Fresno Unified ex-trustee Brooke Ashjian hit with $23,500 in fines. What did he do?
Former Fresno Unified School District trustee Brooke Ashjian faces a fine of $23,500 from regulators for an alleged lack of disclosure and for decisions he made while on the board.
In the six counts from the Fair Political Practices Commission, Ashjian is accused of making decisions in which he had financial interests and failing to report all of his economic interests.
Ashjian did not immediately return requests for comment.
During his single term from 2014 to 2018, Ashjian failed to report about four dozen companies and properties in which he had financial interests, according to the FPPC. He faced a maximum fine of $30,000.
The FPPC’s board is scheduled to meet Dec. 19 to vote on whether to levy the fine. Ashjian has paid the $23,500 in settlement penalties but it remains frozen in escrow until the board makes it official, according to the FPPC.
“In this case, although the commission considers the violations serious in nature, the enforcement division found no evidence that (Ashjian) intended to conceal, deceive, or mislead the public,” the filing says. “Further, (Ashjian) does not have a prior history of violations.”
On four of the counts, Ashjian failed to recuse himself from a vote that he either knew or should have known was a conflict of interests, according to the FPPC.
In June 2015, Ashjian approved a three-year contract renewal with Bank of the West. A company in which he was involved, Witbro Inc., had received more than $9,000 in payments from the bank in the year prior for construction work, which constitutes a conflict of interest, according to the FPPC filing.
The same construction company was paid almost $4,000 from Mark Wilson Construction for work at Sierra Vista School in Clovis, a contract approved with Ashjian’s vote in February 2016, according to the filing.
Ashjian also voted to approve a June 2016 contract to Bush Construction for a project at Figarden Elementary School, the filing says. Witbro received more than $900,000 through that project in conjunction with projects with Kings Canyon Unified School District, the FPPC said.
In the FPPC filing, Ashjian says the Bush Construction vote was a mistake he corrected at the end of the meeting. The regulating agency said video of the meeting did not match Ashjian’s account.
In the final count, Ashjian voted on a project at Rata High School despite owning property within a 500-foot radius.
This story has been updated from an earlier version.
This story was originally published December 9, 2019 at 4:30 PM.
