Schools
Board of Ed Honors Christiansen Prosecutors
The school board honored staff members from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office who successfully prosecuted former district factilities director Karen Christiansen.
The Board of Education this week honored officials from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office for their successful prosecution of former district facilities director .
Christiansen was last month of four felony conflict of interest charges relating to a secret deal she negotiated to be an independent Beverly Hills Unified School District contractor while performing her duties as facilities director. She served as project manager for the $334 million bond and was reportedly also paid $5.2 million by BHUSD for consultant services between 2006 and 2009.
Christiansen will be sentenced on Jan. 5, 2012, with a maximum sentence of eight years.
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“We take no pleasure in this outcome...we all wish that none of this had happened in our district,” outgoing board President Lisa Korbatov said on Tuesday at the board’s .
Deputy District Attorney Max Huntsman, the lead prosecutor in the trial, received a board commendation. Also honored was George Mueller, the assistant chief of the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation, and Kenneth Kladifko, the bureau’s senior investigator.
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Now that the criminal trial is over, the civil cases may be heard. Christiansen filed a $16 million claim against BHUSD in 2009 after it severed its relationship with her company, Strategic Concepts. The district countersued for $4 million and attorney fees. Both suits were stayed—legally put on hold—pending the outcome of the criminal case.
“We are confident that soon the civil court will throw out the [$16 million claim] case altogether,” Korbatov said.
The BHUSD has spent more than $2 million on legal fees relating to the Christiansen trial. However, it recently recovered $6.6 million in a from Johnson Controls, an Orange County energy company that secretly hired Christiansen to be a consultant. The BHUSD had purchased $7 million worth of goods and services from Johnson Controls allegedly because of Christiansen’s recommendation.
The attorneys who negotiated the settlement on behalf of the BHUSD were also honored on Tuesday. Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan attorneys Steve Madison, Michael Lifrak and Stan Karas received commendations.
The settlement was the largest the district has ever received, according to new board President Brian Goldberg.
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