NAMING COMMITTEE FOR ALPINE'S NEW HIGH SCHOOL MEETS WED. 5 PM IN ALPINE: MEETING IS OPEN TO PUBLIC

May 18, 2010 (Alpine) -- A committee appointed by the Grossmont Union High School District to come up with naming suggestions for the district's 12th high school will meet Wednesday, May 19 at 5 p.m. at the Alpine Community Center, 1830 Alpine Blvd.  

The District has failed to respond to East County Magazine's written request last week for at least 24 hours notification of the naming committee meeting, as is required by law under the Ralph M. Brown Act.  The GUHSD has drawn criticism from the Union-Tribune for loading up the naming committee with a majority of Republican politicians and party operatives in an apparent effort to push through a proposed Ronald Reagan High School name.

Californians Aware, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advising journalists and citizens on open government laws, has confirmed that a committee appointed by a public board must conduct meetings that are open to the public---and provide the same advance notification required of any public board.

ECM learned of the meeting from a Viejas tribal representative, who forwarded a District notice.  That notice indicates that members of the public will be allowed to speak for two minutes on the naming issue.

Tribal representatives have voiced concerns over the prospect of naming Alpine High School for Reagan, a president whose adminstration decimated Native American programs and once proposed eliminating the Bureau of Indian Affairs.  Reagan also offended Native Americans by referring to Indians as "primitives", as ECM's editor noted in last week's Editor's Blog: http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/node/3306.  Viejas is the largest employer in Alpine; Viejas and Sycuan tribes have also been generous donors to GUHSD and Alpine schools.