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Hobbs, hiring and legal spending
Read the dated source record, qualifications and responses for hobbs, hiring and legal spending.
Last source review: 2026-10-26 · America/Los_Angeles
Read each dated entry below with its supporting source and any material response. Entries without a verified day are explicitly marked; current qualifications stay attached to the original controversy.
Attributed news reportingHobbs’s 2018 departure
Historical employment departure; exact day not established · 2018
The Union-Tribune reports Hobbs resigned in 2018 as the district was preparing to fire him over alleged inappropriate comments. It reports his denial that the allegations fairly represented his words. This is not a statement that a completed firing occurred in 2018.
Claim C13 · Reviewed 2026-10-26 · Publication dates are shown with sources.Attributed news reportingHoward legal fees: one reported total
Reported payment period · 2023–2024
The Union-Tribune reports Grossmont paid JW Howard Attorneys $733,000 during 2023–24, citing district quarterly legal-fee reports. This is legal spending paid to a firm, not damages or money personally paid to a trustee. The same figure in the July article is not another cost.
Claim C15 · Reviewed 2026-10-26 · Publication dates are shown with sources.Attributed news reportingHobbs urged librarian cuts and directed a promotion
Reported HR appointment vote; other discussions span 2024–25 · 2024-07-18
The Union-Tribune reports Hobbs urged targeting librarians for cuts, using his own characterization that they were ‘anti-Board.’ That characterization was Hobbs’s, not a verified description of librarians or a quote assigned to every trustee. It also reports Kelly approved Hobbs preparing a directive about Jessica Merschtina’s HR appointment, and Kelly, Woods and Shield voted for that appointment on July 18, 2024.
Response / later developmentSuperintendent Sandra Huezo said her understanding was that the job had been posted and candidates interviewed, but Merschtina was not among them. This account is not a judicial finding about the appointment. The later librarian agreement requires future 2027–28 reinstatement offers on its stated terms.
Claim C24 · Reviewed 2026-10-26 · Publication dates are shown with sources.Attributed news reportingHobbs and hiring decisions
Chief-of-staff appointment; resignation in May · 2025-02
The Union-Tribune reports Hobbs advised trustees about appointments, proposed his own chief-of-staff job description and was appointed to that role in February 2025 without the job being posted or other applicants interviewed. Its account identifies Kelly and Woods in the hiring correspondence. Hobbs resigned in May 2025.
Response / later developmentWoods said Howard highly recommended Hobbs. Howard confirmed recommending him but said he later regretted it; Hobbs did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Claim C12 · Reviewed 2026-10-26 · Publication dates are shown with sources.Attributed news reportingHobbs salary and resignation settlement are different categories
Resignation settlement; salary role began February · 2025-05
The Union-Tribune describes the chief-of-staff position as paying $187,000 a year and separately reports a $187,000 resignation settlement. An annual salary rate does not show a full year was earned or paid. The settlement is a reported payment commitment, not a verified disbursement record.
Claim C16 · Reviewed 2026-10-26 · Publication dates are shown with sources.