ORANGE : Harsher Penalties Asked in Bid Case

About 400 parents outraged by the sentences two contractors received in an Orange Unified School District bid-rigging case have signed a petition asking the court to impose harsher penalties in the case.

The petition, which will be submitted to the district attorney’s office and then passed on to Superior Court Judge Myron S. Brown, asks that Brown “assess severe sentences for crimes committed against the people and children of the Orange Unified School District.”

Residents have complained that the sentences given to contractors Ronald Brock and William A. Gustafson, found guilty in April in a bid-rigging scheme dating back to 1979, were too lenient, said Kathy Moran, a community activist and mother of two Orange Unifed students.

Brock and Gustafson were convicted on five criminal charges, including three felony counts of conspiracy and embezzling public money, in the bid-rigging scandal that involved $2 million to $3 million in contracts for about 80 repair and construction jobs arranged from 1979 to 1984.

While the contractors were found guilty on three felony counts, the sentences they received--a suspended term of one year in Orange County Jail and three years’ unsupervised probation--were applicable to misdemeanors only, according to the district attorney’s office.

Moran said Thursday that more than a dozen parents have been passing a petition at community gatherings, little league games and club meetings to collect the signatures.

“You condone the behavior if you don’t do anything to the people who do wrong,” Moran said. “You set a precedent.”

Defense attorneys for the contractors had requested that the judge reduce all charges to misdemeanors because the prosecution was unable to prove that the men caused specific losses to the school district. A hearing to clarify the charges is scheduled for Monday in Orange County Superior Court.

In 1987, the grand jury charged that the two construction contractors and former district maintenance officer Steven L. Presson had cooperated in a scheme to divert district jobs to selected companies in exchange for gifts and favors. Sentencing for Presson is expected Monday.