Districts bond with Prop. 26

Andrew Wainer

Huntington Beach education leaders will be watching the polls closely

Tuesday to see if California voters reduce the time-honored voting

threshold for school repair bonds. The outcome could sharply affect two

local school districts considering bond elections.

Proposition 26, put on the ballot by the California Teachers Assn. and

Silicon Valley businessman Reed Hastings, aims to lower the bar on school

repair bonds from the now-required two-thirds majority to a simple

majority.

“Clearly if Prop. 26 passes, I am sure the community would want to go

again with a bond election,” Huntington Beach Union High School District

Supt. Susan Roper said.

Roper’s district supported a $123-million bond measure in November and

won about 61% of the vote, far more than the simple majority threshold

but short of the two-thirds it needed to pass.

“We already have the foundation in place,” Roper said. “I can’t see why

the community would not want to go for a new election in June if the

proposition passes.”

If it does pass, districts will be required to wait 88 days before they

can put a bond election on the ballot.

Proposition 26 would also affect the Huntington Beach City School

District, which has seriously considered its own bond measure.

“It will have a huge impact whether we go forward on a bond,” Supt. Duane

Dishno said. “If the threshold is lowered, I would consult the board

about considering a bond election.”

The Huntington Beach City School District is debating how to generate the

matching funds needed to capture millions of dollars in state facility

modernization funds. Dishno has often cited a bond as a means of

acquiring the funds.

But the initiative has also earned some opponents.

Huntington Beach High School District trustee Matthew Harper dislikes the

initiative and has campaigned against it.

“It’s a basic fairness issue,” Harper said. “Property owners are a

minority in the general population, so a simple majority should not be

allowed to raise their taxes.”

Harper said changing the voting threshold would make bond elections

uneven.

“If Prop. 26 passes, you will have lifted any chance for people who

oppose bonds,” Harper said.

Harper noted that the requirement for a super majority has been written

into the California Constitution since 1879.

But supporters say the proposition has built-in safeguards.

“The law says that property taxes can only be raised a maximum of 19%,”

Roper said.

The proposition has significant support. The most recent Field Poll

indicates support for the proposition runs at 49%, with 12% undecided.