Politics & Government

Schools Chief Allowed Unauthorized Bonuses, Prosecutor Says

Jeffrey Hubbard is charged with three felony counts of misappropriation of public funds.

superintendent of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, authorized the payment of public funds to two female employees -including a $20,000 stipend to one- without the school board's approval when he was the head of the Beverly Hills Unified School District, a prosecutor told jurors Wednesday.

Defense attorney Salvatore P. Ciulla countered that "there was no intent to deceive or be discreet," urging the Los Angeles Superior Court jury to "keep an open mind" in the case against his client, Hubbard, who has been the schools chief in N-MUSD since July 2006.

Hubbard, 54, is charged with three counts of misappropriation of public funds.

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In his opening statement, Deputy District Attorney Max Huntsman told the seven-man, five-woman jury that the evidence would show that the school board never authorized two payments of $10,000 each or a $500 monthly car allowance that were paid at Hubbard's behest to Karen Anne Christiansen, a former facilities director for the district.

"She had a contract that was very specific what her benefits were. It didn't apply to this," Huntsman said, noting that Christiansen's contract specified a $150 monthly car allowance and that all changes to the contract were supposed to be made in writing.

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The prosecutor said Hubbard had "at least flirtatious" with Christiansen.

Christiansen -who was tried last year - was convicted of four counts of conflict of interest for negotiating contracts between the school district and a firm with which her company had a consulting agreement, and for backing a school bond measure that benefited her firm. The 53-year-old woman was sentenced last week to four years and four months in state prison, but allowed to remain free on $400,000 bail while her appeal is pending.

Hubbard also allegedly directed that another employee, Nora Roque, who was then working as a human resources coordinator, receive a bump up in pay, according to the prosecutor.

Hubbard's attorney countered that his client's sole intent was to put Roque on a salary schedule under which she would receive annual increases -- something he said she was told would happen when she was hired.

Ciulla acknowledged that some of the emails between Christiansen and Hubbard were "not very professional," while reiterating that "there was no intimate relationship between the two."

"He didn't try to circumvent the board," the defense lawyer said, noting that Christiansen's duties for the district were increasing at the time. "There was never an attempt to hide that from the board."

Hubbard's attorney told the jury, "There are missing documents and those missing documents are crucial."

Testimony is expected to continue today in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom.

-City News Service


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