New faces dominate school bond committee

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT-MESA -- Most of the faces on the future 31-member committee

that will oversee the spending of $163 million in bond money to fix

deteriorating schools are new ones.

In fact, the only exceptions are the two Newport Harbor Chamber of

Commerce representatives, Bob Haskell and Kurt Yeager, who served on the

citizens committee that recommended the school bond last year.

One of the 17 committee members chosen so far is Robert Braun, 45, of

Costa Mesa.

Although he and his wife don’t have any children, Braun said he felt

compelled to apply.

“I went to public school. I believe in public schools,” he said. “As a

taxpayer, it’s a good return to the community and schools are pretty much

our future.”

Committee members will be responsible for making sure the Newport-Mesa

Unified School District’s $110-million bond and $53 million in state

matching funds are spent correctly.

Even before voters passed the bond in June, the Board of Education

developed a specific list of areas that are to be represented by the

districtwide oversight committee, which has nearly all its members in

place. Eleven-member school site-based committees will be formed later.

Braun, who is director of design for the Langdon Wilson Co. in Irvine,

will represent the American Institute of Architects on the panel.

Although the company he works for been involved in many school

projects, including several in the Brea and Los Angeles unified school

districts, and normally would have bid to work on the Newport-Mesa

project, Braun got its agreement to sit this one out.

He is among the committee members, including Mirna Burciaga, who will

represent the Latino community -- from which there originally were no

applicants -- who are now waiting for the district’s four high school

zones to each choose two representatives.

Those eight citizens should be selected by the beginning of January,

said Mike Fine, assistant superintendent of business services.

“We’ll set a date for January and they’ll come together and meet,” he

said, adding that he would like the group in place before a project

management company is chosen later that month or early February.

The remaining positions, the four at-large and two senior citizen

members, are to be chosen by the committee.

While getting the group together has taken longer than district

officials had anticipated, the delay has not had any effect on

reconstruction work, Fine said.

“The outside groups needed to take their time [selecting

representatives] but the key is that they’re doing it right,” he said.

‘All the groups have given it a lot of thought.”

FYI

Following is the committee structure and panelists chosen so far to

oversee the spending of $163 million in bond money by the Newport-Mesa

Unified School District:

* Four high school zones (two each): appointments pending

* At-large (four): to be appointed by the oversight committee

* Senior citizens groups (two): to be appointed by oversight committee

* Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce (two): Donn Hall and Tony Petros

* Newport Harbor Chamber of Commerce (two): Bob Haskell and Kurt

Yeager

These groups will each have one representative:

* American Institute of Architects: Robert Braun

* Board of Realtors: Mark Buchanan

* Building Industry Assn.: Jeff Prostor

* California School Employees Assn.: Cathy Ropp

* Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce: Tina Hoover

* District audit committee: Leon Schwartz

* District investment advisory committee: Aileen Suzuki

* Harbor Council PTA: Ky Nguyen

* Latino Business Community: Mirna Burciaga

* Newport-Mesa Administrators Assn.: Charlene Metoyer

* Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers: Dennis O’Hearn

* Orange County Treasurer’s Office: Tony Choi

* Orange County Taxpayers Assn.: John Chamberlain