Trustee Takes Action Against Board

Eccentric Orange schools Trustee Steve Rocco has filed a complaint with state and county officials accusing fellow board members of meeting in secret and denying him official stationery.

“Redress & Reform needed,” he concluded in the Feb. 5 letter addressed to the Orange County Grand Jury and district attorney, the California attorney general, secretary of state and the Fair Political Practices Commission.

The rambling three-page, single-spaced complaint alleges the school board violates the state’s open-meetings laws when it meets in closed session, which Rocco has declined to participate in since taking office in late 2004. It also alleges unspecified conflicts of interest, fraud and conspiracy among board members and leaders of the district’s legislative coalition and the Orange Education Foundation, two booster groups. He also complains that the district refuses to give him official stationery even though other school officials regularly use it.

“Indeed, the Board President uses the stationery (without approval or vote) for personal whims ... & the superintendent has even written to GOVERNOR ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (without approval or vote) ... my name is on it! Yet, I can’t use it, or show my disapproval that they do!” Rocco wrote.

Rocco was elected to the Orange Unified School District board with nary a campaign appearance or flier. His quirky style and conspiracy theories -- he contends, for instance, that local authorities were behind his father’s death -- called into question voters’ attention to school board races.

The district, with a $230-million annual budget and more than 31,000 students, is one of Orange County’s largest and most politically contentious.

Nathan Barankin, a spokesman for the attorney general, was unfamiliar with Rocco’s letter but said officials would review any complaint the office received. He said such matters were typically handled by local prosecutors -- who were unavailable for comment -- or investigators with the political practices commission, who have a policy of not commenting on active cases.

Board President Kimberlee Nichols said Rocco’s complaints were without merit. The remaining board members declined to comment or could not be reached.

Supt. Thomas A. Godley said, “As far as I know, we are in full compliance” with state law and said there were no violations.