Trustee Disputes Board’s Lawyer
* I must respond to Keith Breon’s letter to the editor (April 3), since he has used his contract with the Santa Ana school district as legal counsel as basis for his letter. Breon is not representing my views or beliefs in any way pertaining to the issues he presented, nor did he get prior approval from the Board of Education to debate the issue in the newspaper.
Breon rightfully points to appraisals or communications related to negotiations for the sale or purchase of property as proper closed-session agenda items. With the exception of a tongue-lashing in closed session to certain board members by Mr. Breon, neither of the documents used to censure board member Rosemarie Avila were discussed in closed session or even meet his criteria.
There was not an appraisal nor do we yet have an appraisal of the Bristol Marketplace site. The memo cited was an estimate strictly used to encourage the state to set aside $22 million for the site, which they did. This became public knowledge in state executive minutes.
If everything is on the up and up, the district does not have any negotiating power in the price of the property, as the state is required to pay the highest appraisal price (another bureaucratic bumble). The key to all this is the three words “up and up.”
With those three words in mind let’s bring on the second memo in question. It was a summary of the 1990 purchase of the ECCO site which is currently under construction. I had asked for copies of the contract and documents preceding the purchase since this was the latest land purchase and I felt it would give me a better perspective of how the system works. Boy, did I get a perspective. I have yet to receive any of those listed documents. The summary was all that I was provided. I questioned how a land purchase four years ago could be classified from public knowledge. The answer to that question became obvious when the three board members who were on the board when the ECCO deal was completed, unjustly and without proof, censured board member Avila.
I’m hoping the outcome of all this will be a narrative appraisal that’s over a month late now, that will save the taxpayers of California millions of dollars and no repeat of the ECCO deal.
The board’s legal counsel (Breon) told Avila that at some point she must realize she is representing the district. Through the thick of it all, he must have gotten our job confused with his, for I represent the people.
TOM CHAFFEE
Member, Board of Education
Santa Ana Unified School District