Did Superintendent Hanson misuse the process?
It seems every time someone raises the question of impropriety in the Fresno Unified School District lease-leaseback/Harris Construction issue, Superintendent Michael Hanson and his minions launch into a glowing discussion of the lease-leaseback program and how great it is.
They vigorously point out it is a commonly used method of long-term financing needed for building projects. And they are absolutely correct. But that was not the question was it?
The question still remains: Did Hanson misuse the process to inappropriately circumvent the requirements for soliciting contract bids to award the project to a favored contractor?
To hire an outside law firm, ultimately responsible to Hanson, to investigate the possible impropriety of Hanson is simply ludicrous. We don’t even know what they were asked to investigate. And if the construction agreement with Harris was appropriate, why did Hanson suddenly convert another similar lease-leaseback to conventional bid?
I hope rumors of an FBI investigation are true. And perhaps the grand jury might want to take a look as well.
Superintendent Hanson’s behavior toward the public and the school board in this matter has been nothing less than contemptuous, as usual.
Wayne Lamoreaux, Fresno
This story was originally published July 18, 2015 at 8:14 AM with the headline "Did Superintendent Hanson misuse the process?."