Steve Smith -- WHAT’S UP?
Perhaps what the Newport-Mesa Unified Board of Education needs is a
gadfly -- someone to tell them what the curmudgeon crowd is thinking. Sid
Soffer did that with the Costa Mesa City Council, but I doubt he’d be
willing to cross the state line to talk to our local board.
So, in lieu of Sid, I am compelled to play the part. I’ll even give you
the bottom line right here at the top: At this time, I cannot support the
board’s request for $163 million, $110 of which will come in the form of
a tax on local property owners (the remaining $53 million will come from
Sacramento as matching funds.)
My objections are few, but they rest on weighty issues: Before I can
vote in favor of this tax, I want to hear some acceptance of the
responsibility for allowing our schools to fall into such disrepair. I
want to hear it without the finger-pointing that will place the blame on
the bankruptcy, the embezzlement, the economy or the now 20-year-old
Proposition 13.
This is no small point. Accepting responsibility for our choices and
expressing some measure of remorse is nothing less than what we ask of
our children when they lie, get into a fight or come home with a bad
grade.
Don’t expect to hear one word of remorse or a syllable of accountability.
In fact, taxpayers can expect just the opposite.
In last Wednesday’s Daily Pilot, reporter Danette Goulet quoted board
member Dana Black on her reaction to the 7-0 vote to authorize the bond.
Was Black at all sorry that the board had to ask taxpayers for a loan?
No. Did she acknowledge the board’s responsibility for having held off
the bond for so long while our kids went to schools with leaky roofs and
unusable bathrooms? No.
Instead, Black proudly proclaimed last Tuesday’s vote as a cause for
celebration. “I’m just thrilled for our kids, our teachers and our
community,” she said.
Thrilled? Thrilled about what? Thrilled about having to tax constituents?
Thrilled about exposing the board’s lack of financial acumen? Instead of
insight or reflection, taxpayers got a spin move that makes Shaquille
O’Neal look like a high school hacker.
Listening to Black, we are supposed to believe that this is a “win-win”
for everyone. It is not.
Accounting for the state of the schools is not too much to ask. I’m not
asking for resignations and I don’t necessarily want to hear anyone say
“I’m sorry,” although that would be nice. I simply want this board held
accountable.
The larger of the two points will not be as easy to accommodate. This
school board neither deserves to, nor is capable of administrating $163
million in public money.
In order for this tax to work as planned, it is in the best interests of
both the board and the taxpayers to establish a body not to oversee the
spending but to make the spending decisions and disburse the payments.
Why? Because the fiscal management track record of this board is not one
that entitles them to handle such a large sum of money.
The tax will produce a sum that is best left in the hands of people with
business and financial savvy, who have dealt with construction matters of
this size and who will spend this money as though it were their own. I do
not trust this board with this much money.
My position is not popular. It is contrary to that of this newspaper and
will cause some to believe that I care more about chastising this board
than I do about improving our schools.
But I refuse to lay down in front of the moving truck that is this bond
because the board wants everyone to believe they are so concerned about
our kids. Real concern would have had a bond floated years ago when
repairs cost a fraction of what they are now.
I am not a Libertarian (with or without the capital “L”). I pay taxes and
expect certain services in return. I don’t have a problem with that.
I do have a problem with politicians who neglect their duties, allow
public facilities to fall into a state of extreme disrepair, place the
blame elsewhere, then ask taxpayers for a loan to bail them out without
one word of accountability or remorse, while gushing about how thrilling
it all is.
Yes, I have a problem with that.
I have a vested interest in the maintenance of our schools. Cay and I
have two kids attending Newport-Mesa schools and there is nothing more
I’d like to see than improved facilities. And I don’t believe that kids
should suffer for the mistakes of adults. We’re property owners, too, and
I know that the value of our home will be maintained with the passage of
the tax.
But I always go back to the lessons we adults teach our kids by our
actions. Until this board can show taxpayers the sound financial
management history that warrants its administration of $163 million --
without telling us “it’s for the kids” -- and can show at least a shred
of accountability for this debacle, the only lesson learned is that those
who own property are always available to reward bad behavior.
* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and freelance writer. He can be
reached via e-mail at o7 dailypilot@latimes.comf7 , or call our Readers
Hotline at (949) 642-6086.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.