HBCSD Corruption

Proof of the Lie:

(1) HB City Council meeting minutes of January 11, 1977 (p4).  The Hermosa Beach City Council (Lance Widman, George Schmeltzer, George Barks) authorizes negotiations for the purchase of Pier Avenue School for less than fair market value in January 1977.   Five months later, the Memorandum of Understanding with the negotiated terms of the sale and purchase is approved by HBCSD then sent to the city.  (TL-1977Jan11 CC meeting mins)

(2) The Land Use Committee.  The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) appears to have been a product of several months of negotiations between the school district and the city through the meetings of a Land Use Committee in 1977.  (TL-1975 Land Use Committee info)

(3) The Memorandum of Understanding (PA-MOU) details HBCSD’s requirements for the SALE AND PURCHASE of Pier Avenue School (aka the Community Center) to the City of Hermosa Beach at a reduced price.  It includes four Articles: #1) the description of the property, #2) the price of the sale, #3) the escrow instructions AND #4) the details of the lease provision for classrooms, office and storage space when enrollment exceeded 1,266 students. 

(4) HBCSD School board meeting of June 13, 1977 (p 20).  School board members accept and send The Resolution of Intention to Sell and Prescribing the Terms Thereof, a description of the property AND the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to the City of Hermosa Beach.

1. The MOU, (PA-MOU) Article 4 specifies district use of classrooms, office, and storage space at the Community Center when district enrollment exceeds 1,266 students.

2. The tradeoff for the city agreeing to the leasing provision contained in the MOU was that HBCSD was selling Pier Avenue School to the city for 40% below fair market value.

3. There is no expiration to the district’s use of classrooms, office and storage space at the Community Center, it is based solely on district enrollment above 1,266 students.

NOTE: HBCSD enrollment exceeded 1,266 students from 2010 to 2020 thus triggering the district’s use of the Community Center for students. (TL-1977Jun13 HBCSD meeting mins)

NOTE: From 2010 to 2018 HBCSD campuses were severely overcrowded. HBCSD school board members did not secure use of the Pier Avenue Community Center to immediately relieve overcrowding at district schools. Instead school board members spent approximately $1.4M on short-term classroom "solutions" that did nothing to actually reduce overcrowding on district campuses. The $1.4M spent on temporary overcrowding was essentially "wasted" money since it was not spent to improve a lasting community asset such as the Pier Avenue Community Center or North School campus.

(5) HB City Council meeting minutes of June 14 and 28, 1977.  (TL-1977Jun14 CC Meeting Mins), (TL-1977Jun28 CC meeting mins page 8) The day after receiving The Resolution of Intention to Sell and Prescribing the Terms Thereof, the description of the property to be sold AND the MOU from HBCSD, city council members vote to accept the MOU and proceed to take out an escrow according to the instructions contained in the MOU, Article 3 – thus automatically executing the entire MOU and accepting all its provisions, including Article 4 - district use of classrooms.

(6) The Resolution of Intention to Sell and Prescribing the Terms Thereof is later labeled Exhibit ‘G’ in the Agreement.   Both the description of the property and the MOU are included with Exhibit ‘G’ in the Agreement as the exact negotiated terms of the Resolution.  (PA-Exhibit G Description & MOU)

(7) The Sale and Purchase Agreement Exhibit J: Letter from J.B. Mirassou HB City Attorney dated January 20, 1978.  (PAS Exhibit J Mirassou Jan 1978) The City Attorney confirms the lease agreement for educational purposes contained in the Agreement for the Sale and Purchase of Pier Avenue School.

(8) Article 5 Conditions Precedent to Purchase, item 5.02, page 6 of The Sale and Purchase Agreement.  (PA-25 Article 5 p. 6 conditions to purchase) Article 5.02: “The execution by the parties to all the agreements attached hereto as exhibits.” (Including Exhibit G and the attached MOU)

(9) The City of Hermosa Beach and the School Board hold eight (8) workshops to hash out the final details of the Agreement.  There is no evidence that the lease provisions described in Article 4 of the MOU were rejected during these workshops.  However, Exhibit K which described district future use of the recreational facilities at the Community Center for a 50-year term renewable in three-year increments was agreed to in the final meetings and added as the last exhibit in the Agreement.

(10)  Letter to the Editor from former city council member and signer of the Agreement for the Sale and Purchase of Pier Avenue School: The Beach Reporter, We Get Letters: Week of April 5, 2019, Reopening Pier Ave. School, by George Barks.  (TL-2018Apr5 LTTE George Barks)

“To set the record straight, as a former city council member during

the time of the sale of Pier Avenue School to the City, I can attest

first-hand that when this issue came before the council, we absolutely

guaranteed that the students could return to use the school if needed

in the future.  A simple lease-back option was included within the

contract (the Memorandum of Understanding) between the district

and the city. As I have always said: "Why wouldn't the City Council

allow Hermosa students priority use of Pier Avenue classrooms and

facilities?"”