Married to convicted killer, pressure mounts on So. Calif. school official to resign

(CBS/KCBS) FONTANA, Calif. - When she ran for vice president of the Fontana school board in Southern California, Leticia Garcia campaigned for transparency, all the while concealing the fact that she is married to a convicted murderer.

Garcia went public with the information in October - more than a year later - and now the mayor of the city of 200,000 in San Bernardino County is joining those calling for Garcia to resign, CBS station KCBS reported.

Fontana Mayor Acquanetta Warren said the problem with Garcia's disclosure was that it came too late. According to KCBS, she said Garcia hid her marriage for years and told people she was divorced.

"Just imagine, you're running for a school board position you are asking 41,000 childrens' parents to trust you in that role," said Warren, adding, "And you're saying 'I'm divorced with four children' -- Nobody ever says when you say that, 'Are you married with a man in prison?'...It was just as easy to tell the truth."

Garcia said she didn't lie about her marriage but it was a personal issue that she kept a secret. She said she felt it had no bearing on her race for school board since it had nothing to do with her position on education issues.

"I chose to just keep that with me and my family and friends," Garcia said. "I wasn't intentionally trying to dupe the voters or anything. I'm still the same person. I still have been fighting for social and educational justice," Garcia said.

According to OCWeekly, Garcia met her husband-to-be in 2001 while she was doing research for a criminology class on how the California prison system tries to rehabilitate young men who receive life sentences but might be released.

Garcia's husband was released from prison in September of this year after serving 27 years, KCBS reported.

She was elected to her school board post in November 2010.

Garcia said she has no intention of resigning, saying she did nothing wrong or illegal.

The mayor has no official authority over the school board but she urged board members at a meeting Wednesday to find a way to remove Garcia from her position. The school board has reportedly consulted an attorney who found they have no legal authority to make Garcia step down, unless they amended their own rules.

"It's a personal relationship. It doesn't have anything to do with my job or how I perform it. And, again, when we sit in glass houses...I really think they should just stop," Garcia said.

Mayor Warren said she doesn't see how Garcia can continue serving on the school board.

"This has nothing to do with the man she married. This has nothing to do with the legality of a paper. This is about being right. And, as an elected official, you're held to a higher level," Warren said.