October 17, 2012 
ISSUE 28
Greetings!

  

Sweetwater Union High School District CBOC  
Sweetwater's Ed Brand Seeks to Remove Committee Members
Oct. 12, 2012 | Susan Luzzaro
|www.sandiegoreader.com
EXCERPT: The committee is charged with overseeing the district's expenditure of $644 million in bond money. In September, the bond-oversight committee made public a "no confidence" vote in Brand.
     Brand writes in a October 4 letter to the board of trustees that the motivation for his recommendation is that he has asked the committee members to fill out conflict-of-interest forms and they have not. Brand says filling out the form is part of oversight-committee best practices "as well as to comply with the transparency that we have repeatedly heard from members of the community." ...
     Some of the committee members attribute the creation of this requirement as punitive. Aside from the "no confidence" vote, the committee has been aggressively requesting construction documents, legal counsel, and a more complete audit of Proposition O expenditures.
     According to committee member Kevin O'Neill, the first time Brand mentioned the 700 form was at an August 29 meeting. ..." 
     To read the complete article please visit: 
     To Download PDF of Superintendent Brand's 700 form letter:

Sweetwater CBOC Chair's Report  Performance Audit Scope of Work and Approach
EXCERPT: Agenda Item: Consideration of CBOC position on District refusal in providing requested resources-Initiation of Performance Audit Process. ... Background: ... On August 16, 2012 our Committee approved a letter to the Board of Trustees on a number of issues. This included a recommendation for an independent financial consultant, legal resources, and a select forensic audit. ...
     On September 6, 2012 a letter drafted by the Chair was presented at our Bond Oversight Committee Meeting responding to the funding recommendation from the Superintendent. After the drafting of the letter and prior to the Committee meeting the Chair received a letter from Dr. Brand stating that the funding request was denied. ...
To Download PDF complete Report on the Annual Performance Audit


CBOC Chair's Report to School Board Oct. 15, 2012
EXCERPT: ... With respect to "why another audit. .. have we not done enough of these?", I can point in summary form from the Expanded Performance Audit prepared by Eric Hall dated March 20, 2012. It is stated for instance on page 2 of the Executive Summary: " Inconsistencies were detected in documents regarding the District approval of program manager contracts between the board item and actual contract. The board agenda items and some contracts did not fully detail exact payment obligations for reimbursable amounts and the contracts in one instance did not include the attachment regarding program manager staffing. Given the inconsistencies and the amount of funds involved, a further audit (emphasis added) of the program manager contracts, board approved material, and amendments, authorizations, and invoices is recommended." ...
To Download a PDF of the complete CBOC Chair's report:
School Buildings Slipping Through the Cracks
Imperial County Earthquakes Highlight Unresolved School Risks

Oct. 2, 2012 | By Corey Johnson |  www.CaliforniaWatch.org   

EXCERPT: The swarm of earthquakes that rippled through Imperial County in late August has exposed more fissures in the state's system for identifying and fixing school buildings considered structurally unsound.

     At Brawley Union High School, an Aug. 27 inspection of the school's auditorium by state and district engineers found cracked walls, toppled fixtures and chunks of ceiling plaster littered across floors, seats and the performance stage. The auditorium has yet to reopen. School officials estimate the building could be closed for a full year. ...

     State officials now acknowledge the auditorium should have been red flagged well before the quake.

     Eric Lamoureux, spokesman for the Division of the State Architect, said structural engineers reviewed building plans last month and determined the auditorium was a Category 2 structure - the state's riskiest designation, reserved for buildings "not likely to perform well during an earthquake."

     The state architect's office, which oversees the construction of public schools, reviewed the auditorium's building plans in response to California Watch questions about the safety of the structure and why it was missing from the state's list of school buildings deemed potentially hazardous. ... 

In This Issue
Sweetwater Superintendent Seeks to Remove CBOC Members
Earthquakes Highlight Unsafe Schools
Archived Newsletters

The Next CaLBOC

Board Meeting is

November 9, 2012 

10 am -  3 pm

Sacramento Chamber of Commerce, One Capital Mall, Sacramento, CA

Topics: 2013 Legislation
Conference call service will be available. 

This meeting is open to all 

Join Our Mailing List!
CaLBOC is Soliciting for Suggestions for their
2013 Legislation Program   
Please email proposals to:
by Oct. 31, 2012
CaLBOC has successfully
co-sponsored three bills: 
- Assembly Bill No. 1199,
Chapter 73, July 10, 2012 
- Senate Bill No. 423,
Chapter 237, Sept. 6, 2011
 - Senate Bill No. 1473,
Chapter 294, Sept. 23, 2010 
CaLBOC recruiting Board of Advisors
Nominate someone or nominate yourself. Contact:  [email protected]    
For more info visit:   calboc.com/advise.html  
Join Our Mailing List!
Second Meeting of the
Contra Costa County CaLBOC Chapter  
Nov. 17, 2012 
Mission Statement 

To promote school district accountability by improving the training and resources available to California's Proposition 39 School Bond Oversight Committees and educating the state legislature, local school boards and the public about the oversight and reporting powers these Citizens' Bond Oversight Committees (CBOCs) have, and to advocate on a state level, where appropriate, on issues of common concern to all CBOCs.

Archived CaLBOC Newsletters
To view all links with topic summaries visit:
calboc.org/reviews.html

Most recent on top 
ISSUE 27 - Oct 10, 2012
ISSUE 26 - Oct. 2, 2012
www.CaLBOC.org 
We encourage you to post and comment on our CaLBOC Blog 
California League of Bond Oversight Committees, 510-799-1141, [email protected]