‘Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.’
That has been my take on bond measures for the past decade due to past misrepresentations and failures to live up to the siren-song lures used to bait voters into taking on debt to fund promised projects that were never delivered.
As a result, it is very rare for me nowadays to vote YES on any new bond. But I’m making an exception for Measure U, and here’s why:
- This district has been a good steward of past monies, and seems to operate with fiscal prudence.
As a government watchdog, I’ve seen a spectrum of how districts operate fiscally and culturally, and compared to the two main other ones I monitor, AUSD is head and shoulders above them in fiscal responsibility and transparency.
- Alpine Union School District had nothing to do with the failed promises of bringing a high school to Alpine.
As a 25-year resident of Alpine, I was in the fight to bring a high school to Alpine, and saw the pretzel twisting that went on to justify not fulfilling what was promised to voters. But that was the high-school district (which is completely separate) — not AUSD.
- The San Diego County Taxpayers Association supports Measure U:
Our local taxpayer watchdog entity states: “… Alpine Union School District has demonstrated facilities needs and has developed plans that meet the rigorous standards on bond proposals that the SDCTA has developed …”
I gave a lot of thought and reflection to this issue, given the past ‘taxpayer PTSD’ of prior bond-promise failures from other various entities but ultimately decided that our current and future students should not have to endure facilities with deferred maintenance because I’m angry at another district.
So I encourage you to please join me in voting Yes on Measure U. Let’s give our students safe, well-maintained facilities to maximize their learning potential.
Mary Davis is a member of the Alpine Community Planning Group, and a Commissioner on the San Diego County Commission for the Status of Women and Girls. She is also the author of ‘The Beginner’s Guide to Civic Activism’.
It has just been revealed that AUSD is $2.2 Million in the red and only has enough in reserves to operate for 1.7 months. Don’t give it more money to throw down the drain! Vote NO on U!
Alpine Union’s “$2 million debt” remains from an approved 2010 17-year borrowing to install cost savings solar electric and to updates decades old lighting and heating-air systems to more efficient, energy cuts savings modern designs. That debt will be paid-off in 3 years. The subsidized interest rate included a $250,000 state-federal up front cash payment.
The ‘unrestricted’ cash reserves equating to ~1.7 months of operating costs is a state mandated “rainy day” fund. Alpine Union’s is ~3-times more than the state minimum. But it is ~2/3rds short of the amount to pay for the targeted repairs and upgrades.
Alpine Union also has “restricted” cash reserves dedicated to specific education programs for which state, county & federal funding is volatile year to year. For example, while the per student basic state funding is about the same this school year, federal & county funding of such added programs is down this school year by a couple of million.
All this info is available from online published budgets and audit reports.
Measure U will feature a “Citizens Bond Oversight Committee” thru which Alpine citizens will audit and ensure the funds are spent only as the tax-payers approved.