SIMI VALLEY : Wood Ranch Man to Serve on Land Panel
Answering the demands of Wood Ranch residents who want a say in the sale of 1,800 acres near their homes, the Simi Valley school board has selected a resident of the community to serve on the committee disposing of the property.
The board on Tuesday appointed Tom Rittenburg, a lawyer who lives in Wood Ranch and has three children, to serve on the Simi Valley Foundation for Educational Excellence.
“I think he will be a fine addition to the membership of the foundation,” Simi Valley Unified School District Supt. Mary Beth Wolford said.
The foundation is charged with selling the property. Most of the proceeds are expected to pay for the construction of a Wood Ranch elementary school, expected to cost $6.2 million.
Wood Ranch residents had been kept off the foundation board because some school board members feared they would be biased in making decisions about neighboring developments and money for their long-awaited elementary school.
But in July, after complaints from residents, the school board voted to expand the foundation board and to allow Wood Ranch residents to apply.
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