Rolando Bonilla: A Career Built on the Neglect of His Own Child
- Miguel Alvarez
- Apr 6
- 3 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
From the moment his child was born in 1999, Rolando Bonilla made a clear choice: rather than step up as a father, he stepped away. What followed was not simply absence, but what appears to be a deliberate strategy to dodge his responsibilities, manipulate the court system, and redirect his time, energy, and money into self-promotion and personal ambition — all at the expense of his child.
From Court Evasion to Career Ambition
Almost immediately after his child’s birth, Rolando Bonilla began laying the groundwork for his career — not by pursuing steady, gainful employment to support his family, but by investing in unpaid political volunteer positions aimed at building his public profile.
A closer look at the timelines outlined in court documents reveals that between 1999 and 2001, he served on the San Francisco Youth Commission. From about 2001 to 2004, he volunteered as a member of San Francisco Juvenile Justice Commission. These roles, while boosting his personal brand, were never legitimate employment and generated no income for child support.
Instead of seeking paid work to provide for his child, he quit paying jobs to focus on these unpaid roles — choices that clearly prioritized his personal ambitions over his parental responsibilities. Ultimately the Court held him in contempt for nonpayment of child support.
In fact, court documents highlight at least dozen documented counts against Rolando Bonilla for an unwillingness to comply with the support office.
Contempt of Court and Chronic Non-Compliance
Rolando Bonilla’s court record reads like a manual of avoidance tactics. He was held in contempt multiple times for failing to pay court-ordered support . Despite judicial reprimands, he continued to fight for reductions and leniency, even while accumulating arrears. His pattern was clear: delay, deflect, and downplay his obligations.
Rolando Bonilla dishonestly declares in a San Jose Spotlight Article "I may have been delayed in making payments sometimes (…) I had three jobs and was going to college" (San Jose Spotlight). However, the court records contradict his public statement.
Transcripts obtained from publicly available court records reveal that Bonilla graduated from the University of San Francisco, a private institution, in December 2000 with a degree in Political Science. Notably, just eight months after earning his degree, he enrolled in Law School at the same university but ceased all academic activities by the Spring of 2002.
This timeline indicates that college was not a factor in the delayed payments or the many nonpayments, as these issues continued through 2006 and beyond.
Moreover, there is a clear and consistent pattern of avoidance and neglect. The 2006 affidavit highlights a mere $1,389.78 paid for the entire year of 2005, with a total unpaid balance of $6,805.46.
Rolando Bonilla's pattern of contesting menial amounts of child support led to confusion and oversight to the point where he was able to strategically avoid 18 years of medical and educational expenses for his son.
Even when his income opportunities increased, his contributions did not change. For example, during his employment with law firm Ricci & Sprouls in 2003 — a period when he had greater financial capacity — court records indicate that Bonilla continued his pattern of inconsistent and menial child support during this period of higher personal earnings.
Conclusion: A Legacy of Neglect
Rolando Bonilla’s rise in public relations and politics is not a tale of hard-won success — it is a documented case study in how personal ambition can be financed through parental abandonment.
Bonilla did not just fail as a father. He actively undermined the very systems meant to protect his child, converting fatherhood into a transactional burden to evade while he constructed his career facade.
This is the truth behind the polished image: a man who, when faced with the simplest duty of supporting his own child, chose instead to fight, deflect, and run.
