The money was then given to Dan Murray, Mark Morris and Sharon Ko through in-kind contributions and cash. Ko was found to have known about the bankrolling, while the other two board members did not.
The bus maintenance contract with UTS expires on Aug. 17, 2012.
“I understand our community is owed an answer to that question,” Board President Jerome Kearns said, “but as I’ve said before, we have to determine our responsibility, if anything, related to that contract based on the events. Until we have that opportunity to sit down with our legal council, we can’t give a response to that.”
The UTS website has a small note that states Burer resigned effective Sept. 1 and he has no “direct stake” in the company any longer. His wife Carolyn, though, is now the UTS president. UTS also has a contract with Fairfield to transport special needs students.
Tom Burer is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 27.
“Does anyone believe that Tom Burer doesn’t benefit from this contract or any other contract with this district?” Greg Walker said. “ ... The bus contract needs to be dissolved at the earliest convenience.”
The Burer Garage LLC contract with the district was set to expire in 2009, and then-school board member Arnold Engel balked at renewing the contract without seeking competing bids.
The contract was approved 4 to 1, with Engel the lone dissenter.
“This contract was procured by fraud, or was essentially rewarded by illegal, laundered kickbacks to board members, and should promptly be voided by this panel,” said Mark Miller, the treasurer for the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes.
Scott Turney — area general manager for First Student — spoke to the board about providing identical service to the district.
“We can provide the same service and maintenance you currently have,” Turney said. “We can save the district money, and I believe the savings can be substantial. We believe First Student can help.”
While Kearns was unsure of a time line of when the board would be able to provide an answer, he did say the board will not “arbitrarily” cut the contract and jump to another vendor.
“It’s a very important service we need to continue, and we’re not going to expose ourselves to a risk,” Kearns said. “I’m not saying that they couldn’t do a good job, but we travel over 6,000 miles a day. There is a legal process for this.”
Contact this reporter at (513) 755-5113 or smatthews@coxohio.com.
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