LOS ANGELES – A former school superintendent is in court next week for a pre-trial hearing related to charges stemming from his inflating his salary and benefits without full disclosure to the school board.
Jose Fernandez was denied a motion to dismiss charges against him citing the statute of limitations had expired.
Fernandez is ordered to stand trial on nine felony counts, including embezzlement and conflict of interest, after a judge previously dismissed three counts.
He is due in court May 16 at the Superior Courthouse on Temple St.
The Los Angeles District Attorney’s office refuses to provide an update on complaints filed against Fernandez related to the time he served on the Inglewood city council. Long-time treasurer Wanda Brown accused the City of misappropriation of public funds for medical benefits passed under a 2003 ordinance that Fernandez voted in favor of.
1 Comment
Unfortunately the District Attorney Public Integrity Office has not shown much evidence that they have integrity. The charges are for misusing public money so this should be a matter of public record.
The Public Integrity Office has chosen over and over to disregard the complaints of Inglewood residents even claiming documents were never received much like they claimed no knowledge of Jose’s actions until the Daily Breeze began to report the unfolding drama (and won a Pulitzer for the series!)
In reality many community members had forwarded documents to the District Attorney long before they contacted multiple news agencies, so it appears that either the Public Integrity Office either has a dreadful file system or some have been granted a Teflon Pass.
Inglewood’s elected have enjoyed doing wrong primarily due to lack of news agencies media reporting the nitty gritty.
As all readers of this site know James Butts ROUTINELY THREATENS all who do not do as he tells them.
Thank you again to 2 urban girls for reporting things we should all be aware of and for encouraging discussion.
Unfortunately many reporters believe misinformation and/or take the lazy way out and do little if any background research on their own.
It is sad that discovery about what is happening in our community is such a challenge due to the back-room deals and campaign donors invested in persuading candidates/elected to keep residents unaware. Need an example – how about Murphy’s Bowl aka IBEC environmental report being released with time-clock ticking when city hall was closed for year end vacation.