On March 28, the Santa Ana Unified School District Board of Education unanimously approved paying for the $186 annual dues for Trustee Alfonso Alvarez’s membership in the Santa Ana Elks Lodge.
Why are taxpayers picking up the tab for Alvarez’ membership in a private, membership-only organization? Ordinarily, that would be considered a gift of public funds.
Not only did Alvarez fail to recuse himself from the vote – he made the motion to approve the payment and voted for it.
As a trustee, Alvarez receives a monthly stipend that amounts to $9,450 a year.
The Santa Ana Elks Lodge is an venerable, estimable organization that does tremendous good for the community, and has a long history of benefitting the city since its founding in 1902. And while supporting edcuational excellence is part of its mission – for example, nationally the Elks are second only to the federal government in awarding scholarship monies to desevrving college-bound students – they are not an education organization per se.
It’s one thing for the district to pay for Alvarez to join the California School Board Association. It’s quite another to pay for his membership in a private benevolent group that only admits members who meet certain criteria, and where the social fellowship aspect is a strong element of Elkdom.
In response to our inquiry, the district denied it is paying for Alvarez’s “personal membership.”
“The district is not paying for the personal membership of Dr. Alverez for the Elks Lodge. Dr. Alverez is a member of the Elks Lodge as a representative for the school board of SAUSD. Our district works closely with the Elks Lodge and other community partners to support initiatives for our students and school communities,” replied district PIO Fermin Leal in an e-mail earlier this week.
Except all Elks memberships are personal, individual memberships. The Elks admit members as individuals, not as representatives of organizations. That smacks of a fiction invented by the district to justify paying Alvarez’ $186 annual dues.
“The Elks Lodge supports our AVID program, high school athletics, donations of school supplies, and many other resources for SAUSD. Each summer, the Elks Lodge provides thousands of backpacks filled with school supplies for students, and provides toys for thousands of toys for students during the Christmas season. As a representative of SAUSD, Dr. Alvarez works with the Elks Lodge to help identify our school community needs that the Elks Lodge can support,” stated Leal.
Trustee Alvarez told us in an e-mail, “This school year, the Elks has donated over 15k to SAUSD in the form of scholarships, Christmas toy donations, backpacks and school supplies.”
The Santa Ana Elks Lodge does all those things – but they would do them even if the district was not paying Alvarez’s dues. The Elks support for education is intrinsic to its mission and totally independent of whether or not the SAUSD is footing the bill for a Board of Education member’s dues. Elks lodges will invite scholarship recipients and their families to lodge meetings to present them with certificates and community recognition. But those lodge meetings are “open” – meaning membership isn’t necessary Alvarez or any SAUSD official to attend.
Both Alvarez and the district are inferring the Santa Ana Elks engage in their charitable act for SAUSD students because Alvarez is a trustee and the district cuts a $186 check for his dues. That’s insulting to the Elks.
According to the logic of the rationalizations proffered by Alvarez and the district, any SAUSD employee who joins the Santa Ana Elks is entitled to have their memberships paid for by the district.
Alvarez has been an Elk for many years and was paying his own dues before the district began paying his membership for him. He told OC Independent, “I have been a member for 13 years. I would still be a member if SAUSD did not pay the membership.”
Which brings us back to the question: if that is the case, then why ask taxpayers to pay for it?
Candidly, social media photos of Alvarez socializing at the Lodge cast doubt on the district’s claim of a purely educational purpose for paying his membership dues:
Leal told us, “Dr. Alvarez will serve as the School Board representative in the Elks Lodge through March 31, 2024, for a combined two years. Previously, other Board members alternated in serving in this capacity with the district paying the cost of the membership fee.”
We asked to which board members he was referring but have received no response.
Last week, the OC Independent reported the SAUSD is paying thousands of dollars to Trustee Katelyn Brazer Aceves’ employer, who in turn uses it to pay Brazer Aceves for up to 20 days off for “district duties” – something SAUSD trustees have traditionally used their vacation time for, or just docked their pay.
Now we have the district paying for a trustee to socialize in a private, members-only lodge.
The cost isn’t the issue. It’s the principle.
The rationalizations offered by the district and Alvarez are unconvincing. This smacks of a gift of public funds. Most members of the Santa Ana City Council are members of the Santa Ana Elks Lodge, and they pay for own memberships. Trustee Alvarez ought to do the same.
