Opening statements were made Wednesday in the trial of former Beverly Hills Unified School District Superintendent Jeffrey Hubbard, who is facing three felony misappropriation of public funds charges. Two of the charges stem from Hubbard’s time supervising former BHUSD facilities director Karen Christiansen. She was sentenced last week to four years and four months in prison after being found guilty in November of four felony conflict of interest counts. Hubbard allegedly approved two payments of $10,000 and a $500 car allowance raise for Christiansen without school board consent. He also was charged with authorizing a pay increase to former BHUSD employee Nora Roque in May 2005 without the board’s approval. Superintendent of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District since July 2006, Hubbard has pleaded not guilty to all three charges. Deputy District Attorney Max Huntsman said Wednesday in his opening statement that the evidence would show that the BHUSD board never authorized the three pay increases. “She had a contract that was very specific what her benefits were,” Huntsman said. Christiansen’s contract offered a $150 monthly car allowance, he noted, and any changes to the contract were supposed to be made in writing. Defense attorney Salvatore P. Ciulla said “there was no intent to deceive or be discreet,” and urged the Los Angeles Superior Court jury to “keep an open mind” in the case against his client. Huntsman also told jurors that Hubbard and Christiansen exchanged “flirtatious” messages when they worked together, referring to dozens of emails published last year by The Orange County Register that suggested an intimate relationship between the two. Ciulla acknowledged that some of the emails the onetime colleagues exchanged were “not very professional,” while reiterating that “there was no intimate relationship between the two.” Hubbard would lose his teaching and administrative credentials—and hence his job at NMUSD—if he is found guilty, the Daily Pilot reported Dec. 31. “I am hopeful for a similar outcome with the Hubbard trial as we saw in the Christiansen matter…a conviction on any of the counts will ensure that Hubbard will never be able to take advantage of another district again,” said BHUSD board President Brian Goldberg, who joined the board after Hubbard was hired. “This is a very sad chapter for our district and I hope it will serve as a lesson to future boards about what can happen when board members do not exercise their fiduciary responsibilities to provide oversight of those entrusted with public funds.” This story was compiled with information from City News Service. Be sure to follow Beverly Hills Patch on Twitter and “Like” us on Facebook . Continue reading here: Opening Statements Made in Hubbard Trial
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School Board Update: Goldberg, Margo and Hall Lead, Official Results Still Not Released
Numbers posted by the Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, along with a press release from the office, have incumbent Brian Goldberg, Noah Margo and Lewis Hall poised to take the three available seats on the district’s school board. Margo ran as a write-in candidate. The latest count is as follows: Brian Goldberg—2,170 votes Noah Margo—1,174 votes Lewis Hall—966 votes Frances Bilak—899 votes Andy Licht—746 votes Andy Licht dropped out of the race before election day, though not in time to get his name removed from the ballot. Patch is still waiting for the final vote tally to be announced. A County Clerk spokeswoman told Patch that the final tally was expected between 4-5 p.m. Monday. Be sure to follow Beverly Hills Patch on Twitter and “Like” us on Facebook . View original post here: School Board Update: Goldberg, Margo and Hall Lead, Official Results Still Not Released
BHUSD Increases Efforts to Oppose Subway Route
The Beverly Hills Unified School District’s effort to oppose a subway going under Beverly Hills High School is kicking into gear just as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans additional public forums on the topic. The MTA will hold three “community update” meetings this month, including one Jan. 31 at the Roxbury Park Community Center to discuss work on the final environmental impact report of two possible routes for the Westside Subway Extension. One route would entail tunneling under the high school and the Beverly Hills Unified School District office, while the one favored by the school district and city officials would go under Santa Monica Boulevard. BHUSD officials and many residents feel that the MTA has unofficially decided in favor of the route under the high school because of an alleged fault line under Santa Monica Boulevard. “The Beverly Hills board of education plans to continue to demonstrate that viable alternatives exist and hire our own experts to refute the false seismic claims being advanced by the MTA experts regarding tunneling under the original and locally preferred route, Santa Monica Boulevard,” board Vice President Brian Goldberg said last week in an e-mail to constituents. As part of these efforts, the BHUSD board voted 5-0 on Thursday to hire national law firm Alston + Bird to oppose any decision to tunnel under the high school. Alston + Bird specializes in environmental and land development law, as well as public policy issues, according to its website . The firm has nine offices, including locations in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C. The board is also likely to hire a lobbying firm, President Lisa Korbatov told Patch in an e-mail. Under consideration is Englander Knabe & Allen , the same firm behind efforts to put Measure 2P —a two-hour free parking proposal—on the March ballot. Englander has offices in Los Angeles and also Sacramento, where BHUSD wants state officials to become involved. Meanwhile, the subway issue is becoming front and center in the upcoming City Council elections. All three candidates running for council seats oppose the proposal to tunnel under the high school. Two of the three— Dr. Julian A. Gold and Councilwoman Nancy Krasne —specifically mentioned the issue at their Jan. 9 campaign launches. Patch urges readers to attend one or more of the three upcoming MTA community update meetings. The first is Jan. 24 at LACMA West on the fifth floor, according to the MTA’s website . The next meeting will be Jan. 26 on the third floor of Westwood United Methodist Church, 10497 Wilshire Blvd. The last one will be Jan. 31 at the Roxbury Community Center. The meetings begin at 6 p.m., with the public comment period from 7:15-8 p.m. Those planning to attend the Beverly Hills meeting are advised to get there early, as prior MTA meetings held at Roxbury were so crowded that an overflow room was needed. Read this article: BHUSD Increases Efforts to Oppose Subway Route
