Leece opposed to bond-related measure

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT-MESA -- As the possibility of a bond issue dangles over voters,

one school board member remains opposed to a proposition that would make

it easier to get the bond passed.

An initiative on the March ballot, Proposition 26, would allow for a

simple majority vote to pass school bonds, rather than the two-thirds

approval now needed to levy the additional tax.

Despite her support of a possible upcoming bond in Newport-Mesa,

conservative school board member Wendy Leece is adamantly opposed to the

March initiative.

“I am not in favor of Prop. 26,” she said. “That will just enable more

school districts to not be accountable and to just raise taxes and impose

more taxes on overburdened taxpayers.”

Although she said she may stand alone in this belief on the school board,

she is certainly not alone in the community.

“I think you’re going to find that in a heavy Republican, antitax area,

most people are going to be opposed to that (Prop 26),” she said. “In

this area most people are conservative, especially when it comes to

public education.”

Balboa Island resident and former Assemblyman Gil Ferguson is one

community member who is with Leece in opposing the initiative.

“A school bond is a lien on your house,” he said. “They are extremely

dangerous for homeowners and property owners. That’s why it’s a

two-thirds vote.”

New school board President Dana Black said she has changed her position

since being on the board.

“I had mixed feeling a couple of years ago,” she said, adding that her

time on the board has been “a pretty serious education on how our hands

are tied.”

So now Black says, “Hallelujah.”

School board member Jim Ferryman likewise fully supports the proposed

legislation.

“I think it’s too important to school districts to pass these bond

measures to miss by a few votes, so I think a majority would suffice,” he

said.

But if a bond really is so important, Leece argued, it easily should be

able to get the necessary two-thirds vote.

“Those who pay the taxes would have to agree, changing [the requirements]

would not be in the best interest of democracy,” she said.