Laguna Trustee Defends Her Role in Booster Club Payment to Coach

Charlene Ragatz, president of the Laguna Beach school board, said Thursday that people trying to recall her and three other trustees are “exploiting” an investigation of a booster club she was active in last summer.

Ragatz referred to the investigation of a Laguna Beach High School football boosters club’s $3,000 payment last summer to Cedrick Hardman, football coach at that time. The payment was for Hardman’s summer training of student athletes.

Stan Thomas, athletics commissioner of the Southern Section of the California Interscholastic Federation, said earlier this week that he is investigating the booster club incident. Thomas pointed out that booster clubs, under CIF rules, may not pay coaches directly but must submit the money through a board of education or student government.

‘Money Was Not a Gift’

Ragatz said several other coaches also received pay from booster clubs last summer for conducting training in Laguna Beach. “The money was not a gift,” she said. “It was not a payment under the table. It was a fee for services rendered. Many high schools run such summer conditioning programs.”

Ragatz and three other trustees--Susan Mas, Carl Schwarz and Janet Vickers--are targeted for recall. Citizens United for Responsible Education is circulating petitions, seeking 3,515 voter signatures for a recall election.

The recall effort was launched after Hardman, a former National Football League All-Pro player, was arrested last September on suspicion of cocaine possession and resisting arrest. Trustees of the Laguna Beach Unified School District initially suspended him, but in October, by a 4-1 vote, they allowed him to continue coaching without pay if he took part in a court-ordered drug rehabilitation plan.

That vote to reinstate Hardman caused a controversy that ultimately triggered the recall.

In recent weeks, details were leaked to news media about Ragatz’s involvement with the football boosters club and its payment to Hardman and other coaches. Recall advocates said the booster-club episode is having “an impact on the recall.”

In rebuttal to those allegations, Ragatz and Ellen Mahoney issued separate statements Thursday. Mahoney is a board member of the boosters club and worked with Ragatz, who served as parent representative.

“The people attempting to recall the four school board members are acting highly improper in attacking the booster clubs,” Mahoney said. “All we were doing was working hard to raise money to operate a good (summer training) program.

“There was more than football involved. We had programs for basketball and weight-lifting and aquatics. The money paid to these coaches was for services rendered. It certainly was not a gift.”

CIF official Thomas has said that booster clubs may raise money to pay coaches for summer work. But, Thomas said, CIF rules don’t allow the clubs to pay coaches directly. “Otherwise, affluent communities could give a lot of money to coaches that no one would know about,” he said.

Thomas also has questioned the wisdom of Ragatz serving both as a school trustee and parent representative on the football boosters club.

“Yes, he talked to me about that,” Ragatz said Thursday. “I told Stan that he has his opinion, and I have mine. I don’t see that (being on the boosters club) as a conflict of interest. I didn’t give up my right as a parent when I came on the school board.” Ragatz has a son who plays football for Laguna Beach High.

Still Faces Charges

Hardman, who is no longer associated with the school district, still faces trial on the charges of resisting arrest, but the drug charges will be dropped if he completes drug rehabilitation, the Orange County district attorney’s office said.

Ragatz also wondered aloud if the recall effort in part is “because of my belief and my support of a black football coach in a time of need and my not wavering from that support? I would have supported anyone who was in the same situation.”

Ragatz said she believes that much of the bitterness in the recall campaign stems from dislike for Hardman. “So many people have been preoccupied with the need to create a scapegoat,” she said. “I think this is a real sad commentary when some parts of the community try to discredit and publicly malign a single individual, in this case, Cedrick. I wonder if this is perhaps because of his color. I wonder if the same feelings would be raised about anyone else. I can’t answer that question, but the question needs to be raised.”