Bond supporters consider board term limits

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT-MESA -- The notion of creating term limits for school board

members to help improve the public’s faith in the district was

momentarily considered as school supporters thought of ways to

successfully pitch a bond measure to local residents.

The idea was one of several from facilities committee member Scott

Anderson as a means of emphasizing the board’s dedication to educational

accountability -- including its own.

“It was part of a larger effort put forth that the future would not be

business as usual,” Anderson said. “I believe the public is very much

down on the board because of its historic reputation, and [term limits]

gets it right out front on the table that it is not going to be business

as usual.”

The perceived distrust of the district precedes most current board

members, but the public’s memory is long.

Anderson said the suggestion met with two reactions -- one he found

logical; the other he described as an overused argument.

The first reaction was that of school board president Dana Black, who

argued that putting a topic as important as term limits on the same

ballot would confuse the issue.

“If it’s a burning question, then I think we should do it first,” Black

said. “It takes a lot of study and time and I wouldn’t want to marry it.

It warrants its own study session and time.”

Her argument was echoed by several community members who believe the

district needs to deal with one issue at a time.

“Several people felt that it will muddy the issue -- that it should just

be the bond,” said Jill Money, Harbor Council PTA president. “I’d never

thought of it, but I thought it was an intriguing idea.”

Since confusing voters would defeat his purpose, Anderson agreed that

placing both on the ballot may not be the answer.

The second argument was that term limits would result in an inexperienced

board.

“I am not against them, per say, but I think it takes a long time to

understand state funding and such,” Black said.

That argument carried no weight with Anderson.

“It wasn’t meant to throw anyone off immediately,” Anderson said.

“Retirement homes are full of indispensablepeople.”

While city councils in the area all have term limits, none of the school

districts surrounding Newport-Mesa, such as Huntington Beach, Irvine,

Santa Ana and Capistrano Unified, have them.

“The other very real concern is that being the only district in the state

to have [term limits] would be detrimental to the district,” said board

member Judy Franco, who will have served 21 years on the board this

March.

Davis Brooks, vice president of the school board and a newcomer in

comparison to Franco and other members, having come aboard in April 1998,

said there are many reason to have term limits, but trust in the board is

not one of them.

“Current boards inherit whatever the board did before them,” he said.

“Being the newest member, I am lumped in and blamed for what happened in

the late 1980s and early 1990s.”

The sore spots include a multimillion-dollar embezzlement by a school

official and millions more lost in the Orange County bankruptcy.

“If someone wants a position in this district, all they have to do is

run,” Brooks added. “No one has a lock on a position.”

The end result was the postponement of the issue -- not a denial of the

possible need for term limits.

“It is my hope that it would be discussed after the bond issue,” Anderson

said.

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