High Stakes Rancor at City/School Committee Threatens ECCL

School Board Members Langner, Vargas Seek to End Committee That Bridges Schools & Community

Ad Hoc Ploy Threatens Center of Community Life 

"You want to embarrass & shame us" said Langner 

News Analysis
As a consequence of deteriorating interpersonal relations, Emeryville’s two elected bodies, the City Council and the School Board voted to convene an ad hoc committee to explore ways to sever the ties that bind them at their regularly scheduled October City/School Committee meeting.  The move to part company, brought in response to pressure built up over three years between the two entities, comes on the heels of what turned out to be a contentious October 5th meeting after School Board members lashed out against the City Council.  A vote was taken to terminate the Committee that failed (7-2 Langner & Vargas voting aye) before the Committee unanimously voted to form the unnamed ad hoc group, presumably in order to placate the insurgents.   School Board member Bailey Langner announced to her colleagues before voting to breakup the committee, “It is my intention to come into this meeting and talk about limiting the scope of the relationship [between the School Board and the City Council]” meaning she was already intending on talking of termination even before the meeting turned sour. 

School Board Member
Bailey Langner
Voted to deep six the committee.
She made it clear, first and foremost
are her feelings.  Accountability
comes somewhere farther down the list.

The mutinous faction, consisting of the two School Board members plus the non-voting administrative staffer Superintendent John Rubio, if ultimately successful in torpedoing the City/Schools Committee, will bring to a close a very remarkable partnership that culminated in the building of the Center of Community Life, Emeryville's epic $200 million  aspirational civic project meant to bridge the community and the schools.  The present function of the committee is to continue running the ECCL to fulfill its promise to the community and the schools for the betterment of both.  

That charge as it turns out is quite unusual given widely applied State constraints mandating the independence of municipalities and school districts.  The City/School Committee was instrumental in getting landmark legislation (AB 1080) written with the help of Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner back in 2009 enabling the building of the ECCL.  The legislation of AB 1080 thread a needle in a field of Sacramento roadblocks to form such a collaborative effort.  

The breakup of this committee now could reverberate across the California political landscape were it to actually happen.

As it is, the unseemly spectacle rising at the Committee earmarks the end of the season of accommodation and comity between the two government elected bodies, a heretofore special and uplifting feather in Emeryville’s cap according to Ms Skinner, now a State Senator.

The bad blood between the two groups was evident at the meeting, Board member Langner complaining she feels disrespected by the City Council members.  At one point after Council members brought up disappointing academic numbers reflecting a failing of the School District (in the purview of the Committee), Ms Langner said her feelings were hurt by the airing of factual information about the District and that she feels “hostility” from the Council, “I do not feel that the City Council is a partner with the School District.  It feels like you want to bring up these topics in an attempt to embarrass and shame us”.  City Council member Ally Medina responded to Ms Langner’s affecting lament, “Your individual feelings are not important.  The children and the residents you were elected to represent are important.”  Ms Langner actually was appointed by the Board to replace a resigning Board member.  She faces the electorate next November.

School Board member Cruz Vargas
He's outraged, OUTRAGED the City Council
is talking about academic achievement at ECCL.
It makes him look bad and he voted to crash
the committee he's so angry about it.

Superintendent Rubio, an authoritarian figure big on secrecy according to teachers at the District and the progenitor of the rancor between the two groups, provided fuel and directed the School Board’s fire at the meeting.   Accusing City Council committee members, he pointed his finger, “I saw the Council members judging the School Board members for their actions” adding he finds unacceptable “the level of disrespect and unprofessionalism [sic] that occurs in our meetings.”  Those comments brought out Council member Christian Patz who said the non-voting staff member Rubio had stepped over the line with his didactic hyperbole, “I take a challenge for you to highlight good members and bad members.”  Mr Patz reminded the administrator,  "It is outside your role.” 

Council member Scott Donahue says the dust ups at the City/School Committee, no matter how rancorous won't likely result in the termination of the committee regardless of the wishes of Ms Langner, Mr Vargas or Mr Rubio.  He told the Tattler the Committee brings accountability and he believes the group will go on, “The City Council is ultimately responsible for protecting the public’s investment in this [ECCL] project.  The City/School Committee represents a necessary collaboration between the City and the School District”.  The Councilman finished, “It is vital to ECCL’s success.” 
 It would appear the School Board (at least two of them plus the Superintendent) will have to figure out how to conduct public policy without making things personal, the first job of any elected official.  In a Rodney King moment speaking to that, Council member John Bauters addressed his colleagues, exclaiming forlornly "It is really important for the City and the schools to find a way to get along."

The City/Schools Committee will meet in January to hash out details of the new ad hoc group they will look to as they consider throwing in the towel on bridging the community and the schools.  The public can look forward to accountability, their interests, taking a holiday at the School District and at City Hall if the towel is indeed thrown in.

Correction:  We originally reported the vote to end the City/School Committee was 8-2 against.  The actual vote was 7-2 against.  School Board member Bryynda Collins did not attend the meeting and therefore didn't vote.  We apologize  for the mistake. 

Emery School Superintendent
John Rubio

He works for the School Board.
Or do they work for him?  It's not clear.
He's supposed to serve a supporting role, 
not a voting member on the Committee.
But he acts like a Committee member.  

School District Lacks Funds to Finish ECCL

Cost Overruns Leave District Exposed:

School District Scrambles to Buy 

Tables & Chairs

Rumblings of Selling More Bonds

News Analysis
Some have warned this date would come....
At its Wednesday August 26^th School Board meeting, the Emery Unified School District wrung its hands with worry about how they would find the money to complete the District/City Hall joint project, the Emeryville Center for 'Community' Life (“ECCL”).

Imaginary Typical Chair
Cost to School District: $335
Nexus Partners fee per chair: $36.85
Nexus to District:
'Imagine a chair.
Thanks....
Now send us $36 because
that's all you have money for.'

With the costs to complete the work on the community swimming pool coming in significantly higher than estimated, Board Members expressed concern over whether they would even have enough money to purchase the furnishings, fixtures, and equipment (“FFE”) needed to make the ECCL usable for students and the community.  “FFE” is defined as “moveable furniture, fixtures or equipment that have no permanent connection to the structure of the building, landscape, or infrastructure.” Current estimates place the total FFE cost at about $2.7 million. Board President John Affeldt suggested that the City's $21 million contribution to the ECCL was inadequate and that instead now maybe, “Everyone [the District & the City] takes care of their own FFE.” and “We are not obligated to pay for the City's' FFE.” Mr Affeldt later elaborated on his view by explaining that the message to the City would be, “Hey, if you want chairs, you know, you guys, just letting you know, you need to figure that out.” 

How did the District end up in this situation?
While it would be convenient for the District to claim that no one could have anticipated cost overruns and to place the blame for this shortfall there, long-time readers of the Tattler may be able to fathom a different explanation.


Where did all the money go? (Partial List)

Amount	Details
$8,717,265*	Nexus Partners (fee based on 11% of total project cost, including FFE) for architectural/design services including “Full Service Community Task Force”
$1,750,000	Lease (and extend lease to) Santa Fe Elementary from Oakland Unified rather than use vacant Ralph Hawley site
$1,733,467	Clean up of toxic waste found in ECCL site soil. (Who could have guessed?)
$1,100,000	Swinerton Builders for construction project oversight after Roy Miller's resignation
$208,800	National Equity Project, Children's Aid Society, MIG, and Partners in School Innovation for “program development”
$20,607	iPads, iPad covers, and iPad software purchased in September 2011 and additional iPad software and iPad imaging cart purchased in June 2012. All iPads purchased have now been stolen, lost, or rendered obsolete.
$17,000	Davis & Associates for a Communications Plan, including a “rapid response team” for responding to the Tattler.
$Who knows?	Potentially questionable bond fees paid to firms that other districts are suing for conflict of interest and breach of fiduciary duties.

*The architectural/design services fees item is included not because the District could have done without this entirely, but because, as the linked Tattler article explains, Nexus Partners were paid $168,650 in February 2013 to conduct a Full Service Community Task Force in which they led a few community meetings that were then abruptly canceled (did we get any refund for the canceled meetings?) and because Nexus sent us a bill for $479,151 in May 2013, simply because the total cost of the project had increased and their fee is percentage-based.  This means the District literally payed Nexus Partners 11% of the estimated cost of FFE that we now cannot afford to actually buy.  This method of invoicing is so fantastic it takes a degree in architecture to understand it.

School Board President John Affeldt
Ooops!  We're out of money...
we'll just hit up the City for more.
 They're our partners in this
& they've got deep pockets.
What are they gunna do?
Turn us down?

Nearly two years ago, on November 24, 2013, after a series of high-profile EUSD staff resignations, the Tattler asked, “Have staff (finally) looked at the financials and realized that there is neither enough money to build the Board's K-12 vision, nor to operate this Taj Majal complex within the realities of our available bond funds and general fund dollars?”
 
The Tattler has consistently ridiculed the District's outsized payouts to consultants and its over-spending when less costly alternatives were available. Were we just being miserly?  No.  It was in anticipation of this day.  The reason for Board of Trustees to spend taxpayer money in fiscally responsible ways is because otherwise you end up here....with a half-built project that we cannot afford to finish or furnish.  The above chart contains places where $2-3 million could easily have been saved and which the Tattler and concerned residents urged the District at the relevant times not to spend.


More Bond Money?
Never fear; in addition to the crisis around these extra costs for the pool and the FFE revealed at Wednesday's School Board meeting, the Board heard a presentation from bond advisor (and top Measure J contributor), Caldwell Flores, about how the District could go out for even more expensive bonds (and pay more fees to Caldwell Flores) in a last-ditch effort to close the District's funding gap.  That's right.  Who will be picking up the tab for this District's spendy ways?  Emeryville taxpayers...you guessed it.  Your bill is in the mail.

Report Finds Soil at Community Center School Site a Toxic Stew

Center of 'Community' Life Site of 
Toxic Waste Dump

Report: $1.7 Million Clean-Up Indicted

A recently released 1,062 page report on the soils at the Emeryville Center of 'Community' Life (ECCL) site reveals that the ground there is highly contaminated with numerous toxins that will need to be removed at a cost estimated as high as $1,733,467 before construction can proceed.  The report and clean-up plans, prepared by BASELINE Environmental Consulting and Millennium Consulting Associates, explains that prior industrial uses at the San Pablo Avenue site, the future home of a new high school, elementary school and community center, include a gas service station, an auto repair shop, a rubber material manufacturing plant, a plastic molding works, a spray painting facility, clothes press and cleaners, an auto wrecking yard and a motor coach facility, and that these prior users of the site have left behind numerous toxic substances in the soil that constitute a health hazard.

Identified toxins in the soil include carcinogens such as metallic lead, arsenic, volatile organic compounds (VOC's), high levels of pesticides and enough flammable methane to pose an "explosion hazard".  A more complete list is included at the bottom of this story.   

Some of the toxic material permeating the site is especially hazardous for young children BASELINE noted, raising the concern about the Emery School District moving the elementary school children to the toxic site after the planned closing of the existing Anna Yates Elementary School on 41st Street, a location that has no record of any industrial uses in it's history.  Records indicate the existing Anna Yates site has had a school on it continuously since 1886, before Emeryville was even incorporated as a town.

The majority of the toxic waste on the ECCL site is centered on the north east corner near 53rd Street and San Pablo Avenue where the most of the previous industrial activity took place, the same location of the future community center and elementary school part of the ECCL project it should be noted.

The District has indicated they will pay to dig up and truck the toxic waste off the site as the report suggests but they haven't yet committed to a specific plan in the BASELINE report.  There is an alternate less costly solution the report notes, that would leave behind large quantities of toxic material entombing it under a plastic "vapor barrier" beneath the school and community center.  

The City of Emeryville it should be noted, set a precedent for leaving toxic waste at development sites in town when the City Council majority selected a similar solution for the 'Transit' Center on Horton Street in January approving a less costly clean-up allowing Wareham Development to save money by leaving behind copious quantities of toxic waste on the site under the proposed building also beneath a vapor barrier.  That solution will require a much more rigorous on-going monitoring regimen than would have been required with a full clean-up.  Also at the ECCL site, if the School District chooses the less costly solution, the District will be on the hook for implementing a monitoring program in perpetuity.  The less costly plan is estimated to cost the District some $1.3 million. 

A School District official told the Tattler anonymously there is money set aside for contingencies that will go towards the toxic soil remediation on the site but he refused to say how much for the record.

Public Comment Period

There is a public comment period on this removal plan currently running until April 20, 2014.  Citizens are urged to contact the School Board or attend a Board meeting to make their views on this matter known.  For those wishing to encourage the Board to pursue the full clean-up alternative recommended in this report, that plan is referred to as "Alternative 3." "Alternative 2" is the less costly solution (at least initially) that would leave toxins on the school and community center site at a savings of some $400,000.

         .                .                .                .

Hazardous Toxins at the ECCL Site

The specific substances found include lead, arsenic, petroleum hydrocarbons, organochlorine pesticides (“OCPs”), volatile organic compounds ("VOCs"), and methane. The report details the potentially harmful health effects of these substances:

Lead
Metallic lead is particularly hazardous for young children. It causes brain damage leading to permanent learning difficulties and loss of cognitive function especially for those of elementary school age.  From the report:
"Lead is a toxic metal and a suspected carcinogen... Lead can impair the nervous system, affecting hearing, vision, and muscle control.  It is toxic to lungs, kidneys, blood, and heart... Exposure in children can cause irreversible learning deficits, mental retardation, weight loss, weakness, anemia, cognitive dysfunction, and delayed neurological and physical development." pp. 35-36.

"Lead was detected in 35 soil samples at concentrations above the DTSC’s action level of 80 mg/kg (DTSC, 2009).  The highest concentration of lead detected on‐Site was 2,700 mg/kg... Therefore, soil on‐Site that contains concentrations of lead above 80 mg/kg poses a potential health risk for Site occupants." p. 41. (That's right. One soil sample contained nearly 34 times as much lead as is allowed by California's Department of Toxic Substances Control ("DTSC").)

Arsenic
"Arsenic is one of the most toxic elements that can be found.  Humans may be exposed to arsenic through food, water, and air.  Exposure may also occur through skin contact with soil or water that contains arsenic.  Exposure to inorganic arsenic can cause various health effects, such as irritation of the stomach and intestines, decreased production of red and white blood cells, skin changes and lung irritation. It is suggested that the uptake of significant amounts of inorganic arsenic can intensify the chances of cancer development, especially the chances of development of skin cancer, lung cancer, liver cancer, and lymphatic cancer. A very high exposure to inorganic arsenic can cause infertility and miscarriages with women, and it can cause skin disturbances, declined resistance to infections, heart disruptions, and brain damage with both men and women. Inorganic arsenic is regulated as a carcinogen." p. 36.

"Arsenic was detected in two soil samples collected... at concentrations above the Site‐specific background level of 15 mg/kg.  Therefore, soil on‐Site that contains arsenic above background levels poses a potential health risk for Site occupants." p. 41.

Pesticides - Dieldrin
"Dieldrin was used extensively as an insecticide on crops such as corn and cotton from the 1950s until 1970. The U.S. Department of Agriculture canceled all uses of dieldrin, as well as aldrin (a structurally similar pesticide) in 1970. In 1972, however, U.S. EPA approved aldrin and dieldrin for killing termites. Use of aldrin and dieldrin to control termites continued until 1987 when the manufacturer voluntarily canceled the registration for use in controlling termites.

People exposed to large amounts of dieldrin experienced convulsions, some had kidney damage, and some died.  Exposure to moderate levels of dieldrin led to headaches, dizziness, irritability, vomiting, or uncontrollable muscle movements. Some sensitive people seemed to have developed an autoimmunity in which dieldrin caused the body to destroy its own blood cells. Results from animal studies showed that dieldrin caused similar effects on the nervous system and on the kidneys to those seen in people. Additional effects on the liver and immune system were also observed in animal studies. More recent data suggest that children may differ from adults in their susceptibility to health effects from dieldrin exposure and may increase children’s risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. The U.S. EPA has classified dieldrin as probable human carcinogen based on sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in animals." p. 36.

Pesticides - Heptachlor Epoxide 
"Heptachlor epoxide is created when a substance called heptachlor is released to the environment and mixes with oxygen.  Between the 1960s and 1970s heptachlor was used to kill termites found in the home and farmers used it to kill insects found on farm crops, especially corn crops.  In the late 1970s, the use of heptachlor was phased out.  By 1988, the commercial sale of heptachlor was banned in the United States.  The use of heptachlor is restricted to controlling fire ants in power transformers.  There is very little information available about the short‐term exposure to high doses of heptachlor epoxide to humans.  But animal studies show that heptachlor epoxide is very toxic to humans and animals.  Animals that were fed high levels of heptachlor during a short period of time experienced tremors and convulsions.  Not much information is available about the health effects on humans from long‐term exposure to heptachlor epoxide.  But animal studies suggest that long‐term exposure can affect the liver. The U.S. EPA has classified heptachlor as probable human carcinogen based on sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in animals." p. 37.

"The total excess lifetime cancer risk from dermal contact and soil ingestion" due to chemicals such as dieldrin an heptachlor epoxide at the ECCL site was determined to be five times the acceptable risk level. p. 47.

Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons ("TPH")
"Total petroleum hydrocarbons is a term used to describe a large family of several hundred chemical compounds that originally come from crude oil... some of the more well‐known constituents of TPH‐mo polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons are naphthalene, benzo(a)pyrene, benzo(a) anthracene, and dibenzo(a,h)anthracene. Some of the TPH compounds can affect the human central nervous system or cause headaches and dizziness at high concentrations in the air. Other TPH compounds can cause effects on the blood, immune system, lungs, skin, and eyes. Animal studies have shown effects on the lungs, central nervous system, liver, and kidney from exposure to TPH compounds. Some TPH compounds have also been shown to affect reproduction and the developing fetus in animals.  Other TPH compounds, such as benzo[a]pyrene, could possibly be carcinogenic to humans." p. 37.

"The health hazards from dermal contact and soil ingestion posed by the" TPH compound levels found on site "indicates that the presence of contamination may pose a significant non‐cancer threat to human health." p. 48.

Volatile Organic Compounds ("VOCs") - Benzene
"Benzene, a volatile organic chemical, is a clear, colorless aromatic liquid.  It is highly flammable... Acute (short‐term) inhalation exposure of humans to benzene may cause drowsiness, dizziness, headaches, as well as eye, skin, and respiratory tract irritation, and, at high levels, unconsciousness.  Chronic (long‐term) inhalation exposure has caused various disorders in the blood, including reduced numbers of red blood cells and aplastic anemia, in occupational settings.  Reproductive effects have been reported for women exposed by inhalation to high levels, and adverse effects on the developing fetus have been observed in animal tests.  Increased incidences of leukemia (cancer of the tissues that form white blood cells) have been observed in humans occupationally exposed to benzene.  The U.S. EPA has classified benzene as known human carcinogen for all routes of exposure." pp. 37-38.

Volatile Organic Compounds ("VOCs") - Vinyl Chloride
"Most vinyl chloride is used to make polyvinyl chloride (“PVC”) plastic and vinyl products... Acute (short‐term) exposure to high levels of vinyl chloride in air has resulted in central nervous system effects (“CNS”), such as dizziness, drowsiness, and headaches in humans.  Chronic (long‐term) exposure to vinyl chloride through inhalation and oral exposure in humans has resulted in liver damage.  Cancer is a major concern from exposure to vinyl chloride via inhalation, as vinyl chloride exposure has been shown to increase the risk of a rare form of liver cancer in humans. EPA has classified vinyl chloride as a human carcinogen." p. 38.

"The total excess lifetime cancer risk from exposure to VOCs in indoor air posed by" chemicals such as benzene and vinyl chloride was determined to be 4.5 times the acceptable risk level. p. 47.

Methane
"Methane is non‐toxic but may represent a health risk from explosion or asphyxiation if allowed to accumulate in enclosed spaces.  Methane is explosive between the LEL of 5 percent by volume and the Upper Explosive Limit (“UEL”) of 15 percent by volume.  If potentially explosive gas levels are detected, an imminent and substantial danger may exist.  If the concentration of methane becomes extremely high, the oxygen content of the air may become oxygen deprived. Asphyxia may result if the oxygen concentration is reduced to below about 16 percent by displacement..." p. 38.

"Elevated methane levels were detected in the subsurface within the northeastern corner of the Site... The lower explosion limit for methane is 53,000 ppmv or 5 percent. The maximum methane concentration detected in the soil gas at the Site was 83,000 ppmv... indicating the methane may represent a health risk." p. 48. (That's right. Methane was found at levels nearly twice as high as is necessary for it to EXPLODE.)

In a Galaxy Not So Far Away...

Councilmember Davis. For years you have served Emeryville taxpayers in the War on Extravagant Government Spending. Now Emeryville residents beg you to help them in their struggle against the Empire. 

I regret that I am unable to convey their request to you in person, but no elected officials return my calls and I'm afraid my mission to talk sense to the School District has failed. I have placed information vital to the survival of the City into the memory systems of this blog.

The citizens of Emeryville know how to read it. But you too must read and embrace the message in this blog: This School District cannot be trusted with 20 million dollars of City money. This is our most desperate hour. Help us, Nora Davis. You're our only hope... Help us, Nora Davis. You're our only hope... 

---

Please email your Council members and attend the September 3, 2013 City Council Meeting tonight and ask the City Council not to give our $20 million dollars to this School District for the ECCL project. The "Joint Occupancy Agreement" between the City and School District will be discussed both tonight and at the September 17th City Council meeting.

Emeryville Can't Have What Berkeley Has

Why Can't We Have What Berkeley Has?

Because We're Emeryville, 

We're Not as Good as Berkeley
Did You Forget?

Opinion

Greenway, Emeryville

At times, as an Emeryville resident, one can find oneself feeling a funny, unfamiliar feeling about one's city. You may have just breezed down the North-South Greenway and had a delightful chat with a neighbor. Or you passed by a piece of public art you've passed a thousand times before, but something new strikes you and you smile. You might stand out at the end of Point Emery and watch the sun set, enjoy a Community Services event at Doyle-Hollis Park, or hold a small get-together and the interesting people in attendance are not just friends from far away, but your neighbors.

This is civic pride. It can sneak up on you.

But don't start patting yourself on the back too quickly. If you start getting such feelings, there are those in town ready to set you right. Chief among them are our City Council members and our School District's Board of Trustees, who want you to remember that Emeryville simply can't have the things that our neighboring cities have. You shouldn't expect so much. We're just a commuter city. We should be satisfied that people from elsewhere are willing to slum it at our regional shopping centers.

The Embarcadero, San Francisco

San Francisco can install highly-visible green bike lanes on their Embarcadero, but Emeryville residents shouldn't get their hopes up. After all, what would CalTrans say if we did something crazy like that? And the repeated insistence of our Bike/Ped committee and our Planning Commission on getting a bike/ped path to break up a super block as part of the Emeryville Center of Community Life project, well that is really just too unreasonable. It's not like that path is in the General Plan or something---er, wait, it is--but still, next thing you know you'll be asking for a path to help get people off of San Pablo as they pass between 45th and 47th streets. That's certainly not possible, even if a private school were to be on the hook to pay for it. Simply impossible.

Harwood Creek - John Muir Elementary

If Emeryville residents got these sorts of things, then the next thing you know they would expect that they could have what Berkeley has. And we know that's not possible. Residents would get the idea that we could have a natural creek running through our school grounds where "children can be found working on art projects, participating in hands-on science experiments, writing in journals, or just playing a fun game of hide and seek."

Now you've completely moved into fantasy land. I mean, it's not like our little City has the power to redirect the path of natural waterways to suit its whimsy. Oh, wait, you mean to say that Temescal Creek already runs right through the Emery Secondary School site? The future site of the Emeryville Center of 'Community' Life? What?! So, we wouldn't have to move heaven and earth? Just bust up a little concrete and maybe try not to cram too many students onto the overcrowded site? Well, there you go again. Now you're thinking that we could have a separate, cute, school dedicated to just our elementary age students. I bet you'd want it tucked away in a residential neighborhood, away from the noxious fumes of San Pablo Avenue traffic, with a playing field, basketball courts, a play structure, and a garden. That's just crazy. Emeryville could never have that. If we did, we'd do whatever it took to shut it down.

Anna Yates Front Gate

Anna Yates Rear Gate

Contract of the Day: Program Development

The Emery School District and the City of Emeryville is entering into many contracts with consultants and builders for the Emeryville Center of 'Community' Life.  The money spent on these contracts is public and the public has a right to know.  Large contracts and small, the ECCL Contract of the Day will highlight what your money is being spent on.

Today's Featured Contract(s):

 $208,800 to National Equity Project, Children's Aid Society, MIG, and Partners in School Innovation 

for program development

approved February 2012.

In January of 2012, the School District's then-Director of Youth & Community Engagement presented a proposed contract in the amount of $194,900 for an "ECCL Program Design/K-12 Incubation Process."  This proposal was met with outright anger from City Council members as they received the information at the January 2012 City Schools Committee meeting.  Councilmember Ruth Atkin, in particular, expressed the view that they had done this work already for years and, from the documents presented, she could see no reason to do such work again.  "Back sliding", she called it.

The proposed contract contained some items only a long-time public consultant could dream up.  First item on their list was a "Listening campaign" to take 15 days, including planning time, and to cost $22,500.  The Tattler might be better known for talking than listening, but at a rate of $1,500/day, even we could be persuaded to simply sit and listen to people talk about the ECCL.

Then there was $38,600 for "Transitional Leadership Team: Development and Capacity Building" and another $40,800 for "Organizational Capacity Building."  It's unclear what all this "capacity building" was supposed to be about, but apparently the District needed $79,400 worth of it.  The Tattler has long had concerns about the capacity of the ECCL site, given all the buildings the District plans to put on the site, but there is reason to doubt that this was the sort of capacity problem the consultants hoped to address.

After a thorough drubbing, the District staff assured the City Schools committee that the message had been heard loud and clear and a revised proposal focused on critically needed services would be presented to them at the February meeting.

It takes a special kind of hubris to do what the District staff did next.  They returned to the February meeting with a group of four contracts for "Program Development" that totaled $208,800--more than the contract amount proposed in January!  These contracts provided for $57,600 to National Equity Project, $72,000 to Children's Aid Society, $32,000 to MIG, and $47,200 to Partners in School Innovation.

The services described and the deliverables in each contract are virtually identical, and each so trivial or devoid of meaning as to leave one uncertain whether a deliverable has ever been delivered.  For example, Page 8 of the Partners in School Innovation contract shows that they are paid roughly $4,000 per day to sit in a room with other people and "collaborate" and "comment as requested" on the design components of the over-arching program.  Each of the contract's deliverables contains "relationship building."  How does one know when a relationship is sufficiently "built" so as to be "delivered"?

Why does the District need to pay someone thousands of dollars so that District and City staff can sit in a room and talk to one another?  Are we so dysfunctional that we should also bring in boxing gloves and a referee?  And isn't the "program" of the ECCL largely to educate students?  Do we not already know how to do that or at least have in-house expertise on how to do so that wouldn't be so costly?

At this February meeting, the School District's Deputy Superintendent, Anakarita Allen, spoke at length to the Committee on the pressing need for these contracts, without ever mentioning to them that she serves on the Board of Trustees of the National Equity Project.

The City School Committee was beaten down by the District's insistence that this was the only way for them to plan for the ECCL and approved the use of joint City and School District funds for these contracts.  Enjoy these ECCL Contracts of the Day!

ECCL Contract of the Day: Solar Power

The Emery School District and the City of Emeryville is entering into many contracts with consultants and builders for the Emeryville Center of 'Community' Life.  The money spent on these contracts is public and the public has a right to know.  Large contracts and small, the ECCL Contract of the Day will highlight what your money is being spent on.

Today's Featured Contract:

 $2,090 to Integral Engineering 

for a solar panel feasibility analysis

approved March 2013.

This contract calls for the consultant to send an email to the School District detailing how many solar panels could be placed on the roofs of up to five buildings on the ECCL site, how much energy would be produced, an estimated cost, and recommendations on how large a system to get and how to mount it.

The Tattler has said publicly that we think the ECCL should have solar panels on its roofs.  However, no one has to pay for estimates, which is what this feasibility study amounts to.  If the District wants to pursue solar panels, and it should, then all it needs to do is issue an Request For Proposal (RFP) and they will suddenly receive multiple emails from expert installers explaining how many solar panels could be placed on the roofs of up to five buildings on the ECCL site, how much energy would be produced, an estimated cost, and recommendations on how large a system to get and how to mount it.

Just as an aside, $2,090 would more than cover the cost of after-school care as part of the City's Recreation program for one needy child for an entire school year.
As another aside, Measure J taxpayer funds may only be spent on needy consultants, not children.

ECCL Contract of the Day

Announcing a new feature of the Tattler: the ECCL Contract of the Day.  The Emery School District and the City of Emeryville is entering into many contracts with consultants and builders for the Emeryville Center of 'Community' Life.  The money spent on these contracts is public and the public has a right to know.  Large contracts and small, the ECCL Contract of the Day will highlight what your money is being spent on.

Today's Featured Contract:

 $6.5 Million to Nexus Partners 

for design services

approved April 2012.

We'll start the new feature with a big one, the $6.5 million overall contract for the architects for the ECCL design process, Nexus Partners. Nexus Partners is an architectural/design team comprised of the firms MKThink, dsk, and Concordia. This contract includes 11% mark up for 'fixtures, furniture and equipment', meaning the architects will get money from the School District for every desk and chair and other equipment the District buys.

The early ECCL design phase was covered by an agreement made in January 2010 between the City, the former Redevelopment Agency, and the District called MOU #1. That agreement called for Nexus and other consultants to be paid $615,000 for architectural services for their work on the project during 2010 and 2011.

Under a subsequent contract, approved in April 2012 as part of MOU #2, Nexus will be paid $6,564,798. This 74-page document is notable for several reasons.  First, on pages 3-9 it contains the architects "Conceptual Opinion of Cost" of the ECCL construction as well as the furnishings, fixtures, and equipment ("FFE").  This figure comes to $58,325,000 and does not include many expected costs, and mostly estimates costs based on expected costs per square foot, but it nonetheless provides the most detailed budget for the ECCL construction yet provided.

Also of note is what the document does not include.  A detailed specification of what individuals will work on the design, at what rates, and for how many hours is not relied upon.  Instead, the $6,564,798 compensation is apparently based on an 11% rate of compensation based off of the "Conceptual Opinion of Cost" of the construction and FFE costs.

Under a percentage-based compensation structure, such as this, one might expect that the arrangement covers every conceivable aspect of the design work.  Not so.  As was the case with earlier agreements with Nexus, numerous change orders have already been approved for additional work outside the defined scope of work, partially summarized here:

Date Approved	Amount	Details
01/19/2010	$448,060	MOU #1 Architectural Services ($615,000 total*)
Sep. 2010	$103,850	Addendum 1
Jan. 2011	$111,376	Addendum 2 (partially replacing amounts in MOU #1)
May 2011	No additional charge	Addendum 3
Aug. 2011	$341,850	Addendum 4
01/09/2012	$174,585	Addendum 5
02/27/2012	$168,700	Addendum 6
04/16/2012	$6,564,798	Overall Design Contract
10/22/2012	$137,495	$48M feasibility study
02/13/2013	$168,650	Full Service Community Task Force
02/13/2013	$18,750	Space utilization update
05/22/2013	$479,151	11% fee for increased project scope
Partial sub-total	$8,717,265	(approximate)

Typical Chair
Cost to School District: $335
Nexus Partners take: $36.85

*Some of this amount from MOU #1 went to other consultants.

The amendment approved by the School District on May 22, 2013 is of particular interest.  Among a few other small changes, the project's scope was increased to have a construction, furnishings, fixtures, and equipment cost of $62,699,375, up from the prior $58,325,000.  So, Nexus sent an additional invoice for approximately 11% of the increase, adding $479,151 to their coffers.

This is a particularly lucrative way of doing business, particularly given that the compensation percentage is based off a total that includes the furnishings, fixtures, and equipment.  Just imagine, whenever our School District buys a chair, a desk, a table, or a bookcase, Nexus collects 11% of the cost of that item.  See page 70 of the overall design contract which explains, "FFE includes moveable furniture, fixtures or equipment that have no permanent connection to the structure of the building, landscape, or infrastructure."

That's what makes this contract, and its amendments, the Tattler's ECCL Contract of the Day!

Thanks to Brian Carver for providing research for the Contract of the Day

Emery's Series D Bonds Slammed by Grand Jury Reports

Grand Jury Calls School Financing 
"Reckless" & "Ticking Time Bomb"

The Voice of San Diego, who broke the story the of California school districts issuing Capital Appreciation Bonds (CAB) for their school construction projects, is now reporting that numerous civil grand juries are issuing reports highly critical of this abusive method of buying now and paying much much later.   Our own Emery Unified School District recently issued such a bond as its "Series D" in which Emeryville tax payers will have to pay back nearly $70 million over 32 years in order to receive $17 million to put towards the construction of a new grammar school building at the Emeryville Center of Community Life (ECCL).
Emery is using its Series D CAB to finance the closing of popular Anna Yates Elementary School on 41st Street in order to move the children over to the Center of 'Community' Life site on San Pablo Avenue.  A Kindergarten through 6th grade building will be built on the site at a cost of approximately $17 million ($70 million including financing) School District officials have said.
The whole schools portion of the ECCL project is slated to cost in excess of $150 million, not including the City's $21 million portion and interest on that.

Emeryville's Anna Yates Elementary School
Photo shows an addition completed as part of a
 $9 million remodel a few years ago.  This will be 
replaced with a new $70 million building at the 
Center of 'Community' Life site.

As the Voice of San Diego reports, the San Diego County Grand Jury, the Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury, and now the San Mateo Grand Jury have all issued reports that slam these balloon-payment bonds. San Mateo's report called Capital Appreciation Bonds, "reckless" and a "ticking time bomb." A spokesman for Bill Lockyer reiterated his position that using Capital Appreciation Bonds (CABs) "has been a big mistake that has hurt taxpayers." The recent San Mateo Grand Jury report was particularly harsh, calling CABs, "Too-Good-to-be-True Bonds" noting that the "taxpayers who approve these loans are presenting the tab to their children and grandchildren." Legislation to curtail CAB borrowing is currently under consideration in Sacramento.

The Voice of San Diego highlighted the story of Southern California's reckless Poway Unified School District bonds, in which that district borrowed $105 million and will have to pay back $1 billion because of the use of a Capital Appreciation Bond (CAB) that delays payments for years while interest accrues, making it the poster child for reckless school district financing.


Tattler readers will recall a recent debate via letters on the pages of the Tattler in which parent and former Bond Oversight Committee Chairman, Brian Carver, called Emery's dive into CAB financing through its Series D bonds "unbelievably bad" and CABs in general "absolutely terrible deals" while School Board Trustee, John Affeldt, defended the Series D bond as "prudent and measured."

It appears that counties across California are weighing in on the practice as well, and their conclusions are highly critical of Emery's choice.

They're both lawyers:  They can't both be right.

Who's telling us the truth?

Consider the source;

the insider or the oversight director.

Former Bond Oversight Chairman 
Brian Carver
 "This 'Series D' Capital Appreciation Bond
is a terrible deal for Emeryville taxpayers".

School Board Member 
John Affeldt
"This 'Series D' Capital Appreciation Bond
is a good deal for Emeryville Taxpayers."

Revenues to Offset Expenses at Center of 'Community' Life?

Seeing Both Sides of School District's Math

Opinion
Conscious of righteous indignation rising from the July 2nd City Council meeting when shocked Council members learned of staff estimates that the Emeryville Center of 'Community' Life (ECCL) would dramatically increase operating expenses, the Emery School District is busy reminding everyone the project will increase revenue, offsetting these rising expenses. Tattler readers will remember it was revealed at that July meeting the ECCL will cause a 400% increase in the operating expenses at the City's Recreation Center, a 100% increase in the City's overall maintenance expenses, and would put the City's General Fund at risk in an $11 Million gamble.  That's a big increase but the School District says it will be ameliorated by at least $100,000 in increased annual revenue generated by the project.

How does the District believe that the ECCL will earn revenue?

Passé:
Who wants a beach or a Napa Valley
wedding these days?

Obviously, from all the rental income they will receive when the ECCL is used for weddings and wedding receptions.

That's right, the District's budget asks us to assume that rentals of the Community Multi-Purpose Room will earn the City $50,000 per year, mentioning weddings as an example on page 18 of the Staff Report.
But the money provided by weddings is not gravy, it's not simply some sideline mad money mentioned to help keep the naysayers of the project at bay;  no, this is real money the School District and the City is counting on to help balance the books.

The School District would have us believe they're onto something.  Emeryville residents may be unaware that destination beach weddings and the like are out, passé even in this modern age.  Instead, the modern bride and groom are increasingly seeking out the ease and convenience of a wedding with close proximity to a school cafeteria.  Wedding guests can choose from last Thursday's beef burritos or Wednesday's veggie lasagna.

We urge couples even considering nuptials to contact City Staff to make their reservations now. The ECCL may not be built yet, but the chance to reserve the artificial turf fields for your dream wedding is not something you want to take a chance on missing, so reserve your date now.

For a lifetime of memories on 
your special day,
how about tying the knot here?

But the revenues don't stop there!  Money will be flowing in from all quarters we're told, helping to offset the 400% increase in operating expenses.  For instance the District also assumes that third party service providers will be lining up to sign a long-term lease of the newly-built library, adding another $20,000 per year in ECCL revenue.  The District says it's easy to see why so many entrepreneurs would be clamoring for such an opportunity.  Just look at a library's compelling business model: a library faces significant product acquisition costs (paying for books and other materials), has significant staffing costs (librarians), and then it loans out all of its product to the public for free.  But like a drug pusher on the corner, there's a catch to that freebie: overdue fines.  People frequently forget to return library books on time and daily fines can rack up at rates up to 10 cents per day!  Go out of town for a long weekend and forget to return your book?  You could be looking at a 40 cent fine when you get back.  If you have money to invest for your retirement, you should look into these third-party providers that pay to rent and operate libraries.  The numbers crunching green eye-shade folks at the School District tell us it's a no-brainer.  (Disclaimer: The Tattler is not a licensed financial advice provider, we're only the messenger here.)

When you add in the $30,000 per year that a third-party is going to pay to lease the project's proposed Wellness Center, the District has found a total of $100,000 in annual ECCL revenues.  This is the promise of the Center of 'Community' Life realized for all to see.  Just because the efficiencies and economies of scale the District promised didn't materialize is no reason to start doubting the School District's math.  You've got to look at the expenses column to be sure, but also don't neglect to look at the revenue column they remind us.  Only then does one get a clear picture of the 'genius' of the Emery School District's vision.

School District Peddles Overly Sunny Depictions of Community Center to Media

This is What a PR 'Puff' Piece Looks Like

In a recent article in a spin-off site of the popular on-line business magazine Fast Company called Co.EXIST, a seasoned reporter got buffaloed by the consultants designing the Emeryville Center of Community Life (ECCL) and reported a number of fawning but out-dated and inaccurate points about the ECCL design.  In the story entitled, "This Is What It Looks Like When a School Becomes A Community Hub" readers are gushingly told that the design will include "a 'faux creek,' space for gardens and bikes, solar panels, rooftop access, and a 24/7 public bikeway." Well, as it turns out, one out of five isn't bad.

Or maybe it is bad...

This is what it looks like when facts aren't checked.

Those paying closer attention to the ECCL project or engaged in what is known as "fact-checking" would know that the "faux creek" called for in our City's General Plan along the 53rd Street Greenway was just too darn expensive to include in the plans submitted to, and shot down by, the Planning Commission on July 25th.

At that Planning Commission meeting we were told that solar panels were under serious discussion, but still not a definite part of the ECCL plan.

Rooftop access is, so far as the Tattler knows, only planned in the 30-year distant "Phase 2" that most Emeryville residents will never live to see.

And that '24/7' public bikeway... well, from your lips to School District Architect Roy Miller's ears. Let's certainly hope so, but the District has been fighting tooth and nail to avoid building the bike/ped path called for in our General Plan for months now.

One also has to love the quotes provided by 'MKThunk', particularly the last praising the "programs" at the ECCL site, programs that have not yet been developed and that the public has asked the School District to prioritize over the mere buildings for some time now.

This is what it looks like when reporters
print what the government wants them to.

Planning Commission Throws Back Center of 'Community' Life

Planning Commission: Major Problems 

With School District Plan

Planning Commission shocks School District with numerous criticisms of Center of 'Community' Life.

At Thursday evening's nearly four-and-one-half-hour-long Planning Commission meeting, the Planning Commission did not approve the joint City-School District's Emeryville Center of 'Community' Life (ECCL) application.  Each of the five non-recused Planning Commissioners in attendance expressed various concerns, some reaching existential proportions, about the current design of the ECCL project forcing the applicants to return next month with an improved design.
After the School District's architect Mark Seiberlich told the Commissioners the bike/pedestrian path associated with the project along the western border "never rose to a level of priority", the Commissioners were near unanimous in their disapproval of the District's lack of deference for Emeryville's General Plan.  Specifically and especially, the project's abandonment of both the proposed bike/pedestrian path and the proposed 53rd Street Greenway along the northern border were pilloried by the majority of Commissioners. The inadequate 'community commons' part of the project was also singled out for scorn.

City Staff, confident that Thursday night would be a rubber-stamp approval,  had only prepared a resolution approving the project and so at one point in the meeting when a majority of the Commissioners seemed willing to simply deny the application, they were unable to do so as no resolution rejecting the application had even been prepared.


There were two major actions before the Planning Commission regarding the ECCL Thursday evening. First, as the City Staff Report explained, as a Responsible Agency under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Planning Commission was to reach its own conclusions regarding the project's compliance with CEQA based on their own independent judgment and analysis.

 Commissioner John Scheuerman
The lack of space at the
ECCL project is "troubling"

Second, the Commission was to consider granting various permits needed for the project to move forward, such as a tree removal permit, a permit allowing the building heights to exceed 30 feet, a permit allowing fewer on-site parking spaces than the minimum normally required, and a general use permit and design review. Commissioner Kairee Tann mentioned at the outset that the residence she owns is within 500 feet of the project site and so she was recusing herself.

At a previous study session held by the Planning Commission, several Commissioners had expressed concerns that the San Pablo Avenue site was too small to accommodate the proposed wide range of uses by so many students and community members. Planning Director, Charlie Bryant, started the evening off by trying to rein in these sorts of comments by admonishing the Commissioners regarding precisely what was before them, stating that any concern that there "is too much stuff crammed onto the site" is not within the Commission's purview, but then he had to admit that to the extent that any such concerns did affect any of the discretionary permits that were before the Commission, that then such issues were fair game.  The warnings from Mr Bryant didn't stop Commissioner Gail Donaldson from piping up, "This project has undersized facilities...minimal community spaces. Everything is squished together."  Collegue John Scheuerman joined in, "It's troubling" that there's not enough space to follow the General Plan he said.

ECCL Architect Mark Seiberlich:
"The bike/pedestrian path was never ignored
[during the design phase] but
it never rose to a level of priority".

Commission Unimpressed With District's Environmental Analysis
When it came time to discuss whether the District's environmental study for the contentious project, called the Initial Study Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS /MND) adequately identified environmental impacts and whether its analysis was adequate, Commissioner Gail Donaldson expressed concerns that 53rd Street had numerous traffic safety issues, calling it "a nightmare of conflicts between bicycles, pedestrians, turning cars, and people that are impatient, angry, and backed-up and stacked beyond what the capacity of that intersection is."  Commissioner John Schuermann responded that, "I definitely share that concern... I'm really uncomfortable that it hasn't been addressed and I do see a lot of conflicts." Chair Vanessa Kuemmerle then added, "I also see conflicts.  Especially with the queuing and also left turn lanes... I don't feel like the traffic was adequately addressed in the initial study.  And there are definite bike-pedesrian-vehicle conflicts."

Then one of the District's consultants, paid to produce the Initial Study, rose to respond that, "With regards to the turnaround, just keep in mind, in the mornings with drop-off, folks when they drop their kids off aren't lingering, there'd would be a lot of movement at that point. You let your kid out.  They shut the door.  You move on... This layout would work in addressing drop-off."

This provoked such guffaws from the parents in attendance that Chair Kuemmerle had to ask the

audience to quiet down and only whisper to themselves.  As parents know, drop-off at the existing Anna Yates Elementary School on 41st Street, especially for the youngest children, is rarely as quick and simple as consultants might like to imagine.  Kindergarten parents almost universally go with their children onto the campus, especially during the first months of school, and may stay with their child on campus until the bell rings at 8:27.  Currently the end of Salem Street closest to Anna Yates' 43rd Street entrance fills up with the cars of parents who are walking onto campus with their children.  The 41st Street entrance also sees its parking spots in wide use during drop-off and pick-up.  Yet somehow consultants who seem to know nothing about what the parents in our District actually do assure us that parents dropping off at the ECCL will barely slow down to a complete stop as they shove their children out the doors and speed away.

City Staff Fight Hard for The Project
Chair Kuemmerle also raised the issue of the failure of the proposal to be consistent with the General Plan's call for a bike/ped path along the western edge of the property, since part of the CEQA checklist asks whether  the project would conflict with any applicable land use plan, including the general plan, adopted for the purpose of avoiding or mitigating an environmental effect.

Planning Director, Charlie Bryant, spoke up on behalf of the applicants again, arguing for the view that being inconsistent with the General Plan in this respect does not create an environmental impact, simply because if there is no path there now, then not having one in the future could not negatively impact the environment.  Somehow Mr. Bryant could not fathom that one good reason for including the path in the General Plan, at the site of a Community Center that, if successful, would dramatically increase the number of community members traveling to and from the site, was because failure to do so would have the detrimental environmental impacts created by all those additional car trips to the site, and the greenhouse gases and other harms they would cause.

It was clear that a majority of the Commission wanted to reject the IS/MND as inadequate, so Planning Director, Charlie Bryant, then rallied to the project's rescue, and read from the state CEQA guidelines to say that the Planning Commission's only options were to 1) Take the School District to court 2) be deemed to have waived any objections 3) prepare a subsequent Environmental Impact Report (EIR) if permissible, under another section or 4) Assume the Lead Agency role. Bryant then said he did not know whether the last two options were applicable and said that the Commision's choices were basically either to approve the IS/MND or sue the School District.  The Tattler was unable to determine whether Mr. Bryant was wearing an "S" on his chest and had donned a cape for this performance.

Commission Chair Vanessa Kuemmerle
The 'community commons' area is dark &
foreboding. "It could be called the 
'community canyon'."  Also, "It looks 
like a hamster cage"

Assistant City Attorney, Michael Guina, then jumped in to state that essentially the Commission had to either approve the IS/MND or sue the School District, adding a halo of gravitas to the claim.  It was particularly bewildering for onlookers to watch as the attorney for the City, which was the applicant with the School District for this project, gave legal advice to the Planning Commission who had just made it clear that a majority of them were inclined to adopt an adverse position to the applicants. This conflict of interest never seemed to trouble City Staff and the pressure they applied had its desired result.  Faced with the unappetizing option of having to figure out how a group of volunteer citizens serving on the Planning Commission could sue the School District, the Commission backed down and voted 4-1 to approve the IS/MND.  As the Commissioners voted, one could almost feel the weight of the City's thumb pressing down on them.

Community members had previously provided critical comments on this IS/MND, also found it inadequate.  While it was likely nice for these commenters to learn that a majority of the Planning Commission shared many of their concerns, it was equally distressing to see the will of the Commission thwarted by City Staff.

Commissioners Hold Their Noses During ECCL Design Review
In what followed, the Commissioners explained the remainder of their concerns about the ECCL project, centered around its lack of the Bike/Ped Path on the western edge of the property, the traffic problems on 53rd Street which they felt should have more of the features of the Greenway described in the General Plan, and the "Community Commons" which was intended to serve as the K-5 play area as well as an after-school community space, but which Commissioners felt was, as currently designed, achieving neither function well.

Thwarted by City Staff once more, since Staff had not prepared a resolution denying the permits, and since Staff seemed incapable of drafting a resolution reading "Application denied." on the spot, the Commissioners instead took a two-fold approach.  First, they worked on a list of conditions of approval they would want added to the project, if it were to be approved, and second they decided to continue the discussion at next month's meeting, giving the applicants time to improve the design in the areas mentioned.

The Tattler expects to provide follow-up stories with more details on this remarkable chapter in the apparently unstoppable march of the ECCL project.  Watch where you step.