Re: your March 23 article, “Benitez hopes to get on with life�:
The Rio School District board made a wise decision to settle the Yolanda Benitez lawsuit. I want to thank Eva Acosta, Simon Ayala and Ken Ortega for having the courage to vote for a settlement despite the pressure of a recall. To have continued appealing the lawsuit would have cost the district many thousands of dollars more.
Unfortunately, the previous majority of the school board, which includes present members Henrietta Macias and Ron Mosqueda, was involved in a violation of the Brown Act when dismissing Yolanda Benitez and also followed the bad advice of then-district lawyers in not trying to settle three years ago. They are responsible for the financial mess the district is in now.
Eva Acosta and Ken Ortega inherited this difficult and costly problem. Simon Ayala has been in favor of settling for quite some time. Why should they be the subject of a recall when much of the blame for the district’s financial ill health falls right into the hands of Macias and Mosqueda?
I urge the registered voters of the Rio School District not to sign any recall petitions. Having a recall will only do more harm to the district and its children.
— Herb Smith, Oxnard
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