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Hundreds sit in to hear Prop U pitch
By Lori Bledsoe
The Alpine Sun
ALPINE — More than 250 Alpine community
members filled the seats to see the Grossmont Union High School
District Superintendent, Robert Collins who was present at a
town hall meeting, to speak about the upcoming Proposition U
bond issue, held at Alpine Elementary on Wednesday, Oct. 8. Also
in attendance in the panel were GUHSD board of trustees’
members; Priscilla Schreiber and Larry Urdahl, along with Bond
Advisory Commission members Mark Price and Jim Perkins, and
Alpine High School Citizen’s Committee representative Bill
Weaver.
Presentations were delivered about virtues of the bond,
but people in the seats were concerned about the district asking
the Alpine community to support another bond issue that promises
what the last bond could not deliver. Alpine has been on the
receiving end of promises for a high school that has yet to
materialize.
When Proposition H was pitched, the excitement was high
as Alpine believed that they were going to finally get a
community high school. But through stagnation, and inactivity,
construction costs increased and when progress started to
actually take place, the Alpine High School not only got put on
the back burner, it seemed to be crossed off the “to-do” list.
Another sticking point that was addressed was the fact
that there is a typographical error on the ballot statement for
Proposition U. The correct amount for the bond is $27.90 per
$100,000 of estimated value of property, however, in the voter
information pamphlet a printing mistake confuses the math,
stating that bond amount is $279 per $100,000.
Collins, as well as Price, Urdahl and Perkins
emphasized that because of Proposition 39, it is illegal for the
government to charge more than $30 per $100,000 of estimated
value on property taxes. For this reason, the typo is glaringly
wrong. GUHSD is planning on disseminating information regarding
this through mailers. This issue was revisited several times
throughout the evening, but the actual price and its legal
status was reiterated at least three different times.
Priscilla Schreiber addressed the attendees with a
little sorrow in her voice, saying that she had family members
in Alpine and that they were still trying to get a high school
in the area. Schreiber included that everyone knew that
Proposition H was not meant to do everything it said on the
ballot. But Proposition U would complete what Proposition H
could not complete, with the possibility of a high school in
Alpine.
This meeting, though singing the virtues of the
possible new bond issue, took on a different flavor. The panel
acknowledged the possibility that even if Prop U passed, Alpine
may still not get a high school. But they all added that if Prop
U did not pass, Alpine would never get a high school.
Price said that the passage of Prop H was due a great
deal to the people in Alpine, and he wanted to make sure that
GUHSD knew that when promises are made they must be kept, as the
slogan of the Bond Advisory Commission stated.
Perkins began then by explaining that the lack of high
school was not necessarily any one particular party’s fault.
Construction fees increased 35 to 48 percent and there was
nothing anyone could do about this. Also, administration of the
bond funds were not managed well, until the district hired a
project management company.
Price and Perkins both support Proposition U, saying
that the system was in place to finish all of the promises made
in Proposition H, as well as the fact that it is the only way
that construction of a high school in the Alpine/Blossom Valley
area could ever take place. Perkins added that in the process of
upgrading schools, local property values will increase a
guaranteed 5 percent in the next 10 years.
In closing, Bill Weaver further pitched the new bond,
asking all to support the measure when going to the polls. He
reviewed the fight that Alpine has been in, the ups and downs,
and the fact that this new bond is new hope.
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