Even though the next general election still is five months distant from today, the time is nearing when the School District must decide whether to pursue a bond issue.
Last evening, officials sat down with a team of financial consultants at Lin Howe School to give the subject its first thorough public airing.
Obviously, sentiment within the School District leadership favors the notion.
But the final call will be the community’s – first when a consulting firm conducts a telephone survey late this month of 400 likely voters conforming to certain demographics, and later on Election Day, if a bond is pursued.
Unlike the overwhelmingly successful parcel tax that flew over the finish line in the most recent outreach to Culver City residents, a bond election is far more complex, involves a much greater sum and reaches an unknown number of years into the future.
How They Lined up
The School Board, Supt. Dave LaRose and Asst. Supt./Business Mike Reynolds were positioned in a squared horseshoe below the stage in the Lin Howe auditorium, facing a parent audience of about 25, listening to veteran consultants – deeply connected around Los Angeles County – explain the dozens of steps leading to placing a resolution on the ballot.
The 75-word resolution must be on its way to the County Registrar by Aug. 9, nine weeks from Friday. Bond counsel David Casnocha, a tall, narrow, graying 35-year veteran of the field and owner of an almost-handlebar moustache, handed out sample copies of resolutions he has essayed.
The first outward sign of a preliminary, or preparatory, campaign will surface one week from Saturday morning, at 10 o’clock on June 15. About 50 community members will participate in an invitation-only exercise at Lin Howe, designed to gauge the interest level.
Subsequently, the pivotal telephone survey is expected to be conducted during the third week of June.
The most interesting calls to be made during the next two months will be the size of the bond and identity of the targeted projects that it would underwrite.
Three of the four announced School Board candidates – Board President Kathy Paspalis, member Karlo Silbiger, and first-time candidate Steve Levin, brother of former Mayor Sandi Levin – participated in the comprehensive discussion.
No detectable resistance to a bond issue was noted.
