Stockton Unified won't pay for a trustee's attorney fees after contentious discussion

Tension was high during the June 11 meeting of the Stockton Unified Board of Education while board members considered whether to pay for a trustee's legal counsel.

Area 2 Trustee AngelAnn Flores — who is facing legal woes after her April arrest — requested that the board of education consider paying for the services of legal counsel to represent her in all meetings with Superintendent Michelle Rodriguez, according to agenda documents.

Flores pleaded not guilty to charges of embezzlement, grand theft, and false claims in May. The trustee's attorney, Tori Verber Salazar, said that days before her arrest, Flores served notices to the San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office, the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office, and the Stockton Unified School District. She intends to sue all three.

School district staff said the board does not traditionally provide individual counsel for the trustees or pay for their personal legal counsel.

"There is no policy or bylaw that allows such an approach, nor has Trustee Flores provided legal or policy authority in support of this request," agenda documents state. "The general rule as set forth in Board Bylaw 9124 is that the district, through the board, engages the services of legal counsel to represent the interests of the district, and not individual employees or trustees."

However, during the board's discussion on the item, Flores said the motion was "written incorrectly" on the agenda. The trustee said she didn't ask for the district to pay for her legal counsel, but rather for a third party to be in the room during her meetings with Rodriguez.

"What is said between us gets taken out of context. What's being told to me is not truthful. What's being told to the rest of you is not being truthful," Flores told the board. "I initially asked for this to be in closed session so that we wouldn't have to put our dirty air about how the superintendent treats me differently than she treats all of you guys."

On the dais, Rodriguez affirmed that the request was to "have legal counsel present, not just a third party."

Area 4 Trustee Ray Zulueta motioned to decline Flores' request. His motion was seconded by Area 1 Trustee Cecilia Mendez. The final vote was 5-1-1, with the majority of the trustees agreeing to decline her request. Flores entered the lone 'yes' vote and Area 5 Trustee Donald Donaire abstained.

Minutes before, the board of education voted against paying Flores for missing the April 23 board meeting, but voted in favor of compensating Area 3 Trustee Alicia Rico for missing a meeting on May 7. According to agenda documents, both of their absences were considered "hardship(s) deemed acceptable by the board."

Per Board Policy 9250, trustees can be paid for missing meetings if the board, by majority vote, determines they were performing designated services for the district at the time of the meeting. They are also eligible to receive compensation if they were absent because of illness, jury duty, or a hardship deemed acceptable by the board. The policy does not clearly state what is considered a hardship.

Record reporter Hannah Workman covers news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @byhannahworkman. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.

This article originally appeared on The Record: Stockton Unified won't pay for Trustee AngelAnn Flores' attorney fees