LB School Board To Hold Special Jan. 25 Meeting Re Budget (Informational, Not Voted Action)

Unmentioned thus far: Meeting follows action by several cities (incl. LB) to stymie Gov. Brown's proposed phase out of Redevelopment to maintain state school funding

(Jan. 21, 2011) -- Just days after announcing an LBUSD management proposal to close Buffum and Burroughs Elementary Schools, and in the wak of actions by a number of City Halls -- including Jan 18 voted actions by the LB City Council -- that effectively stymie Governor Jerry Brown's proposal to maintain state school funding by phasing out Redevelopment, the LBUSD Board of Education has scheduled a special meeting to discuss its forthcoming budget.

An announcement on the LBUSD website says the special School Board meeting will be informational purposes, not for board action, and is scheduled for Jan. 25 at 5 p.m. at LBUSD HQ at 1515 Hughes Way in LB (west of Santa Fe Ave., north of 405 freeway).

The announcement makes no mention of the Redevelopment related actions; on Jan. 18, LBUSD spokesman Chris Eftychiou told LBReport.com that the District would have no comment on the LB City Council's voted actions re LB Redevelopment.

As separately reported by LBReport.com, no representatives of parent, teacher or school related groups spoke at the Jan. 18 LB City Council meeting, called on 24 hours public notice given on the MLK Day, at which Councilmembers voted 9-0 to contractually obligate/encumber roughly $1 billion in Redevelopment "blight fighting" funds to put them out of Sacramento's reach for school funding or other budget balancing items.

Gov. Brown's proposal to phase out of Redevelopment for school funding was opposed by the League of CA Cities (advocacy/lobbying entity representing the interests of City Halls statewide; LB City Hall is a dues paying member) and the CA Redevelopment Association (advocacy/lobbying entity whose membership includes government-run Redevelopment entities and development interests).

LB city officials have said the Council's Jan. 18 actions were proactive, prudent and showed fiduciary responsibility in protecting local tax dollars from a Sacramento grab.

Redevelopment costs state taxpayers money, since it taps state money to backfill local property taxes diverted to pay for Redevelopment-acquired "blighted" properties, which local Redevelopment agencies convey [sometimes at arguably at bargain prices] to developers to create projects that bring jobs and tax revenue.

However Long Beach city management, without dissent from LB's RDA Board, has also tapped Redevelopment money to pay for basic maintenance and public works items [allowing City Hall to say its budget is "balanced" although it no longer pays for normally budgeted maintenance and capital items].

Critics say using Redevelopment to fund basic city services, like street and sidewalk repair, building police and fire stations, doesn't fulfill Redevelopment's stated missions to stop blight, create jobs and revenue. Supporters say Redevelopment is using locally generated tax dollars to provide local projects that City Hall's budget can't.

Yesterday (Jan. 20), Gov. Brown has defended his Redevelopment phase-out proposal, calling education funding a civil rights issue. "We take from redevelopment and we put $1 billion into schools -- that's a good thing," Brown said. SacBee.com coverage, click here.

Ten days earlier, a statement by LBUSD spokesman Eftychiou foresaw the less than positive response to the Governor's budget proposal in providing LBUSD management's response:

When the governor unveiled his proposed budget today [Jan. 10], he said that he aims to protect K-12 education, but he also acknowledged that this goal may be impossible. The reality is that public schools could again face massive cuts, so we’re still planning for the worst. Unfortunately, our school district remains in budget-cutting mode for the foreseeable future.

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