Young Republicans oppose school bond

Group passes out fliers and plans a door-to-door effort in its campaign to defeat Measure F.An Orange County activist group launched a campaign Saturday against the Measure F school bond, handing out fliers that protested the local school district’s plan to renovate campuses with tax money.

Saturday afternoon at Newport Pier, about a dozen members of the Orange County Young Republicans set up a voter registration table and distributed fliers to passersby. The flier, titled “Measure F will raise your taxes,” accuses the Newport-Mesa Unified School District of spending irresponsibly and taking a “second bite at the apple” after the passage of the Measure A school bond five years ago.

The group plans to set up another table at Newport Pier on Oct. 22 and distribute fliers door to door in the first week of November. Measure F will appear on the special election ballot Nov. 8.

The Young Republicans are the only major group in Newport-Mesa currently campaigning against Measure F, but president Jeff Corless said he believed many voters in the district are disillusioned with the school bond.

“I believe that the voters will vote against Measure F because they voted for Measure A the first time, and now they’re being asked for money again for a project they [the district] weren’t able to complete with the funds they asked for,” he said.

Although Corless, a 24-year-old Tustin resident, lives outside the Newport-Mesa area, he opposes school bond measures in general because he sees them as a burden on taxpayers. A district like Newport-Mesa, he said, could pay for a project like Measure F through saving money over the years.

“The Orange County Young Republicans and myself believe that school districts need to approach a more responsible spending behavior pattern,” Corless explained. “When they spend responsibly, they’ll have surpluses down the road rather than borrowing at taxpayers’ expense.”

As examples of streamlining spending, Corless said the district should consider cutting the salaries of the superintendent, school board members and other top administrators.

Supporters of Measure F, who have been campaigning five days a week since mid-September, dismissed Corless’ arguments.

“He’s just saying generic statements instead of looking specifically at the budget,” said Costa Mesa Councilwoman Katrina Foley, who has two children at Sonora Elementary School and has called voters to support the bond measure. “Anybody who has kids in school knows that infrastructure improvements are very expensive and generally, at least in our school district, the [budget] money is going to go to education and school supplies and books and training for teachers.”

Newport-Mesa’s proposed budget for the current school year is $190 million; if passed, Measure F would grant $282 million.

In 2000, the Young Republicans telephoned voters and passed out fliers door to door urging residents to reject Measure A. Another coalition, Citizens for Equitable Taxation, led an anti-Measure A drive of its own, sending mailers to residents of Newport-Mesa’s Mello-Roos districts to remind them of their already hefty property taxes.

But Measure A passed in June 2000 with 72% of the vote. Alfred Willinger, the leader of Citizens for Equitable Taxation, said he was not planning to campaign against Measure F this year.

With a smaller opposition than five years ago, Mark Buchanan, the chairman of the pro-Measure F campaign Citizens for Quality Schools, said he did not believe that Corless’ group would sway the vote.

“The numbers we’re seeing for Measure F are well in excess of the 55% required to pass, and everyone else we’ve talked to who has taken time to understand what Measure F is for and why is universally supportive,” Buchanan said. “So if a small group of activists opposes every kind of tax and bond with no regard for our kids, I don’t see why that would pose a significant threat to our measure.”

Buchanan spoke in favor of Measure F at the Young Republicans’ general meeting on Oct. 10, after hearing about the group’s campaign. Matthew Harper, a board member of the Huntington Beach Union High School District, offered the anti-Measure F side at the meeting. Afterward, the members voted by two thirds to oppose the ballot item.

Buchanan said he was not surprised by the group’s decision.

“The Young Republicans believe there should be no bonds or taxes,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what the issue is.”