Alpine Union School District has two open seats, and Trustee Joesph Perricone is looking for reelection, running against incumbent Trustee Travis Lyon, Erika Simmons, and Cee Gould. Perricone has served on the board since 2012. Perricone said he respects everyone who runs for office, including his opponents. Perricone said it is a community service to run for office, and his job is to protect the students and the taxpayers, and he is now running for his third term.
“If it were not for a few things coming up, like the Measure U bond that we initiated, I probably would not have run again,” he said.
Measure U is a $6.3 million bond to make critical renovations and improvements to schools and classrooms throughout the Alpine Union School District, to be paid off in six years, and is supported by the San Diego County Taxpayer’s Association.
“Because we have some extremely important business that we have to finish, I am running again to make sure that it gets done,” he said. “It is very important to me that we look our for the financial health of our district.”
Perricone said the COVID pandemic changed the whole complexion of the district.
“Some for the better. Some for the worst. People found out they had choices. When the government told them you could not do this or that, the students need to be educated. So, they went to other sources, and I do not blame the parents. I am a parent. I understand that. But that creates different challenges for school districts now. Especially when you combine the funding formula that Gov. Jerry Brown put in. It kind of penalizes districts that do not have many English as a second language. It is the way it was set up. In our district, we got penalized for it. You must make the most of the dollars you have in front of you. You must make sure teachers are well paid. Your schools are upkept. Proper maintenance is done. All that rolls into what the board approves for the budget. It is extremely important considering our state is $67 billion in the red right now. All the governor did was to cut, cut, cut. And guess what he cut the first, the kids of course. That really hurt us in 2012, and why I ran for the board. I saw we were laying off teachers, school services were going down, and all the government could say was ‘hope it gets better next year.’ We knew it was not going to get any better.” he said.
Perricone said when he first took office, the first thing he had to deal with was a strike.
“It was horrific. Nobody wants to see a strike. The board that is currently configured, we are all in agreement that public education needs to be funded. To do that, you must be judicious with money. Look at San Diego Unified. No matter how much money they get, they are always in a deficit. It is my opinion, and belief, that you can not go through life that way. Our district is different. We hold the line on our expenses. We have done maintenance. We gave the teachers and employees this year the biggest raise to try and get them above the inflation. You cannot do that if you do not have money in the bank to do it,” he said.
Perricone said the unions would like to take control of the budget and give the district a two percent reserve, which he called “ludicrous,” because at three percent the county takes over.
“But that is the union’s position because they believe the taxpayer’s money is theirs. And I get that position. Union representatives are going to do as much as they can do to get what they can for their membership, and I do not blame them for that. However, the buck stops at my desk. That is my insight on finances. You must control your budget. You cannot be like the state because it goes way out of line and the taxpayers pay the bill. That is way out of line,” he said.
Perricone said this is a “sacred trust” that Alpine residents have given to him, so he refuses to spend taxpayer’s money unwisely, and he has had three terms to look at it.
“The government gets a lot of money and then spend it like crazy,” he said. “In the meantime, the only people that pay the price are the children and the schools. That is the first thing they cut every time. Public schools must change with the times. They cannot stay static. Our superintendent understands that and that is why he is still employed by us. He understands the political and financial reality of California. So, we live within that framework. And we are doing quite well even though funding is getting cut because of that forward thinking that we have. It is good for everyone when the board is fiscally responsible. It is good for the teachers because they get raises, they normally would not get. It is good for the kids because they get the supplies. Teachers are happy teaching because they are getting good wages. It is a vicious cycle if you do not watch yourself. That is why I want to run again. To finish what I have started.”
Perricone said when he came into office, the district was broke, so broke that the county was going to take over the school district.
“I did not take this job because it was easy,” he said. “I took this job because I thought I could help. It is important to me that all the work we have done, I want to see it completed. The kids deserve that.”
Perricone said the bond measure is as good as it could be, or the Taxpayer’s Association would not support it because its job is to protect the taxpayer.
“It is not a 30-year bond where your kids are going to be paying for it. It is a short-term bond to upgrade the things that we cannot do on a restricted budget,” he said. “The teachers cannot teach when it is 90 degrees. The kids cannot learn when they are miserable. Our thrust is strictly for maintenance to bring things up to snuff, pay it back quickly, and move on. I would never vote on a bond going on the ballot if it were not that way. All of us in Alpine remember the bait and switch the Grossmont Union High School District, and we were promised a high school. We got the taxes, but no high school. When we went to court and sued them, the judge said they had the right to change the bond language after the bond measure was passed. Does that sound okay to you?”
Perricone said they have looked at several bond issues over the years, and none of them “passed muster.” He said this bond is good for the taxpayers and the students and hopes that the voters of Alpine will agree.
“This bond is just what it says. We are going to make school improvements that you can see and touch, and that is it. It is not going to anything else but to improve the conditions of our schools,” he said. “We are not playing funny money here. We are not playing bait and switch. This is what we are going to do, and it is all that we are going to do.”
Perricone said he wishes everybody luck in the election.
“I do not hold anything against anybody. If your fellow citizen puts their name down to run for office, respect that. I do,” he said.
