EscondidoEscondido — Escondido elementary school district trustee Jose Fragozo, who under a workplace violence restraining order has been banned from showing up at district board meetings, has found office space in a San Marcos shopping center where he can participate in the meetings by telephone.
Fragozo’s first attempt at calling in to the meetings from his Escondido apartment was cut short last week after a resident accused the board of violating the Brown Act, saying that Fragozo’s meeting spot hadn’t been announced 72 hours in advance and wasn’t accessible to the public. The meeting was abruptly halted as a precaution, then rescheduled for Monday after Fragozo found his new digs.
At Monday’s meeting, Fragozo borrowed an office located along Mulberry Drive, and shared by the Palomar College faculty union and North County Immigration Task Force. He called in to the board meeting with his cellphone.
In a 4-1 vote — with Fragozo dissenting — the board elected Joan Gardner as president. Fragozo had previously been vice president and the board’s charter had all but guaranteed that he would become the next president until the board voted in October to change the rules in favor of a democratic process, instead of an automatic rotation of jobs. Also at Monday’s meeting, trustee Zesty Harper was elected vice president, and trustee Gary Alternburg as clerk.
As at last week’s meeting, several people spoke out in defense of Fragozo, including his 21-year-old son, John.
“My father is not a threat to anyone,” John Fragozo said. “It is disappointing to hear that he is being ridiculed by individuals of such unprofessionalism.”
Fragozo is confined to the remote meeting site because of the restraining order, which was filed Dec. 2 by Superintendent Luis Rankins-Ibarra, who said Fragozo has threatened his life and intimidated district executives.
Fragozo has denied those allegations, but was ordered by Superior Court Judge Richard Whitney to stay away from school district property. A hearing before Whitney is scheduled Friday when district lawyers will argue that the temporary ban be made permanent for Fragozo, whose four-year term expires next year.
