New school district improvement projects underway

The first sale of bonds from a $200 million package approved by 57 percent of Placentia-Yorba Linda school district voters in February has been completed and building projects prioritized through 2013.

Officials sold $80 million Measure A bonds to help finance a pool and stadium at Yorba Linda High School; gym, field upgrades and music hall at El Dorado High School; and gym, field upgrades and band room modernization at Esperanza High School, all to begin summer 2009.

Immediate projects are field renovation at Bradford Stadium and upgrades at Yorba Linda and Tuffree middle schools and Woodsboro and Tynes elementary schools.

Other work beginning summer 2009 includes upgrades to the Valencia High School auditorium, which was built as a federal project in the 1930s, and work at El Camino High School and Mabel Paine, Golden, Rio Vista and Ruby Drive elementary schools.

In addition to the $80 million bond proceeds, the district expects $4.6 million in state building funds in August. More bond sales are planned 2010 for $80 million and 2012 for $40 million, according to Superintendent Dennis Smith’s estimates.

And $7.4 million more state aid is expected 2012 for the final construction phase, which includes Travis Ranch K-8 modernization.

Set to begin summer 2010 are projects at Mabel Paine, Travis Ranch, Rose Drive, Van Buren and George Key schools; Kraemer Middle School; and Esperanza and Valencia high schools.

The $102 million Measure Y bond approved by 66 percent of voters in 2002 resulted in $395.2 million in projects, counting $141.8 million in state matching funds, $91 million redevelopment money, $35.8 million developer fees and $24.6 million other sources.

Measure Y appears three times on property tax bills, since the $102 million was sold in three batches in 2002, 2004 and 2005, for a total $29.50 per $100,000 assessed valuation.

Measure A also will appear as three items, since sales will be in three stages, for $29.50 per $100,000 assessed valuation. Together, the bonds will cost about $59 per $100,000 assessed valuation, near the district’s $60 legal limit for bond debt.

Measure A bonds earned “outstanding” ratings of AA- by Standard & Poor’s and Aa3 by Moody’s, higher than Measure Y bonds, said Assistant Superintendent Bob Klempen.

Trustees selected Rod Boaz, Judy Johnson, Randall Kuroda, Don Lussier, Melina Michaels, Ron Osajima, Jim Resha and Mila Thomas to oversee Measure A spending.

Keith DeBrucky, Warren Hennagin, Robert Hyde, Judy Johnson, Tom Lindsay, Art Moncrief, Eric Padget and William Walls continue with Measure Y oversight.

A FINAL NOTE

The Yorba Linda Residents for Responsible Representation board has endorsed Nancy Rikel and former Councilman Mark Schwing for two of the three City Council seats on the Nov. 4 ballot, with a third endorsement expected soon.

The board also endorsed Cynthia Verdugo-Peralta and Dave Rosenberger for Yorba Linda Water District director seats now held by Mike Beverage and Ric Collette.

Town Center will be key issue in council campaign

Town Center—past, present and future—will be a key issue in the upcoming campaign for a majority of Yorba Linda City Council seats. Signups start July 14 for individuals seeking the jobs now held by Allen Castellano, Hank Wedaa and Jim Winder.

Past Town Center events will be an issue because of public calls for an investigation into actions of city staff, council members and developers during the 2005-06 planning stages for Old Town redevelopment.

What began as a 5-0 council vote to prepare a “request for a proposal” to send to private investigative firms to ask for bids on the inquiry has morphed into another 5-0 vote for a “management review” to be conducted by interim City Manager William Kelly.

Although Kelly could return next month with an option to narrow the focus of a proposal to solicit bids, council discussion indicates an outside inquiry is now unlikely, since some top-level managers and council decision-makers are no longer with the city.

Council needs to put this issue to rest with a resolution expressing regret for past conduct or adopting a formal statement similar to one recently issued Pearl Wieselman, who “was subjected to particularly virulent anti-Semitic remarks” at the Senior Club, the city said.

The statement noted the city “wishes to apologize to her and all residents of the city for not paying proper attention to her when these very important issues were brought to the council’s attention.”

And possible council violations of the state’s open-meeting law should be submitted to the county District Attorney for a proper investigation and, if verified, for prosecution.

Present Town Center events also will be an issue, since council hasn’t appointed a Town Center Specific Plan Advisory Committee, as recommended by the former Town Center Blue Ribbon Committee that studied Old Town redevelopment for 18 months.

Approving a $981,900 contract for the preparation of a specific plan and environmental impact report for Town Center without competitive bids or continued oversight by a citizens’ committee could lead to the same mistakes that killed the previous proposal.

Future Town Center events should be the chief concern of residents, and all council candidates should make clear the type of Town Center development they’ll support, especially regarding city and Redevelopment Agency financial involvement.

A FINAL NOTE

Cecil Rospaw, longtime editor and publisher of the weekly Placentia Courier, died June 3, 11 days short of his 84th birthday. In 1923, Cec’s father, Frank, bought a six-year-old Yorba Linda Star and published it until 1928, when he sold to concentrate on the Courier.

Cec, a Stanford grad and World War II vet, also published books by local authors and printed the El Dorado and Valencia high schools’ newspapers for many years. Both Cec and Frank served terms as president of the California Newspaper Publishers Association.

Measure B predictions never materialized

Two years ago this week Yorba Linda residents approved Measure B—the Right-to-Vote on Land Use Amendments initiative—by 299 votes out of 13,543 cast in this city's single costliest campaign to date.

However, none of the dire predictions of doom purveyed in $174,150 worth of color mailers, automated telephone calls and full-page newspaper ads wholly financed by outside-the-city builders and real estate interests have yet come true.

The misleading and untruthful statements in mountains of No on B material provide a cautionary tale for voters, as signups start next month for three City Council positions, and candidates begin planning new mailers, often written by well-paid consultants.

Measure B mandates that major zoning changes and General Plan amendments be approved by a majority of Yorba Linda voters in regular or special elections.

"Major" means increasing residential housing density, changing residential zoning to another type, changing to residential zoning with a density in excess of 10 units per acre or increasing the allowed number of parcels subdivided from an existing parcel.

Proponents gathered 8,647 signatures to qualify the ballot measure in 2005 but ran into a temporary roadblock when City Clerk Kathie Mendoza was directed to challenge aspects of the initiative circulation process in court.

The then-council—Allen Castellano, Mike Duvall, Ken Ryan, Keri Wilson and Jim Winder—authorized paying $151,662 to two law firms to argue both sides of the case as attorneys for the clerk and council, who were technically opposing parties.

A key argument from the No on B group concerned the number and cost of elections to approve or deny projects. The opponents forecast "non-stop unlimited special elections under Measure B" and said, "We'd be in a state of constant elections."

Of course, no elections have been held and charges the initiative would take funds "that could be used to increase our police services" and are "needed to maintain our parks" to pay for special elections also proved false.

The most deceptive scare tactic involved the long-sought Yorba Linda High School, which would have been "blocked" under Measure B, opponents stated. Actually, the $140 million campus will open on schedule September 2009.

Even the claim Measure B was "opposed by four decades of Yorba Linda leadership" turned out to be misleading, as only two current councilmen—Castellano and Winder—and five past council members—Mike Beverage, Irwin Fried, Barbara Kiley, Todd Murphy and a misnamed "Jim" (for John) Gullixson—signed ads as opponents.

A FINAL NOTE

State law requires campaign committees to identify themselves on election literature and list the major source of funding, if applicable.

So many voters were amused by mailers criticizing elections "dominated by developers and special interests” signed "No on B, Sponsored by Orange County Housing Providers, Major Funding by California Association of Realtors Issues Mobilization PAC.”