could greatly benefit from a $750,000 increase in the contribution it receives from the city every year under the Master Facility Use Agreement.
The City Council once again postponed approval of the staff’s recommendation to increase the terms of the Master Facility Use Agreement by $750,000, bringing the total to $7.2 million for the 2007-08 school year.
City Council was without a quorum at its Tuesday night meeting for the agenda item. Council members Pam O’Connor, Herb Katz and Bob Holbrook were not in attendance and Councilman Kevin McKeown recused himself from the vote because he is employed by the school district, said Mona Miyasato, the deputy city manager.
There are seven council members, requiring at least four to be present for a quorum.
The item has been rescheduled for the council’s May 24 special budget session. Several council members are expected to air some concerns about the district’s financial accountability and transparency before proceeding with approving the terms of the agreement.
One of the city officials who worked on the original agreement when it was signed in 2005, Bloom said he intends to support the agreement in a few weeks.
Though some City Council members might want to have a conversation with Braham to ask him a few questions, Bloom said he doesn’t want the City Council to be a substitute for the school board.
“The people elect the school board and it has certain chartered responsibilities,” Bloom said. “There is a place where I think we cross a line and become a substitute and become a school board, and I think that is contrary to the (public’s) best interest and contrary to the school district’s best interest.”
Councilman Ken Genser said he believes the city’s funding under the Master Facility Use Agreement is independent of any of the issues at the district from the past few months.
“I think it’s still very important for the city to continue to support education and to do what it can to ensure that adequate resources are provided to educate our kids,” Genser said on Wednesday. “I think the only kind of issue... that would make me hesitant to adopt the agreement would be if there were some financial mismanagement, but I don’t think that’s the case.”
“There may be disagreement about financial management, but I don’t think it’s financial mismanagement,” Genser added.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 10, 2007. Read the original PDF.