundraising for the charity after the anticipated bond campaign is complete.

This is the first charity that Romer has created to mount a public relations campaign, Gritzner said. Like many districts, L.A. Unified has a private foundation to help pay for such things as student uniforms and academic competitions.


New L.A. schools chief Roy Romer likes revamp plan, but is still . . .; Taking Stock of a Big Job

By Louis Sahagun and Doug Smith
Times Education Writers

Roy Romer was the city's most sought-after public figure last week.

Since being named Tuesday to head the Los Angeles Unified School District, the former Colorado governor has been relentlessly pursued by national and local news media. Determined to set a high standard of accessibility, he made time for them all.

That left little time for briefings with district officials on the problems of building schools, raising test scores and leading a reorganization that goes into effect July 1, the same day he assumes command. Consequently, Romer said, he doesn't begin to have answers to the fundamental questions. He's comfortable answering, "I don't know," and sticks by it no matter how hard he's pushed.

Stocky of build and silver-haired, Romer projects an intensity that belies his 71 years. All the same, there's a grandfatherly touch in his demeanor.

Romer owns a John Deere dealership, and images of machines and transportation provide his most vivid form of expression.

During a one-hour interview Friday with Times reporters Louis Sahagun and Doug Smith, Romer kept a cell phone at hand and answered it several times. The caller was either his wife or one of his seven children, all among the wide circle of family, friends and associates who know the number. He always answers, he said with a shrug. You never know when it's going to be the president.

Question: What will be your strategy for marshaling the land and money needed to build schools for tens of thousands of new students?

Answer: It's a mistake for me to answer that question after two days on the job. I just can't talk about things that are very important unless I am prepared to talk about them. And I haven't been here long enough to be prepared to talk about a strategic plan.

I know the size of the need: 85 buildings by the year 2006, 2005. I know we have some money and there is Option A and Option B, depending on what happens with the state. You may be able to go 45 of them. You may be able to go 65. But you can't build 85.

I know there is a problem of either more year-round schooling until we get that capacity relief, or more year-round schooling even with that capacity relief.

You can think about some options. Can you rent? Can you not rent? Does the Field Act prevent you from doing this? I have not had an opportunity to do that homework. [The Field Act requires that schools meet stringent seismic standards.]

Q: But you're known to shoot from the hip. This week, you suggested installing televisions on school buses so the children could watch educational programs while on their way to and from class.

A: I do have a style when trying to find a better way of doing something. It stimulates others to think about it. I throw out new ideas and throw them out publicly, even at a press conference. That's a little bit risky. But I like mid-course corrections. Put your idea out on the table and say, "What do you think about this?" There's no loss in that. So you throw 10 ideas and nine don't work; try one that works.

Q: Tensions between racial factions have kept the district on edge for a long time. What are your plans to bridge differences between these different groups?

A: I have been scheduled a lot in the last 24 to 48 hours to talk to the press. I have been concerned about not being able to get on the phone and do some contacting that I obviously wanted to do. I am very focused upon not just groups, but also individuals that I think would like to hear from me and get to know me better. And I'd like to get to know them better. And I'm going to schedule that as quick as I can.

Q: Are you comfortable with interim Supt. Ramon C. Cortines' reorganization plan?

A: I agree with the direction of it. First, the decentralization is wise. Second, the shrinking of the central headquarters and making it more of a service agency, rather than the larger organization that it was before, is wise. The emphasis on reading is correct. So I agree with all of those basic essentials.

Now, there's a whole lot to be done in the implementation of that plan. For example, how do you create 11 sub-districts and have the appropriate relationships between the central office and the 11 districts?

Let's give you an illustration of that. As you know, this district is in the process of figuring out how to do properly the retention of students at certain grades who are not up to grade level. Now it's not just retention, but it's intervention and it's prevention. You ought to try to prevent it from happening, but if it does happen, you've got to intervene, and then you have to retain when somebody can't respond to the intervention. Now you can't have 11 different policies for one district. You have to have one policy.

Q: Are you comfortable jumping into that implementation so abruptly?

A: I come in at a very awkward time. It's kind of like you've got this ship that is about to sail out of the harbor. It's been staffed. It's been manned. You're coming along to be the captain and the crew's been chosen. Now, that's not totally accurate because Ray Cortines and the board have said, "Hey, sit in with us on the choice of the 11," and that I will. It is catching a train that is already in motion. You're right. It's a challenge. I just need to go with the flow and we'll catch up with that train.

Q: Do you plan to bring in many of your own people?

A: I very deliberately did not bring in a personal aide. I want everybody to have direct access to me. Rather than to have them go through "Romer's person," I want to see them directly.

Q: There are many issues with the use of the Stanford 9 test to hold teachers and principals accountable. What are your thoughts on accountability?

A: This is one of the most important policy issues that faces the country: The consequences of how tests are used. I believe in accountability. The only way you can have it is with tests.

We are in an area when we need to be very thoughtful. You've got to be wise in the way you use tests. Should we be driven by getting the best scores we can on the state test? That's not my agenda. Clearly that's not my agenda.

I am told the Stanford 9 is not totally aligned with the curriculum. We need to supplement the state requirement with the tools we need to do the educational job.

Q: What kinds of tools are those?

A: At a Saturn plant, you don't wait until the end of the assembly line to tell what a product is going to be like.

Every three months we need to know how a youngster is doing in terms of being up to performance of grade level. If the youngster is not making it, then we need to intervene as soon as possible before the end of the year.

We need a plan for this youngster that's going to bring him or her back up to grade level. That plan could be before school or after school, intersession, or summer school. That plan might be mentoring. That plan might be that teacher doesn't know how to do that job, and we've got to help that teacher do a better job. It may be that child needs to be in a smaller class.

Principals should spend 50% of their time managing the instruction in the classrooms, spend time visiting classrooms and helping teachers.

A principal working with the teachers in that building needs our help to manage the process. Namely, do you have enough time to do what you are being asked to do? Do you have enough training? Do you have the right textbook materials? Do you need coaching?

And you really ought to write a contract with the parents saying, "Hey, this youngster isn't doing it. We're going to do our part. You've got to do your part at home."

I don't know to what degree this is being done here. I think it is something that ought to be done at every school.

Q: The district has a reputation for dealing with poor performance by transferring principals or teachers to other schools. How will you handle that?

A: I have a tolerance for people who are different. For those not getting the job done, I have a very low tolerance.

The dance of the lemons, that just has to stop. That's such a damning indictment of an institution. I will do everything within my power to see that it stops.

It's almost a moral question. Can you leave a person in charge of a school that is not doing a good job and still sleep at night? The same with a teacher.

If there is an individual or group who have demonstrated a lack of interest in doing the job, they have to get out of here, not just transfer them someplace else.

Q: But when there's conflict, it isn't always clear who's at fault.

A: There are ways to determine whether people are doing the job adequately. This is the essential job of management. If I don't have the ability to make a judgment about the management capacity of the person running [my tractor] agency, then I am going to go broke. There are ways to determine who the lemons are.

Did Gov. Roy Romer Celebrate After He Betrayed Colorado?
Published July 7, 1996 in the Denver Post.
Copyright © 1996 by Ed Quillen. All rights reserved.

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Perhaps there was a celebration in our governor's office Wednesday morning when the U.S. Surface Transportation Board approved the merger of the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads.

Gov. Roy Romer supported the merger -- despite a provision in our state constitution which forbids the merger of parallel or competing railroads.

He supported the merger, even though it meant a loss of jobs in Colorado.

The merged UP and SP proposed to abandon two long stretches of track in Colorado. One is the former Missouri Pacific line east from Pueblo to Herington, Kan. The other is the old Denver & Rio Grande Western main line west from Canon City through the Royal Gorge, up the Arkansas River, and across Tennessee Pass.

Think of the major Southern Pacific routes in and near our mountains as a triangle. The west corner is Dotsero, a few miles east of Glenwood Springs. From there the Moffat Tunnel Route goes east to Denver, the north corner. From Denver, the Joint Line goes south to Pueblo. From Pueblo, the Royal Gorge Route goes west to Dotsero.

Romer said that merger or no merger, the Royal Gorge Route was doomed -- "the Southern Pacific has been trying to abandon it for years."

Odd, then, that the SP spent big money along the line a few years ago to expand two tunnels on the west side of Tennessee Pass, so that the enlarged bores could accommodate double-stacked container cars and three-high auto carrier cars that are too high to fit through the Moffat Tunnel.

To be competitive with other railroads, SP needed to haul those large cars between the Bay Area and the Midwest, and so SP needed the Royal Gorge Route.

The SP certainly wasn't trying to abandon it, despite what our governor said. Wednesday, the STB said the Royal Gorge Route is vital -- regulators denied the UP's request to abandon it, even if our governor said it was expendable.

Another Romer stretcher came when there were proposals from other operators interested in acquiring all or part of the SP's "Central Corridor" between Oakland and Kansas City.

The big proposal came from Montana Rail Link, a profitable regional railroad that runs from Billings, Mont., to Sandpoint, Idaho.

MRL wanted to buy tracks from the Bay Area to the Midwest and operate a competing "transcontinental." The plan included the entire former D&RGW system in Colorado, and MRL didn't intend to abandon any of it.

Romer could have supported that. It would have enhanced rail competition in Colorado, and preserved service to all current rail shippers. But apparently Colorado's industrial economy isn't important to Romer -- he'd rather have a hiking trail.

Nor did Romer support Western Rail, a smaller plan from some Midwestern capitalists. It, too, would have preserved service in areas that the UP wanted to abandon.

First, Romer told them that he couldn't endorse their plan unless they demonstrated that they had the capital. They arranged for adequate financing for the $60 million deal.

Then he said he couldn't support any proposal unless he saw an operating plan.

This sounds reasonable on its face, but look a little deeper. SP, which has the tracks now, didn't release any operating information -- locomotive assignments, maintenance equipment, that sort of thing.

MRL had to use D&RGW figures, almost a decade old, and Western Rail pretty much had to build its operating plan from scratch.

Now, move to UP, which has offered BNSF (a product of a merger last year, and the only other big railroad in the West) trackage rights on the Moffat Tunnel Route and on west to California. This will supposedly preserve competition.

But when I called UP and asked if there was a BNSF operating plan for those tracks -- things like crew change locations and locomotive service terminals -- I was told "we'll work that out after the merger."

So there was no operating plan for an important part of the merger -- BNSF access to shippers west of Denver. If Romer thought operating plans were so important, why didn't he demand one from the UP and the BNSF?

Other governors, notably Republican George W. Bush of Texas, somehow found the backbone to oppose the rail merger unless their states were protected from monopoly.

But Romer demanded that potential operators meet standards that he did not impose on his billionaire buddy, Phil Anschutz.

Anschutz currently owns 26 percent of the Southern Pacific, and stands to make about $1.5 billion in the merger -- presumably tax-free, since it involves an exchange of stock. Anschutz bought the SP in 1984 for $1.7 billion. He's since sold about $1.5 billion of its real-estate assets, and he's sold off a lot of the stock.

So Anschutz comes out well. Colorado doesn't. So who does Romer really work for?