For over two hours the trustees and management of the Sonoma Valley Unified School District discussed on Tuesday evening both the loss of the “Measure E” parcel tax and the future of the proposed swim facility at the high school.
Several people, including Sonoma Mayor Stanley Cohen, spoke out about the defeat of Measure E, bemoaning the fact that the “super majority” of supportive Sonoma voters, equal to 57 percent, wasn’t enough for passage – that it takes 67 percent to approve the tax. In appreciation for their hard work on the tax measure, flowers were presented by Superintendent Barbara Young to Laura Zimmerman, head of the campaign, and several others.
A number of people also spoke about the pool project, for which the proponent CommonBond Foundation had hired, with the concurrence of CFO Justin Frese and Sonoma City Manager Mike Fuson, the Sports Management Group, Inc. in Berkeley to conduct a feasibility study for the proposed Sonoma Community Swim Center. While the study itself was praised for its thoroughness, Frese and members of the board were concerned about the high operating costs (over $800,000 annually) and how that might impact the district’s finances, were CommonBond to cease running the facility and responsibility fall to the district itself, as the land owner.
The consensus was that Frese would work with CommonBond to address this and other concerns raised by the board, to return at the board’s meeting in February 2008 with a proposal perhaps ready for approval by the board.
The meeting was carried live on SVTV27, and Young at one point addressed herself to the viewing audience at home to remind them that the $1.5 million that had been earmarked for the pool project were capital funds, available only for building construction and improvement and not available for salaries or books. Such day-to-day expenses can only come from the district’s operating funds.
Board president Nicole Abaté Ducarroz stressed in her remarks closing the meeting that it was important for everyone to keep positive outlooks in the tight financial times ahead for the district, to keep their eyes “on the prize.”
