DEAR EDITOR:
I believe the personal accusations made by Robert Behrens
(published Dec. 9) regarding three Gilroy community leaders
– two members of our school board, Bob Kraemer and Jim Rogers,
and the school superintendent, Edwin Diaz, – are totally false.
DEAR EDITOR:
I believe the personal accusations made by Robert Behrens (published Dec. 9) regarding three Gilroy community leaders – two members of our school board, Bob Kraemer and Jim Rogers, and the school superintendent, Edwin Diaz, – are totally false. As the finance chairman for the recent campaign to approve the $69 million school bond here, and as one who worked along side these men in that endeavor, I want to set the record straight.
It is most unfortunate that Mr. Behrens did not seek answers for the questions he raises in his letter before writing his accusations – unfortunate, not just because he unfairly seeks to discredit three honest and dedicated community leaders, but more important because, if believed, his charges would unjustly undermine the integrity of our public schools.
While I was not one of the five signatories of the $65,000 contract with Tramutola (the consulting firm hired to give advice and oversee the campaign to approve Measure I), I was involved in several discussions regarding that contract and with how funds could be raised to pay Tramutola for its work. I knew that Tramutola required personal guarantees on their contract, and I was aware that these three men had agreed unselfishly to provide those guarantees.
Without question, I can vouch not only for the integrity, but for the dedication, of these three men whom Mr. Behrens chooses to attack. Over several months prior to the election the four of us, as well as many others involved in the fundraising, continually shared our concerns and plans about raising enough money to pay for the expenses of the campaign, and we constantly sought new sources of financial assistance. (In fact, we continue to seek added support even now because we are still several thousand dollars short.)
Mr. Behrens wrote: “Why these three men would personally obligate themselves for $65,000 is beyond me.” Well, I can tell you that I was there and they did it because, like the rest of us, they believed that hiring Tramutola was the only way to assure the bond issue would be approved – AND because they had faith that the community of Gilroy, recognizing the great facility needs which our schools face today, would ultimately respond with the necessary financial support, and that, even if it didn’t, they were willing to personally make up the difference.
Given the age in which we live, no doubt that kind of unselfish commitment and leadership is rare. But I can personally testify that it exists, and that the conduct of these three men as regards the bond issue is one that deserves admiration, not accusation.
Considering what I know to be their true motivations and actual performance, the charge that these three, or any one of them, were in any way involved in any kind of scheme to personally profit from the bond campaign – as claimed by Mr. Behrens, but without one shred of evidence – is not only totally without substance or foundation, but completely ludicrous and unfair.
Gene Wells, Gilroy
Submitted Wednesday, Dec. 11 to ed****@ga****.com
