Districts Discuss Bond Measures

Heartened by the success of Oxnard’s school bond measure this fall, Ventura school officials Monday consulted with bond specialists to help them decide whether Ventura should place its own measure on the June ballot.

Officials from both Ventura Unified and Oxnard Elementary school districts met with financial advisors from the firm that worked on the Oxnard Union High School District’s successful $57-million bond measure in the November election.

“What they basically said is, ‘Do a feasibility study to see what your needs are and what kinds of things you want to do,’ ” Ventura Unified Supt. Joseph Spirito said after his meeting with representatives of Dale Scott & Co. of San Francisco.

Spirito said he would talk to trustees during tonight’s board meeting about a feasibility study. But before officials decide to put a bond measure on the ballot, they plan to review a report expected in mid-December from the district’s committee on long-range planning.

In the meantime, the Oxnard Elementary and Fillmore Unified school districts are organizing campaigns to pass bond issues come March.

Before the high school district’s success, recent efforts to borrow money for school projects had often failed to win the needed two-thirds voter majority in Ventura County. Voters turned down a $45-million bond measure for a new Oxnard high school in 1992. Camarillo’s elementary school district failed to garner the needed votes four times in four years. Fillmore also lost an $8-million bond election in 1989. Oxnard Union officials credited a well-orchestrated campaign for their victory in November.

On Monday, Oxnard Elementary officials asked financial advisors how to create a campaign committee and what rules dictate when a district official can support a bond issue.

Fillmore officials were one step ahead. By next Monday, volunteers plan to spend three to five hours a day for 11 days phoning registered voters. The citizens committee will give community members information about the $12-million bond measure in March, which would finance school renovations and technological improvements.

Though Fillmore Supt. Mario Contini acknowledged that voter approval is difficult to garner, he’s setting his goals for March even higher.

“I would like to see a 90% yes rate,” Contini said. “A high yes vote would really symbolize how truly committed the people are to what needs to happen here. . . . I don’t think squeezing by at 65% is sufficient. I think there’s a need for unity and a sense of unity that comes from a strong yes vote.”

Oxnard’s elementary district plans to form a committee after January to campaign for its $57-million bond measure to build several new schools and make renovations, district officials said. On Monday, the advisors from Scott & Co. offered recommendations about how to go about campaigning.

“Parents make up only 20% of the communities and the other 80% don’t have children and typically don’t know what’s going on in schools,” advisor Mitch Templeton said after meeting with Oxnard officials. “It’s the job of the citizens committee to inform the community of exactly why they are going out for the bond measure.”

The advisors recommended that they stick to facts and added that state law prohibits district officials from supporting a school bond measure during working hours. They could, however, provide information to the public about why the bond is needed and what would happen if the measure failed.