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# Gag reflex: Former CFO can speak
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/gag-reflex-former-cfo-can-speak/
- Published: 2007-05-10T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T00:43:50.000Z
- Author: Melody Hanatani
- Tags: Education, Malibu, #archive-import

*Order restricting former financial boss from speaking lifed*

CITY HALL It seems as though the gag order on the district’s former financial chief has been lifted.

Superintendent Dianne Talarico has reportedly authorized former Chief Financial Officer Winston Braham to speak to the Santa Monica City Council on matters pertaining to the financial situation at the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.

Mayor Richard Bloom said he received a copy of the letter to Braham, which was sent on May 7\. A meeting time between the officials has not yet been scheduled.

The authorization comes after a series of events that called into question the school district’s management of funds and its transparency in financial matters. Approval of a 5 percent teacher salary raise was repeatedly postponed due to concerns that it could put the district in the red. The raise was approved in March, a few weeks after the Fiscal Crisis Management Assistance Team showed the district would be financially safe if the board approved the raise, pending a few adjustments.

The abrupt resignation of Braham in November 2006 amid rumors of a disagreement with the direction in which the district was heading financially also fueled public scrutiny. The criticism intensified after it was revealed Braham received a settlement agreement that paid him the remaining $189,000 on his three-year contract and he was restricted from commenting on financial matters related to the district.

Braham’s contract was set to expire in 2008\. Talarico was not available for comment on Wednesday.

The district is currently facing a $3 million deficit in the next fiscal year and FROM ORDER PAGE 3 THERE IS A PLACE WHERE I THINK WE CROSS A LINE AND BECOME A SUBSTITUTE... SCHOOL BOARD AND I THINK THAT IS CONTRARY TO THE (PUBLIC’S) BEST INTEREST.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 10, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/051007.pdf?ref=smdp.com)