Urgency of School Improvement Bonds Contradicted by State Dept of Educations Own Reports
Urgency of School Improvement Bonds Contradicted by State Dept of Educations Own Reports
In 2015, officials of the Brea Olinda Unified School District (BOUSD) told state officials all nine of its school facilities were in “exemplary” condition. Six months later, the same district officials told residents the facilities were “deteriorating” – and that the schools would not survive without a $148 million renovation. That disparity – a ratings...
By Andrew Heritage
Teamsters, Researchers Play Hunger Games with UC Contract Talks
Teamsters, Researchers Play Hunger Games with UC Contract Talks
Outside the headquarters of the University of California in Oakland, researchers Peter Dreier and Megan Bomba sat alongside two officials of Teamsters Local 2010. Behind them: signs that read “UC: Pay Workers Enough to LIVE.” The Teamsters Local is negotiating with the university system over clerical and administrative support salaries. Part of the union’s campaign...
By Andrew Heritage
Construction Firms Fund Orange County School Bond Campaigns
Construction Firms Fund Orange County School Bond Campaigns
Companies linked to the school construction industry have placed their November bets on a number of Orange County school bond ballot measures, a California Policy Center investigation of campaign contribution reports collected by the Orange County Registrar of Voters show. Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Rudd & Romo (AALRR) is a law firm with eight offices across...
By Andrew Heritage
Just in Time for Halloween, City Manager Uses Official Letter to Scare Voters
Just in Time for Halloween, City Manager Uses Official Letter to Scare Voters
Faced with the potential repeal of a controversial one-percent local sales tax, Stanton City Manager James Box mailed voters two weeks ago to warn that passage of a sales tax repeal will “terminate funding approved by Stanton voters” and result “in cuts to essential city services.” The timing of Box’s letter, just weeks ahead of...
By Andrew Heritage
District has Paid Consultants Over $400k to Promote Bond
District has Paid Consultants Over $400k to Promote Bond
State law prohibits government officials from using taxpayer dollars in political campaigns. But on June 8, Keith Weaver of Government Financial Strategies stood before the Capistrano Unified school board, coaching trustees on how to pass an $889 bond measure on the November 8 ballot. “November elections do better,” said Weaver, whose Sacramento-based firm has been paid...
By Andrew Heritage
Survey Says! How One City Used a 'Poll' to Raise Taxes
Survey Says! How One City Used a 'Poll' to Raise Taxes
On Halloween 2014, Stanton, California, city manager James Box wrote to the city’s residents. City officials were at the end of a year-long campaign to stampede residents toward acceptance of Measure GG, creating a one-cent city sales tax, the first of its kind in Orange County. They had warned residents that failure to approve the...
By Andrew Heritage