Bond Measure

Re "Secessionists Oppose Bond Measure for Police, Fire," April 9. Because of the confrontational attitude of Jeff Brain and the arrogant attitude of Richard Close and some of their followers, I will do the opposite of everything these upstarts tell people in the San Fernando Valley to do. Believe me, if this Valley secedes, it will take a miracle for it to be successful. DOREEN SOLOMON, Woodland Hills

Recession-weary voters rejected tax increases and bond proposals in many Southern California cities and school districts Tuesday, but a few measures in cash-strapped local governments defied the odds and won approval. School bond measures failed to muster the required 55% approval in such areas as Baker Valley, Claremont, Lynwood and the Mt. San Jacinto Community College District. But school bond measures passed in Anaheim, Big Bear Lake, Centinela Valley, Duarte, El Rancho, Magnolia, Rialto and Wiseburn.

New campaigns have led to new identities for school bond measures in Thousand Oaks and Moorpark that will go before voters for a second time this spring. The Conejo Valley Unified School District's $97-million bond initiative will be listed on the April 14 ballot as Measure V and Moorpark Unified School District's $16.2-million bond will be Measure W. In the November election, where both measures lost by just a few percentage points, they were identified as Measure Q and Measure U, respectively.

UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero might be feeling the euphoria of a reality show contestant picked to receive a free home makeover. The Rose Bowl is set to undergo $152 million in renovations after the Pasadena City Council on Monday approved a bond measure that will provide the bulk of funding for improvements to UCLA's football home over the next three years. "It's a momentous day for all of us," Guerrero said Tuesday during a ceremony to announce the upgrades to the 88-year-old facility.

The Ventura City Council is poised to adopt a resolution Monday night declaring its support for an $81-million school bond measure scheduled to go on the ballot in June. The measure is the outgrowth of an intense five-month effort by city officials, residents and the Ventura Unified School District to prepare a long-range plan to deal with school overcrowding. On Jan. 13, the City Council and the board of education held a joint meeting to adopt that plan.

The Santa Monica Community College District Board of Trustees will hold a public hearing on June 3 to discuss a proposal to put a $29-million bond measure on the November ballot. The measure would fund a number of safety and modernization projects, including expansion of the college library, asbestos removal and improvement of handicap access. The 7 p.m. hearing will be held in the Boardroom, located next to the student cafeteria at 1900 Pico Blvd.

Moorpark Unified School District trustees have approved a $33-million bond measure for the March ballot, saying the money is needed to build a new school, replace temporary classrooms and add computers. This will be the third time the small, nine-school district has sought such funds. In 1998 and 1999, the measure failed to receive the support of the then-required 66% of voters. A new law requires only 55% support.

Legislative negotiators reached tentative agreement Monday night to place a $1.9-billion bond measure for public school construction on the June 2 ballot. The pact, reached by Republicans and Democrats from the Assembly and Senate, is to be voted on today by both houses. Also on the agenda and expected to be approved is a $900-million bond measure for new higher education buildings. Although Gov. Pete Wilson and legislative leaders had hoped to reach agreement on about $6.

Voters in November will be asked to approve a $75-million general obligation bond measure to help repair buildings in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, an action the school board authorized this week. The bonds, which would require approval by two-thirds of the voters, would be used to make the schools structurally safe, to bring each campus up to a state of good repair and to modernize the classrooms. Many of the schools are more than 50 years old.

Compton Unified School District's advisory board of trustees will hold a public hearing today to discuss whether to place a school bond proposal on November's election ballot. "There is no question that our schools desperately need to be upgraded and modernized," said Gorgonio Sanchez Jr., the board's president. "What we need to find out now is whether there is enough community support to get the two-thirds vote needed."

And then there were nine. The water bond known as Proposition 18, which was to be the first of 10 measures on the Nov. 2 ballot, has been put off for two years, leaving voters with slightly less campaign material crowding their mailboxes, fewer words in the ballot pamphlet to read and understand, and one less decision to make. That sounds like a good thing. But it's a telling example of the state's political stalemate. The $11-billion bond measure would have presented the state with an enormous new debt and new annual service payments — at a time when Californians are grappling with the consequences of past spending decisions.

Worried that Californians struggling through the economic slump will reject an $11-billion water bond measure this year, state lawmakers acted Monday to pull the initiative from the November ballot and put it off until the 2012 election. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger requested the postponement of Proposition 18, and he will sign the bill approved late Monday by the state Senate and Assembly, a spokesman said. Some backers of the water plan opposed the delay, saying the need to fix the state's water system is immediate.

After an exhausting political fight to put an $11.1-billion plan for shoring up the state's water supply before voters, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger now wants to yank the measure from the November ballot. The governor is working with legislative leaders to postpone the water bond proposal as its prospects appear increasingly dim. Polls suggest voters may not have the appetite for such borrowing at a time when the state budget is in continuing crisis. And the governor's vow to aggressively fight another measure on the November ballot, one that would roll back the landmark global warming bill he signed in 2006, threatens to distract from the effort to get the water bond passed.

A long-shot parcel tax to offset some of the looming funding cuts in the Los Angeles Unified School District claimed a majority of votes but was falling well short of the required two-thirds majority in early returns Tuesday night. Measure E sought a $100-per-parcel tax to raise $92.5 million annually for four years. Top school officials made a symbolic last stand Monday at Mar Vista Elementary School on the Westside when school board member Steve Zimmer approached parents dropping off children.

Lawmakers want voters to borrow $11 billion next year to keep California supplied with clean water, but more than $1 billion of the money is earmarked for projects that have little or nothing to do with quenching the state's thirst. The bond proposal includes funding for bike paths, museums, visitor centers, tree planting, economic development and the purchase of property from land speculators and oil companies -- all in the districts of lawmakers whose key votes helped it pass the Legislature.

Lawmakers capped months of discussions, weeks of tedious negotiations and years of chasing a water deal with approval of major legislation in a marathon session that ended Wednesday as the sun rose. The package, which includes an $11.1-billion bond that must go before voters, would nudge California in new directions on water policy while giving something to each of the major factions that have warred over the state's supplies. The measure, likely to reach the governor's desk early next week, would establish a statewide program that for the first time would measure if too much water is being pumped from underground aquifers.

Dozens of uniformed officers, city officials, supporters and their families gathered downtown Saturday to celebrate the formal opening of the new -- and still nameless -- Los Angeles Police Department headquarters. City Hall, across the street, was reflected in the new building's windows, while a gigantic American flag was draped over part of the structure's exterior, occasionally moving in the gentle breeze that gave relief to those sitting under the blistering sun. The Los Angeles Police Department Band, taiko drummers and Mexican folk dancers provided a musical backdrop for the occasion.

Our sympathies are with the children. As schools bend to the task of cutting teachers and programs, we wince at the thought of students lost academically in a class of 35 to 40, or unable to sign up for a summer school course, or making do with a shabby, outdated textbook. At the same time, few of us are in the financial position these days to shell out extra cash, and if we do, we want assurances that we're getting value for our money.