14 of 14. Board Elections:

How could a board have been so in step during Donofrio’s 12 year tenure so as to continually heap benefits on one individual? Why didn’t any board members take a stand against this ongoing salary fiasco? A review of how its members came to serve on this board might provide some answers.

Although a publicly elected board, in reviewing the history and tenure of the current board members, we find an unusual trend; The majority of the board has never run a contested election. Rather, what has instead happened is that an existing board member has stepped down mid-term, giving the board the opportunity to appoint a new member who (just coincidentally) has immediately fallen into lockstep with the board’s decisions.

With the majority of other public agencies, when a mid term opening has come up, announcements are made to the public with the intent of publicizing the opening, encouraging any interested parties to step up. With this district board no such announcements are made, no community forums are held, no survey is sent out to district taxpayers asking their input or suggestions, no public call for interested parties to step up. Nothing. Whether by coincidence or design, the board has simply selected the next board member based on their own personal criteria. This trend is unhealthy at best, and dangerous at worst. If a board has an agenda that they wish to be carried out, such an approach provides every opportunity to do so.

What has this approach brought about for taxpayers in this district? The worst possible result. It has set up a culture that allowed for no fresh perspectives, no difference of opinion. It perpetuates the status quo at the expense of taxpayers.

Why was there no single person on this board which questioned the out of control salary and benefits, particularly after it reached such extraordinary heights?  Why didn’t the elected ward representative ask their constituents for input? Why did no one on the board have the courage to stand up and say enough is enough? If they didn’t think it was excessive, shame on them, they certainly weren’t doing their job of properly representing taxpayers. If they knew it was wrong and chose to do nothing about it, shame on us for not taking action to throw out that individual. If they did feel it might have been excessive, why didn’t any member of the board suggest, at the minimum, that it would be appropriate to freeze this salary, instead of heaping on yet additional annual increases, retroactive benefits and unwarranted bonuses? Did they not realize this could be done? Did they also forget that his contract allowed them to release him without cause?

They not only did nothing, at every turn they expanded the damage by continuing to heap on more benefits.  This board’s actions have served the interests of Donofrio at the expense of the taxpayers. Should the public share some of the responsibility for this culture to have taken shape? Without question, yes. Shame on us for not realizing what has been happening for years, and not encouraging fiscally responsible members of the public to run for office. As it turns out, part of the reason this never happened was that the district took pains to shelter much of the damaging information regarding its decisions, even from its most senior employees.

Case in point: The actual Donofrio contract.

Until it was requested under the Public Records Act, the only person who had ever seen the contract aside from the board (and of course Donofrio), was the attorney for the district, who was asked to be the custodian of the document. Even the Finance and Administrative Services Manager had never seen the contract. This doesn’t suggest that the contract was hidden from the public, since the existence of the contract was required to be disclosed, only that great pains were taken to keep its profile as low as possible.