Open Letter to CUSD Trustees

Date: February 26, 2018

To: Trustees of the Capistrano Unified School District:

Re: February 28, 2018 CUSD BOT Meeting agenda Item #35 Sale of Surplus Property Paseo de Colinas - Laguna Niguel : DO NOT delegate authority to Clark Hampton, Deputy Superintendent, Business and Support Services, or a designee, to execute the final Purchase and Sale Agreement with the highest bidder for the Paseo de Colinas Property, it is your fiduciary duty as a Trustee to ensure that there is no gifting of public assets and that the disposal of any property is done for the benefit of taxpayers.

Board Agenda at page 965

At the February 28, 2018 CUSD BOT Meeting Agenda Item #35 District Staff:

"recommends the Board approve the highest bid received for the Property obtained at the public auction, or, if applicable, the most advantageous counteroffer received in the event that there are no written or oral bids made at or greater than the purchase price terms and conditions set forth in the Purchase Agreement. Furthermore, Staff recommends the Board delegate authority to Clark Hampton, Deputy Superintendent, Business and Support Services, or a designee, to execute the final Purchase and Sale Agreement with the highest bidder."

As a trustee you have a Fiduciary Duty to represent the Interest of Taxpayers and students in all matters before the Board. Clark Hampton is not qualified to represent the interests of taxpayers in real estate matters. Clark Hampton and Kristen Vital have been negotiators for many land transactions that have resulted in the gifting of public assets to local property developers.

CUSD always "buys high" and "sells low”.

CUSDs' attempt to partner with developers to facilitate the development of school district properties using private/public partnerships, benefit the developers and employees of CUSD, and do so at the expense of taxpayers with no benefit to students.

CUSD has just awarded its 5th consecutive year of across the board compensation increases totaling over $150 million dollars; while at the same time CUSD is denying students access to a basic education.

1) Students continue to be forced to attend school in facilities that have not been fixed or maintained due to a lack of funding. CUSD facilities need $189 million dollars in EMERGENCY REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE that threaten the health and safety of staff and students. see: Facilities Condition Assessment Districtwide Executive Summary Final Report at page 6

2) CUSD class sizes are the largest in the State and in the Nation in grades K-3. see CUEA Tentative Agreement with CUSD at page 15

3) Due to a continued lack of funding CUSD makes curriculum choices that are based on finding new revenues through grants that seek to promote the political agendas of the left (green energy buses - solar projects - comprehensive sexual education) rather than a curriculum that provides all students with opportunity to reach their academic potential in basic course work such as math- english - science- art and music which are required for students to do well on college entrance exams and to compete with peers in California and around the world.

• Students who's parents cannot fundraise for art and music do not receive instruction in art and music that aligns with California Content Standards and Curriculum Frameworks.
• CUSDs GATE program has been decimated.
• CUSD is in the process of potentially eliminating the 2- way language immersion program.
• CUSD forces students to take CCP/Health to graduate so that CUSD can collect social emotional data on students in order to receive payment for student data in the form of grants. Some of the data collected violates HIPPA.
• CUSD staff seeks for force students in all grades to spend valuable instructional time on comprehensive sexual education implemented behind closed doors with the intent to make it difficult for parents to opt their children out so that full sets of social, emotional and sexual data can be collected on students.
• Due to curriculum choices that are "unique" to CUSD, and the continual lack of funding, the academic performance of students across all demographics is declining. CUSD students are no longer able to compete with their peers across the nation for admittance into 4- year selective colleges and universities. The poor curriculum is causing CUSD students to be denied scholarship and merit money when they are accepted.

4) Due to a lack of adequate funding CUSD is now retiring all of our best and brightest teachers so that they can be replaced with new teachers at half the cost.

CUSD students are being denied their constitutional right to a minimum education while this District continues to use district property to generate revenues which are then used to reward employees with their 5th consecutive year of across the board compensation increases totaling over $150 million dollars.

Clark Hampton and Kristen Vital, who have been elected to nothing, should not be granted the power to continue to mis-manage the publics assets as they have been allowed to do in the past for the sole benefit of compensation increases to themselves and District employees while denying students even a minimum education.

The following are a few examples of the mis-management of taxpayer assets- that if managed properly could have resulted in additional revenue streams that could be used for something other than "adult compensation".:

Esencia K-8 School Site

• This sale was done on the Consent Calendar without the purchase price being disclosed on the Agenda.
• Prior to the approval of the purchase, the price listed in all documentation was $21 million ($2.4 million per acre).
• The actual price paid was $33.86 million ($3.4 million per acre).
• The land was valued as if it had 100 entitlements to build homes.
• The result was gifting of $13 million dollars to Rancho Mission Viejo.

Complaint filed with the District Attorney: https://cusdwatch.com/index.php/2-uncategorised/201-march-22-2017-board-meeting-agenda-item-22

Tesoro High School

• Tesoro High School sits on four parcels of land purchased in 1997, which were never consolidated.
• Tesoro High School now has a Toll Road being built at the school district property line without any setback or the required protective barrier (10' high 3,770' long wall), because CUSD did not keep track of Parcel 82. Kristen Vital, in fact stated on the record that CUSD did not own parcel 82.
• It has now been established that CUSD owns Parcel 82.
• In fact all of Tesoro High Schools parcels (4 of them) are contained in the Toll Road Right of Way, and have been encumbered by different entities that are associated with Rancho Mission Viejo. The TCA- Caltrans - have designed the Tesoro extension of the 241 Toll Road the Oso Bridge Gap Closure Project and the Los Patrones Road project so that water drainage flows onto Tesoro High School property under Tesoro High School.

Complaints have been filed with many entities to try and protect the health and safety of Tesoro Staff and students.

San Juan Capistrano - Pacifica San Juan
Property: Pacifica San Juan. (NOT SURPLUS PROPERTY) 7.292 acre property located at the north east corner of Camino Las Ramblas and Avenida California.

• CUSD has the option to purchase this property, but does not currently own the property.
• Clark Hampton pursued re-entitlement of this site to allow for both school and/or residential use, in order to preserve flexibility on how this site is used in the future.
• The District, without any community outreach, explored the feasibility of assigning its rights under the agreement to a third-party developer, who would then purchase the site and develop into residential homes.
• Clark Hampton represented to Trustees that any selection of a third-party developer would involve a public RFP and/or pre-qualification process and that staff would involve City staff from San Juan Capistrano in the course of moving forward with plans for this site.
• Instead, Clark Hampton has spent almost $400,000 in Pacifica San Juan Mello Roos tax money to re-zone this property as residential high density without any out-reach to Pacifica San Juan residents or the City of San Juan, as represented.
• Pacifica San Juan residents have had their Mello Roos tax money mis-used by CUSD and had to fight vigorously against CUSD to prevent the zoning change.
• The City of San Juan listened to its residents and has denied that zoning request on two separate occasions.

Clark Hampton showed utter disregard for taxpayers in the City of San Juan Capistrano and misrepresented the districts conduct in dealing with Pacifica San Juan Residents and the City of San Juan Capistrano to Trustees.

Clark Hampton wasted Mello Roos funds trying to change the zoning on Property that CUSD did not own. Clark Hampton expended large sums of money on consultants and attorneys to do a back room deal that would have harmed the taxpayers in Pacifica San Juan.

Paseo de Colinas - Laguna Niguel California

Like the Pacifica San Juan property, this is a similar arrangement. Clark Hampton is now seeking to sell Paseo de Colinas to a developer to develop high density housing- again without any in-put from the City of Laguna Niguel or adjacent taxpayers.

It should be noted that in 2007 when the City of Laguna Niguel approved a lot split adjustment, CUSD failed to record the deed. This was brought to the districts attention at several meetings, yet the dead is still not recorded and CUSD is now seeking to auction off the property "as is".

It should also be noted that in a presentation to the Board on July 26, 2017 the PUBLIC warned CUSD about the parcel not being split. The Public was ignored.

In addition-

Board Audio at 170.10 (2 hours 50 minutes 10 seconds)

Clark Hampton presented this item to the Board.

In the February 22, 2017 Resolution Board gave direction to Staff to renegotiate the Lease with Alan Cadillac AND to also explore selling the property outright. There have been offers received for the property recently.

Gave background- Property was declared surplus in 2006.

If this is approved Staff will move forward with an RFP to sell the Property outright.

[Clark already has a buyer]

If Clark already has a buyer - why is Mr. Hampton asking to put the property out to bid "as is".

Trustees should not allow Clark Hampton and Kristen Vital to negotiate land deals behind closed doors. They are not elected to represent the Public and in fact waste public assets for the benefit of local property developers.

A complaint has been filed with the District Attorney regarding Paseo de Colinas.

A recent e-mail from the City of Laguna Niguel shows that CUSD never recorded the deed.

Clark Hampton and Kristen Vital are simply not qualified to negotiate land deals with large developers that will result in a benefit to taxpayers there needs to be a licensed broker and/or real estate attorney representing taxpayers within CUSD.

I urge you to vote no on Board Agenda Item #35 at the February 28, 2018 CUSD BOT Meeting. It is your fiduciary duty to protect the publics assets. This is taxpayer land. The site was valued at $6 million dollars in 2007. It should not be gifted to a developer at below market rates.