Here you go, beloved audience! We saw on our website statistics that you have been searching for *details about the Michael and Christina Kishimoto Divorce.* We’ll fill in some blanks for you about how the Superintendent of Gilbert Public Schools kicked her mentally disabled husband to the curb less than a year after she moved her family from Connecticut to Arizona to reign over GPS. It has indeed been a *reign* but more filled with terror than benevolence, unfortunately for the citizens and taxpayers who fund Christina Kishimoto’s lavishness with other people’s money.
Quick background: a letter from an anonymous teacher blew open the scandalous *inappropriate relationship* between Superintendent Christina Kishimoto and her *alleged* boyfriend, the Executive Director of Technology. The letter shows that GPS employees are still intimidated by retaliation, which has been the story for the past many years. Charles Stevin Smith was hired at the recommendation of Christina Kishimoto even before she came to Arizona to take over the school district. While other employees were subjected to years of pay freezes, this dude made out pretty well: the letter states he was given a promotion and a $10,000.00 raise during his approximately 18 months of *serving the Superintendent.* We have not seen or heard the Superintendent deny anything in the anonymous letter. Steve Smith resigned from his cushy job two days after the anonymous letter was made public, which lends more credibility to the allegations in the letter than anything else could have done.
Nevertheless, a question remains unanswered: why did Charles Stevin Smith, Executive Director of Technology, resign suddenly? Was it because of the anonymous letter that revealed Steve Smith’s *inappropriate relations* with Superintendent Christina Kishimoto? Was it because Steve Smith pinky promised his *alleged* girlfriend that his technology would succeed and cement her National Reputation and the district’s big marketing push? Or was it because pretty much everything he touched turned to dirt? Steve Smith’s resignation occurred just as The Great Payday Melee began, leaving other employees holding the bag. His sudden departure just as the new payroll software implementation imploded left countless employees unpaid, underpaid and/or subject to bank overdraft charges. That mess still isn’t fixed.
Details in the anonymous letter checked out: the marriage of Michael and Christina Kishimoto indeed was ended quietly in court in Scottsdale, with a construction lawyer handling the case for Christina Kishimoto. Since this is all a matter of public record, we’ll share. The Kishimotos have one daughter, according to the court files … she must be so proud to have her mother’s indiscretions being discussed across The Entire Town of Gilbert. Michael did not have a lawyer. Michael may have paid a big price for doing what Christina may have told him to do. That’s probably the way it is when you have a mental disability, which we know about only because Christina Kishimoto brought it up in a different court in January 2015.
First: here is the case summary from the Maricopa Court where Christina Kishimoto divorced her mentally disabled husband. This man must have trusted her implicitly for close to twenty years, but he suddenly became superfluous. As the anonymous letter said, “Dr. Kishimoto quietly secured a divorce over the summer.” Note the date that Christina Kishimoto filed her petition for divorce: May 5, 2015. Also note: no divorce lawyers for this chica, she had a *special* construction/real estate lawyer! No courthouse anywhere near Gilbert, AZ for this chica, she went to Scottsdale to do the dirty deed!
Could this emotional divorce situation have anything to do with Superintendent Christina Kishimoto’s emotional meltdown during the December 15, 2015 Governing Board meeting? Probably not, but it’s strange that Superintendent Christina Kishimoto also thanked the community for welcoming *her family* to the Town of Gilbert, AZ. This is one temperamental gal, which is unfortunate, because this very large school district needs a real professional at the helm. <Sigh, you could have had Westie as superintendent.>
Second: the lawyer behind Christina Kishimoto’s quiet divorce is Richard W. Hundley of a Scottsdale law firm, which is curious in this situation of a divorce involving a child and a lot of money and property:
Berens, Kozub, Kloberdanz & Blonstein, PLC is a “boutique” law firm that provides exceptional legal services to real estate and business clients. Richard W. Hundley’s practice includes civil and commercial litigation, construction law, bankruptcy law, real property litigation and transactions.
Wouldn’t you think that an important lawyer would want to make sure that the divorce he secured for his client did not take advantage of Christina Kishimoto’s mentally disabled husband? Yeah, we’re shocked, too. The court record shows Michael Kishimoto did not have a lawyer, he just signed papers. Maybe he thought that lawyer Richard W. Hundley was representing BOTH of them in this divorce.
We can’t for the life of us figure out why the judge in this case didn’t appoint an attorney to represent the mentally disabled husband in court, since his wealthy wife apparently wouldn’t pay for a lawyer for him. Christina Kishimoto sure didn’t want to pay spousal support for her mentally disabled husband, either (see paragraph 12). But really, someone who is entrusted with a school district budget of a third of a BILLION dollars a year would be mindful of her ethical and moral obligations in every aspect of her life, wouldn’t you think? [dripping sarcasm]
Third: notice that the Consent Decree ending the marriage of Michael and Christina Kishimoto was filed on July 30, 2015. On or about July 31, 2015, Steve Smith started using the title Executive Director of Technology. He had been just plain old Director of Technology before, even after the reorganization of the GPS Technology Services department occurred in January of 2015. That reorganization was one of the few aspects of the Great Reorganization of GPS that the Governing Board actually approved.
Sure it was just a coincidence that the day after Christina Kishimoto’s Consent Decree was filed, Charles Stevin Smith suddenly was conferred a new title, and presumably a big raise in pay to match [firehose flow of sarcasm]. Wouldn’t you know it, there’s nothing in the GPS board minutes approving that new title of his? It’s especially interesting since other GPS employees promoted into or hired as Executive Directors were presented to the board and their promotion or hire was formally approved in official board minutes.
Steve Smith must have been very good at what he did: his Linkedin resume claims he was originally hired in 2014 as Executive Director, a Cabinet Position. Revisionist history? Or was this entire situation set in motion the day that Christina Kishimoto recommended that Steve Smith be hired back in June 2014?
This must be why people are searching the Internet for details about the divorce of Michael and Christina Kishimoto. Something doesn’t smell right. We’ll continue researching, and we thank our viewers for sending us the search strings that told Westie what you really want to know.
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Big Fat Asterisk: Superintendent Christina Kishimoto surely is aware of the caveat about privacy on Richard W. Hundley’s website. It’s scary and it makes you wonder if Richard W. Hundley’s *vision* of privacy is as unusual as were his actions to protect a vulnerable adult during the Kishimoto divorce:
There are other instances in which Berens, Kozub, Kloberdanz & Blonstein, PLC may divulge your personal information. Berens, Kozub, Kloberdanz & Blonstein, PLC may provide your personal information if necessary, in Berens, Kozub, Kloberdanz & Blonstein, PLC’s good faith judgment, to comply with laws or regulations of a governmental or regulatory body or in response to a valid subpoena, warrant, or in order to protect the rights of Berens, Kozub & Kloberdanz, PLC and, or its affiliates.