Legal problems grow for schools trustee - Marin IJ 04/22/06

Legal problems grow for schools trustee
Don Speich

Marin IJ 04/22/2006

A Sausalito Marin City schools trustee is facing a raft of legal troubles, including an arrest warrant for his failure to appear in court for not paying child support and a trial next month on domestic violence charges.
Additionally, Robert Fisher, 59, of Marin City, who was appointed to the school board in August 2005, was sentenced in Marin Superior Court this week to six months of probation and 88 hours of community service for driving with a suspended driver's license.

An Independent Journal check of his background found no evidence he earned a bachelor's degree in engineering from San Jose State University, as he stated in his application for the seat on the school board.

There is no record of a Robert E. Fisher born on March 22, 1947 - his name and birth date listed in court and voter registration files - who received an engineering degree, said San Jose State spokeswoman Pat Lopes Harris. There was, she said, a Robert E. Fisher who was born on a different date and received a degree in a different discipline. She could provide no additional details, citing privacy considerations.

Fisher declined to comment.

Contacted Friday, George Stratigos, president of the Board of Trustees, said, "Since his appointment last August, Robert Fisher has been a helpful addition to the Board of Trustees. Where we go from here regarding these various issues is something I will have to discuss with my fellow board members and our new superintendent before I comment further."

In early January, Fisher was ordered by Marin Superior Court Commissioner William Hochman to pay child support in the amount of $423 per month, according to court records. Fisher had told the court he could not work because he had diabetes.

The child support case dates back to 1999. That year, it was referred to a county family support case worker, VaDonna Danesi. She stated in a court document that on Dec. 9, 1999, Fisher failed to show up for a court-ordered meeting where he was supposed to hand over his medical records.

At a subsequent meeting on Dec. 20, 1999, Fisher did appear but was able only to give the name and not the address of one physician, and neither the name nor any other information about another, Danesi stated in a court document.

On Jan. 12 of this year, Hochman, besides ordering child support, ordered Fisher "to seek and maintain employment," keep track of his efforts and record all hours worked and the gross and net income he received.

On April 6, Fisher failed to appear in court but called,according to records, to say he was in Chicago. Hochman issued a $35,000 bench warrant for his arrest.

During the period Fisher said he was in Chicago, three of the district's trustees - Stratigos, Tom Clark and Shirley Thornton - along with new Superintendent Debra Bradley, were in Chicago attending a National School Boards Association convention. Fisher, who apparently planned to attend, backed out at the last moment, according to district officials, forcing the district to forfeit a $650 registration fee.

Stratigos said Fisher had canceled to be with his elderly mother with whom he lives.

The misdemeanor domestic violence incident, according to court records, stems from a Nov. 11, 2005, arrest by Novato police on charges of "battery on a non-cohabitating former spouse or partner and dissuading a witness or victim from reporting an alleged crime." A protective order for the victim was issued Jan. 12. A trial is to begin May 10.

Fisher's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Michele Berrong, said she could not comment on the case because it is still under investigation.

Fisher won a seat last November on the Marin City Community Services District board, even though the district and the school district of which he is a trustee occasionally deal with issues affecting both. It raised the question of the potential for conflict of interest. He recently resigned from the CSD board. Fisher ran unsuccessfully for the CSD board in 2001.

Fisher is elusive about his past.

A biography online by the League of Women Voters prior to the November election reported he was born in San Antonio, Texas, in 1947 and "moved to Marin City at the age of 1 year old to live with his grandmother. Robert has maintained his permanent residence in Marin City for 54 years."

The biography offers a list of jobs, most of them vague in terms of dates and company names. For example, it said Fisher has been "chief estimator and field engineer for several Bay Area heavy construction firms, president of a construction equipment leasing firm, president of a computer manufacturing and repair firm, math teacher and dean of boys in an Oakland religious school, engineer to design review boards, planning commissions, and city councils."