Posted on 12/23/2004 10:03:13 AM PST by NormsRevenge
The Los Angeles Board of Education has chosen a Pasadena assistant city attorney as its new special counsel, a lawyer with the backing of union leaders and the school board president but far less experience than others seeking the job.
According to several sources familiar with the selection process, the school board voted 4-3 in a closed session to offer Maribel S. Medina the position, which could pay up to $240,000 a year. Medina specializes in land-use, environmental and real estate law.
The vote to hire Medina is the latest in a series of board decisions that have caused some observers to question the members' independence from outside interests. A board majority is frequently criticized for backing issues based primarily on union support.
In her bid for the position, Medina was backed by Miguel Contreras, executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County AFL-CIO and the top union leader in Los Angeles, among others.
"We asked some of the board members if they could be helpful," Contreras said. "It would be nice to appoint a minority and a woman. It would be nice to reflect the district. I give them a lot of credit for stepping up…. For them to do that, and give her a shot, speaks volumes to their commitment to real equality in the system."
John Perez, president of United Teachers Los Angeles, which represents about 45,000 Los Angeles Unified School District teachers, said that he had spoken with "various school board members at various times in the process … about various candidates." But he said that no UTLA official had lobbied on Medina's behalf.
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Some board members, including President Jose Huizar, acknowledged that there was lobbying by political and community leaders on behalf of candidates. But they denied that those efforts affected the decision.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Maribel Medina is an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Pasadena. She has served as a staff attorney for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and is currently the President-Elect of the Los Angeles County Mexican American Bar Association. She earned a masters degree from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a law degree from the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley.
Walter Moore for mayor:
www.saveourstate.org
"It would be nice to appoint a minority and a woman"
I guess it would be too much to ask them to just appoint someone qualified.
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