John Gaccione

Date: 10/11/2020

Subject: Candidate’s Negatives

From: Headquarters

As you know, one of the faithful (LW) was pleased to announce that she is running for a seat on the KPPCSD Board. The candidate is a true believer in local control over public safety services and recreational facilities. 

For over 40 years the candidate served Kensington in several capacities. Sadly, problems have accompanied her achievements and those problems have had serious negatives.

The faithful should be aware of the negatives and be ready to batten down the hatches, spool up the spin and go into damage control. Listed below are examples of the negatives.

For the position of District Administrator, the candidate earned in 2017 $80,180 regular pay plus $5,150 in OT for a total of $85,331. Supposedly that was for a part-time position.

The candidate spent 5 to 8 hrs. developing detailed minutes for each board meeting. It was not unusual for residents’ comments with opposing views to be omitted from the minutes. Reason given; their comments did not follow the “flow”.

The candidate did the payroll for KPPCSD, preparing it manually instead of making use of digital accounting programs. The result was only the candidate knew where everything was and when not present, nothing happened. Built-in job security?

The approach to payroll taken by the candidate was somewhat unorthodox. Police officers were prepaid for their holiday time off. The employees were paid before they actually put their time in. Perhaps a payroll best practices holiday as well.

In 2018 the CA Parks & Recreation Dept. called the District about an available $178,000 capital grant program for park improvements. The candidate answered the phone call. The grant required attending a meeting, checking off boxes on a form and completing a preliminary application. 

To qualify for an additional program designated to serve “critically underserved communities”, the candidate conjured up a second “small park” from an empty corner lot. Is Kensington really a critically underserved community?

In 2018 the candidate’s lawyer (her son) threatened to file a lawsuit against the KPPCSD as it became clear her job description would be changing and requiring a higher skill level and education. The matter was settled for $43,500, plus attorney’s fees.

“I busted a mirror and got seven years bad luck, but my lawyer thinks he can get me five.” (Steven Wright)

Caution: Contents may cause longings for sovereignty and fears of annexation.