Mayoral Candidates Divided on Belmont

Two candidates for mayor of Los Angeles split Saturday over whether the school board made the right choice to abandon work on the Belmont Learning Complex because of environmental concerns, while a third candidate said the decision was made too hastily.

Appearing at a parents meeting, Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles) said the officials were wrong in voting Tuesday to abandon the half-completed project because overcrowding is such a problem.

Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles) said the school, which sits atop an oil field, should not be occupied because it is unsafe for children.

Offering a more middle view, commercial real estate broker Steve Soboroff chided school board members for making any decision at all at this time because they lacked crucial information.

Wading into the stormy waters of Los Angeles Unified School District politics, the candidates offered their opinions during the district’s Millennium Parent Summit, attended by about 2,000 people. Parents came to sessions on such things as environmental concerns, the kinds of tests students take and the role of the superintendent.

At one of the sessions, some parents pressed school officials for answers on how the district plans to ease classroom overcrowding and monitor environmental safety.

“Why didn’t people know about these problems at Belmont earlier?” asked Angelia Robinson, a mother from Eagle Rock. “And why did all this money get spent? What does that say about what you think of our children?”

Earlier, Becerra urged parents to question school officials about their decision on Belmont and to hold them accountable for the school’s price tag.

“My belief is that without further information telling me that you shouldn’t build, that facility should be completed,” Becerra told a reporter after his speech. “You’ve got folks who are now parents who were at Belmont when people began talking about the need to build another school.”

The $200-million Belmont project has created deep divisions among parents, students and school officials. The project, which would have provided 5,000 classroom seats, was halted last year when it was revealed that environmental hazards had not been adequately assessed before construction. The school board Tuesday night voted 5 to 2 to abandon the project, even though interim Supt. Ramon C. Cortines asked that the decision be delayed two months so that staff could study alternatives.

Villaraigosa said he had heard enough to know that he would not send his own children to school at Belmont. “If I can’t look you in the face and say to you that I would send my children to Belmont, I can’t support sending anyone else’s children there,” he said.

Soboroff said he agreed with the superintendent that the decision should have been delayed..

“I think that it’s irresponsible to make a decision without information,” Soboroff said. “[The superintendent] said wait 60 days and get the information: How much does it cost to finish, how much will it take and how much does it cost not to finish? I think that was responsible.”

Organizers of Saturday’s meeting had invited Becerra to be their keynote speaker months before the congressman announced his candidacy for mayor. When it was clear he was running, however, the conference became a campaign stop.

“We felt that in the interest of fair play, we had to invite the other candidates for mayor,” said organizer Kathleen Dixon. Two candidates--City Atty. James K. Hahn and City Councilman Joel Wachs--could not attend, Dixon said.