Chris Fall

Hart School Board President Joe Messina announced the resignation Friday of recently appointed board member Chris Fall. The resignation is effective immediately.

In his letter of resignation to the William S. Hart Union High School District, Fall states the reason for the resignation as “due to a potential Section 1090 conflict of interest.” The resignation details the possible conflict as pertaining to his consulting agreement with Consolidated Disposal Services, who has had a five-year contractual relationship with the District for waste and recycling services, which expires on Oct. 3, 2013. It is anticipated that Consolidated Disposal Services will submit a new proposal for waste and recycling services.

In December 2012, prior to Fall’s appointment to the board in June 2013, Fall sold his waste and recycling company, Advantage Disposal, to Consolidated Services, LLC. Fall states that he was unaware of the long-term contract with the Hart District until he was approached in his consulting role to assist regarding the request for proposal. Fall brought his concerns of a potential conflict to the superintendent.

The Hart District immediately sought advice from legal counsel and in abundance of caution sought a second legal opinion. In both legal opinions it is very clear that the prudent thing for Fall to do was resign so there would be no chance that he would be accused of favoring the contract. “Chris Fall is an ethical professional and chose to resign upon learning of the potential conflict,” Messina said.

“Chris has invested a lot of time to become a very knowledgeable board member in this short time,” Messina said. “Chris joined our board and hit the ground running by studying all the issues the district currently faces to be able to intelligently and in the best interest of our stakeholders effectively participate in board discussions and actions. We were enjoying working with him and respect and appreciate the way he handled this matter.”

In his resignation letter Fall stated, “As a local businessman who has given much of my time to the betterment of our community and for all the right reasons, I found myself in a difficult predicament that I was unable to foresee. I have deep regrets in being unable to continue my service and efforts alongside my fellow board members for the betterment of all the stakeholders in the District.”