HBCSD Corruption

The Misinformation and Misleading Information:

(1) Lance Widman, HBCSD School Board member (2002-2009) and former HB City Council member (1975-1981), “And what about the cost of the renovation work necessary to bring a 60-plus year-old facility up to current safety standards?”  Can’t teach old dogs new tricks by Lance Widman, Letters to the Editor 12/22/2005, Easy Reader News.

(2) Greg Breen former HBCSD School Board member (2002-2009): “Prassas correctly states that new construction is expensive, but maybe I missed the part about how cheap it would be to acquire, refurbish and update a 70-year-old facility.” April 20, 2006 – Can’t get the Community Center back by Greg Breen, Letters to the Editor, The Beach Reporter. 

(3) Tom Bakaly, Hermosa Beach City Manager (2012-2016):  “The Center is not appropriately modified for school use as there are no kitchen facilities that could be designated for school use, and the building has not been upgraded to modern standards (such as elevators and other needs)”  Update on proposed expansion of P.A.R.K. after school program. October 8, 2013.

CORRECT INFORMATION: 

1. There are (were) two kitchens at the Community Center.   One kitchen

is located in the Hermosa 5-0 rooms and one of the kitchens is located

next to the gymnasium in the Community Center.  Why couldn’t one of the kitchens could not be “designated” temporarily for school use?

2. The July 2015 Civil Source Facilities Condition Assessment for the

Hermosa Beach Community Center confirmed the existence of the

kitchen next to the gymnasium.  Page two of the Summary of

Findings, first paragraph states:

“The gymnasium and cafeteria building leases space to the

Hermosa Beach Museum and provides a space for the community

emergency Command Center.  The cafeteria is sectioned off and

nonoperational.”

NOTE: It is believed that the gymnasium could also double as an indoor

eating area for students during lunchtime. 

3. As to the statement “the building has not been upgraded to modern

standards (such as elevators and other needs)”, doesn’t it make sense

that the community invest in upgrading the Community Center to

“modern standards”?

4. If the elderly and disabled public are using the Community Center now

and it does not have an elevator, does it actually really NEED an

elevator?

5. How much would it cost to add an elevator to the Community Center

versus spending more than $1 million on temporary housing solutions

at Valley and View schools that did nothing to relieve overcrowding?

6. What exactly are the “other needs” that City Manager Tom Bakaly is

referring to that the Community Center needs in order to be used for

students?   How much would the cost and time to upgrade the

Community Center be compared to building a brand-new campus at

North School?

7. See also CivilSource Facilities Condition Assessment from July 2015

finding that the Community Center would only need a total of $270,558

in repairs over a ten-year period.

(4) George Schmeltzer former City Council member (1974-1978) when Pier Avenue School was sold to the City of Hermosa Beach, and signer on the Agreement for the Sale and Purchase of Pier Avenue School in February 1978: 

"As probably the only person here who heard that same argument

as the population was declining, and we had to get out of that

building [Pier Avenue School/The Community Center] because it was

falling down on the kids.” May 28, 2014 presentation to the Joint

meeting of the HB City Council members and HBCSD School Board

members. Time Stamp: 00:11:01

NOTE: On December 9, 1975, Pier Avenue School appraised at $1,100,000.00. Pier Avenue School was eventually sold to the City of Hermosa Beach at 40% BELOW fair market value.  The appraisal states that Pier Avenue school is a “physically sound” building. 

NOTE: See Correct Information #2 for (3) above:

The July 2015 Civil Source Facilities Condition Assessment for the Hermosa Beach Community Center states that "The gymnasium and cafeteria building leases space to the Hermosa Beach Museum and provides a space for the community emergency Command Center."

If the City of Hermosa Beach is using the Community Center for it's "emergency Command Center" how can the Community Center be unsafe? The Community Center has been deemed the safest building in Hermosa Beach according to the Hermosa Beach Emergency Response Team.

(5) Greg Breen former HBCSD School Board member (2002-2009):

“The building itself would have to undergo substantial

reconstruction.” … …”gut the building (or bulldoze it),…” “Architects

have advised the board that it’d be cheaper to bulldoze the

Community Center than to rehabilitate it.  None of this is new

information.  The district has had this information available for

anyone to review since I was on the board a decade ago.“

Pier into the Past by Greg Breen, Letters to the Editor 07/30/15, Easy Reader News

1. Please see: Email response from HBCSD Superintendent Pat Escalante to community member Miyo Prassas request for information email dated August 4, 2015:

   
   

   “… the district is unable to provide the information that you are requesting [Copy of any documentation from architects that would validate Greg Breen’s statement.].  Mr. Breen need[s] to provide the reference to you.  The content of a letter written to the opinion section of a local newspaper by a resident [former HBCSD School Board member 2001-2008], is in the view of the district, his opinion.” 

   
   

2. The Community Center passed a building conditions assessment by Civil Source and was reported to be in good condition in 2015.  Only $270,558 capital improvements were recommended over the next 10 years. 

   
   

3. The Community Center had a seismic safety evaluation done by John A. Martin & Associates in 2015.  The seismic safety evaluation stated that the gymnasium and classrooms were designed remarkably well.  No seismic upgrades or retrofit are required for classrooms at the Community Center.  The gymnasium at the Community Center was identified as only needing $300k to $500k of seismic retrofits.

   
   

(6) Pat Escalante, HBCSD Superintendent (2012-2020):  [Speaking on North School]

“There’s not a cafeteria, there’s not a library, there’s not a,

um, it’s not set up as a functioning school.”  Please see: Hermosa Beach

City School District Measure S Informational Meeting, May 25, 2016, time

stamp: 01:05:21  http://hermosabeach.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?

view_id=6&clip_id=4167

CORRECT INFORMATION:

1. There IS a working kitchen and cafeteria area at North School.  See photos of North School kitchen and North School floor plan showing the location of the kitchen and cafeteria. Recently, the cafeteria seating area at North School had been separated by partitions for use as a day care by Children’s Journey.  The partitions could easily be removed and the space function again as North Schools cafeteria and multipurpose room.

NOTE: School board members Pattie Ackerman, Mary Campbell, Maggie Bove-LaMonica and Monique Ehsan (former member of the Facilities Planning and Advisory Committee) all stood by as Superintendent Pat Escalante gave misinformation to the community. None of the school board members corrected her statements. 

2. The absence of a formal library should not prevent the district from using North School as is for students or be an excuse to tear down and rebuild a brand-new campus.  View School did not have a dedicated library building either, and it did not necessitate that View School be torn down and rebuilt.  Any room at North School can be set up as a library for children.

3. Renovating North School would have potentially saved taxpayers millions of dollars, saved iconic 1934 and 1939 classroom buildings, saved $$s on an expensive and lengthy Environmental Impact Report, saved a year of construction, and saved from adding to landfills and creating additional pollution

(7) Pat Escalante*, HBCSD Superintendent (2012-2020):  [Speaking on North School]

“And so, um, you cannot put students back into that school.  Um, pub… [Public school students]”

Mary Campbell, School Board member and President: (2014-2018)

“Public school students.  You can put children there in a private, private business.”

Please see: Hermosa Beach City School District Measure S Informational Meeting, May 25, 2016, time stamp: 01:05:50  http://hermosabeach.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=6&clip_id=4167    

These are incorrect statements made by Superintendent Pat Escalante and confirmed by School Board president Mary Campbell.

CORRECT INFORMATION:

1. North School was grandfathered-in as a public school.

2. It has always been used as a school even if it is leased out to a private business.  Therefore, North School is still CDE code compliant and can indeed be used as-is for students.

3. Both Hermosa View School AND Robinson School in Manhattan Beach were leased out to private school organizations before they were renovated in early 1990 and early 2000s, respectively, for students.

NOTE: School board members Patti Ackerman, Maggie Bove-LaMonica and Monique Ehsan (former member of the Facilities Planning and Advisory Committee) all stood by as Superintendent Pat Escalante gave misinformation to the community.  None of the school board members corrected her statements.   Had school board members even verified the district’s facility facts before they put a $59 million dollar bond on the ballot in June 2016?

*NOTE:  Pat Escalante does not hold a Doctor of Education degree, nor did she have any prior experience as a superintendent.   School board members who hired her should have been aware of her lack of qualifications to advise them of their options.  Please also see: Lie #20: Misleading the public that Pat Escalante was well qualified to be a superintendent. Lie #21: Claiming that Pat Escalante was qualified to be superintendent and that she had decided to apply for the superintendent position at HBCSD on her own.

(8) Terry Tao, HBCSD Attorney (2002-):

“I don’t’ know about here, I just don’t [If the Community Center

was seismically safe].  But it would require a very significant evaluation

by the Department of State Architects in order to be able to reuse the

school; be able to upgrade for the Field Act and more likely than not it

would require very significant upgrades.”  “Slide: Building No Longer

Considered Field Act”. May 31, 2016 presentation to the Joint meeting

of the HB City Council and HBCSD School Board. Time Stamp: 02:23:08

COMPETING INFORMATION:

1. According to a seismic safety evaluation by John A. Martin & Associates in 2015, no seismic upgrades or retrofit are required for classrooms at the Community Center.  The gymnasium at the Community Center was identified as only needing $300k to $500k of seismic retrofits.

2. Terry Tao was identified on the school district’s agenda for the May 31, 2016 joint city and school district meeting as a “Seismology Expert”.  Mr. Tao does NOT have an engineering degree, he was not qualified to make seismic evaluations of either Pier Avenue School.

3. Pier Avenue School was built in 1935 to California Field Act specifications. 

4. The heading for the slide “Building No Longer Considered Field Act” that Terry Tao used in this segment of his presentation was not correct.  Please see: The Field Act: California Code, Education Codes, EDC 17280 & 17280.5(e).

5. HBCSD attorney Terry Tao outright lied and misrepresented nearly all the information he presented in his approximately one-hour May 31, 2016 presentation.   Please see Terry Tao’s entire presentation at the May 31, 2016 joint city and school district meeting with fact checking for the full impact of his misinformation and misleading statements. Terry Tao was not under oath to tell the truth.   It is not illegal to lie.

6. The May 31, 2016 presentation was made ONE WEEK before the June 2016 $59M bond vote and was uploaded to the school district website under Measure S information.  Terry Tao’s curated presentation of misinformation cost taxpayers $11k.

(9) The Environmental Impact Report (2017-2018): Section 7.3, page 7-4: Alternatives Considered and Rejected during the Project Planning Process:

7.3.2.3, page 7-8: Alternate 3, Alternative Locations: Alternate 3d, Community Center, page 7-8, 7-9:

“This property is at 710 Pier Avenue at Pacific Coast Highway.

It is a designated historic property, and improvements to bring it into

compliance with current building and historic building codes and to

meet seismic requirements per the Division of State Architect, would

likely be costly.”