Residents Vie for Spots on Oversight Board

When the call went out to serve on a board to supervise the successor agency for redevelopment, seven people connected to Coronado applied. And that's six more applications than some communities received.

Three will be selected by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors at its Tuesday meeting.

In February, , despite the efforts of cities to push back against Gov. Jerry Brown in the courts. 

, plans for successor agencies were put in motion, to ensure city redevelopment debts would be paid down. An oversight board for each of these agencies is being assembled.

Seven applicants may seem like a small number, but compared to the rest of the county it is a ground swell.

“Most agencies had only two or three applicants, said Glecy Magpayo, a senior assistant to the Board of Supervisors. “Some only had one.”  

The names are familiar:

• Pamela Willis, former assistant city manager
• John P. Van Sambeek, Coronado's former director of administrative services
• Jeffrey Felix, Coronado schools superintendent
• Doug Metz, school board trustee
• Businessmen Greg Walker
• Bond dealer L. William Huck 

Randie Allen, the school district's associate superintendent for business and finance, also was in the mix, but her name is likely to be withdrawn because she already has been tapped to serve on the oversight board.

She will join Jean Roesch, a Southwestern College board member, Coronado City Manager Blair King, and former City Manager Mark Ochenduszko. King and Ochenduszko were appointed by Mayor Casey Tanaka.

No one is certain why so many want to serve, though some theories have been advanced. 

“This is a small community and people who live here are more intimately involved,” said Huck, CEO of Common Bond Capital Partners.

Felix agreed. “Coronado redevelopment is unique in California and the residents are anxious about its demise.”

Unlike other redevelopment districts, the Coronado Redevelopment Agency (CDA) was not driven by urban blight, but by community needs.

The schools were the most pressing. The buildings, some dating back to the depression, needed to be replaced, so the city and the district forged an alliance build new schools and provide capital improvements. 

Most of these projects have been completed, but there are still outstanding capital projects totaling $3.7 million, said city spokeswoman Janine Zuniga.

“The city and the district are bound,” Metz said. We are a primary party in the redevelopment agency and we want to make sure that the district’s interests are represented.”

The hospital has a similar history. The agency agreed to purchase hospital land from the Coronado Hospital Foundation over a 15-year term and to provide a matching fund for equipment and capital improvements.   

“The hospital is vital for our quality of life,” said Walker, who is a member of the foundation board.

Whether all obligations are honored is a open question, according to Huck.

“Nobody knows for sure, but bond holders believe the obligations they own will be repaid,” Huck said. “Others will require more scrutiny.”

The uncertainties extend to the oversight board itself.

“The successor agency, which in the case of Coronado is the City Council, has certain responsibilities in meeting the debt obligations. It is up to the oversight board to make sure these are met,” Huck said.

Still, he added: “All of this is brand new and subject to further clarification.”