ALPINE TAXPAYERS TO APPEAL GROSSMONT RULING
East County News Service
Image from the Alpine High School Citizens Committee that has worked for years to get a high school built. Now a judge’s ruling could deprive Alpine of bond money that voters approved for the school.
May 15, 2016 (Alpine) — An attorney representing the Alpine Taxpayers for Bond Accountability has told East County Magazine that his client is prepared to file an appeal if Judge Joel Pressman’s preliminary ruling setting aside a preliminary injunction against the Grossmont Union High School district stands.
“The weight of the world is on our shoulders to get the community what they have fought for so long, what they have paid for and what they deserve,” attorney Craig Sherman told ECM. “We respectfully disagree with the decision.”
At stake is $42 million of Proposition U bond money that Alpine voters believed would be used do to build a high school—a high school also mentioned in a prior bond. A county Grand Jury report titled “Fool Us Once, Fool Us Twice” was highly critical of Grossmont’s handling of the bond money and failure to build the school.
Plaintiffs contend the district spent money on less important projects including some not mentioned in the bond. But Judge Pressman hinged his tentative ruling on bond language which stated funds “may be built” on constructing an Alpine high school, concluding the bond authorized but did not require such construction. He also found that although the threshold for enrollment was met three times, it didn’t count since construction never began.
Sherman says the question really boils down to “what is set forth in the bond measure and …what does the average voter believe it to mean?”
If the judge makes his temporary decision a final ruling, the taxpayer group will seek an expedited appeal, Sherman said, adding that “this does qualify to be expedited under appeal under at least two statutes.”
But even an expedited appeal could take six months or more. Asked what happens to the money in the meantime, Sherman stated, “We are hoping that Grossmont will take the prudent and responsible approach and won’t squander the fund when they know it’s at risk. “If the plaintiffs win on appeal and the district has spent the money, the attorney says, “It’s at their own peril. “ The district could then have to repay the money out of its general fund.
Another twist to this story is that a unification petition is pending before the State Department of Education that could ultimately allow Alpine residents to break off from the Grossmont District and shift into the Alpine Union School District. Taxpayers had hoped the court would mandate Grossmont transfer the $42 million in bond money previously frozen by the court to allow the Alpine district to build the school –an option supported by the Grand Jury’s findings.
“I don’t know if unification is a basis to be expedited,” Sherman said when asked. But he added, “There is relation between unification, funds, and getting the high school built. “
He noted that when the bonds were sold to voters, “one of the primary purposes when both measures were debated was Alpine getting a high school.”
He took issue with Judge Pressman’s contention that the enrollment trigger only counts after construction starts, meaning the district could simply avoiding every meeting that trigger by choosing never to break ground.
“When they control the bids, or so they say, and the starting of building, it begins to become illusory – sort of an unenforceable contract where they can do whatever they want. I believe it makes the whole bond promise, voter legislated bond measure, too discretionary,” Sherman concludes. “It’s unenforceable; it doesn’t mean anything because they control all the cards. It’s not a promise at all.”
Grossmont Superintendent Ralf Swenson, in a statement after Judge Pressman’s ruling earlier this month, called the action “a win for the students, teachers and the taxpayers of East County, as our Governing Board can now resume their efforts to see that the taxpayer’s dollars are put back to work for the benefits of our schools and the students that we serve. All students at all schools in our district should have classrooms and facilities that meet the current educational needs of those students, and that ensure their safety.”
Swenson did not explain how the educational needs of safety of Alpine students would be met without building the new high school, however. Among the concerns of Alpine parents is student safety, since several high school students from Alpine have died in the past commuting up to 37 miles round trip to other district schools. The community has been working for 20 years to get a high school built.