By Sarah Dry
Re “$28,000 – Where Did It Go?”
In a letter yesterday, Alan Elmont conveniently takes partial truths and spins a tale of horror that is perfect for the Halloween season. But it just isn’t true.
Here are the facts (you can check these at the District website, http://www.ccusd.org):
1. The entire School Board (including Kathy Paspalis, Laura Chardiet, Karlo Silbiger, Nancy Goldberg and Patricia Siever) unanimously voted to hire the bond consultants.
2. At the first public meeting on the bond, June 4, (“Election Work Study Session”), Mr. Silbiger stated that he would need to understand the potential impact of the bond on Measure EE and understand which projects would be funded by the bond before he could support the bond measure.
It is confusing that, given these facts, Mr. Elmont would single out Mr. Silbiger as responsible for failing to protect Measure EE (which pays for 15 teachers and brings in $1.2 million annually to the District) and for wasting $28,000 on bond consultants.
Further, the $28,000 is not “wasted,” as Mr. Elmont claims. The consultants provided the District with important information and strategies that the District continues to use as they prepare to place a bond measure on a 2014 ballot.
It’s also disturbing that Mr. Elmont suggests that Mr. Silbiger may have squandered matching funds for solar from the state.
In fact, the opposite was true. Mr. Silbiger was the biggest, most consistent supporter for solar during his tenure on the Board. He supported requesting matching funds from the state for solar, the Robert Frost Auditorium and the athletic fields.
However, former District staff opted to request matching funds for athletic fields only (and note that the state never provided these matching funds).
Solar will bring a guaranteed $8.5 million in revenue back to the District’s General Fund without raising any taxes.
Why did Mr. Elmont fail to note this fact?
I agree that past behavior is evidence of future behavior.
Karlo Silbiger consistently has insisted upon transparent and fiscally responsible decisions for our District, even when his questions and positions have been unpopular with District staff and fellow Board members. He has and will continue to champion fiscally responsible decisions for the benefit of all Culver City residents.
Ms. Dry may be contacted at drytetradis@yahoo.com
