Letter to Community From PUSD Board President

Dear Community Member:

Recently a document was distributed in the community that cast numerous inaccurate allegations regarding the Measure TT School Bond program which was approved by voters in November 2008.  The document was filled with incorrect and untrue statements.  It is important for the community to understand the facts in regards to the Pasadena Unified School Districts facilities bond and to clear up unsubstantiated rumors and inaccuracies.  Below are statements in the letter and the actual facts about the statements made.

“So far the PUSD has expended $16 Millions of dollars and no one in the public knows what the money has been spent on.”

FACT:  The Measure TT web site   http://measurett.org/  linked to the home page of the PUSD web site www.pusd.uscontains a tremendous amount of detailed information, including data on the projects, costs, expenditures and future plans.  In addition a Citizens Oversight Committee has been in place since March 2009 chaired by former Pasadena City Council Member Sid Tyler.  The Citizens Oversight Committee received its first Facilities Master Plan quarterly update with detailed information on projects and expenditures, on September 17, 2009, and the Board of Education received a quarterly update on September 22, 2009.  These meetings are public, as are the meetings of the PUSD Board Facilities Committee.

“No one in the public knows if any local or minority service providers, materials suppliers or labor have been hired.”

FACT:  The School Board adopted Resolution 2021 setting goals for local hiring on June 9, 2009.  The district is currently reviewing requests for proposals for a consultant to help run the local hiring program to ensure that the bond funds help stimulate jobs in the local economy.  Construction contracts now being let require local hiring to meet the Board goals.

“The PUSD project manager, in spite of the brilliant talent pool in Southern California was found in Gilroy, of all the stunning and illogical places to find such a person. This person seems to have worked for Edmund(Edwin)  Diaz in the direct past. A reasonable person may infer a “buddy” hire from that.”

FACT:  Steve Brinkman is the only PUSD staff person from Gilroy where Edwin Diaz was Superintendent from 2001 to 2007.  During his tenure, Superintendent Diaz has personally interviewed and hired more than 20 leadership team members.  Other former Gilroy employees who applied were not hired.  Mr. Brinkman brings an extensive background in school facilities management, construction and school finance.  Mr. Brinkman was originally hired as Chief of Staff, but assumed responsibility for the development of the Facilities Master Plan.

“The PUSD Board has adopted resolution 2021 for local hiring. This resolution sets a goal of 25% for local and minority participation from Pasadena, excluding Altadena and Sierra Madre by not including those communities in the resolution.”

FACT:  Resolution 2021 includes the entire Pasadena Unified District which includes the communities of Pasadena, Altadena, Sierra Madre and also parts of unincorporated LA County.

“Twenty Five percent local and minority hires is a very small goal when one considers that the Los Angeles Unified School District is presently achieving over a Fifty percentage rate for local and minority sourcing of material, labor and services.”

FACT:  PUSD intends to meet and exceed our goals.  LA Unified has a population area of over 3 million people just in the city of Los Angeles and has a greater likelihood of hiring highly specialized suppliers in that large population compared to the Pasadena area alone.  However we feel confident that with the addition of a local hiring expert coming on board imminently, we will reach our goals.

“In the Architectural services contracts already let, one contract was let without competition. Of the seven remaining contracts, only one was let to an Architectural firm headquartered in Pasadena, one went to a firm that opened a small understaffed district office in order to pretend to be “local”.”

FACT:  Requests for Proposals were issued for all architectural services.  The firms selected all have extensive public school experience.  Among the seven firms hired, three architectural firms are located in the District.  Flewelling Moody has been in Pasadena for over 50 years.  Another firm, PBWS, is located in Northwest Pasadena and has been operating here since 1995 and a third, GKK Works, established in 1991, has offices on Fair Oaks in Pasadena.

“In the closed door rating of firms, one member of the public has been told that those with existing school contracts got an automatic 60% of points. So at a maximum those who may have just completed a, or several school projects, but had none on the present boards, got a maximum of 40% or an F, no matter how fine or spotless their operations may actually be.”

FACT:  Requests for Proposals were issued for all architectural services.  There was no automatic 60% point allocation.  This allegation is untrue.

“There is a proposal to remodel the Blair campus on a lease/lease back basis. The PUSD has not yet proven it can manage the less exotic closed bid process…. Additionally, these arrangements have double profit built into them, first the profit of doing the actual building and second the profit of leasing the buildings back.”

FACT:  This allegation is untrue.  The lease amount in a Lease/Lease Back process is one dollar.  This type of process is used across California and has been utilized since the 1960s.  Both facilities staff and architects have experience with lease-leaseback processes.

I strongly encourage members of the public to attend meetings of the Board of Education, its Facilities Subcommittee, and Citizens Oversight Committee to obtain the most accurate and up-to-date information on Measure TT implementation.  Additionally, the website is a reliable and frequently updated resource for staying informed about facilities improvement efforts district-wide.  Going forward, I welcome an ongoing, constructive and meaningful community dialogue on bond-related issues.

Sincerely,

Tom Selinske, President