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"A new light is being shed on how Alisal Union School District Superintendent John Ramirez is spending district money.In April, the school district released extensive records of Ramirez's expense reports for the past 10 months after someone in the school district leaked credit card statements from the superintendent's district-issued credit card.KSBW obtained the expense reports through a California Public Records Act request. Monterey County Office of Education Superintendent Nancy Kotowski also requested further documents, which were delivered to her Friday.The documents and receipts released\u00A0Friday\u00A0show the school district authorized Ramirez spending $4,173 to pay for Luis Gonzales' hotel expenses in Salinas.In January, the school board voted to hire Gonzales as interim superintendent of human resources with a pay of $125,000 annually. The district's consulting agreement with Gonzales shows he has an address in San Jose, and since November the school district has paid for Gonzales to spend 38 nights at the Best Western Salinas Valley Inn on Kern Street in Salinas. Ramirez used his district-issued credit card to pay for Gonzales' hotel stays.Ramirez said the expenses are small compared with what Gonzales is saving the district overall.\u201CWe basically save $140,000 in two years, of a $400,000 salary, so I don\u2019t see what you see,\u201D he said.Also in November, the Alisal School District spent just over $6,200 for Ramirez and all five members of the Alisal school board to attend a trade show in San Francisco for the California School Board Association. The delegation spent $4,140.08 for six people to stay three nights at the Westin St. Francis Hotel, while registration for the trade show was $425 per person totaling $2,550 for the six-member delegation to attend.\"That's where the conference was, and that's where the California School Board Association, that's where they recommend us to stay, so you eliminate other expenses,\" Ramirez said. \"When you take $7,000 that doesn't even equal $100 a month, so when you take it as a single expenditure it might look like large, but when you take it as staff development, when you go to the business world, and you ask them, do you spend $100 on staff, they say, \u2018No way, we'd go under.\u2019\"The report does not include additional money the district may have spent on meals for members of the Alisal delegation.The documents released\u00A0Friday\u00A0do not address questions surrounding particular expenses such as Ramirez spending more than $400 at Macy's last year or why he reimbursed the district more than $600 a few weeks later.Meanwhile, the initial reports show Ramirez does a lot of business over meals at restaurants, and he pays for the bill with the school district's credit card.Between late June 2012, and mid-April 2013, Ramirez had 80 meetings held over breakfast, lunch or dinner. Most of the meetings were with other local educators and the total cost of those meals was $3,913 to taxpayers.\u00A0This total does not include per diem and meal expenses Ramirez racked up while traveling on district business.Of those 80 meetings, nearly half were with Jose Castaneda, an\u00A0Alisal Union School District board trustee who is also a Salinas City councilman.The meetings with Castaneda continued even after Castaneda stepped down from his position as school board president in December.Taxpayers paid for $1,676 for Ramirez and Castaneda to dine together.One of the expenses -- a March 26 expense for $216 at Famous Dave\u2019s barbecue -- is listed as a \u201Cpost-basketball tournament debrief\u201D with Ramirez, Castaneda, Frank Estrada Jr., Frank Estrada Sr., Ben Carmona and Cynthia Ruiz. Ramirez told KSBW that expense came after the attendees \u201Cput in 12 hours of volunteer work\u201D at the school district basketball tournament.The expense reports also show that on Nov. 23, 2012, Ramirez spent $400 at Macy\u2019s. There is no report explaining the expense, but on Jan. 2, Ramirez reimbursed the school district $685. The receipt for the reimbursement does not show a reason for the reimbursement.\u00A0Kotowski has told Action News that her investigation into Ramirez's spending will focus only on whether or not he did anything illegal. She said it will be up to the Alisal USD board to determine whether Ramirez's expenses were appropriate. The school district does not currently have any policy on expenses, but Ramirez and board members said they are now working on creating an expense policy.Here is a complete list of expenses submitted by Ramirez for meals he had with Jose Castaneda that were paid for by the Alisal Union School District:\u00A0June 28 $26.83 The VillageJuly 24 $41.86 Cathay HouseJuly 31 $36.00 The VillageAugust 1 $26.50 The Noodle HouseAugust 7 $105.00 Casa Sorento (report lists \u201CBoard President and staff\u201D as attendees )August 14 $20.28 Dairy QueenAugust 22 $25.00 Five GuysAugust 24 $30.00 El ZocatecanoSeptember 5 $36.00 The VillageSeptember 19 $37.00 The VillageSeptember 26 $44.00 (unnamed restaurant; with school board vice president for agenda review meeting)October 1 $30.00 Toro Park CafeOctober 15 $30.00 El ZacatecanoOctober 17 $24.00 Monterey Coast Brewing CompanyOctober 29 $33.00 First AwakeningsNovember 9 $35.00 Denny\u2019s (there is a third person listed on the receipt but not on the expense report)November 13 $35.00 Black Bear DinerNovember 19 $74.00 Gino\u2019sDecember 5 $80.00 Norma\u2019sDecember 27 $70.00 Monterey Coast Brewing CompanyDecember 31 $81.00 Fish &amp; ChipsJanuary 3 $32.17 El ZacatecanoJanuary 7 $44.00 Rosita\u2019s Armory CafeJanuary 11 $25.00 Fish &amp; ChipsJanuary 23 $21.44 Saltillo (\u201Cwith Mr. Ibarra\u201D)February 6 $34.00 Olivia\u2019sFebruary 8 $72.25 Monterey Coast Brewing Co.February 13 $19.13 Eva\u2019s CafeFebruary 25 $40.00 Toro Park CafeMarch 15 $23.00 Eva\u2019s CafeMarch 18 $48.00 XL GrindhouseMarch 20 $24.00 Eva\u2019s CafeMarch 21 $70.00 Olivia\u2019s CafeMarch 26 $216.00 Famous Dave\u2019sMarch 29 $41.00 Fish &amp; ChipsApril 10 $46.00 Fish &amp; ChipsTotal: $1676.46"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.ksbw.com/article/ramirez-used-alisal-school-district-money-on-hotels-restaurants/1051644>