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Big trouble in Eastlake III
Susan quite the contrary, a well run HOA can be a great place to live. Reasonable HOA dues ($85 per month) clean neighborhoods, relatively safe and well maintained neighborhoods, no drama, pretty good schools, central to all services and an HOA board that does their job overseeing the mgmt of the HOA. Sounds pretty good doesn't it??— September 26, 2015 5:47 p.m.
Big trouble in Eastlake III
Susan welcome back! I've been watching this drama unfold from neighboring EL II, and it is certainly a soap opera. A lot of allegations and finger pointing by a few individuals against a few others. Quite interesting that our lil friend McCann pops up in this drama. Why am I not surprised!! He is like that character in Charlie Brown - everywhere he goes there is a dark cloud of dirt and dust swirling around!! Eastlaker is right - McCann has poorly represented our district. He has sided with developers and agreed to more home construction - to the chagrin of some of his own EL III neighbors. That field still sits torn up with no action from him. Another person said they contacted him on poorly planned street repairs in EL and only received a form response from his office. He even held a district meeting to update our community on issues - and he could not even get that right. It was held on a Sunday night at a small cafe tnd was poorly publicized and attended. It will be interesting to see how this soap opera plays out.— September 25, 2015 2:14 p.m.
Sweetwater contractors slapped down
I'm glad that these contractors, who bribed trustees and likely gained these contracts due to those bribes, are having to defend themselves for these actions. My question is, what standing does Corey Briggs and San Diegans for Open Government have? Did Briggs have kids in the district? Is he a taxpayer in the district? Who is the plaintiff? If they prevail, will SD for Open Govt get the proceeds? This money should go back to the school district not to Briggs. Is he using this as a way to make money off the backs of government? If so shame on him. If the money goes back to the district, then he deserves a thank you!!— September 8, 2015 6:34 p.m.
Eastlakers don't eat what the suits serve up
I was not able to attend but my primary concern is the overcrowding of our local schools. Every elementary, middle and high school in Eastlake and surrounding areas is overcrowded. Camarena Elementary just opened a few years ago and they already have portables! The Sweetwater District has no money to build the needed middle and high schools even though they have the land. I have a daughter in middle school and a son in high school. All of their classes have 35-45 students in them. The schools are extremely overcrowded, and adding more housing to what we have now, is being built at Millenia and Otay Ranch will continue to lower the quality of education in our area - one of the primary reasons we moved here! Hopefully our city council will weigh the impacts of more housing in the overall quality and impacts to our area.— May 7, 2015 3:16 p.m.
Next up: Sweetwater's sodbuster supe
Its great to see the new interim Supt has no SUHSD ties. But remember that Jesus Gandera didn't either. Im not implying that Stover will be anywhere near the criminal Gandera was. However, the moral to the story is that our community needs to hold the Trustees accountable, and they in turn need to oversee the Supt. It appears the Trustees are working hard, and they have a lot of skeletons that will be falling out of the closets they will have to deal with. If the IRS finds any criminal acts committed by prior administrators (Gandera, Brand, Russo), my hope is criminal charges will be pursued.— March 16, 2015 6:16 p.m.
Road repair dilemma in Chula Vista
Susan, as usual great reporting on an important issue in our community. As far as mello roos, i find Rick's quick response a bit worrisome. As with mello roos collected by the school districts, at some point the bond is repaid in full, so what happens with the extra money collected in those CFD's? For example, Eastlake I was established in 1989 and Eastlake II in the mid 90's. My question is, where are we in the amount owed v. paid? When I look at my taxes, I notice that 53% of the special assessment (or mello roos) I pay annually go to the City of Chula Vista. I expect most in mello roos paying community pay about the same rate. If, like in the Sweetwater Union High School District, the original bond has been paid and is at over 100%, that money can be used for services and infrastructure, ie - road maintenance. It would be good to know where the CFD's are in in their repayment schedule. I wonder if there has been a recent audit of the mello roos the City collects? I hate to say there is an East / West divide in Chula Vista, but when it comes to paying taxes there is. When you pay a special tax for infrastructure then that money should be used to maintain the infrastructure in those communities that pay it.— March 4, 2015 5:56 p.m.
Only a fence between them
The whole notion of a k-12 charter the way CVLCC is set up is just not making sense. Their k-6 school is near Broadway and K St in Southwest Chula Vista. The middle 7-8 school is on Third Ave in downtown Chula Vista, and the 9-12 high school is in Otay Mesa in the City of San Diego. Not sure if this is empire building by CVLCC, or just taking space where it is available. Either way, i worry about the oversight at this school. Who is on their board, and is this what is best for the families and community of Chula Vista/South San Diego?— February 24, 2015 8:04 p.m.
Only a fence between them
Susan, sometimes I worry that Sweetwater, with its years of controversy, conflict and sometimes illegal activity, is not prepared to keep up with the needs of K-6 students and the education they are receiving in many of the CVESD schools. This is why CVESD is creating these charters - not only to poach students but to give parents a choice other than the SUHSD schools. They see the weakness prior SUHSD administrators and board members have created, and to fill that vacuum they created the charters. I just worry that CVESD is now too full of itself with its successful charters and now thinks they can act without transparency. Matthew Tessiers excuses are weak. They never should have moved so far along without community input and support! Again, this sounds and smells too much like the "Sweetwater Way". Matt and other CVESD administrators need to be careful with this type of secretive process. It wont take much to turn the community against them.— February 22, 2015 4:32 p.m.
Only a fence between them
Not sure why this charter is so selective with its students. Other charters in the district allow neighborhood students to attend. I thought charters were about giving the community choice - apparently this charter in CVESD is not giving the families of Silver Wing a choice. Glad to hear that the 3 trustees are putting a halt to this. Pushing this through the way CVESD has so far looks and smells too much like "The Sweetwater Way" that has caused so much distrust with that district and the community.— February 20, 2015 6:49 p.m.
Land sakes, Sweetwater, get it together
Susan thanks for this link. Sounds like Escondido USD is doing things the right way. Just dont understand why we cant challenge the 7-11 committee that Sweetwater put together. It was a farce how members were appointed, the fact that decisions about surplus properties were already in motion before the committee even met, and that the committee is really just a front for those administrators that have their mind set on movimg forward with these property deals.— February 4, 2015 11:34 a.m.