Clip 11: DISD kin got jobs at vendors / Exclusive: Trustee, technology chief backed '03 consortium contract
We reported nepotism tied to the same deals.
By PETE SLOVER and JESSICA LEEDER
The grandson of a Dallas schools trustee and the son-in-law of the district's technology chief have both held jobs at computer businesses approved for a multimillion-dollar contract that was blessed by both district officials.
Alonzo Brashear, 26, grandson of trustee Hollis Brashear, declined to comment when contacted about his employment at Micro System Enterprises, a major Dallas Independent School District vendor.
"My grandfather told me not to say anything," he said Friday at his DeSoto home.
The Dallas Morning News reported last week that Houston-based Micro System gave the free use of a yacht to Ruben Bohuchot, the district's associate superintendent for technology.
The district suspended Mr. Bohuchot with pay this week pending an investigation.
The News also has learned that Mr. Bohuchot's son-in-law, Bernard Lee Cabatingan, 38, works at the offices of a company tied closely to Micro System in its dealings with DISD. Contacted at the offices Friday, Mr. Cabatingan declined to comment.
As school board president, Mr. Brashear executed a December 2003 contract potentially worth hundreds of millions of federal dollars with a consortium of computer companies led by Micro System.
The precise value of the deal depends on approval of work submitted by the district for funding through the federal E-rate program. The program makes $2.25 billion available each year for school and library technology by adding taxes to most Americans' phone bills.
This week, Mr. Brashear confirmed his grandson's work for Micro System in a phone message left for a reporter. Just before doing so, he said, he had consulted a school board attorney who affirmed that the job did not violate the law or school district policy.
"Our attorneys have reported back to me, there is an attorney general's opinion of two years ago that states that families may work for contractors," Mr. Brashear said. "There is a law against nepotism. However, vendors are not considered part of the DISD."
The trustee said his grandson worked in a warehouse for Micro System for "a period of time" during 2004 while he was a full-time student at a community college in Dallas. Alonzo Brashear left the company when he enrolled at Langston University in Oklahoma last fall, the trustee said, and then returned to work again for a month beginning in May.
Mr. Brashear, the trustee, declined to return follow-up phone calls or to elaborate when interviewed at his house Friday.
"I have no problem with that," he said of the job. "My grandson worked for a vendor, that's it."
In response to questions about whether Alonzo Brashear's job would violate any district policy, spokesman Donald Claxton said in an e-mail: "In regards to Mr. Brashear's grandson, it's under review. It should be noted that conversations between board members and district lawyers are privileged."
Mr. Cabatingan declined to comment when interviewed briefly at the Dallas offices of Lazo Technologies, a member of the DISD consortium headed by Micro Systems, and one of the leading minority contractors in the state.
Company president Tom Lazo Sr. said his firm did not hire Mr. Cabatingan and he did not know that Mr. Cabatingan was Mr. Bohuchot's son-in-law. He said Mr. Cabatingan has worked at his warehouse and office for about 10 months on the payroll of either Micro System or Acclaim Services Corp. Acclaim's directors include Frankie Wong, the president of Micro System.
"He doesn't work for Lazo Technologies," Mr. Lazo said. "Under the consortium ... a lot of the functions are done there at Lazo Technologies. A lot of them are employees of other members of the consortium."
Mr. Lazo, who said he was traveling Friday, offered to look into the matter further and answer more questions on his return to Dallas.
Mr. Bohuchot declined to comment Friday. In an earlier interview, he said he did not control the selection of the consortium, though he did negotiate the final contract once a deal was reached in principal.
But documents obtained this week show that when the board met to authorize the contract to be negotiated in January 2003, Mr. Bohuchot vouched in writing for the deal. He certified to the board that the consortium provided the best value and met required specifications, and that "no conflicts of interest" existed with the deal.
Mr. Claxton said that DISD continues its internal investigation, which he said "primarily has been conducted with officers within the Employee Relations department, which is in HR."
E-mail pslover@dallasnews.com and jleeder@dallasnews.com
