Dear Editor,
I also am a former employee of the Mexican American Community
Services Agency and worked at El Portal Leadership Academy from the
first day we opened the doors. I also had my retirement monies used
by the administration and only found out about it when Public
Employee Retirement System sent me a letter asking if I wanted to
cash in what I had in retirement since I was no longer working for
a company that had PERS.
Worked at El Portal and had her retirement money used by MACSA
Dear Editor,
I also am a former employee of the Mexican American Community Services Agency and worked at El Portal Leadership Academy from the first day we opened the doors. I also had my retirement monies used by the administration and only found out about it when Public Employee Retirement System sent me a letter asking if I wanted to cash in what I had in retirement since I was no longer working for a company that had PERS.
I found this out after more than a year of employment and MACSA had been religiously taking the money from my paycheck. I had many phone conversations with the accounting department at the Gilroy Unified School District and I had to send my pay stubs to PERS.
I left my position at the school partly because I felt my best interest was not utmost in the minds of the MACSA administrators. I do miss the students and I agree that students who would never had a chance at the high school flourished at EL Portal, but that they took my retirement money and did not let me know is a fact that still bothers me.
Lucy Patereau, school office coordinator,
County Office of Education
Letter writer way off base on school district’s use of bond funds
Dear Editor,
I would like to clarify the status of the Citizen’s Oversight Committee for Measure P. On Nov. 20, 2008, the Gilroy Unified School District Board of Education approved the formation of a Citizen’s Oversight Committee. On Dec. 11, 2008, the Board of Education passed a resolution declaring the election results in accordance with California Education Code Section 15274. This process was conducted in accordance with California Education Code Section:
“15278. (a) If a bond measure authorized pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of Section 1 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution and subdivision (b) of Section 18 of Article XVI of the California Constitution is approved, the governing board of the school district or community college shall establish and appoint members to an independent citizens’ oversight committee, pursuant to Section 15282, within 60 days of the date that the governing board enters the election results on its minutes pursuant to Section 15274…”
State law requires certain persons to be represented on the Citizens’ Oversight Committee. The committee must consist of at least seven members. No employee or official of the district may serve on the committee. The individuals who must be included on the committee are:
-Business representative
-Member of taxpayer organization
-Parent active in Gilroy PTA/home school club
-Senior citizen
-Parent of Gilroy school student
-At-large community member
The district placed an announcement in the local newspaper several times in January and February, sent an announcement to all schools, and posted an announcement on the GUSD web site seeking volunteers for the Citizen’s Oversight Committee for Measure P. Five applications were received before closing the application period on Jan. 23, 2009. Due to insufficient number and types of applicants, the district extended the deadline to Feb. 13, 2009. The district has now received 12 applications meeting the different categories for the seven seats on the Measure P Citizen’s Oversight Committee.
The District has followed Education Code and proceeded in good faith to form a Measure P Citizen’s Oversight Committee. The Board of Education will be appointing the Citizen’s Oversight Committee for Measure P at its regularly scheduled meeting on March 19, 2009. This agenda item was scheduled over two weeks ago.
The allegations raised by Mr. James Brescoll in a letter to the editor dated March 10, 2009 simply are not true. Specifically, Mr. Brescoll alleged “… they’re already spending Measure P money on items never discussed in pre-election campaign materials. ($50 million quickly spent to resolve a “certificates of participation” crisis – an undisclosed amount to help resolve a cash flow problem.)” The district sold $50 million of Measure P Series A Bonds on Feb. 26, 2009.
As clearly articulated during the bond campaign and at recent board meetings, these funds will be used for projects outlined in the Measure P bond language including completing construction of Christopher High School and modernizing and expanding elementary schools. There is no document or action by the Board or staff that directs $50 million of bond dollars to resolve a “certificate of participation” crisis. Further, the district does not have a cash flow problem and thus, facilities funds, bond or otherwise, have not been accessed for this purpose.
Enrique Palacios, deputy superintendent,
Gilroy Unified School District
City and contractor did a great job with sidewalk repair process
Dear Editor,
Last month I took advantage of 80/20 program of the City of Gilroy and repaired the buckled sidewalk in front of my driveway. I was surprised and am glad to report that the project went through the process efficiently and professionally.
Art Signorotti of the city engineering department handled my application quickly and approved the project (including examining the concrete in front of my house). He is the type of public employee that Gilroy should be proud to have.
Once approved J. S. Garcia Construction Company of Gilroy completed the job in four days in between the rains. He removed the tree that caused the problem and finished the job with minimum interruption to us and our neighbor. All debris was removed and all ditches and holes were backfilled with virtually no disturbance to the landscape in front of my house.
In short the whole project exceeded my expectation that involved both the city and a private contractor. I highly recommend my fellow citizens to take advantage of this program before it expires and also consider J. S. Garcia Construction Company to do the job.
K. S. Lai, Gilroy
