$65,000,000 Measure A Bond: Fraud, Conspiracy, Misuse of Public Funds, Conflicts of Interest, Brown Act Violations
• 25% of funds improperly diverted to Fleming pet
project
• District employee improperly chaired Oversight
Committee meeting
• Oversight Committee disbanded with $20 million
still unspent
• Oversight Committee members had financial conflicts
of interest
• More Brown Act violations
On November 2, 1999,
voters approved Measure A – a $65,000,000 bond
measure designed to repair and modernize aging
schools, bring them up to current earthquake
standards, build four new schools, including a new
middle school in San Juan Capistrano and a new high
school, and new classrooms throughout the district to
relieve overcrowding and solve problems associated
with portables, which had covered so many
playgrounds, the children lacked places to play.
The ballot measure (and legal bond documents)
required that an “Independent” Oversight Committee be
established to supervise spending of the bond
proceeds. That Oversight Committee was convened on
December 15, 1999 when CUSD appointed eleven (11)
members. After carefully reviewing the ballot measure
and minutes from the Oversight Committee meetings, it
appears that CUSD officials made numerous false
statements to the public and to Oversight Committee
members, several committee members had financial
conflicts of interest, and Brown Act violations
occurred.
The Truth About Portables
For a long time, the CUSD Trustees and Superintendent have defended their excessive reliance on portable classrooms on their representation that up to one third of all classrooms are required to be portables by law. Since other local school districts had chosen to go a different direction, making permanent structures their priority, something about CUSD's representation didn't seem right. Since facts matter, we researched the issue and it didn't take long to confirm that the Trustees and Superintendent have misinformed us once again. Read More...