Some of the administrative leadership has changed in the Española School District, but it’s business as usual when it comes to approving contractors and professional service agreements.
For the third consecutive year, the School Board approved, at the July 6 meeting, a $50,000 annual service agreement with Rio Arriba County Commissioner Barney Trujillo, doing business as Trujillo Media (formerly 2 Smooth Advertising), for marketing and public relations services.
At least one Board member scrutinized the commissioner’s contract renewal.
The vote to approve the contract passed 3-1, with Board member Ruben Archuleta casting the only “no” vote and Board member Yolanda Salazar abstaining.
Salazar said she could not comment on the approval of the contract because of her husband’s close relationship with Trujillo. She abstained on the vote to grant the contract for the same reason.
“He has always been like a nephew to my husband, so I want to refrain from any comment on that,” she said.
Under the terms of the agreement, Trujillo agrees to perform services, including creating all of the District’s publications, including, but not limited to, flyers, newsletters, annual camera-ready publications, press releases, preparation for materials for the superintendent and accountability reports.
The agreement with Trujillo also calls for him to assist with arrangements for special events, including school and community events, press conferences and District ceremonies.
Trujillo is also tasked with consulting with the District’s web design/webmaster for posting school and District events, community events and meetings, announcements and community meetings.
Former District network administrator Luis Peña said Trujillo had not met with the web development team since October 2015.
A $4,166 payment is made on the first of each month for the hours of service in the preceding month.
Archuleta said he was going to vote no to approve the contract because he had concerns about the agreement, including whether the contract needed to go out for a formal bidding process under the state’s procurement process.
“Nothing against Mr. Trujillo,” he said. “I just think we can use the money a little wiser. Some of this stuff can be handled by the superintendent. We are paying him a lot of money.”
The Board approved, May 31, a two-year $130,000 annual contract for Superintendent Eric Martinez, making him the highest paid superintendent in the region.
Martinez said the marketing contract did not have to go out for bid under the procurement process because it fell under the threshold, whereas no request for proposal was required.
Trujillo said he generally works under the superintendent’s directive and provides the District with what they need from week to week.
In kind, he has printed numerous invitations and banners, but printing costs can get really expensive when they have to print thousands of newsletters, he said.
The outsourced printing can total up to $1,200 or more. He designed newsletters and graduation announcements this year, but handed off the printing to an outsourced vendor.
Trujillo claims to have spent approximately $5,000 on printing costs during the 2015-16 school year.
Archuleta asked if the Board could be provided with a task break-down of Trujillo’s monthly assignments, stating the District should know exactly what they are paying $4,166 for every month.
Trujillo said he works on multiple projects at a time and sometimes they have to be segmented, but did not make himself available to answer Archuleta’s question about whether he would present a work log to the District for services rendered.
“It might just be one subject, but that one subject can take three weeks in terms of trying to fill out the proper verbiage and proper signings,” Trujillo said. “Working with different directors and getting that done, so if you see one task, it may be broken down into a few weeks because many of these tasks take a while.”
“My concern is that we are paying him $4,166 a month of taxpayer money whether he does any work or not,” Archuleta said.
When questioned about liability insurance by Archuleta, Trujillo said he did not carry any, but he could procure some coverage.
“Pablo (Lujan) is happy that he finally found his puppet,” Archuleta said. “This superintendent said he is concerned about saving money, but he (Trujillo) is charging us for these printing costs. Why don’t they look at that?”
Board Secretary Annabelle Almager said she voted in favor of granting Trujillo’s contract because he has done a lot to help the District advertise.
“I think he has really helped us out,” she said. “He has helped us out by bringing people from outside the District. We don’t really have any other means of publicity, so we need that to help demonstrate all the positive things and to show what we are made of.”
Following the meeting, Martinez declined to answer questions regarding the contract. Trujillo also failed to return calls to comment on his approved contract.