Former mayor accuses district of misdeeds
10/12/2008
On Sept. 19, Duran delivered a letter to Superintendent Roy Herrera maintaining the district had engaged in a "scandal" that resulted in Board President Paul C de Baca making about $13,000 off the district for a parking lot paving and drainage-correction project that happened more than a year ago.
In April 2007, a $300,000 contract was awarded to Lumar Construction of Mora, the only bidder, to repave several areas of the district's property and correct drainage problems at the elementary, middle school and high-school buildings.
When workers found there were areas of the elementary school parking lot that had suffered water damage and become "spongy" and cracked, a change order was requested to rip up the damaged sand-and-gravel base course and replace it. The project ended up costing $439,428 with the change order. The district paid about $25,000 of the cost, and the rest was covered by capital-outlay funds from the state.
C de Baca's grandmother, Rufina Martinez, who owns the ranch where C de Baca has his sand-and-gravel pit, donated the material.
"This is the fourth time my grandmother has donated to the school," C de Baca said. "She's been donating since my hijito was in Head Start." C de Baca's son, P.J., is now an eighth-grader.
Rufina Martinez also donated material for the girls' softball field and the Head Start playground, C de Baca said.
Duran has also donated materials to the school.
"Just recently, before this job, I donated $8,000 worth of material and labor to the playground at the elementary," Duran said.
Duran's accusation centers on the transport of the material from the pit, which is an estimated 10 to 15 miles outside the village, to the district. Duran maintains C de Baca made money on this transaction by using one of his workers to haul the material.
Jerry Martinez of Lumar Construction asked C de Baca if he knew of any drivers he could hire, and C de Baca recommended Corona Trucking Co., because he has worked with the firm, he said.
"I had nothing to do with it," C de Baca said. "Jerry asked me if I knew somebody that would haul it for him."
C de Baca said the owner of Corona Trucking Co., is Joe Modesto from Las Vegas, N.M., and although C de Baca does contract work with Modesto, he is not on Corona's payroll.
In an Aug. 29 story in The New Mexican, Herrera assured the public that C de Baca, owner of C de Baca Sand and Gravel, did not engage in a conflict of interest because he did not make any money.
"Eddie Roy's information is incorrect," Herrera said in a recent phone interview. "We did get a donation from Mr. C de Baca through his grandmother, Rufina Martinez, but the delivery of the material was not part of the donation."
The district paid $13,000 for the hauling of the materials. It gave the money to Martinez, who wrote three separate checks to Corona Trucking Co. This was part of the overall cost, Herrera said. C de Baca did not see any money, he said.
Another issue Duran addresses in his letter is the quality of the base course material. Initially, Lumar had purchased base course from Duran Sand and Gravel, which Duran owns, for the first portion of the project, which included paving near the elementary cafeteria and the bus barn, but used C de Baca's base course for the rest of the project.
"The material that I was supplying was 1-inch minus crushed base course," Duran said. "It's more expensive material and better quality."
"That's very false," C de Baca said. "The material was inspected, and the state had to test it ... and it passed."
Both Herrera and Martinez confirm the state tested the material and that it was found sufficient for the project.
Duran alleged Lumar Construction did not warranty the project because the material was not quality material.
"We did warranty the project," Martinez said. "The warranty was a standard, one-year warranty as far as the material and labor."
Duran has plans to send the letter, which includes several other allegations against the district, including mismanagement of funds, abuse of power and nepotism, to Gov. Bill Richardson's office, the Attorney General's Office and Secretary of Education Veronica Garcia.
"This is my community," Duran said. "I was the former mayor, and I worked very hard to make things right in this community, and when I see people using their authority and hurting people, especially hurting kids, there's no way I can sit back and let that happen."
"This is just a personal vendetta against me," C de Baca said.
The two families have a long history of bickering, according to both parties.
Herrera wrote a letter addressing each point.
"Mr. Duran's letter contains both true and false information, accusations and innuendoes intended to create negative publicity (toward) my administration of the Pecos school district," Herrera wrote. "The widespread distribution indicated by the letter ... with false information indicates malice intent (toward) me and our school district."
Among the accusations Herrera said were true: Staff and board members were eating free at sporting events, a $40,000 neon, computer-controlled sign is not being used, substitute teachers were filling in for vacant positions, and, in one case, Assistant Superintendent Darlene Ulibarri had an employee run a personal errand for her during work.
"Personal errands involving school personnel are not allowed," Herrera wrote. "When a violation is discovered, appropriate disciplinary actions are taken."
Although Herrera cannot discuss personnel issues, he did write, "In this case, I can assure you that appropriate disciplinary action was taken."
Duran said he plans to hire an attorney to pursue a lawsuit against the district for not hiring his sister, Rosie Quintana, for a teaching position.
Contact Ana Maria Trujillo at 986-3048 or atrujillo@sfnewmexican.com.