Española School District’s maintenance department was sadly lacking until former superintendent David Cockerham and District Project Manger Paul Salas brought in some qualified maintenance people at the state’s insistence. The department’s rating went from .5 out of a possible three to 2.25. That’s marked improvement.
Salas said the calls on climate control equipment have dropped from 362 last year to 209 this year. That’s marked improvement. Salas attributes it to better maintenance of the equipment: fewer breakdowns.
So why are some Board members pushing to have Honeywell come in and take care of the Districts climate control systems? In politics you can always bet someone is getting something for their trouble.
We’re not sure why the Board is even talking about this. A rough estimate of what Honeywell would cost is $230,000. The whole maintenance budget is $330,000. You don’t need Brian Every to know that math won’t work.
The other strange question is why are they talking about Honeywell? In a normal process seeking outside contractors an issue is brought up by the superintendent to the Board. It may go like this:
Superintendent Janette Archuleta: Oh great Board, we have a problem with our climate control systems and no one in our maintenance staff can repair them.
Board president Leonard Valerio: Mr. Salas, how are our climate control systems working?
Salas: Oh great Board, we have met the state’s requirements and our calls for repairs on air conditioners and heaters have dropped by a third over last year. But we can’t fix some of the older ones and need some new ones installed.
Valerio: Shall we go out to bid to have new systems installed?
Salas: Guess we’ll have to.
Valerio: Do we have the budget to install new systems?
District business manager Charlene Sanchez: Sorry, oh great and wise Board. We’re broke. The board failed to pass a bond last year or the 2-mil levy this year. Voters are afraid you’ll misspend the money. We’re so poor, we might soon all be using fans in the summer and wood stoves in the winter. Vamos por la leña.
Valerio: Mr. Salas ask your maintenance people to do their best to keep the old systems working and this great Board will try to explain to voters how we’re going to spend their hard-earned tax money. Maybe they’ll pass a bond so we can repair and replace some things.
Instead we have a “Honeywell request for proposal.” From whence did that nomenclature come and where was the discussion that created it? The Board can’t let this out to bid. The District doesn’t have the money to pay for it.
Cockerham and Salas took responsibility for the poor maintenance department despite some pretty strong Board resistance. They’ve done a good job trying to get back on schedule. Bidding out something of this magnitude reeks of bad politics. Someone was looking to make some money on this deal.
Salas said it best, “(The District) is trying to fix something that isn’t broken.”