The former chief operating officer of Chula Vista Elementary School District is under investigation for a potential pay-to-play scheme involving a district contractor. The investigation relies on pictures that district officials believe are evidence of an inappropriate relationship between the former COO and a company that specializes in athletic flooring.
But the former COO, Jovanim Martinez, says the investigation against him is retaliatory and that he had no inappropriate relationship with the company. Martinez said the district’s superintendent, Eduardo Reyes and a board member, Francisco Tamayo pressured him to award contracts to certain companies. When he didn’t, he says, the superintendent put him on leave.
Martinez also says an assistant superintendent pushed him and another district employee, as part of their day jobs, to plan and throw a fundraiser for Tamayo and Cesar Fernandez, another board member at the time.
Through a district spokesperson, Reyes and Tamayo said they have not received gifts or money from contractors seeking to do work with the district.
Jason Romero, the assistant superintendent who Martinez says instructed him to take part in campaign work as part of his job, denied the allegation.
Martinez started working at Chula Vista Elementary School District in 2022, overseeing the facilities and planning department. A former Marine, he quickly earned a reputation as a hard worker and was promoted to chief operating officer.
Martinez says Reyes, Tamayo and Romero all asked him to do things he was uncomfortable with. When he didn’t go with the flow, the superintendent and assistant superintendent targeted him, he said.
“The district believes that it is important that you consider the source that is providing you with these clearly false allegations intended to re-write the history of his time at the Chula Vista Elementary School District,” wrote Giovanna Castro, a district spokesperson in an email.
The drama culminated last November at a district board meeting. The district was set to award a contract to a company called W2W Sport to resurface a playground for $160,000.
But at the last minute, just before the meeting began, Reyes pulled the contract from the meeting agenda.
District officials believed that Martinez had a “conflict and/or possible financial interest,” related to the contract, according to Castro.
Martinez says that wasn’t the case at all — in fact, the opposite. He says Reyes had been pressuring him to make sure another company got work with the district. The company, Dr. Build, had also placed a bid for the playground resurfacing – and lost – Martinez said.
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Martinez’s story: Martinez says that a couple months before the district was set to award the contract to W2W, Reyes called him into his office.
Reyes was there with Al Renteria, the operator of Dr. Build, a company which specializes in ADU construction, according to its website. The two seemed friendly.
“‘We gotta hook this guy up,’” Reyes told Martinez, according to Martinez. “‘Just give him a small project.’”
After asking Renteria about his work experience, it appeared to Martinez that Renteria had mostly done residential construction.
Renteria did not respond to a request for comment.
Martinez says Reyes spoke to him on two more occasions about making sure Dr. Build got work with the district.
Martinez saw Reyes soon after the first meeting. He remembers Reyes saying: “‘Check into him. Give him a project.’”
Martinez did visit one of Dr. Build’s job sites. He saw an ADU being built in someone’s backyard. The skills required for residential construction are very different than what is required for most school district projects, Martinez said.
“We don’t build ADU’s,” Martinez said.
“Next thing you know, Reyes calls me again,” Martinez told me. “He said, ‘Hey man, what’s up with Dr. Build.’”
Dr. Build had been submitting proposals to the district, but none were qualified bids or met the district’s requirements, Martinez said. Reyes advocated on behalf of Renteria, saying Renteria felt he was getting the run around.
Martinez said he told Reyes he didn’t think Dr. Build had enough experience with the type of work the district needed.
And yet, Martinez felt the message to him was clear: Reyes wanted a contract awarded to Dr. Build.
Castro, the district spokesperson, said Martinez’s story regarding Dr. Build and the superintendent was “false.”
As far as the playground contract was concerned, Martinez said he had no control over who won it. As with all projects that go out for bid, his office was required to award it to the lowest qualified bidder, he said.
W2W placed the lowest qualified bid at $160,000, Martinez said.
Dr. Build also bid — and the bid came in lower — but Dr. Build was not qualified per California rules, Martinez said.
The contract in question was what’s known as a CMAS — or California Multiple Awards Schedule — contract. Contractors must be pre-approved with the state of California to win a CMAS contract.
Dr. Build was not CMAS pre-qualified with the state, so it couldn’t win the bid, even though its price came in lower. It was as simple as that, Martinez said.
Reyes, through Castro, the district spokesperson, said he has never accepted gifts or money from Dr. Build. He also denied having any personal relationship with Renteria, the operator of Dr. Build.
Castro did not respond to questions about how long Reyes had known Renteria.
**
The district’s story: District officials provided a photograph, a flyer and a video to Voice of San Diego that they believe is evidence of Martinez’s inappropriate relationship with W2W Sport.
The photograph shows Martinez and another person in W2W offices downtown, with a view of the baseball field at Petco Park in the background.
The flyer shows Martinez’s face. Above it are the words, “W2W Sport invites you to a celebration of achievement.” At the time, Martinez had just been promoted to COO of the district.
The flyer appears to indicate the event was solely about Martinez’s promotion. Martinez, however, says it was just a regular industry mixer – the type thrown by all sorts of companies all the time.
Martinez’s promotion was only incidental, Martinez says. The mixer had already been planned. Martinez was asked to speak at the event, as officials frequently are, and the company was simply promoting his presence at the mixer, Martinez said.
He said district officials frequently speak at networking and industry events which are promoted with flyers depicting officials’ faces.
Moreover, Martinez said he told two other people in the district about the event.
He texted the flyer to one employee in the district’s Human Resources department. And he also showed it to Jason Romero, assistant superintendent of human resources, Martinez said.
Castro, the district spokesperson, said Romero did not know the event was being held by a potential vendor. (Martinez said that Romero did know the event was being hosted by W2W.)
Castro also said that the other employee who saw the flyer cautioned Martinez the party was inappropriate. Martinez then “changed his story” to the employee and said the event was being hosted by a fraternity brother, Castro said.
That all occurred in a verbal conversation, according to Castro.
Martinez, however, provided a screenshot of a text conversation between himself and the H.R. employee. Martinez texted the H.R. employee a picture of the flyer. The employee responded: “That’s cool!!”
Scott Bohrer, director of operation for W2W Sport, said all of the company’s events are open to many industry professionals and follow standard practices.
“Our mixers have always been open to everyone in our industry,” Bohrer said. “They are designed to bring together vendors, architects, general contractors and other professionals across multiple markets. These events follow standard industry networking practices.”
Martinez said he arrived late to the event and then spoke briefly. Soon after, people in attendance went for drinks at Side Bar, a bar several blocks away from W2W’s offices.
At Side Bar, a video shows the same image of Martinez’s face from the flyer being beamed onto the bar’s walls. Martinez said the image only appeared briefly and that he stayed for a short time and then left.
He texted that video to Romero, the head of HR.
Romero responded: “Dude that looks amazing fuck.”
Castro said that once Romero discovered the event was hosted by a potential vendor, he reported it.
**
Martinez said he had very little interaction with Tamayo, the board member. But, according to Martinez, one day at a school function, Tamayo came up to Martinez and whispered in his ear: “I need you to make sure Gafcon gets some work.”
Gafcon is a major local construction management company that has done work in many local school districts.
Martinez said he was confused, but later he received a call from a Gafcon employee. The employee said Gafcon — or someone related to the company — had either already donated $5,000 to Tamayo’s campaign fund or planned to.
Castro, the district spokesperson, called Martinez’s claims “false.”
Castro also said Tamayo had never received cash or a political donation from Gafcon. Voice found no donations that appeared to be connected to Gafcon in Tamayo’s campaign finance disclosure documents.
A spokesperson for Gafcon also denied the allegations.
“These allegations are completely unfounded and malicious,” wrote Stephen Johnson, a spokesperson for Gafcon. “Gafcon has never promised or made any donations to any board member, including board member Tamayo. Additionally, Gafcon is not aware of any of its employees making such promises or contributions to any board member.”
**
Tamayo is facing a censure vote by his own political party for doing something incredibly unusual. Despite having two years left on his term as a board member at Chula Vista Elementary School District, he ran to unseat one of his fellow board members, who was also a fellow Democrat, last November — and won.
During Tamayo’s campaign, Jason Romero, assistant superintendent of human resources for the district, pushed Martinez and another district employee to throw a fundraiser for Tamayo as part of their district duties, Martinez says.
The fundraiser was also to help Cesar Fernandez, a board member running for the Chula Vista City Council at the time.
Martinez said he understood that assisting with the fundraiser was not only essential to his day job, but also his future in the district.
“It was pretty much direct orders,” Martinez said of putting on the fundraiser.
Romero also instructed Martinez to use his district rolodex. He told Martinez to make sure as many potential vendors for the district showed up to the fundraiser as possible, Martinez said.
Romero met with Martinez and the other employee during work hours in Romero’s district office as well, Martinez said.
Romero did say a meeting occurred in his office, which consisted primarily of youth sports coaches, but said he did not attend it.
Romero regularly texted Martinez and the other employee — who did not respond to a request for comment — about the fundraiser, including during business hours.
“We need to have 70 – 100 people tomorrow,” Romero wrote in a group chat. “Make sure this happens. We can’t fail tomorrow or are (sic) plans are [poop emoji.]”
On another occasion he texted: “This event can’t fail we need 80 – 100 people there.”
By “plans,” Martinez said Romero meant the plan to get Tamayo elected to fellow Democrat Kate Bishop’s board seat.
Bishop had at times not gone along with the other Democrats on the five-person board, Tamayo, Fernandez and Lucy Ugarte. Especially on queer issues, Bishop had been an irritant — pushing for a progressive stance in a majority-Latino district, where many people did not share the same social values.
Fernandez, who was running for City Council, said that Romero, Martinez and the other employee were connected through youth sports. It was his understanding that they were trying to rally their network of sports families to take part in the campaign — rather than being forced to fundraise for politicians on the district’s time.
He said the only discussion about the fundraiser he took part in occurred on a weekend over coffee. He saw no problem with it, as he himself often advocates for youth sports, he said.
“If any of this was happening during work time, that’s a cause for concern,” Fernandez said.
Romero, through the district spokesperson, denied having pushed Martinez and the other employee to work on the fundraiser on company time. Any suggestion otherwise would be “misleading to the public,” Castro wrote in an email.
Romero also texted the group chat looking for addresses where candidate signs could be placed.
“Candidate signs are here. We need 75 addresses for people to have signs at their house,” he wrote. “Reach out to your people and send me addresses.”
**
After Reyes pulled the item that would have awarded W2W the playground contract, Martinez’s career came crashing down.
Days later, Reyes called Martinez into his office. A human resources employee was there taking notes. Reyes asked Martinez if he had any personal connection to W2W. Martinez said he didn’t. Reyes, nonetheless, placed him on paid administrative leave.
Martinez ultimately decided to resign. He could see his values and ethics no longer matched those of Reyes and Romero, he said. He also resigned, he said, so that he would not be faced with a deal in which he had to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
District officials said there is other information in Martinez’s personnel file they would like to share with Voice. They insisted multiple times that Martinez waive any privacy rights associated with the file, so they could discuss it.
Martinez said he had nothing to hide and that he would be happy for Voice to see what was in his file, after he himself had seen it. He said he wrote a letter to the district in February, asking for any evidence against him – and provided Voice a copy of the letter.
At the time of publication, the district had still not provided Martinez with the contents of his file, he said.
“The district remains committed to transparency and accountability in all of its programs and activities,” wrote Castro, the district spokesperson. “Although the timing of the employee’s resignation and his allegations against various individuals in the district are highly suspect; the district will nevertheless be thoroughly investigating each assertion raised.”
The statement also read: “The Chula Vista Elementary School District is committed to the highest ethical standards and ensuring compliance with all legal requirements.”
Sounds like Mr. Martinez has a personal agenda and is clearly upset that he had been caught red handed. Why do journalists even take stories like this as legitimate when clearly the person accusing is under investigation???? Voice of San Diego do better, this is not true journalism.
They were all caught red handed. No one is an angel in this story. They are like rats in a barrel, each pulling down the other. Let a grand jury get to the bottom of this. Haul them all into court, and see whether the ethics and campaign violations can be prosecuted. Also, no one believes the name of the person posting above is ‘Kate.’ Nice try. Great investigative reporting, VOSD!
This guy is clearly disgruntled. How is that not obvious? And there’s only one Kate in the world? It’s laughable how disgruntled people act. At that rate if court is the best option, why not bring Kate B along for the ride, she’s just as crooked if not more so than Martinez. What exactly is great about having a disgruntled ex employee go to the newspaper and claim retaliation from the employer investigating him? Again, laughable.
Of course, Martinez is disgruntled. As part of the inner circle, he was privy to information and benefitted from promotions he was not qualified to receive. He saw first-hand what many long suspected. He’s singing like a canary now, and I hope he takes down you and your cronies. He probably kept the text messages from Romero. Sorry, not sorry, Cardenas crew.
RESPECTFULLY – the same was said by some about SUHSD. Perhaps rather than disrespect the messenger (in this case reporter Huntsberry) we just might to consider. I know Mr. Huntsberry, he was involved in the reporting of ‘THE LARGEST CORRUPTION CASE IN S. D. HISTORY’ – undoubtedly he, as the younger generation speaks – undoubtedly HAS THE RECEIPTS.
Great article!!! It’s amazing that a once revered district is now being run by Sweetwater corrupt ex and current employees.
This RIGHT HERE! All the mess Sweetwater had has now transitioned to Chula Vista, thanks to its superintendent and the many other people who work with him, whom he ultimately created jobs for.
They didn’t like Bishop because she was ethical and focused on learning. Elections matter.
This is backed by the experiences of many in the district and in Sweetwater. MANY saw it coming. Keep pursuing this story! Where is law enforcement and the DA in all of this?? Cronyism and corruption all around. Look at the board. Look at the superintendent. The writing has been on the wall for some time.
Jovanim Martinez is a master manipulator and a habitual liar too.
Did you just plagiarize Kendrick Lamar?
I just read your post lol… I didn’t see that you called this con a habitual liar too. Sorry didn’t mean to steal your thunder, but nothing could describe him better as a habitual liar. Ask anyone who worked with him.
It was a matter of time before Reyes and all of his minions were exposed! The days of putting children first were over when Dr. Escobedo and his team of leaders left with urgency! It’s disheartening and disgusting that they are allowed to step foot into the building one more day. Reyes, Romero, and Tamayo and the rest of you mediocre politicians, count your days. Our children deserve better! Keep up the GREAT work, VoSD!
a culture of corruption. watch what happens to Chula Vista when John McCann is no longer Mayor
If anyone knows this Jovanim Martinez you know this is a man desperate to cover up his actions. I work in Chula Vista Elementary School District and have had nothing but Jovanim letting us down with his promises. He is a habitual liar. I feel like the VOSD didn’t do their job because describing this con artist as hard working is laughable. This guy was never around and when he was he was always telling you how wonderful he was. Not sad to see him go, now maybe our school can get the fence he promised months ago.