Officials’ Kin Weigh Down Duarte’s Float

Children related to public officials in Duarte seem to be riding the crest of an impressive winning streak--too impressive for some citizens.

At a November auction to select who gets to ride the city’s Rose Parade float, the highest bidders were the son of City Manager Jesse Duff and the niece of Parks and Recreation Director Donna Georgino.

Then, at a December raffle, two sons of Duarte Unified School District Trustee Phil Reyes won the other positions on the float. The auction and the raffle were open to the general public.

“I feel the whole process was not above-board,” said Terri Franklin, who bought six losing raffle tickets for her 8-year-old son. “Now come on, just look who they are. It’s way too coincidental.”

Duff and Georgino--along with representatives from the Chamber of Commerce and the City of Hope National Medical Center--also sit on Duarte’s float committee.

Franklin and other residents who suspect that they were taken for a ride long before the parade complain that the float committee did not do a good enough job of publicizing just how youngsters would be chosen to ride the float.

Others critics believe that there should be a redrawing, or that Duff and Georgino’s relatives should step down.

The school district’s Reyes agreed that relatives of city officials should be excluded from consideration “as in any contest,” but insists that he legitimately won the spots for his sons Gabriel, 8, and Phillip, 10.

“People are saying it was a bogus raffle,” Reyes said. “Ticket sales have traditionally been slow. I figured, heck, instead of buying $2.50 or $3.50 (worth of tickets) I might as well buy a whole bunch.”

He bought 30 of the 500 tickets sold, and his boys were picked as winners at the Dec. 9 drawing in the Duarte Community Center.

“It’s really unfair to the kids,” said Reyes of the complaints, adding that his children have been taunted at school. “This has put a damper on the whole event.”

At the November auction before a City Council meeting at City Hall, six people took part in the bidding, Georgino said.

Georgino’s brother and his wife, Hacienda Heights residents Tom and Carol Georgino, clinched a seat for their 10-year-old daughter, Allison, for $200. Duff’s daughter, 7-year-old Amanda, won a slot with her mother’s bid of $350.

“It hasn’t been a problem before,” said Donna Georgino about her relatives participating in the auction. “We never really thought about it.”

Allison, who will be waving from the kangaroo’s pouch, rode the Duarte float in 1987 after winning in a raffle. Amanda Duff will make her first appearance in next week’s parade.

Duarte resident Cathy Park, who last month submitted a petition with 100 signatures to City Hall demanding that float riders be Duarte residents, said Allison and Amanda should step down because they are related to city officials.

“That’s what’s going to put this thing to rest,” Park said.

Duff and float committee Chairman Andy Leeka could not be reached Thursday.

Donna Georgino pointed out that children from outside the city have ridden the float every year. She said because the City of Hope, with patients from all over the world, bears half the $30,000 cost of the float’s construction, riders should not be restricted to Duarte residents.

“It’s a shame they’re attacking people after the kids were chosen. Now there’s going to be a lot of hurt feelings.”