Braham Saga "Suspiciouser and suspiciouser!"

May 16, 2007

Dear Editor,

"Curiouser and curiouser!" cried Alice after eating cake that made her grow nine feet tall.

"Suspiciouser and suspiciouser!" cried Santa Monicans after digesting the latest chapter of Gag Me with an Order: The Winston Braham Story.
(see story)

To quiet a public uproar, the Santa Monica-Malibu schools superintendent has released former district CFO Winston Braham from his agreement not to talk to any third party about the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District's financial condition. But Braham's own attorney is now telling him not to talk, for fear that Braham will violate the non-disparagement provision that remains in his severance agreement, thus forfeiting his severance pay.

Braham's attorney must believe that it is not possible for his client to discuss the district's financial condition without disparaging district officials. If the public already knows everything that Braham has to say, and there has been no mismanagement, as school officials and Council member Ken Genser have asserted, why would Braham's attorney be so nervous?

Now we really need to hear from Braham. The school board must start leveling with us by releasing him from the non-disparagement part of his severance agreement as well. Then he can give the public and the Santa Monica City Council the information we deserve to have about the district's financial condition.

My two children attend Santa Monica schools. When the district is in trouble, it hurts my family. But I don't see how the Council or the taxpayers can continue to give millions of dollars to the district until this mess is cleaned up -- whether it is a financial management mess or just a public relations mess. The school board has tried for more than two months to sweep it under the rug, but we can still see it.

Lynne White
Santa Monica