Little did I know that an innocent call from across the street would lead me down a rabbit hole into the strange world of Measure BB doublespeak. I was drawn into following the BB saga back in June when my neighbors, proud parents of their talented Santa Monica High School (Samohi) junior, asked me to help them get some answers about the return of the softball field. My search for the truth about Samohi’s Construction Phase II has led to a series of board miscalculations, management mistakes and a trail of broken promises.
Now I’m left with many unanswered questions:
1) Why has the BB Facilities Improvement Program Blog, promoted “as a resource for information, updates and photos of construction projects,” remained unchanged for over a year?
2) Isn’t the board concerned that there are no minutes available for the Measure BB Advisory Committee’s first three meetings this year and they haven’t held a meeting in five months?
3) Why hasn’t there been a Measure BB “shortfall” update since the board’s discussion on March fifth that began at 10:30 p.m. and ended at 12:30 a.m. the next day?
4) Don’t the SMMUSD school communities deserve a complete accounting for the Measure BB deficit?
5) How many Brown Act violations occurred during the board’s unprecedented 50 minute discussion on a questionably worded March 5 consent agenda item that should have been designated a major item?
6) Why do Superintendent Sandra Lyon’s March 5, 2015 agenda minutes have no resemblance to the actual video archive of the six-hour meeting?
7) Does the board know that every email sent to them at brd@smmusd.org is also received by Lyon?
8) Why is it taking the board so long to publicly respond to the Nov. 6, 2014 “lessons learned” presentation by their Measure BB consultant Heery International that outlined seven issues and corrective recommendations?
9) At what point does six months of collective silence become a cover up? And, finally, who’s going to tell my neighbor’s daughter she probably won’t ever play on a Samohi softball field?
Jim Jaffe