ROMER'S SECRET FUND NONPROFIT CREATED TO TALK UP LAUSD.

Byline: Naush Boghossian Staff Writer

Days after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his support for an effort to break up the LAUSD, Superintendent Roy Romer quietly created a nonprofit organization that has raised nearly $150,000 to tout the school district's accomplishments, the Daily News has learned.

Despite having the district's nearly $1 million public-relations operation at his disposal, Romer founded Friends of L.A. Schools - with himself as CEO - to counter criticism by Schwarzenegger and then-mayoral challenger Bob Hertzberg that the Los Angeles Unified School District was too large and inefficient.

``This began in February when there was a lot of criticism of the district, to disband the district, and I felt we needed to communicate positively about what this district was about and what it's doing,'' Romer said Friday in a phone interview. ``And when you get into the area of communications, I like not to spend public money if I can avoid it.

``Everybody else in town was talking about LAUSD and we thought we should talk about it too. There's no secret or mystery about it.''

Disclosure of the fund raised questions among school board members who said they had only a vague knowledge of it and would press Romer for a full explanation next week.

Hertzberg, whose breakup proposal brought education to the forefront of this year's campaign, questioned why Romer would need to spend money to promote the district.

``This is ridiculous,'' he said. ``The best P.R. you can get is to do your job.''

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa knew nothing about Romer's organization but withheld comment until he gets more information, spokeswoman Janelle Erickson said.

Council President Alex Padilla, who worked with LAUSD board member Jose Huizar to create a joint committee to study district operations, said he was surprised at the Romer effort.

``We are trying to offer an olive branch to the school district to deal with its problems and the future of the district,'' he said. ``I'm not sure what he has in mind with this.''

In three months, Romer's charity raised $145,000 from donors that he and other district officials declined to name. They also refused to disclose other officers or provide copies of the documents creating the nonprofit organization.

However, copies obtained from the Secretary of State's Office list Cary Davidson as chief financial officer and Flora S. Yin as secretary.

Davidson is a partner and Yin is an associate at Reed & Davidson, a law firm at 520 S. Grand Ave., Suite 700 - the same address as the charity's. The firm's Web site says its clients include the committee that organized the Democratic National Convention in 2000, when Romer was head of the national party.

The articles of incorporation say the purpose of Friends of L.A. Schools is ``to educate and inform the public about the Los Angeles Unified School District, including its programs and facilities.''

Romer said he's spent a total of about $70,000 of the $145,000 on his State of the Schools address and related community forums, as well as on a breakfast for schools that had increased their academic achievement scores.

``This is very much what any organization would do to say, Let's have people understand us,'' Romer said, ``and you go to Friends to help us tell the story.''

The district has a communications department with a staff of seven and a budget of $862,000, but it was unable to take on anything more than its day-to-day tasks, said Glenn Gritzner, special assistant to Romer.

Romer said he told the school board about the nonprofit organization, but members said they were unclear on the details.

``In this particular situation I do not believe we were fully informed and we need to be. Obviously we need more information and I'm going to work toward getting us fully informed,'' board President Marlene Canter said.

Board member Jose Huizar said the board is entitled to information from the superintendent on matters in which the district's name is used to form an organization.

``I would also ask questions as to who put in money for those funds and did it cross the line as to who had contributed,'' he said. ``It's about transparency, and as trustees of the public, the superintendent should have the judgment to keep the board aware of its activities.''

Bob Stern, president of the nonpartisan Center for Governmental Studies, said that while he's heard of public officials soliciting money for charities, he's never heard of one setting up a charity that he controls.

``The question is, where is he getting the money and how much money they're giving. He's a public official and he should be disclosing any money he's getting in relation to his job,'' said Stern, whose Los Angeles-based group looks at campaign financing and ethics.

``For example, let's say he's raising money from school contractors - that's relevant. People should know that. The faster he discloses the donors, the better it will be.''

The circumstances around the creation of Friends of L.A. are similar to those of the creation of the LAUSD Education Foundation, which Romer launched in 2003 to raise funds for his education-reform initiatives.

Naush Boghossian, [phone]

naush.boghossian(at)dailynews.com

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