Your Hometown Web Site www.thepress.net
ward Winning News al A pa
YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 12, No. 46
Site for new school dismissed by Samie Hartley Staff Writer
A school might one day be built at the corner of Sellers Avenue and Delta Road, but it won’t be the comprehensive high school that the Liberty Union High School District Board first envisioned five years ago. The LUHSD Board of Trustees voted Oct. 27 to look elsewhere for a place to build its fourth school, and return 38 acres to John and Jerilee Geddes. The site has been at the center of a legal dispute between the board and the Geddeses since April. The family originally agreed to a $3 million price for the 38-acre parcel, but after switching legal representation prior to signing over the land, was informed that the land was worth an estimated $13 million. The Geddeses upped the asking price and filed suit against the district. Narrow country roads and lack of other infrastructure at the site has also been a problem. The school was expected to host about 2,200 students and open in 2012,
Photo by Richard Wisdom
Liberty Union High School District’s preferred site for school five near Discovery Bay could be the next place for a comprehensive school, but district officials will first look at Oakley’s Cypress Corridor to replace Site 4 on Sellers Avenue. but the economic slowdown has chilled growth and the need for a new school is not as imminent. “When we first proposed the site, we got a big reaction from the county and the cities of Brentwood and Oakley because they were concerned about pub-
lic safety and traffic issues,” said LUHSD Superintendednt Jerry Glenn. “As the board reviewed the EIR for finalization in August, it became very clear that Site 4 isn’t the best place for a comprehensive high school like we had originally hoped. Since the site doesn’t
seem like a viable option, there was no point in continuing with the (Geddes) lawsuit.” Frank Spinelli, who lives near the Delta-Sellers intersection, was one of several members of the community who spoke out against Site 4. “I am very pleased with the board’s decision to abandon this site,” he said. “I would like to thank them for making this tough and important decision. I would hope that in the future, the board would be more transparent when selecting sites for our schools and get the public and local city officials involved in the site selection process before a site is purchased.” The district still owns 38 acres at the corner of Sellers Avenue and Delta Road, and although that isn’t enough space on which to build a large school, that doesn’t mean the land will never be used for an educational facility, according to Glenn. The land could be used for a second continuation high school or a satellite school such as Dozier-Lib-
Staff Writer
A report by the Contra Costa County auditor-controller stating that the policies, procedures and accounting of the Keller-Canyon Mitigation Fund (KCMF) are inadequate is drawing fire from county supervisors who say the report is incomplete. “As a result of this examination we determined that there are sufficient deficiencies in following the policies, procedures, accounting and allocation of the process to warrant a closer look,” said County Auditor-Controller Steve Ybarra of the 49-page report released Nov. 5.
Online Now!
The release of the report has drawn sharp criticism from both Piepho and Glover, who contend the report is less than complete. The five-month examination of the fund’s transactions was prompted by complaints by four Discovery Bay residents – Mark Doran, Carol Jackson, Don Flint and William Richardson – who alleged that the KCMF is being used as a personal political slush fund for District V Supervisor Federal Glover, whose office oversees the fund, and District III Supervisor and Discovery Bay resident Mary Piepho. Doran, Jackson, Flint and Richardson all refused to comment
www.thepress.net Your Hometown Web Site
for this story. “I met with them (Doran, Jackson, Flint and Richardson) and requested that they submit in writing their specific allegations and that we would take a look at them and see if it was something we would look into further,” said Ybarra. “I said to myself that hopefully at the end (of the examination) we would find that most of the accusations are unfounded. Unfortunately, I found it to be just opposite.”
Glacial glutes
go to news/WebExtras! A display of daring derrieres takes place on the waters of Bethel Island.
November 12, 2010
This Week LEEDing the way
Brentwood’s civic center project is on the cutting edge of environment-friendly design. Page 3A
Back in business Our local fire protection district recently reopened a rural station. Page 4A
In a league of their own
see Site page 22A
Auditor says fund accounting lax by Ruth Roberts
rs
Na t
pe
ion
The KCMF, which has disbursed $14.3 million over the past decade, was established to help those communities most affected by the location of the Keller Canyon Landfill off of Bailey Road in Pittsburg. In recent years, recipients of the fund have expanded to include special community services districts as Discovery Bay and Knightsen. Throughout the years, KCMF has been used to offset the cost of a variety of community programs and services, including the East County Boys & Girls Club, the Delta Science Center and the First Baptist Church. Ybarra’s report see Auditor page 22A
Super sanitary
go to news/press releases A local sanitation district won a national award for its excellence in procurement.
After the dust settled, the team left standing at the top of the Bay Valley Athletic League hailed from Heritage. Page 1B
Plus: Business .............................20A Calendar ............................ 19B Classifieds ......................... 14B Cop Logs ............................17A Entertainment ................. 10B Health & Beauty ................ 8B Milestones .......................... 9B Opinion ..............................16A Outdoors ...........................19A Sports ................................... 1B
FOR MOVIE TIMES SEE PAGE 5A
Corps lore
go to multimedia/videos Locals gave the 235th birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps a hearty hooah!