Sonoma school trustee John Kelly’s behavior slammed in investigative report

The Sonoma Valley Unified School District trustee who backed a union-only construction agreement is the primary focus of a $92,000 investigation that explores how the disputed document was negotiated and approved.

“(Board Trustee John Kelly’s) conduct does present significant and troubling questions regarding public policy, integrity, transparency and good governance,” according to the report.

The district’s 199-page “preliminary” report, prepared by attorney-investigator Scott Kivel, focuses on three major areas: a Project Labor Agreement, commonly known as a PLA; Kelly’s actions before, during and after negotiations related to the PLA; and why communication about the deal avoided official communication channels.

In his report, Kivel said Kelly, then president of the board of trustees, “for reasons that remain unknown,” initiated a “unilateral” deal with union representatives without informing his fellow trustees or the district official in charge of business services.

The 10-year labor agreement would have obligated the district to hire workers represented by unions affiliated with the North Bay Building and Construction Trades Council on school projects with construction budgets that exceed $50,000.

According to campaign finance records, Kelly accepted $16,200 in contributions from labor unions during his unsuccessful run for the Santa Rosa Junior College Board of Trustees in 2018.

On Thursday, Kelly stood by his decisions. “I am proud our district passed a Project Labor Agreement, and I would vote for it again today,” he said.

Meanwhile, the situation caused the North Bay Labor Council to file a lawsuit against the district and its new Superintendent Dr. Adrian Palazuelos. The next hearing related to the case is scheduled for May 5. Between December 2020 and Jan. 5, 2022, the lawsuit has cost the district $90,881, said current Board President Cathy Coleman.

The Sonoma Valley Unified School District trustees approved the PLA on Nov. 17, 2020, after it was pulled from the board’s consent agenda. Although it passed unanimously, the meeting swelled into a heated debate between the board, administrators and the public.

A few months later, on May 18, 2021, the controversial PLA was rescinded after new trustees Anne Ching and Troy Knox joined the board, and more questions were raised questions about the agreement.

Four trustees voted to ditch the deal, while Kelly voted to retain it.

Former interim superintendent Charles “Chuck” Young wrote a letter to the district at the time that said, “The failure to clear this up and determine if the contract was procured through misfeasance or malfeasance will haunt the district and further damage the community’s perception of the governance and management teams.”

The recent investigation into the PLA process stemmed from a challenge Young filed with the district in May 2021, citing irregularities on how the agreement was approved.

The report included pages of exhibits such as a text message from Kelly to a union official whose first name is also John: “‘John, John Kelly calling. Wanted to talk Sonoma Valley Unified and PLA.’”

Kelly, who is an attorney, is accused in the report of “blatantly” violating established board policy by “instructing labor representatives with whom he was ‘negotiating’ a PLA to respond to his ‘private’ email.”

The document was deemed “preliminary” in part because Kelly allegedly declined to be interviewed and submit non-district emails and phone texts. Young was critical of Kelly’s lack of transparency.

“As result of Kelly’s failure to cooperate with a duly constituted authority, many important. questions have gone unanswered,” Young said on Thursday. “But his insolent misbehavior is an indication of how they would have been answered had he cooperated.”

Young said that “every effort should be made to compel (Kelly’s) testimony.” Then, if the board cannot act against Kelly, he “should be removed” as a trustee in a recall election or when he runs for re-election, Young said.

Kelly was re-elected to a four-year term in 2020, when he ran unopposed.

Kelly disputed the allegations, saying the district “mischaracterized what has occurred.” Kelly, who noted trustees are not issued district phones and use their own, told the Index-Tribune he provided 183 pages of texts messages and emails regarding the PLA on Jan. 8, 2021.

Among other points, Kelly said he discussed the PLA with trustees and staff for more than 12 hours during multiple closed session meetings, and that he offered to provide videotaped testimony under oath, an offer the district did not take.

Kelly said he also agreed not to be present when Kivel, the attorney who prepared the report at the request of the district, met with the other trustees to discuss the PLA. He also did not take place in recent board action regarding the pending lawsuit.

On Thursday, Young said the report was “clearly the result of an excellent piece of work, limited only by the absolute refusal of Mr. Kelly to provide information, documents and other matters requested any the investigator, Mr. Kivel, which he certainly had every right, indeed duty, to request, and which Mr. Kelly had every duty to, provide.”

Kelly countered that the Jan. 28 document was poorly done and incomplete. His reaction, he said, was “disappointment that such a low-quality report has been delivered after significant time and expense has been incurred by the public. As I have been clear with all the other trustees regarding, we needed a full and accurate report, but this one is not it.”

Last month, Kelly filed an official complaint with the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office and the grand jury, alleging the board and Palazuelos violated the California’s open meetings law – known as the Brown Act -- during an education conference in San Diego, where plans were made to disband the Special Education Advisory Council.

Young said in an email to the Index-Tribune that Kelly’s complaint “…was merely an attempt at retribution.”

The Sonoma Valley Unified School District Board will host a public meeting on these issues at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. The board will address Kelly’s Brown Act violation complaint, and the Special Education Advisory Council.

In closed session, and without Kelly, they will confer with legal conference on anticipated litigation with the North Bay Labor Council.

Follow the meeting at sonomaschools.com or head to Zoom and use meeting ID 950 9944 9027.