Eric Patton out as San Clemente football coach
August 16th, 2011, 5:06 pm · · posted by DAN ALBANO, ocvarsity.com
Eric Patton has been replaced by San Clemente athletic director Jon Hamro as the Tritons' interim coach.
Veteran San Clemente football coach Eric Patton has been replaced by interim coach and Tritons athletic director Jon Hamro fewer than three weeks before the start of the season, the school announced Tuesday.
Patton has been a key focus of an investigation into a sports equipment and apparel company’s alleged kickbacks to Orange County coaches.
Hamro, who has been a varsity assistant coach, takes the interim head coach post immediately but there is “no timetable” for how long he will serve in the position, said Marcus Walton, chief communications officer for the Capistrano Unified School District.
Patton remains an employee of the district, but Walton declined to comment on whether he will teach or coach at San Clemente this fall. Walton said the district can’t discuss personnel issues.
Late Tuesday night, Patton declined comment and referred questions to his attorney. A phone messages left for Hamro wasn’t immediately returned Tuesday night.
Patton has been part of an investigation into the financial records of coaches throughout Orange County and Southern California who had business dealings with the now-defunct Lapes Athletic Team Sales (LAPES) of Laguna Hills. Several Orange County coaches, including other high-profile football coaches, allegedly were part of a long-standing slush fund operation.
In a letter to students and parents dated Tuesday, San Clemente principal George Duarte cited the investigation after introducing Hamro as the interim coach.
(The entire letter is shown below.)
“As you may know, there has been recent publicity about the use of athletic funds at many Southern California high schools, including several in the Capistrano Unified School District,” Duarte wrote. “We are carefully reviewing our funding system as a result of this publicity.”
In July, the district said that some of its high school coaches may have embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars of district and parent money in a kickback scheme involving a LAPES.
Capistrano Unified School District has conducted an internal investigation. Superintendent Joe Farley told The Register last month that the initial findings of a nine-month, internal district investigation showed that LAPES may have overbilled the district for athletic supplies and then shared the excess cash with coaches who placed the orders.
“We believe there could have been criminal misconduct,” Farley told The Register. “The findings are significant enough that it merits being turned over to the sheriff’s department.”
The allegations of the slush funds first came from Geoff and Teresa Sando of Irvine to PBS SoCal’s “Real Orange.” The couple invested heavily in LAPES and eventually took over the company in a damage control capacity as it went under.
The couple later discovered documents labeled “slush.” One 2000 document is a signed faxed note from Patton and “Triton Football” to Lapes and owner Bill Lapes requesting $500 payments be sent to three people, including a Ward Patton. Eric Patton has a son named Ward.
Before San Clemente, Patton coached at Capistrano Valley – another Capistrano district school. He guided the Cougars to a CIF-SS Division 2 title in 1990. Patton was headed into his 12th season as San Clemente’s coach. The Tritons have been successful under Patton. They went 97-44-1 but were expected to have one of their best teams this fall.
San Clemente features touted recruits Kyle Murphy, a left tackle, and Travis Wilson, a quarterback who has committed to Utah.
A sports meeting at San Clemente has been scheduled for Monday. Farley is expected to attend.
The Tritons open the season Sept. 2 by playing host Cabrillo of Long Beach.
“Please know that school and district officials will maintain support for Triton football,” Duarte wrote in the letter. “Thank you for your support and patience as we move forward to resolve this situation.”
- Register reporter Scott Martindale contributed to this report.
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This group of Tritons is very, very resilient. The players are ready to start the season and will build on this as motivation for their season. To quote NIKE….Impossible is nothing!!
Eric Patton is a man of the highest integrity and has demonstrated it for over 30 years of dedicated, honorable and at all times graceful coaching and teaching. I would love to put the hand of the Principal of San Clemente and the Superintendent of the District on a bible and ask them if they honestly felt different. I bet you they would agree in private. Ask his former players and those around him.
If anything happened here, I believe until proven otherwise that at worst it was an honest mistake and more likely a result of Coach Patton trusting too much the people who ran the businesses (as surely Coach Patton is not into coaching for the money otherwise he would long ago gone for the big dollars through other coaching avenues like at the College level or pursued extra-coaching private “camps,” clinics and private lessons). My guess is that he gets paid less than $5000 a year.
This is such a shame on our public institutions where you can’t fire a bad teacher but the high level administrators can jump ship on a long-time loyal public servant.
I also believe his current players know this and if maybe they have the same loyalty to Coach Patton that he has to them they would tell the District and Principal that they refuse to play without Coach Patton and take a public stand as it is completely unfair that Coach Patton can’t defend himself or give a response to what these Sando characters have spoon fed to the press due to the “ongoing investigation.”
I think coach Patton is a great guy, I also think he did something wrong. How can you defend this. He has checks written to his name and deposited into his account. This is fraud, theft and tax evasion. This is bad. He made a mistake like many other coaches did. There are good people who make mistakes, this is what I believe happened. It is a shame.
Where is Lapes? Let the facts be clear. Why is this story more interesting than that of other school districts dropping the cases such as this? Yet the Joe Farley district has investigated this case along with countless others involved and all appear to have been dropped or shelved. Could it be that, Eric Patton is a Head coach and not some unknown person? It sounds like a witch hunt it smells like a witch hunt; the schools need to provide good sound arguments to continue this chase. Maybe the school districts need a whipping boy. If the funds were a scheme designed to kick back money over paid to Lapes then were is Lapes in all this. If more than one or two schools were involved why have most dropped the cases? This seems unfair to the San Clemente Football team to have lost their coach just prior to the season when after all this investigation has been to my understanding going on for over eight (8) months. I am curious as to why now? It smells like a witch hunt and those who have coached under with and played for this coach should stand up and speak their feelings. Like I have… OC school district. My sincere apologies for making you out to be witch hunters but I call’em like I see ‘em…Yeah!
I competely agree with this poster. This is one of the most incredibly one sided stories totally spoonfed by the Sandos who are people that were screwed by Lapes and now have a vendetta against the coaches (and Court documents will show how disreputable these people are but no one seems to be looking into those people that are hanging coaches in the public forum — there are a few court cases where they are defendants and have allegedly lied on applications and defrauded a bank). This all started with the Sandos attempting to shakedown the coaches for monies they claim they were owed by the coaches. They LOST that battle and have nothing left to do but throw this mud against a wall and the reporters are eating it up (doesn’t anyone hear how bitter they sound?). The Sandos claimed that Coach Patton owed them $50,000 plus in equipment that he ordered but did not pay for. When it was shown that the equipment was paid for OR was not necessarily delivered/accepted by the program they went on a different path — one of slash and burn. Their own FALSE AND MISLEADING numbers are being thrown out into the public forum irresponsibly by these reporters and without any coaches being able to defend themselves because the reporters have insisted that this go before the DA’s office. Doesn’t anyone realize that if there is a criminal investigation even threatened that you CANNOT defend yourself in the public forum…you are told by your employers and your attorneys to keep your mouth shut, you usually do that. Coach Patton knowingly did nothing wrong and he is paid way less than $5000 a year to coach your kids including the summer program that is a non-paid job for all of the coaches and includes your up and coming kids. This is a tragedy beyond belief and after 40+ years there should be some loyalty on the part of players that due to this man have gone on to play in top schools and the pros. SAN CLEMENTE RESIDENTS OWE THIS MAN A LOT! Support him in this wrongdoing by a district political hack and the liars and extortionists that the Sandos will be proven to be.
We residents don’t owe him a thing! Maybe teh Sandos did play dirty but, at the end of the day the Sandos found something they could use to get back at him. No one cares about the Sandos and their false claims. People saw the emails and the money that got paid out to Eric, Ward and the rest of the gang. For all the good he has done it wil now be tainted by this kickback scandal. The sad thing is that it was for so little.
I think it is fairly clear that this whole matter is very unfortunate. A successful and well regarded man has had his public school coaching career ended and a long legacy forever tarnished. It also seems clear that the Sandro couple were motivated to come forward by bitterness over a bad business deal. However, it would seem equally clear that to say “no harm no foul” gives coach Patton a free pass for something his own conduct seems to indicate he himself knew was shady, at best, and illegal, at worst. If not, one wonders why he would have felt it necessary to send a note to Lapes indicating that checks should be made out to his son and staff family members rather than to himself or to other coaches directly. I am reminded of the old adage, ” We must do nothing in the dark that we would be ashamed to have exposed by the light.”
Coach Patton may ultimately be proven guilty of little more than poor judgement, but that, too, has a consequence and rightly so.
First of all learn how to spell
Where is Lapes? Let the facts be clear. Why is this story more interesting than that of other school districts dropping the cases such as this? Yet the Joe Farley district has investigated this case along with countless others involved and all appear to have been dropped or shelved. Could it be that, Eric Patton is a Head coach and not some unknown person? It sounds like a witch hunt it smells like a witch hunt; the schools need to provide good sound arguments to continue this chase. Maybe the school districts need a whipping boy. If the funds were a scheme designed to kick back money over paid to Lapes then were is Lapes in all this. If more than one or two schools were involved why have most dropped the cases? This seems unfair to the San Clemente Football team to have lost their coach just prior to the season when after all this investigation has been to my understanding going on for over eight (8) months. I am curious as to why now? It smells like a witch hunt and those who have coached under with and played for this coach should stand up and speak their feelings. Like I have… OC school district. My sincere apologies for making you out to be witch hunters but I call’em like I see ‘em…Yeah!
Where is Lapes?
I think there are a lot of people who think exercise is jumping to conclusions; I guess this is an example of human behavior at its best. It smells like a witch hunt to me I know teachers who put their own money into class supplies and I am sure there are lots of coaches too…This smell rotten and I hope the real truth comes out…The timing of this smells like a witch hunt and the rest is a grab for power and self promotion. This is high school football not Miami U! or USC! All the effort and all the time put forth by the coaches and the staff in my estimation is a gift to the kids after all they will be damaged too! Shane on the OC school district for not counting the lottery money too!
What can be reported is that the allegations are misleading and the witch hunt is in top gear… I do not wish this witch hunt for anyone even Bob or Domingo Gomez
Nuff said this is a simplistic mindless witch hunt some what like OJ looking for the real killer the OC school District is not being fair to Eric Patton or the taxpayers. Where is Lapes? Oh yeah he is in Vegas dropping some more cash from the slush fund. I pity the fool who reads this tripe and comes to any kind of conclusion …just like the school district.
“Eric Patton is a man of the highest integrity.” Oh ya? Might wanna re-think that….
I think there are a lot of people who think exercise is jumping to conclusions; I guess this is an example of human behavior at its best. It smells like a witch hunt to me I know teachers who put their own money into class supplies and I am sure there are lots of coaches too…This smell rotten and I hope the real truth comes out…The timing of this smells like a witch hunt and the rest is a grab for power and self promotion. This is high school football not Miami U! or USC! All the effort and all the time put forth by the coaches and the staff in my estimation is a gift to the kids after all they will be damaged too! Shane on the OC school district for not counting the lottery money too! ..Nuff said
First of all, check your subject/verb agreement, ” This smell rotten….”
Who are you? Do you really think people will ever listen to you? You have no real substance to your being do you Frank L I bet you think you are better than other people by virtue of your superior intellect.
Well Frank that may have been your first mistake ever but now you can rethink your entire life and look for other mistakes you have made. I am sure you will find some
Am I Right Ray …Yes indeed
There is plenty of proof. Its too bad he got involved in this. He is lucky he is not in jail.
The Athletic Director should be fired too, but he wants to coach the team that’ll fall on it’s face because of him.
just because the coach might have been doing this doesnt mean that the AD had any knowledge of that. and a team wont necessarily fall on its face i highly doubt much will change in the style of offence and defence being run but it is not impossible to have a successful season when changing things three weeks before the start of the season last year calvary chapel changed its offence completely on the first day of camp and had a successfuul season going 7-4
Calvary chapel also had 6 of the wins by schools that finished below .500 and did not make playoffs
Is there some evidence of which you have become aware, before it has been released to the very eager media, that seems to indicate that the athletic director knew, or could reasonably be expected to have known, that the head football coach was requesting kickback checks be written to members of his family or to staff members’ families?
As to the athletic director assuming the role of interim football coach, I assume that, given his background as a former varsity staff member and the very short time before the opening game, that decision may have been made by administrators at the site and District level without regard to anyone’s wishes. After all, it is certainly possible that members of the current staff may have been implicated to a lesser extent in the matter- although no evidence of that has been reported.
Yeah Joe Couch you must know all about it! You must be God like in your wisdom! You must be out of your mind to convict someone knowing what we all know which is only what Joe has told us?
Hey Joe who is going to win the Bears game this week I figured you would know you seem to know everything else… don’t you
I have known Coach Patton for many years from a sports medicine perspective and as a friend. He is a man of great integrity and honor. He truly cares about his players and coaches. It’s a shame that the apparent misuse of funds has sidelined him, because you don’t coach at this level of football for money. It’s for the love of game, camaraderie and hoping to make a difference in a teenager’s life. This coach would never dream of running up the score on an opponent that was clearly defeated and I’ve always admired him for that. He has more coaches on the sidelines for a Friday night football game that just want to be around or a part of his PROGRAM. It’s a tragedy that this had to happen to a fine human being. We all make mistakes.
“..you don’t coach at this level of football for money.”
Apparently, Patton does….
You are showing your short sighted deminished brain capacity by jumping to conclusions…now that we know which side of the moral fence you rest on there can be no doubt that you might actually beleive your self. That is sad I feel sorry for you …You do not know this man at all do you? I think not
First of all, yourself, the reflexive pronoun, is correctly written as one word.
Yeah I am really impressed with the integrity of the smucks in charge of the CIF. Yokahama gets transfered to MV, while Edison gets short changed. Something smells to high heaven and it ain’t Patton.
And Mission Viejo charges $1200 in “tuition” for its football players, while recruiting kids from surrounding cities to enroll in their program. hmmm justice? I don’t think so. Go after the Diablos and not the seemingly smaller, more honest programs.
There you go…
Yes,Coach Patton is a very nice man. No argument there. Although, it is time, for him to be put out to pasture. Too bad he didn’t go away on his own, instead he was taken out by the greed with his own hands. The SC Triton Football team is ready and very energized with a new entusiastic coaching staff that has been needed for a while now. Out with the old and in with the new…
Greed – sounds like he is already tried and convicted – haven’t heard of any charges or criminal action against this man. Why now? Why 3 weeks before the season starts. I have been hearing about this for months. The CIF everyone has known about this forever.
Oh dear “happy triton fan” – you won’t be so happy when MV( Buzzy improved ) crushes your team.
MV is weak this year on defense and if you dont remember SC put Buzzy out of the game in the first half last year…….and SC has almost their whole staring team on offense and defense coming back
Eric Patton is, and has been for 30 years, an honorable, skillful and honest coach and teacher. He has given up administrative and other, more lucrative positions, in order to stay on the field and in the classroom with high school kids. If there were any “kickbacks” involved here, it no doubt involved equipment or uniforms that went to kids who couldn’t afford them otherwise. Look at the amount described in the Register article – it works out to a few hundred dollars a year. Chicken feed, even for a public school teacher! Furthermore, why does the Register only mention CUSD coaches if this is such a widespread conspiracy?
EXACTLY what I said!
Where is Lapes? Let the facts be clear. Why is this story more interesting than that of other school districts dropping the cases such as this? Yet the Joe Farley district has investigated this case along with countless others involved and all appear to have been dropped or shelved. Could it be that, Eric Patton is a Head coach and not some unknown person? It sounds like a witch hunt it smells like a witch hunt; the schools need to provide good sound arguments to continue this chase. Maybe the school districts need a whipping boy. If the funds were a scheme designed to kick back money over paid to Lapes then were is Lapes in all this. If more than one or two schools were involved why have most dropped the cases? This seems unfair to the San Clemente Football team to have lost their coach just prior to the season when after all this investigation has been to my understanding going on for over eight (8) months. I am curious as to why now? It smells like a witch hunt and those who have coached under with and played for this coach should stand up and speak their feelings. Like I have… OC school district. My sincere apologies for making you out to be witch hunters but I call’em like I see ‘em…Yeah!
THE MAN IS DIRTY AND NEEDS TO PAY THE PRICE, IF HE WASN’T GUILTY HE WOULD FIGHT THE REMOVAL, BUT THEY HAVE HIM BY THE NUTS
Really? How ignorant of the system and reality. When you are told you cannot make a statement by your employers (who have now turned on him and many of your other coaches) and your attorneys YOU DO NOT MAKE A STATEMENT, pretty simple.
What happened to innocent until proven guilty Bob? This is a man that has given his entire life to education and coaching and has done an amazing job with the students he has influenced. You must be one of those people that believe everything they read in the news right? Give the investigative authorities time to prove that anything was done illegally before you start demoralizing another human. Your ignorance of how the justice system works frightens me Bob!
Exactly I pity anyone having to face this form of scrutiny after 30 years of good honest hard work it is a pity… and Bob is just the kind of lawless ruthless guy the type that is in the front row of a mob mentality
So CUSD drops the hammer on Patton……what about the other schools and coaches in the district maned in the suit…….do they skate free for now?
Agreed……i do believe this type of practice is pervasive and one coach was singled out….
Don’t worry the CIF will sort it all out and deliver their usual skewed version of justice.
The same thing is happening at Gunthers. They probably got rid of all the docs after this surfaced.
Kickbacks are the dirty little secret in all businesses. They have will continue to happen as long as there is business. I love when people act as if they are above the kickback but, you don’t know what you will do until really placed in the situation. The reality is that the people cutting the checks hold the power. Patton took money from the vendor and the vendor happily gave to secure the contract with the school. Obviously, they didn’t do a good enough job hiding it. I am sure if you looked deeper you would find this at every school on all most every level where there is a vendor relationship. Sucks for the coach but, if you play dirty don’t be surprised when you get a stain that won’t come out.
Some types of kickbacks in the US are considered legal, even though they are unethical. It is illegal for any public official to solicit or accept kickbacks and/or bribes. You’re sending the wrong message condoning this incident; public officials at all levels need to be held to a higher standard.
Tim,
Where in my post did I condone kickbacks? I only stated they are part of business and if you participate don’t be surprised if you get caught. Plain and simple, Coach Patton received kickbacks and he got caught. Now his is paying the price.
Kickbacks are illegal!
Sorry Domingo if I misunderstood your post.
Hey Domingo you must be an expert on ethics in business…or are you prejudice against all innocent until found guilty… you seem to have this case all wrapped up. You must work for Joe Farley and the others. You must have some information that we all would like to know or are you just chewing the fat cause it’s free GFY
As a parent and concerned citizen of San Clemente, I am disgusted and embarrassed by the alleged criminal activities surrounding Eric Patton and other employees of Capo Valley School District that have surfaced in recent months. If the allegations regarding embezzlement and kick-backs are true, those corrupt employees should be terminated and their pensions revoked. The fact there were so many employees involved in this incident is very alarming. They need be held accountable (especially the supervisors who allowed this to happen); reprimanded by the district and punished to the full extent of the law where applicable.
All School District employees have an ethical obligation to uphold to ensure the public trust. The school district and schools have an obligation to protect the community from corrupt teachers and need to send a much stronger message to the public that there is zero tolerance for any employee who breaks the law.
I agree. They should arrest them if they are found guilty. Or at least pay the money back to the school district. Like that would ever happen. They would prefer to waste in on lawyers then admit the truth.
I hope the Register (and some of the people who have posted here) are as quick to publish an extensive story about Eric’s innocence, when it is proven. Eric has been selling papers for decades because of what he can do with and for kids. Where are the sportswriters and editors who made part of their living from Eric, and KNOW Eric as a man? These accusations and innuendos have harmed a great career, and it won’t be rebuilt by a three-line retraction buried somewhere.
1. Great Coach
2. Great role model for hard work (over 30 years)
Now he is gone when we need more people like him. Big loss to our kids.
I couldn’t agree more. I wish more people would see the great influence Eric has had on the OC athletic community and stand in support of such a great man.
Thank you I have not met a bad coach yet and I believe I have known many. Thank you Law 11
I couldn’t agree more this is a travesty and a problem with our community as a whole…we have no loyalty or respect…
For most of the posters on this article the one thing you fail to mention is all sports in HS require one to be a STUDENT ATHLETE. Notice which one comes first. Great leaders provide direction by example. The NFL has proven itself to be dominated by avarice by whatever means. The college game is also corrupted by this mindset of winning at all costs. Now that this is also proven to exist in HS, how far along the food chain does the chain spread? Unfortunately this reflects the direction of society at large. Sacrifice and commitment is always undermined by greed notwithstanding all the good things accomplished in the process.
COACH ERIC PATTON sidelined my son at the beginning of the first-Quarter of the First-round of the 2008 CIF playoff game against Servite High School in 2008. Why?
My son did not RESPECT the team by showing up late for special team’s drills before the game to be played in 24-hours later.
Lesson learned by my son was that even though he rewrote several San Clemente High records, HE WAS NOT MORE INMPORTANT THAN HIS TEAM!
He was a senior and one of the BEST quarterbacks in the County.
Why was my son sidelined for such and important game?
RESPECT – he did not feel it important to show up to watch the “scrubs” go through drills he would not be participating in anyway.
It broke my heart to see him sidelined after leading the team to such a successful season. At some time later
I had the opportunity to have a heart-to-heart discussion with Coach Patton regarding what took place and I told him could not agree with him more. RESPECT!
RESPECT COACH ERIC PATTON, PhD.
Lonnie R. Curtis, PE
The message is unfortunately lost on some and others pick up right away. Those who get it become leaders. Thank you for your story Respect is not given it is earned!
Thanks Lonnie great story
to “SC Kid” – had Yokahama been present for the second half SC would have been on the ropes after the 3rd quarter last yr. Finding a replacement for their nose guard who earned a D1 scholarship is just the beginning of your problems since Ortiz is out as well. Good luck though – would love to see MV on taken down a notch.
Buzzy wasn’t present for the second half of the game because of San Clemente’s defense not because he just decided not to play..injuries are part of the game..you can play the what if game with any scenario you want.
I have known Eric Patton for over 40 years. We first met in High School and played football together in the summer of ’68 before going off to college. Many years later I was privileged to be able to coach with Eric at Capistrano Valley HS. In the many years I have known him he has displayed the utmost honesty, integrity and personal character.
I do not know all the details of this situation and have not had the opportunity to talk with Eric but I believe in the man and am inclined to believe that, any involvement he may have had with a scheme of kickbacks was not of his making. It is more likely that he naively gave too much control over situations to others who were more willing to take advantage of the situation for personal monetary gain.
Eric has conducted himself admirably over these many years and has displayed the highest moral character to his players and fellow coaches. I would urge anyone interested in this issue to allow the facts to emerge and allow the truth to ultimately be the judge of this man’s character.
Beliefs do not require supportable facts in evidence. Every human is fallible without question. We should all let this case play out if, for no other reason, to see how many more coaches and avid supporters shake from the tree of OC sports.
coach patton is messed up , let me re advise that , sc football program is messed up they focus on the key players such as patton did they treated the 2 string like crap …. they never really let the 2 string play at all , hopefully with coach hamro it would be nicer to play football for sc , adn see more talent
u play to win not to make people happy
Patton should be ashamed of what HE DID. This man has a PhD which shows he is well educated. MAYBE HE SHOULD HAVE USED HIS BRAIN AND BEEN ethical!!!!!!!!
The truth eventually comes out…… sucks to be a sc football coach….
IF he is convicted of any felonies, you can BET THAT HE WILL BE TERMINATED FROM HIS TEACHING POSITION IN CSUD
i would never want to have a teacher that was a FELON…………
oooo and ps……… WILL THE SC FOOTBALL PLAYERS scammed in this horrific incident RECEIVE THEIR MONEY BACK THAT WAS stolen from THEM???
Ah you poor por kid too bad you left SC high School you have so much more to learn.. so very much more you write like a child
ANOTHER BITE’S THE DUST , ANOTHER ONE BITE’S THE DUST HEY HEY HEY !!! KEEP IT KLEEN !
I don’t understand why the other coaches on San Clemente were suspended? Even if they wanted to replace “Eric’s guys” I don’t understand why they would leave these guys high and dry 3 weeks before the season. They are also screwing with their futures because the administration has created a guilt by association type of environment.
I’m glad I don’t work with these cut and run gutless administrators. How are the assistant coaches made out to look as if they did something wrong but the AD who is also a coach looks like some kind of hero who is here to save the day ….. this just doesn’t make sense.
If this is truly “about the kids” then what is this really teaching them? Fighting for these coaches ability to coach and not be dragged into the mud is just, pragmatic and the right thing to do. I can only imagine these poor guys probably have no say as their teaching jobs and futures are being held over their heads.
I realize this is a juicy story and it appears to be a big story that should be covered. But why is no one standing up for the little guy here? Who is fighting for the coaches here?
Super C, I would draw from the story that those coaches who were replaced may have received direct payments from LAPES and that would mean those coaches would be included in the embezzlement charges.
I dont think it is a matter of them being “dragged into the mud”, if they took payments, they were already in the mud that they created.
I’m one of those parents that bought those terrible Spirit Packs for 4 years! Every year we asked the same question, why do we need this junk? Even bigger question, who is getting kick backs? There were many parents dissatisfied with Coach Patton and the way he runs the team! Lets face it, he did something wrong, he needs to be accountable for his actions, that is what we try to teach our children?? In saying San Clemente RESIDENTS OWE THIS MAN A LOT! Why, did he do more then the job he was hired for? He took on the job of coaching, he did that job, but you can’t cross the line or try to make money off the parents or kids! I have a hard time believing a smart man with a PhD did not have any idea of what he was doing? I have also heard Coach Goldstone, Coach Ortiz, and Coach Woods were let go? Did they all fail to report any wrong doing? It is sad, sad to see a professional in a mess like this and I’m sure the entire truth will come out when it is all said and done! In my heart, I think he did do something wrong, if he did nothing, it would be over! Good luck to all of the family’s that find them self’s in this mess! I wish the SC Tritons the best of luck this year and my best to Coach Hamro! Remember the kids did nothing wrong, so let’s Support them!
Wow!! Patton has the most integrity of all the coaches…I am so sorry for his family. I am also surprised that you can speak this way of spirit packs maybe your kid didn’t play much but we always needed more of that “junk” as you put it.
Yes the kids did nothing wrong….
But this sour grape public humiliation that you are retorting is wrong…
Holy Mary you must have information that we do not ? You have found him guilty and so quickly ! You are very wise…
You are a very mean person.
If the other coaches are in involved then why are Patton and Chi Chi the ones being paraded out in the public? All of the press up until now has pointed to this being a large issue among many schools in many counties … so why is this program in particular being so exposed to the outside world through the media and administration?
2002tony I highly doubt the other coaches were getting checks and I highly doubt they had any say in the day to day business of the football program, vendor selection etc. etc. It was already reported that checks were made out to Coach Patton’s family members …. so if other checks were made out to individual coaches why wouldn’t the Sandos have sent that information to the media as well?
Veeder was just hired and other coaches are still coaching who have been there for years (Kopp etc.). So some coaches were getting paid and others weren’t? I don’t think your explanation makes as much sense as this being an administrative over reaction by spineless people.
Super C, I dont know any more then what is written in this article. You asked a question and I gave you a possible answer. I didnt say the coaches they had any say in the day to day business, only that “if” a check had been made out to them. That would be the reason. Also, the story did point out one family member out of the 3 checks, it didnt say all 3 were to family members, the other 2 could have been coaches. The article didnt say who the other two were and so we dont know.
If some coaches are still there who have been there for years, then maybe the investigators had not found a check made out to that coach so they could not point a finger at them, Again we dont know, it is all speculation until more facts are released. Even your comments are just speculation.
A possible reason why other coaches names were not released to the media, the head coach is the figure head of the program, not the other coaches and that was all they were ready to release.
I am glad you are speaking up for them though, and we are all entitled to our own opinion.
There likely will be more names surface publicly, and probably more penalties assessed publicly.
It looks like this is only the beginning of what could be a lengthy story.
Re: Eric Patton … he for decades has been very well respected by the coaching fraternity in Orange County football. He was always a gentleman toward me.
Now, was he perhaps trying to get more pay for his coaching staff? Maybe; private schools do not have the sort of restrictions on coaching stipends that occur in public schools. Public school assistant football coaches are making less than minimum wage from those stipends, once one does the math on pay vs. hours worked. But if giving the assistant coaches a “bump” in pay was Patton’s plan, it seems, if the allegations are true, that he went about it the wrong way.
twitter.com/stevefryer
Steve That was very fair of you and you statements about Eric Patton and his conduct in being well respected. What do we really know about the investigation it appears as if not all parties involved have been a part of the ” investigation”. How are we as concerned individuals informed. We only know what has bee said implied and asserted. Were are the facts in this case I understand the Sandos couple think they were cheated. Yes maybe a bas business deal from Lapes but no real evidence from Lapes himself.
I find it hard to Trial by media it smells bad to me.
It’s highly likely that no one is going to be happy when this all plays out. That’s because the five-year statute of limitations will expire soon as most of the payments were alleged to have been made in 2006 and prior. That means there is a good chance that if wrongdoing is confirmed, no charges will ever be filed.
Supporters of Coach Patton will point to this and say he was wrongfully terminated. Critics of the coach will say he got away with something. The truth is probably somewhere in between.
It’s not reasonable to think that nothing happened. Are we really to believe that the uniform company created false records to somehow smear these coaches many years later? According to these records, about 50 schools received payments, most of them in four or low-five figures. However, all five CUSD high schools were in the top 10, with four of them being in the top five. Capo Valley, Dana Hills, San Clemente and Tesoro all allegedly received more than $80,000 (Capo more than $160k), while Aliso Niguel was reported to have gotten $25,000.
The interesting thing is that there is a lot of coaching interchange among these schools. Coaches start at one CUSD school and move to another. It’s a reasonable theory to think this may have been how the alleged program expanded.
That’s not to say anyone set out to do anything wrong. I think Coach Patton and the others are good men who have dedicated themselves and sacrificed to help young student athletes. But perhaps a seemingly innocuous program was presented in which they could do more. Maybe some money for a new blocking sled, or some cleats for a kid who couldn’t afford them, or maybe even a little bit of cash to an unpaid assistant to help offset expenses.
I’ll bet if a program of this sort were presented to team parents ( x percent of uniform costs donated by uniform company to team improvements) the vast majority of parents would have said, “What a great idea.” Unfortunately. if anything occurred here, it was in the shadows, which doesn’t look good regardless of intentions.
The clock on the statute of limitations only starts when the crime is discovered, sir.
No Embezzelment-No Kickback Schemes !
It is unfortunate for San Clemente High School’s current football team and it’s dedicated coaches that so little effort has been made by the Capistrano Unified School District to truly understand the background, history and past practices of running a football program before jumping to false conclusions. It is also unfortunate that the district did not fully investigate the allegations before taking actions against it’s coaches. And most of all, it is unfortunate that careless grandstanding, sloppy one-sided reporting and a misrepresentation of facts is destroying so many good lives and reputations .
There are 63+ schools that were purchasing equipment from the LAPES athletic company using the same basic procedures. San Clemente High School is one of them. Each School District had a fixed budget for their football equipment , paid directly to LAPES. The rest of the necessary funds for running their programs were obtained by the coaches, booster clubs and parents through fundraising endeavors. There was NO embezzlement of public funds, NO kickback scheme by Coach Patton or the other coaches at SCHS.
At SCHS the summer football program ‘s ‘Spirit Pack” was one of the fundraisers privately paid for by the parents, not by public funds or the school district. The price of the Spirit Pack included a built in reserve for extra program costs and expenditures. These reserves were kept by LAPES to be used throughout the season as needed by the coaches. This is the poorly named, so-called “Slush Fund” that is the center of this furor. Lapes used this loose term for what is more accurately called a RESERVE ACCOUNT . This account paid for a variety of items, incuding extra t- shirts, shoulder pads, free Packs for low-income students, coaching needs and program services. Any remaining monies were paid to participants for their extra help, work or expenses . The amount of money received and used from this small reserve varied from year to year. The checks that were published and are in question were from the yearly remains of this RESERVE ACCOUNT . The checks reflect Coach Patton received only a total of $1,550 over eight years for himself. The remaining checks to others were for services or expenses provided. There was no theft or embezzlement of public funds by anyone at San Clemente. There are no criminal charges filed or pending. The school district has not detailed any of its charges and has refused to state any specific allegations although they have “replaced” Coach Patton and placed him on administrative leave .
It is unfortunate that SCHS and its coaches became a casualty in the bitter legal battle between former business partners Lapes and Sandos. Their antagonistic civil lawsuit and criminal proceedings against each other spawned the angry false accusations involving the schools. It has been eight months since these allegations were first published . The OC District Attorney’s Office determined them to be unsubstantiated .Every other school district involved has investigated and dismissed the allegations as unfounded or at worst, poor record keeping practices. Sadly, Capistrano’s failure to react promptly has egregiously hurt the current football team and decimated it’s coaching staff.
Triton Supporter, this is great stuff and I hope that it is 100% correct in its theme. There is one part of what you wrote about the Reserve Fund that ( for you to be correct in theme) has to be corrected.
You stated that there was $ 1500 in Checks written to Coach Paton. For it NOT to be embezzlement, the Reserve Fund checks would have to be written back to the school district, or School, or booster club, NOT to a person (like the coach).
If the money goes to a person, then that person is getting a sum of money that was overpaid for equipment and no student who was a low income student was getting the benefit of that over payment
Tony,
You are very quick to condemn Coach Patton for his alleged involvement in the Lapes fiasco. Yet you are willing to give Buzzy Yokoyama the benefit of the doubt concerning his alleged athletically motivated decision to leave NH for your beloved Diablos. Your opinions appear to be self serving to say the least.
Rick, are you just full of crap, if so find a bathroom before effects the rest of your brain, or you are hyper sensitive about this issue.
NO WHERE in the 3 post I have made in this thread or any other posting, (go ahead you can search it until the moon turns blue) have I been critical of Coach Paton or said anything negative about him or the Triton football program.
All I did was give answers to questions that Super C asked in “How are the assistant coaches made out to look as if they did something wrong” and gave a comment on “being drug into the mud”.
Right before my 2nd post to super C ansked anotheer question and I responded to it, and at the end of my comment I told him I was glad he was speaking out. NO WHERE DID I SAY ANYTHING NEGATIVE ABOUT ANYONE PERSON OR PROGRAM. I just gave an answer to how others may see it.
In my 3rd post in this tread which was responding to Triton Supporter I started the post with ” Triton Supporter, this is great stuff and I hope that it is 100% correct in its theme” but commented on his statement that Coach Paton had checks written to him and that part may need to be explained. WHY? Because if there are Checks made out to him, that came out of a fund that was set up by over payments of equipment ( money that was paid for by the school district or the booster club), THAT IS NOT ALLOWED.
I didnt say Coach Paton was a criminal or say he was an embezzler, I gave an opinion of part of Triton Supporter long explanation that needed to be corrected or explained.
As far as Buzzy is concerned, and for Hill, and for Cody last year and so many others who transfer and get a pass from CIF, in every year I have been on this board, I have defended the players because I dont think we should be so critical of kids and their families when they have subject themselves to explaining why to a third party. I have said that we entrust CIF to do the right thing. I was not defending Buzzy as much as I was just commenting on we have a process and if we dont like how it is turning out we should speak to that, and leave all the genitive comments about families and kids out of it. I have personally seen been part of some of this in my past and it is not easy all the time to see into what was in someones heart when they made a choice to go in a certain direction, but if CIF makes a bad decision, I hope that it falls on the side of benefit for the kid.
And for the record, if his family had not moved, it would have looked like a athletically motivated move to me. In most all of my post on the Buzzy thread, were to answer questions or clear up a comment.
Lastly, the only ppl I through under the bus, are the posters here who make crap up, make outlandish hateful statements, criticize kids or their families. (and I dont care what program they belong to) and I have YET to say anything bad about the Triton family. I cheer for them right up until they play MV and then I do right after.
Great response Tony, and know that I have tremendous respect for you, my friend, but, the greatest act that a parent can perform for their athletically gifted child, is to pick up and move, in order to insure the potential of scholarship, towards that childs future endeavors towards life in general. To deny that there is “athletically motivational reason” for this consequential act is against the line of reasoning for this regulation. That being said, the greater good of high school aged athletes would be well served to abolish or amend this antiquated letter of the CIF regs. All members should take pause and reevaluate the basic core of competitive hs athletics and what is now the very purpose and separate the emotions from reality. Just my opinion. I know you would probably agree. Peace.
Positive spin:
“We dont need to know the “reason” for the transfer ultimately or even necessarily, it may be a very private and confidential reason for the transfer and we have no “rights” to know the reason. We leave that decision and judgment up to the CIF committee that governs these rulings.”
Negative spin:
“I would draw from the story that those coaches who were replaced may have received direct payments from LAPES and that would mean those coaches would be included in the embezzlement charges.”
The SPIRIT PACK is privately funded and part of the summer program. It’s RESERVE supports the football program at the discretion of the coaches. The Reserve funds were used as previously described including partially reimbursing unpaid costs, expenditures or services by coaches and other participants. ALL funds were used in support of the program.
The summer football program is privately and independently run by the coaches, not the school district. The coaches are not paid by the school district for this time and work.
Indeed, the SPIRIT PACK is not part of the school district. Nor does the school district fund the coaches pay over the summer months. Therefore, the school district has no reason to cause harm to Coach Patton’s reputation.
In order to use district funds, the school district has a purchasing department. It’s that departments job to find the most competitive price for all purchases. That includes uniforms and equipment. It does not include the Spirit Packs.
As usual, CUSD over-reacts to everything. Leaving short the districts own dirty laundry. Like, former head maintenance department head (retired) who is or was given a new truck every year after retirement to act as a consultant. Or, Jim Flemings kid making $100/hour working for a contractor hired by the district. Former, schools superintendent who used district crews and equipment to landscape his home. The list goes on and on.
So, why pick on Eric Patton? Shame on CUSD. I hope this comes back to bite the new superintendent right on the rear end.
It is very difficult to read some of the most shallow(former triton player), baseless and stupid comments offered in this blog. Patton is a legend and represents a character infinitely greater than too many of the babbling voices of this crowd of fools could even comprehend.
Spirit packs – hey anyone who did not think this was paid to support the team in one way or another is either naive or stupid.
Try the golf ball drop or any of the other methods used to raise cash for the team.
Patton was for the team and the coaches. This was not a Bernie Madoff.
So please remember oh babbling voices of nonsense, “judge not least you be judged”.
Patton deserves better than this and he should know it. I support you Patton!!!
Thank you!
You have to be kidding me right now! You people that are throwing stones at Coach Patton without even having any of the facts. Their are some great points made in this Blog:
1) Where is Lapes in all this?
2) Why did they suddenly make this decesion 3 weeks before the season started when this has been going on for 8 mos?
3) Their are other district has had this investigated by the O.C. Superintendent and nothing has come of it
Here is a man that has sacrificed his own family and time to be a great leader, man and coach to countless number of kids and some of you are already putting this man out to pasture. Most of us couldn’t even care about such a stupid thing as this, just the media hyping it up and people blogging about things they have no information on.
Bottom line is, here is a great coach and even better man who has given everything to every school he has coached at and taught at. He has done evrything to bring a winning tradition both academically and athletically to each and everyone of these schools and now some people are already wanting to convict him without all evidence brought forth, shame on you!
P.S. I am from MVHS but still have the respect for Coach Patton. I also use my real name because I don’t need to hide behind my words like a coward. I use my real name because if I did have something negative to say, I would want that person to know who I am, instead of hiding!!!
I am a football coach. Recently our school changed scouting software to a new company and I got a new shirt for trying out the software. Is that a kickback? What if they gave me a new warmup outfit, or perhaps software totalling a large sum of money…that’s kick back right? Perhaps a business has an incetive program that rewards you monetarily for your patronage, or at least that was how it was explained to you. Every credit card company dooes that. On paper however, it tells a different story. How do you prove that Lapes was overbilling its customers? Are you giong to compare them to Gunthers or Dicks( Chicks back in the day). Lots of coaches are loyal to a particular company. Why don’t you people let the man have his day in court.
To Triton Supporter, Spisskyrad, Andrea Patton, et al:
I know you guys are trying to help Coach Patton and the other SC coaches get their story out. Unfortunately, some of what you are posting actually hurts his case. Whether it was district funds or camp-related “Spirit Packs,” if it was not clear to parents that some of the money went to something other than the merchandise, that’s an issue. And if some coaches were getting paid even a small amount, well-deserved or not, to provide services for a vendor, that’s a conflict of interest and an issue.
I am not saying any of this occurred. I don’t know. It’s just what apparent supporters of the coach seem to be posting in their efforts to support him.
Please be mindful of this, as we all hope for the proper outcome.
It is incredibly hard for me to understand the hypocrisy of the CIF. MV gets a pass on Yokahoma being transfered in his senior year for non-athletic reasons….(ha, ha), while Patton is being hung out to dry.
The stench of hypocrisy could not be worse, nor the injustice done.
Andrea Patton is the daughter of Eric Patton and is an attorney who works along side the attorney that represented Eric Patton in his deposition. She’s an attorney who’s family members received checks from a slush fund at Lapes Athletic Team Sales.
Her comments here about us are unethical and shameful.
We reported these slush funds to the OC Sheriff Dept. when we found them in 2008.
The documents absolutely speak for themselves and in my opinion, and as a tax payer myself, I feel strongly that they should be open to the public for review.
The schools and districts have policies in place specifically to safeguard our tax dollars, but that has been breached in a very significant way and you the tax payer have the right to know about it. Others, I now know, will do everything in their power to keep you from knowing about it so as to protect themselves.
I’m sure all of these coaches who have slush funds are kind and amazing. We’ve never said otherwise. Nor do we know any of them personally. Nor do we have anything personal toward them. And we are not trying to get any money from them either. It’s unfortunate that it ever occurred. Lets get to the bottom of it and lets fix the system so that it doesn’t occur in the future.
You’ve not seen other investigations of other districts as it is a lengthy process to get the documents to everyone. There is no school or district to my knowledge that has completed it’s investigation. Most don’t have their documents yet and many have just recently received their documents so they are just beginning their investigative process. In fact the LA USD has 7 schools on the list but I’ve not yet had the time to get them their documents, so, their investigation hasn’t begun at all. That is no reflection on them or their desire to investigate. That is just the way it is and so, they, I’m sure will investigate once they get all the information.
The Capistrano Valley USD is within the jurisdiction of the OCSD which is who we submitted a report to in 2008 as LATS was also within the OCSD jurisdiction. So, CUSD is not conducting a witch hunt, they are simply conducting an investigation of their accounts with a sporting goods store as will all other districts who had a slush account opened in their name.
Rick – the question Super C asked – “I don’t understand why the other coaches on San Clemente were suspended? Even if they wanted to replace “Eric’s guys” I don’t understand why they would leave these guys high and dry 3 weeks before the season.”
My answer – “I would draw from the story that those coaches who were replaced may have received direct payments from LAPES and that would mean those coaches would be included in the embezzlement charges.”
hmm or I guess I could have said
“We dont need to know the “reason” for the suspension ultimately or even necessarily, it may be a very private and confidential reason for the suspension and we have no “rights” to know the reason. We leave that decision and judgment up to the school District administration that governs these rulings.” or would you want
would you want me to say they were suspended because the district didnt want to embarrass them with this investigation. ( which would not be something that I have knowledge of or could draw from the article.
Rick, I just answered the question is all. Please dont take anymore out of it, really. You can search all my comments about Triton football and you will find I have been very supportive of their program.
Have a great day.
Time to clean house! It smells BIG TIME!
All coaches have received cash/kickbacks! Fire them all from the CUSD!
Triton Follower -
Did you ever think to ask yourself why this all came about? Maybe a failed business deal that the Sando’s are trying to salvage through litigation, inuendo and the public forum. Your trust in the Sandos is startling.
Everyones trust in the Sandos is astonishing. Geoff Sando was a paid employee of Lapes, and a accountant at that. Please tell me how you could be a accountant for a private business, and never know that a “slush fund” existed? Secondly, is everyone really that blinded and can not see that this has become a attack against anyone the Sandos believe wronged them. All for a failed business dealing. How come no one is asking why the Sandos continued to invest money in a failing business, then loan said failing business owner more money? Seems like a epic fail on the part of the Sandos, no one like a sore loser.
As the investigation moves foreword, why not broaden the it to include everyone in the school district who has done business with any vendor?
Like, how are bids on new school construction! Or, who decides what book companies are used to supply student textbooks.
You cannot tell me, no one in the district gets a free dinner, free cruise or even an envelope full of cash (left on the front tire of their car).
Give me a break. In my opinion, every form of government is fraught with graft and corruption. Those who believe otherwise, is naive.
John –
Great observation – totally agree!
Where does all the money go from ticket sales for the games??? Attendance to 2 to 3000 is not that uncommon if not more for certain games. That’s a lot of gate receipts!
Lifesucks -
Something is really wrong with the way this has gone down if in fact Sandos did work for Lapes. Very strange……
I would just like to say that I really respect Coach Eric Patton. He is a great coach and a wonderful man. Why does he have to take the fall. Why isn’t the Athletic director involved. It is so unfair…..
spisskyhrad-
Yes, you are correct, Geoff worked as a part-time accountant for many years…..see it here in the first video at about 1:20 into the video.
http://www.pbssocal.org/blog/?p=343
also as I research this more and more I really find myself wondering what is their (Sandos’) motives behind releasing this information is, why drag coaches namew through the mud, and why all the different figures. Such as…
http://dissenttheblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/more-slush_09.html
lists the total dollar value at $800,000and Murrieta Valley H.S. at 122,102.65, Capistrano Valley H.S. at 162,321.54, Tesero H.S. at 87,304.60 ……..
but this one shows different totals
http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_D_slush_12.3aa8123.html
1 Million dollars and Murrieta Valley H.S. at 174,346.99, Capistrano Valley H.S. at 162,403.54, Tesoro H.S. at 99,681.80 ………
So the obvious would be the release dates of the articles, but really????? This guy (Geoff Sando) is supposed to be a accountant. Please, he has stated that they have been compiling these records for over three years. Each month there is a new total. I am not a mathmatician, but addition is not that hard.
Honestly, every parent that has had their child in any sports program should know that “Spirit Packs” help to raise funds for the program. If you do not, you really are not paying enough attention.
Lastly, please read what Coach Patton has to say about all this himself.
http://www.ocvarsity.com/sports/patton-27423-district-lapes.html
did you miss my post above?
Sando –
Your post relates to 2008 – Patton has commented that this was not even related to CUSD – it was a summer program he conducted.
The problem with your civic mindedness is that it is money oriented. Your business deal is not working out so allege crimes & misrepresentation to negotiate a better deal = money.
Patton is a man of integrity and self sacrifice not money. Anybody even vaguely familiar with the guy knows that. The amounts involved in smearing this man are insignificant.
You might want to think about how you cost this man his job, totally screwed up a football team with a lot of angry parents. For what? your husband’s inabilty to evaluate a business deal?
Sando-
No I did not miss your post above. Did you read what you posted?
You turned over all documents to the OCSD in 2008, yet you and your husband just recently bring all this information to light. Or maybe just wait till there is a festering populus, fed up with government corruption, to spew your slanderous hate at. Perfect breeding grounds for support for your cause. It seems pretty odd that there was no criminal conduct found in your original case, so lets spin this a different way, see if something will stick this time.
How about being up front and honest. Your husband was employed by Lapes as a accountant and he really had no idea what was going on. I can tell you that my wife and I own 2 corporations and our accountant/tax attorney knows of every single dollar that moves through either corp and our personal accounts. Instead of going public with this information and dragging possibly innocent people through the mud, you could have simply given all information over to the proper authorities and let them sort it out. Unfortunately this is no longer a country of innocent until proven guilty, but more of I have been wronged, I WILL GET REVENGE NOW.
Please help me understand.
The Sandos gave everything to the police and they did nothing. it looks like all their proof is real since they also won a court case against Mr. Lapes. They did find the missing money and did the right thing. Your on the wrong team on this one. Sorry!
The Sandos’ “winning” court case against Bill Lapse was a default judgment for $1,000,000 and likely not collectable. A default judgment is awarded when no one defends the issue….the judgment was NOT awarded on the merits but solely because Bill Lapse did not defend himself in court. So your logic is flawed and the proof is not necessarily real. And I can tell your “proof” is an interpretation of documents that the Sandos have found, and that they no idea what they are looking at (and if they do then what they have done is unconcionable and intentionall rather than merely negligent) and there is plenty of information out there showing that the Sandos are not providing all of the documents. EVERYTHING YOU POSTED RAY NO. 2 IS DRIBBLE.
I am happy to set up a meeting with you to explain.
Eric Patton is a man of great integrity. I have known him and his entire family for almost 40 years. There is absolutely no possibility of wrongdoing on his part. A man “embezzling money” would not be living the same frugal, responsible family life that I have personally witnessed him living as long as I have known him. To the whole Patton family – my family and I stand behind you and will be celebrating when the truth of your innocence is revealed.
Teresa. I’m not trying to antagonize but I have a question for you relating to your post on 8/22 where you said “The schools and districts have policies in place specifically to safeguard our tax dollars, but that has been breached in a very significant way and you the tax payer have the right to know about it”.
If the parents of the football players are the only people paying for these “spirit packs” what does that have anything to do with my tax dollars? I don’t have a kid on the team but am wondering why I should be worked up about this.
Also, as a poster referred to above if you had come across these files and they said “reserve account” or “customer loyalty program” instead of the poorly worded “slush fund” would you have thought any differently about it? Outside of gasoline I can’t think of any other comsumable product that I use where retailers aren’t offering me incentives to purchase?
How the CUSD could justify tarnishing Patton’s reputation, taking his team and his job for the information of wrongdoing offered to date makes no sense whatsoever.
This is not over!
Warriors never quit. Aloha.
FREE COACH PATTON
Return Coach Patton to the job he so loves and cherishes. Free the minds and hearts of the families and friends of this man. Search for the truth in the right places Lapes and Sando are the parties of most concern here. Look into your hearts and judge not to quickly .
Your truly a Triton fan and a fan of the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God
The guy cheated and should pay the price. There is plenty of real proof and the Sandos are the victims that lost lots of money. Its too bad this good football Coach did not do the roght thing and just say NO to Lapes and his scam. I hope he does not end up in Jail.