by Garth Meyer
Redondo Unified school district Boardmemember Rachel Silverman Nemeth made a statement at the Oct. 8 board meeting calling for fellow Boardmember Rolf Strutzenberg to “focus” in their work on behalf of the district.
Strutzenberg recused himself earlier on the agenda from an approval of purchase orders, due to his stated conflict of interest.
This followed previous “no” votes over the past year from him on purchase order reports, which included payments to a law firm that works for the school district. Strutzenberg has alluded to himself being a client of the law firm at one time.
Silverman Nemeth said that the district had checked with Fagen, Friedman & Fulfrost and were told the firm has never had a relationship with Strutzenberg.
“Whether or not he does or doesn’t have a relationship with them, or thinks he does, he failed to disclose that to us as boardmembers,” she said from her board seat. “We need to be upfront with information that maybe would change my, or someone else’s mind.”
Strutzenberg answered that he has said the last three times he voted “no” it was due to a violation of attorney-client privilege.
He asked if whomever looked him up at the firm spelled his name correctly.
“Abstaining from an entire P.O. (purchase order) report, in my opinion, shirks the responsibilities we have as school boardmembers,” Silverman Nemeth said. “The P.O. report is at the very essence of what we are elected to decide, and keep track of.”
She continued, on a related subject.
“He has repeatedly brought up the same issues over the past year, often circling back on topics that have been thoroughly discussed. I’m asking that we stay focused… respecting the time of our staff, (in order to do things) that directly benefit the students that we serve.”
The Oct. 8 meeting concluded with regular boardmember reports.
President Raymur Flinn called for Strutzenberg’s.
“Mr. Strutzenberg?” she said.
“Not this evening, thank you,” he said.
What was different this time is that he recused himself instead of voting no on the purchase orders.
“A development between myself and the law firm,” Strutzenberg explained to Easy Reader Monday.
He said he could not comment on whether he had been a client before or after joining the school board in 2021.
“I’m no longer commenting since I’ve recused myself. The situation has changed,” Strutzenberg said.
“(Silverman Nemeth) just doesn’t have all the information, and that’s fine” he said.
Fagen, Friedman & Fulfrost does general legal work for the district, going back to before Silverman Nemeth and Strutzenberg joined the board.
Items Nemeth described to Easy Reader as being dragged out by Strutzenberg included the board’s stipend payment, which is currently at odds with the city charter and up for a vote to change it on the November 5 ballot.
“Challenging the wording of the bylaws,” Silverman Nemeth said. “When those happen, we have to reach out to our attorneys and get advice and spend money.”
Strutzenberg brought the stipend matter to the board after noticing a discrepancy in the city charter when he was on the Redondo Beach charter review committee.
He has since maintained that the $250 per month payments are illegal and in July, filed a police report, citing 27 pages of evidence, and court cases.
“The way the city charter reads, any violation of the charter is a misdemeanor,” Strutzenberg said.
The rest of the board maintains it was an honest mistake and voted to stop the payments last year.
“Ignorance of the law is never a plea,” Strutzenberg said.
Would Nov. 5 solve it, if the measure passes, to change the city charter to allow compensation for the school board?
“Yes, but what about all the payments that have already been made?” Strutzenberg said. “Those payments are recoverable.”
Silverman Nemeth noted in an earlier meeting this fall that she “bit her tongue” not to bring up these matters when she was board president last school year.
“When I was president, I feel it was inappropriate to take a stance against one boardmember,” she said to Easy Reader. “I just can’t personally let him say those things without a response from us.”
Superintendent Nicole Wesley called Fagen, Friedman & Fulfrost to ask about Strutzenberg’s status.
“F3 is confident that no such relationship existed as F3 does not represent individual board members,” Wesley said. “Their client is the board as a whole, not its individual members. Representing an individual boardmember would create a conflict of interest for the firm, which is precisely why they do not engage in such representation.”
In response to Silverman Nemeth’s request that he focus on spending board and staff time on “the students we serve,” Strutzenberg said, “I have no idea what she’s talking about, or referring to. If (an issue) comes back up again in any way, I stay with my original position on it.”
Has he heard this from other boardmembers?
“Just her,” he said.
This summer, Strutzenberg stood before the city council and said in public comment that he was nearing $100,000 in illegal stipend and benefits from RBUSD.
“Health benefits is compensation,” he said, citing previous court rulings and opinions by past California attorney generals.
Supt. Wesley has said that is legally in dispute.
“I had brought that back multiple times and they refused to even discuss it,” Strutzenberg said.
He returned $7,500 to the district, the amount he received by stipend, also known as “expense allowance.”
Strutzenberg’s family of four is on the district’s health insurance, which he said he will cancel at the next allowable opportunity due to open enrollment rules.
Other boardmembers maintain the stipend is allowed by the majority of school districts in California and that no one was aware of what the city charter said about it. The clause in the city charter goes back to 1949. ER
If you live in Redondo, please imagine your life if RBUSD were subpar. How much value do our award-winning schools add to property values, and vitality young families bring to your street? Rolf Strutzenberg seems to have a consistent, long-term track record of making everything a battle. When Rolf went to the police, did he fantasize RBPD round up his fellow school board members? How awkward for RBPD. Like Rachel stating out loud to Rolf that no, Rolf is not a client of the law firm RBUSD uses even though Rolf seems to believe he is, I would like to let Rolf know that the majority of Redondo loves Rachel, Raymur, Dan and Byung. The only one Rolf is hurting by repeatedly trying to hurt his fellow school board members is Rolf.
I was on the Planning Commission with Rolf for a brief period, and in that time, I found him to be pretentious, condescending and disrespectful. I felt he was blatantly rude to staff and consultants, especially after he was corrected. This behavior on the school board does not surprise me one bit.