‘No’ to probe

Hundreds of school districts in California use lease-leaseback to build and repair schools rather than the old hard bid process because:

▪  Lease-leaseback produces a better product for the same or a lower price

▪  More projects are completed on time or even early

▪  Lease-leaseback allows school districts to hire local workers, thus putting tax dollars back into the local economy

Lawsuits to stop lease-leaseback projects have been filed in many California Superior courts, and the school districts, including Fresno Unified School District, have won all of those cases. The 5th District Court of Appeal overturned the ruling of Fresno Superior Court.

After many hours of discussion, FUSD’s board voted 4-1-1-1 to appeal that decision to the California Supreme Court. Voting “yes” were Valerie Davis, Christopher De La Cerda, Cal Johnson and Janet Ryan. Brooke Ashjian voted “no;” Carol Mills abstained and Luis Chavez was absent.

Because it is up to the Supreme Court to provide clarity on lease-leaseback, any investigation would be most unwise while this is open and pending in the courts.

Now let us all get back to the board table and work together for Fresno’s children.

This story was originally published June 29, 2015 at 9:43 AM with the headline "‘No’ to probe."