Ethics panel fines ex-Board of Education member

Thursday, Aug. 19, 2004 | 11:12 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- After an all-day hearing Wednesday, the state Ethics Commission found former state Board of Education member John Hawk guilty of two ethics violations in his advocacy of a charter school in Clark County.

The board imposed a $1,000 fine, the second largest fine levied by the commission since the law was changed in 1999.

Hawk denied he had done anything wrong and said he followed the advisory opinion issued by the ethics commission in January and also the advice of his lawyer, Richard Segerblom.

The Clark County School District originally agreed to sponsor the school but then withdrew its support. Hawk then applied to the state Board of Education, of which he was a member.

The ethics commission found that Hawk had failed to fully disclose to the education board that he had received compensation from the proposed school. He and his wife Wendi each received $34,000 from a federal grant received by the school before it got its charter.

He abstained from voting at the May 8 board of education for a preliminary charter to operate the school. But he disclosed only that he was close to the operation and a co-founder.

The commission also said that after the May 8 vote, Hawk had a conflict of interest because he then had a pecuniary interest with the preliminary approval. The ethics commission, in an advisory opinion in January, suggested he resign when he got the permanent license.

Hawk and his attorney Bruce Judd argued that he was not required to resign until he got the final approval on July 28 from the state board.

The commission cleared him of an allegation he put pressure or used his influence to push the charter school application through the state Department of Education.

Commission Chairman Rick Hsu said the approval of the preliminary license gave Hawk a "significant pecuniary interest" and he should have resigned after the vote on May 8.

Hawk filed for re-election to the board on May 3. Then he resigned in July when his state board colleagues approved a full charter for the school. He said he tried to get off the ballot but he was told his efforts to withdraw were too late. He is the only candidate on the ballot and after he is elected, he will resign, he said.

Hawk is a corporate trainer for the Clark County School District earning $55,000 and his wife is vice principal at a middle school making $65,000 a year, according to documents of the ethics commission. John Hawk was not available for comment. Reached at home Wednesday night, Wendi Hawk said, "I had to testify against my husband. Right now I'm a little angry. I am not going to give a comment." Wendi Hawk said that anyone interested in the case should look at the evidence.

Judd, Hawk's lawyer at Wednesday's hearing, said Hawk tried to comply with the law and the advice he had been given. He sought advice from the ethics commission that told him in November he would have to resign from the state education board if he applied for approval. It said then that as a member of the education board, he would have authority over the state superintendent of public instruction that regulates the charter schools.

Then in January, the ethics commission issued its written opinion that said he would have to resign when he got the "ultimate" approval from the state board. Judd argued the ultimate approval didn't come until July at which time Hawk submitted his resignation.

But commissioners said the state's sponsorship, even though it was preliminary, came in May.

Commissioner Bill Flangas said that Hawk's "compulsion (for getting a charter for the school) overrode his concern for ethical conduct." He said Hawk shepherded the school through the Education Department and the state board.

"He should have resigned several months earlier," said Flangas.

Commissioner George Keele said there was a "total breakdown" when Hawk failed to disclose to the state Board of Education he was receiving compensation from the school. The money came from a $100,000 federal grant to allow the school to get off the ground.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Keith Rheault testified that Hawk never exerted any pressure to get the application approved. And Hawk did not seek any preferential treatment.

And the application, said Rheault was handled the same as other applications.

Wendi Hawk testified that the couple spent several thousand dollars of their own money in putting together the application for the charter school. She said it was their understanding that he didn't have to resign until the full sponsorship was approved by the state board. Hawk testified that in April, before the May 8 vote of the education board, he telephoned the ethics commission seeking guidance. But he said he was told the staff of the commission does not give legal advice.

The vote finding Hawk guilty of two willful violations was 4-1 with Keele dissenting. He disagreed that one of the violations was not willful. Voting for the violations were Hsu of Reno and Merle Berman, Timothy Cashman and Flangas, all of Las Vegas.