SFPS board won’t get background checks

Vote came after revelations of one member’s criminal past

A resolution encouraging all Santa Fe school board members and future board candidates to voluntarily undergo criminal background checks at their own expense failed during Tuesday night’s board meeting.

In addition, the resolution, introduced by board President Steven Carrillo, would have required anyone applying to fill a vacant board seat to undergo such a check.

But the four other board members said they would prefer changing a current policy regarding appointment of board members to vacant posts that would give board members more leeway in asking probing questions about the backgrounds of potential appointees.

The action comes on the heels of the recent revelation that sitting school board member Rudy Garcia — who is also the Democratic candidate for the County Commission’s seat in District 3 in the Nov. 6 general election — has a record of several arrests, including four charges of driving while intoxicated, over a period of 10 years, ending in 2008.

Garcia, 47, pleaded guilty to two of those

DWI charges and, according to Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention records, served 16 days in jail for the second offense.

In addition, the Albuquerque Journal reported earlier this month that a 1999 police report said that Garcia told police he had cocaine after police searched his office and a county government vehicle for drugs when Garcia served as the county’s land use administrator. No drugs were found in that search, nor was Garcia charged with any crimes at that time.

Most media outlets, including The New Mexican, generally vet candidates running for public office through their own background checks.

But Garcia did not run for election to his board seat. Rather, the other board members voted 4-0 to appoint Garcia in December 2017 to fill the District 4 board seat vacated by Linda Trujillo, who resigned to commit more time to her role as a member of the state House of Representatives.

Carrillo said at Tuesday’s board meeting that he introduced the resolution because he got a lot of calls from constituents asking, “What do you mean, you never had a policy on this?”

“Well,” he responded, “It never came up [before this].”

But the other board members, including Garcia, were not keen on Carrillo’s idea, some saying that even if criminal background checks on current board members brought up questionable acts, the board would likely have no power to remove those people from their posts.

“We know why people are upset,” board Vice President Maureen Cashmon said. “I’m upset. It’s one thing when you are an elected official. Voters decide on our character, on a lot of things. They don’t have to put in somebody who is squeaky clean … and we know this happens in politics. But that’s for voters to decide. When we appoint somebody, that’s where this problem applies.”

She said the board appointed Garcia without having “all the information,” and that she isn’t sure she would have approved him if she had known about his past. Board member Kate Noble said that background information would not have changed her vote.

Carrillo said he did not believe that Garcia was dishonest with the board when they interviewed him for the post late in 2017. “We didn’t ask,” he said.

Garcia said the resolution was “obviously regarding my situation. None of us are perfect. In my past early life I did a lot of things that were irresponsible … maybe I should have come forward with the board and said I had this situation that happened in my past.

“But as board President Carrillo said, I wasn’t asked, so I didn’t bring it up.”

School board members, who are volunteers, are not under any state mandate to undertake background checks. However, all other volunteers and employees working for Santa Fe Public Schools do, usually at their own expense.

“Since the board of education is the highest level of district leadership, both members and candidates should consent to undergo the same background check to which district employees and volunteers are subject,” the failed resolution said.

Garcia was appointed to fill out Trujillo’s term, which was originally supposed to end in February 2019 but, because of the state’s new Local Election Act, now extends to November 2019.

“I’m gonna continue to work for this community and work hard for this district,” Garcia told the board.