Central Basin fires general manager in vote likely to face legal challenge

The general manager of the embattled Central Basin Municipal Water District has been fired by the agency’s board even though protections in his contract and the district’s administrative code make a legal challenge all but guaranteed.

All four members of the board who showed up for a special meeting Friday, Nov. 1, voted to terminate the contract of Alex Rojas, who was charged criminally two years ago and has been on leave from the district since February. However, three board members — President Art Chacon and Directors James Crawford and Leticia Vasquez-Wilson — were absent.

A challenge is almost assured because Rojas’ contract, through an amendment added two years ago, requires the vote of six of seven board members to take any “adverse employment action” against the general manager. Similarly, the district’s administrative code includes language requiring a vote of four-fifths of the board to terminate the general manager.

Chacon, in an email after the vote, reiterated the requirements to terminate a general manager. He declined to say whether he would personally challenge the votes.

Fired ‘without cause’

The board members who voted to terminate Rojas did so “without cause,” meaning the district will have to pay out about $200,000 to cover the remainder of his contract if the vote is allowed to stand.

In separate interviews, Directors Juan Garza and Martha Camacho-Rodriguez, who pushed for the meeting, acknowledged the voting thresholds listed in the administrative code and Rojas’ contract, but each said they did not believe those amendments would hold up in court.

“If it gets challenged in court, we’re prepared to defend it and our actions,” Garza said. “We’re confident that state law is on our side.”

Camacho-Rodriguez said the board’s actions should make it clear that the directors will not tolerate “anything that might look improper” in reference to a series of allegations against Rojas.

“What you saw today was a fully functioning board abiding by the Brown Act to make sure that we’re doing our fiduciary duty and to make sure we’re doing right by our constituents,” she said.

Rojas’ attorney, Craig Missakian, could not be reached for comment.

Boosted compensation

The board placed Rojas on leave in February, pending the outcome of two administrative investigations. Those investigations, the last of which concluded in October, accused Rojas of taking actions that solely benefited a company tied to his co-defendant in an ongoing criminal case and improperly boosted his own compensation by more than $75,000.

The District Attorney’s Office charged Rojas more than two years ago, alleging he took $400,000 in bribes from a company called Del Terra while serving as superintendent in the Bassett Unified School District in La Puente. Despite the charges, Central Basin initially allowed Rojas to continue leading the district until a civil case, filed by Vasquez-Wilson, discovered the secret connection between a Central Basin contractor, Capstone Partners Group, and Del Terra.

In that case, Capstone owner Manuel Jaramillo testified he is a Del Terra employee and used other Del Terra employees to carry out Capstone’s work in Central Basin, a water wholesaler that serves 1.6 million people from 24 cities and unincorporated areas in Southeast Los Angeles County. He denied any direct involvement from Luis Rojas, the owner of Del Terra and Alex Rojas’ co-defendant.

However, recent court filings have allegedly revealed an even deeper connection. Luis Rojas signed Capstone’s checks to a subcontractor and listed his home as the company’s address on the checks, according to the filings. Alex and Luis Rojas, who are not related, have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

The District Attorney’s Office now appears to be investigating Rojas’ time in Central Basin as well.

Board president removed

The board did not stop at terminating Rojas. It also voted to remove Chacon as board president and shifted the title to Camacho-Rodriguez, who has served as the vice president since earlier this year.

The board members in favor alleged Chacon had effectively taken the district “hostage” by overusing a clause in the administrative code that gives the president final authority over any meeting agenda. The district is years behind on its annual financial audits and has lost its credit rating as a result, yet it has made no progress on hiring a new auditor in the past four months due to the board stalemate.

Both Camacho-Rodriguez and Garza accused Chacon of blocking and delaying their efforts to put Rojas’ employment and other critical items on recent agendas. The four members tried to add Rojas’ and Chacon’s removal as urgency items during the Oct. 28 meeting when Chacon left the items off that agenda, but they failed to get the five votes necessary.

“Not agendizing this is frankly derelict,” Garza said at the Oct. 28 meeting.

Chacon, at the time, repeatedly called Garza “out of order” for trying to bring the items to a vote. He warned the board’s two newest members they could be held liable “personally” if they supported it.

“You can’t hijack this meeting,” Chacon said.

Special meeting called ‘invalid’

In response, the board scheduled the Friday special meeting, without Chacon’s input, under the premise that state law allows a majority of board members to call a special meeting and supersedes the administrative code. That circumvention potentially creates another angle for a legal challenge to Rojas’ termination.

Vasquez-Wilson, who has publicly called for Rojas’ to be investigated criminally, did not attend the meeting because she disagreed with the board’s efforts to circumvent Chacon’s control over the agendas.

“He’s the only one that has that authority,” she said. “Today’s actions are invalid.”

The board has asked staff to bring back an amendment to the administrative code at its next meeting that would potentially remove the board president’s control over agendas.