Lynwood Bodies Agree to Negotiate Over Renewal : City, School District Declare Peace, Drop Suits

After more than eight months of legal battles sparked by a school district lawsuit challenging a city redevelopment project, the Lynwood Unified School District and the city of Lynwood have decided to settle their differences outside of the courtroom.

Both sides have agreed to drop lawsuits against each other and “negotiate a peaceful agreement,” said City Manager Charles Gomez.

Four suits had been filed since the squabbling started last summer over a plan by the city redevelopment agency to add more acreage to its existing redevelopment areas. The project is designed to redevelop blighted and rundown commercial and industrial areas over the next 35 years, city officials said.

The school district filed two suits against the city and the Lynwood Redevelopment Agency. City Councilman Robert Henning, acting as a private citizen, filed suit alleging that the school district’s suits were “frivolous and a waste of the taxpayers’ money.” The city and the redevelopment agency also filed a suit against the district.

The school district filed the first suit in August against the city and the Lynwood Redevelopment Agency, which is made up of the five-member City Council.

The suit said the redevelopment project would bring in more families with children that would burden already overcrowded schools. However, in February, Superior Court Judge Kenneth Gale dismissed the suit, ruling that the redevelopment plan would not have an impact on the schools.

School Board President Richard Armstrong said the suit was filed because “We wanted to get the attention of the city.” Armstrong said the district was due a certain amount of money under the redevelopment project but city officials would not discuss the issue with the district.

Gomez said, however, that the district wanted more money than it was entitled to under state redevelopment law. He said the district is entitled to 2% of the property taxes that would be created by the city-expanded redevelopment project. “We were offering 2% and they kept saying they wanted more. Then they filed the lawsuit,” Gomez said.

A second suit, filed by the district in September, alleged that the redevelopment project would create a financial burden for the school district. The suit claimed that an estimated $40 million in property taxes would go to the redevelopment agency instead of the district.

Councilman Henning’s suit was filed in January. Judge Gale ruled that Henning’s suit was incomplete but he was allowed to refile. The case is pending, but Henning said he will drop the suit.

The last suit was filed in April by the city and the Lynwood Redevelopment Agency to challenge the school district’s plan to build a two-story administration building to relieve overcrowded conditions. The proposed site is in the city’s redevelopment area. The suit alleges that the district should prepare an environmental impact study.

“It was a tit-for-tat suit,” said Gomez, who also is executive director of the redevelopment agency. “They filed a suit against us and we filed the same kind of suit against them.”

However, Gomez said he hopes all the legal battling is over. At a joint meeting last Monday, members of the school board and council agreed to cooperate with each other.

The board said it would drop all suits on certain conditions.

The council agreed to the district’s conditions and voted 4 to 0 to drop its remaining suit against the district. Mayor Evelyn Wells was not present.

Without giving details, the council agreed not to interfere with the district’s construction of the $4-million administration building on a part of the recreational area at Hosler Junior High School. Council members agreed to help the district provide security for Hosler Junior High students who use part of a city park for recreational activities.

The council also agreed to help find potential buyers for the district’s old administration building, and said it would discuss the 2% property tax share with the district.

On Tuesday, the school board voted 4 to 0 to drop its suits. Board member Thelma Williams was not present.

City and district officials say they have not yet determined the legal fees that resulted from the suits.