In the News & Updates Archives
Articles are for informational purposes and may express opinions not necessarily representing CABOC. Links may take you off of this website
Enhancing Proposition 39 Construction Bond Programs with CBOC Expenditure Reviews | Nov. 21, 2023
By Stephan Bacchetti, Moss Adams Partner and
Anton Jungherr, CABOC Co-Founder & Executive Director
Excerpt: … Understanding California Proposition 39, its accountability requirements, and reporting best practices is essential to supporting a successful bond program.
Below (visit link)is an overview of Prop 39 and actionable steps to help citizens bond oversight committee (CBOC) members effectively review construction expenditures and contribute to program success. …
https://www.mossadams.com/articles/2023/11/cboc-school-bond-expenditure-review
edsource.org | May 5, 2023 | By Ali Tadayon
California Supreme Court rules in decade-long legal battle over Fresno middle school construction contract https://edsource.org/updates/california-supreme-court-rules-in-decade-long-legal-battle-over-fresno-middle-school-construction-contract
CABOC Amicus Brief in support of Plaintiff and Davis in
Davis v. Fresno USD
https://www.bondoversight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Amicus_CABOC.pdf
Davis v. Fresno USD
https://www.bondoversight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Davis_v_FresnoUSD_CASupremeCtOpinion_4.27.23.pdf
Davis v. Fresno USD Conclusion
https://www.bondoversight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Davis_v_Fresno_Conclusion2023.pdf
www.ocregister.com | May 3, 2023 | By Dan Walters | Opinion Opinion: California Supreme Court dismantles no-bid school construction contracts https://www.ocregister.com/2023/05/03/california-supreme-court-dismantles-no-bid-school-construction-contracts/amp/
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FatCity Feed.com| April 25, 2023 | By Daniel Garza
Stockton Unified School District Under Investigation For Fraud Following State Audithttps://fatcityfeed.com/news/stockton-unified-school-district-under-investigation-for-fraud-following-state-audit
Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team (FCMAT) Extraordinary Audit February 14, 2023
Stockton USD Final Report
https://www.fcmat.org/PublicationsReports/sjcoe-stockton-usd-final-report.pdf
Pleasanton Weekly | April 13, 2023 | By Christian Trujano
Pleasanton Unified School District Ongoing MakeoverAfter 7 years most Measure I projects are completedhttps://www.bondoversight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/PUSDs_ongoing_makeover.pdf
Chico Enterprise- Record | April 7, 2023 | By Ed booth
Chico Board will Ponder Master Plan for Facilities. Several schools require renovations, but not enough money is available https://www.chicoer.com/2023/04/04/cusd-board-will-ponder-master-plan-for-facilities/
California Globe| April 3, 2023 | By Evan Symon
Election Contests Over Two San Mateo County School Bonds Filed Due To Ballot Label Law Violations https://californiaglobe.com/articles/election-contests-over-two-san-mateo-county-school-bonds-filed-due-to-ballot-label-law-violations/
LA Daily News | March 28, 2023 | By Clara Harter
LAUSD invests $92 million in greener, cleaner, more accessible campuses. https://www.dailynews.com/2023/03/28/lausd-invests-92-million-in-greener-cleaner-more-accessible-campuses/
Marin Independent Journal | March 23, 2023 | By Keri Brenner
Mill Valley school bond tax rate could increasehttps://www.marinij.com/2023/03/23/mill-valley-school-bond-tax-rate-could-increase/
California Policy Center | March 14, 2023 | Sheridan Swanson
Capistrano Unified: A case Study in Opposing Bad Bonds
A practical way for citizens to fight ill-conceived school bond measureshttps://californiapolicycenter.org/capistrano-unified-a-case-study-in-opposing-bad-bonds/
Ojai Valley News | March 13, 2023 | By Kimberly Rivers
Brown Act Violation: District Attorney issues ‘cease and desist’ to OUSD for allegations of violating state lawhttps://www.ojaivalleynews.com/news/district-attorney-issues-cease-and-desist-to-ousd-for-allegations-of-violating-state-law/article_db4a61c6-c200-11ed-8d0b-2fd80174cb23.html
Modesto Bee | March 7, 2023
Modesto School Board Okays Consolidated Oversight of 2018 & 2022 bond Measures. What Does It Mean?https://www.bondoversight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/TheModestoBeeNewsArticle.pdf
SF Examiner | Feb. 23, 2023 | By Allyson Aleksey
San Francisco School District to Propose Largest Bond in City History. San Francisco USD plans to present voters with a $1 billion general obligation bond as soon as Nov., the largest bond in The City’s history. https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/s-f-school-district-to-propose-largest-bond-in-city-history/article_4e8565d6-a7f4-11ed-8399-170d714be3b4.html
EdSource.org | Feb. 22, 2023 | By John Fensterwald
Orange Unified accused of ‘full ambush’ to fire superintendent; did it violate state’s open meeting law? Email showed pre-meeting communication among majority board membershttps://edsource.org/2023/orange-unified-accused-of-full-ambush-to-fire-superintendent-did-it-violate-states-open-meeting-law/685863
Patch.com | Feb. 3, 2023 | By Tom McAllister
3 Temecula Valley USD Board Members Called Out On Brown Act. The possible Brown Act violation by the three board members was raised to the attention of the Riverside County District Attorney’s Officehttps://patch.com/california/temecula/3-temecula-valley-usd-board-members-called-out-brown-act
EdSource.org | Dec. 22, 2022 | By John Fensterwald & Carolyn Jones
California school districts pass $20 billion in construction bonds, but some rural areas say no to higher taxeshttps://edsource.org/2022/california-districts-pass-20-billion-in-construction-bonds-but-some-rural-areas-say-no-to-higher-taxes/683336
Whittier Daily News | Nov. 21, 2022 | By Scott Schwebke
Former Montebello Unified official to pay feds $50K for bond scheme. Securities and Exchange Commission says former business manager misrepresented audithttps://www.whittierdailynews.com/2022/11/21/former-montebello-unified-official-to-pay-feds-50k-for-bond-scheme/
Danville San Ramon | August 31, 2022 | By Nicole Gonzales
Audit finds myriad factors — but none illegal — for Dublin USD bond budget shortfall. School board reviews results for third-party investigation into $183M deficithttps://www.danvillesanramon.com/news/2022/08/31/audit-finds-myriad-factors—-but-none-illegal—-for-dusd-bond-budget-shortfall
SF Chronicle | July 6, 2022 | By Jill Tucker
SF School District Used $525,000 Aimed at Facility Improvement to Pay for Legal Fight Over Controversial School Mural https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/S-F-school-used-525-000-aimed-at-facility-17288708.php
The Frisc | April 8, 2022 |by Alex Lash
Schools Eye a $1 Billion Bond, SF’s Biggest Ever, While Questions Persist About the Last One https://thefrisc.com/schools-eye-a-1-billion-bond-sfs-biggest-ever-while-questions-persist-about-the-last-one-7dbc1ea0b9bf
Desert Sun | Jan. 26, 2022 | By Jonathan Horwitz
Group launches political ad against College of the Desert leaders, asks where is the money?https://www.bondoversight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/DesertSun_1.26.22.pdf
Desert Sun | Nov. 21, 2021 | By Editorial Board
College of the Deserts reign of secrecy needs to endhttps://www.bondoversight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/DesertSun_11.21.21.pdf
Crescent City Times | Nov. 17, 2021 | By Freedom Writer
Update of $25 Million School Bond Citizens Oversight Committee PDF: https://www.bondoversight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/CrescentCityTimes11.17.21.pdf
EdSource | December 29, 2021 | John Fensterwald
Several options, big decisions loom for funding school constructionhttps://www.bondoversight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/EdSource_12.29.21.pdf
The Tax Watchers: 2022 Fairfield-Suisun School District Measure J Bond Oversight Report | By Barbara Pisching
https://www.bondoversight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/FSUSD_2022_Measure_J_Oversight_Report.pdf
San Diego Union-Tribune|Sept. 16, 2021| By Jeff McDonald
SEC charges Sweetwater schools, former CFO with filing false financial reports. District, former CFO agree to settle case involving misleading bond rating agency about district’s financial conditionhttps://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/story/2021-09-16/sec-charges-sweetwater-schools-former-cfo-with-filing-false-financial-reports
U.S. Securities and Exchange CommissionSEC Charges School District and Former Executive with Misleading Investors in Bond Offeringhttps://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2021-178
DUBLIN
Dublin USD Reports at Least $184M Shortfall on School Facility Projects
Feb. 18, 2021 | By Courtney Teague | Feb. 18, 2021
DUBLIN
Why Dublin USD is Struggling to Pay for School Projects
April 12, 2021 | By Courtney Teague | Patch.com
MercuryNews.com | August 16, 2016 | By Joyce Tsai
West Contra Costa USD Whistleblower Files Retaliation Complaint
https://www.mercurynews.com/2016/08/15/west-contra-costa-unified-whistleblower-files-retaliation-complaint
West Contra Costa USD Whistleblower Comments to Little Hoover Commission
lhc.ca.gov/sites/lhc.ca.gov/files/Reports/236/PublicComments/DennisClay.pdf
West Contra Cost USD Forensic Audit
https://www.wccusd.net/audit
California League of Bond Oversight Committees Dissolution (CaLBOC)
California League of Bond Oversight Committees (CaLBOC) on January 15, 2021 filed with the Secretary of State a Nonprofit Certificate of Dissolution. This action was taken by written consent of all nine CaLBOC directors by counterpart signatures between November 8, 2020 and December 3, 2020. The resolution included the following:
- “RESOLVED, that the board has determined it to be the best interests of the Corporation to dissolve at this time.”
- “RESOLVED FURTHER, … approves distribution of the remaining assets to Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Foundation ($1,523.42) … .” (dollar amount added)
Little Hoover Commission Testimony, CaLBOC, and Current CABOC Directors
The Megataxers
An Investigation into the California School Bond Process
and those that are Behind the Scenes Making Millions
FIRST IN A SERIES | July 9, 2021 | By Jonesy Smith and Brian Hews
Excerpt: … The Megataxers are individuals, companies, partnerships, architects, engineers, lawyers, developers, financiers, underwriters, and unions who court local school board members and encourage them to pass massive public school bond resolutions. They professionally frame ballot measures created and designed to secure the votes of residents of their districts to invest, in the name of education, into public spending programs for the capitalization of districts, or so they say. …
The first wave hit the Bassett Unified School District, Measure BB. The wave first rolled in at $50 million; the tax rate statement showed that it churned into $96 million in costs of issuance and interest for BUSD taxpayers.
The second wave soaked the foothills and the communities surrounding Citrus Community College, Measure Y. This wave was nearly three times the size of BUSD’s, clocking in at $298 million, but the swell grew to more than $500 million in costs and interest.
The third wave, modest in comparison, hit Duarte Unified School District, Measure S, at $79 million, which swelled to $147 million.
But that’s nothing compared to Inglewood Unified School District’s Measure I. That wave started at $240 million, but crested at well over $469 Million.
Second to last was Pasadena Unified School District, proffered with Non-Citizen Voting on the agenda, at $516 million, swelling to $798 million.
The end of the set was Whittier Union High School District, a $183 million bond that will cost $406 million.
Governor Gavin Newsom sought $15 Billion for the entire State; this is $13 billion in Los Angeles County alone.
Through a series of investigative stories, we will expose the individuals and firms who contributed funds to get the bonds passed, imposing a staggering $13 billion dollars in property taxes in L.A. County – under the rubric of education, but really to line their own pockets. …
READ MORE: http://www.loscerritosnews.net/2021/07/09/investigation-megataxers-schmooze-school-boards-to-pass-ten-of-billions-in-bonds/
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El Rancho promises changes after state audit finds potential fraud