Counting Their Bond Before It’s Passed

Just days before voters will be asked to approve a $123-million school facilities bond, Huntington Beach Union High School Supt. Susan Roper said volunteers are making no extra efforts to raise voter awareness or campaign for a yes vote on Tuesday.

No flurry of phone calls, no house visits, not one additional mailer will go out to the 158,000 registered voters served by the district in Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach and Westminster, Roper said.

Volunteer supporters did plan, however, to walk precincts Saturday and today, echoing previous weekends’ work to ensure the measure gets the necessary two-thirds approval.

The reason for the low-key approach the last weekend before the vote lies in Roper’s and others’ belief that the bond’s passage is already a virtual lock thanks to a yearlong push.

“When people really feel informed, when they understand the need, their answer is that they would like to support the bond,” Roper said.

If passed, the bond would pair the $123 million in local funds with $37 million in state money to repair cracked and sinking buildings, fix plumbing and heating systems, wire more buildings for computers and replace portable classrooms with permanent ones. Repairs are most needed at Fountain Valley High, where one building must be rebuilt on another site because it has sunk into swampland, and at Huntington Beach High, which dates to 1926.

While the success of similar measures in Capistrano Unified and Santa Ana Unified last week were encouraging, Huntington Beach Union officials didn’t need any more reassurance, Roper said.

“I’m very pleased for [the districts whose bonds passed]; I think that’s kind of a positive harbinger of things to come,” she said. “But I’ve felt very encouraged already that there is strong support here for the bond.”

One issue clouding the vote is a complaint pending from two residents upset at the amount the district has spent to inform residents on the issue and on the consulting firm hired to sway voters.

The district attorney’s office will continue to investigate a claim filed by William D. Fitzgerald Jr. and his father that alleges the district has illegally spent more than $300,000 to promote the bond, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Carolyn Carlisle-Raines.

“We’re still looking into whether or not there was any improper use of funds, and we probably will for several days longer,” Carlisle-Raines said. “We haven’t reached any conclusions yet.”

The Fitzgeralds could not be reached for comment.

Roper acknowledges that the district has spent almost $340,000 from Jan. 1 through the end of August on matters involving the bond, but she said the money was spent preparing informational materials, not campaign literature.

Carlisle-Raines would not say whether the investigation would conclude before the vote, or what would happen should wrongdoing be found.

But back in Huntington Beach, Roper is confident.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt that there’s better than a two-thirds vote sitting out here on the measure,” she said.