Romer Relents, Releases List

Whether due to public pressure or just seeing the writing on the wall, Romer released the list of people who have contributed to his secret non-profit formed in the middle of the Mayoral campaign to fight back calls from Hertzberg to bust up LAUSD. Both the Daily News and LA Times have stories this morning.

While it was noble to release the list, his arrogance is going to kill him. Here are some of the better excerpts with a little commentary from both stories.

Daily News -- "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."
- Then why hide it?

Daily News -- "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."
-Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

Daily News -- 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.
- We did apply the standard to everyone else. Ask Hahn about it.

Daily News -- 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."
- Call your lawyers. This isn't going to end well.

Daily News -- "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."
- The money phrase is "pay-to-play"

Daily News -- 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.
-Swift move. Admit you would have done the same shady dealings. I can see that quote in the mailer already against Lauritzen

LA Times -- "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.
-Ahhhh. Openness. That's why you hid this for so long, right?

LA Times -- 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.
- That's why you shouldn't hide it. And yes, they weren't bidding because they already have them. Don't those need to get renewed at some point?

LA Times -- 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."
- Key phrase "These are groups that have benefited from their relationship with the district". Imagine that.

LA Times -- 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.
- Right. Because LAUSD's standing is held so high now-a-days. No need for that extra PR.

LA Times -- 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.
-It is also going to be his last...

Not wanting to miss an angle, where was the School Board through all of this? Either A) they had no idea and aren't doing there jobs, or B) knew about it and didn't say anything, participating in the shady dealings. Either way, it can't look good for a certain ex-president who happens to be running for another office.