Lynwood Still Waiting for Results on Measure K

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On Wednesday, the tally of votes on measure K remained at 55.72% in favor and 44.28% against. 

The measure, which would allow the board of the Lynwood Unified School District (LUSD) to issue general obligation bonds, which would not exceed $93 million for the purpose of raising funds for school facilities, needs a 55% approval to go through, but the counting of all the votes is expected to take much longer.

According, to a Los Angeles County Registrar Recorder spokesperson, the official count will be announced on December 4.

If approved, the funds that the LUSD would receive from the sale of these bonds will be used for the specific purpose of improving local school facilities, such as upgrading classrooms, replacing roofs, upgrading athletic facilities, redoing bathrooms, and performing earthquake retrofitting, among others. 

Supporters of the measure, which included all 5 board members of the LUSD, believe that these funds are necessary to address the problem of aging facilities in the district.

Backers of the measure highlight Lincoln Elementary School and Washington Elementary School as examples of places that need facility upgrades.

“We need some major repairs, and right now with all the funding cuts there is no way we can address those needs,” said Jose Luis Solache, clerk of the LUSD board, the evening of the results at a gathering of supporters at Chico’s Pizza Parlor in Lynwood. “This is something we need to address.”

However, opponents of the measure are not convinced by the purported utility of this measure, and fear that its adoption is going to hurt Lynwood residents with higher taxes.

“LUSD's share of standard property tax revenue has zoomed upward. It is almost 7 times more than it was 20 years ago,” wrote Armando Rea, President of the Lynwood Tax Payers Association, in a statement on Smartvoter. “It is growing far faster than population and inflation combined. Yet the district says we need to pay even higher property taxes!”

According to Smartvoter, the most accurate estimate given as the highest annual tax rate required for the funding of the bonds stands at $55.00 for every $100,000 of any taxable property, that is located within the LUSD.

Supporters insist that the tax is not a sunk cost, but an investment.

“The economy is bad, but this for our future,” said Edith Ornelas, 38, president of the Measure K initiative, at the gathering. “This is an investment for our kids.”

The LUSD would not comment on the latest results. They told Patch that they were going to wait until the official numbers were released.

However, Alfonso Morales, president of the LUSD board, did tell Patch prior to the release of the preliminary results on Tuesday, that the measure would be brought back should it lose.

“We have ran it twice before and it is failed, ” said Morales. “But until the day that I am done fighting for these kids, there might be fourth and fifth.”

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