COMMUNITY COMMENTARY

Michael Green

The Independent’s editorial of Dec. 14 criticizing the Ocean View

School District and Supt. James Tarwater is unfair and incomplete. School

districts are not typically adept at public relations, but, unlike the

Huntington Beach High School District, the city elementary school and the

City Council, the Ocean View School District has shown courage and

provided leadership in actively pursuing the desperately needed

improvements to educational and athletic facilities for youth in our

community.

Since the early 1990s, when Tarwater inherited significant financial

problems caused by past administrations and the Orange County bankruptcy,

he has steered the district to a solid financial position without having

to sell off assets for short-term gain or ask the public for a tax

increase through bond initiatives. The reward for the children is to see

the unfolding of a facility improvement vision which is long overdue. In

the meantime, the superintendent and the school board have consistently

supported and aided youth sports groups in their difficult and

time-consuming mission of providing recreational opportunities for kids

in Huntington Beach, a responsibility the city has totally abdicated.

There is an untold story for each of the three issues addressed in the

editorial:

CREST VIEW

The school board made the decision to no longer sell excess land for a

one-time cash payment after seeing millions of land sale dollars lost

during the late 1980s through poor management practices. By leasing land

for commercial development, the district will retain ownership in

perpetuity, thus protecting future generations of school kids from bad

financial planning. Proper asset management will also allow Ocean View to

maintain and improve its facilities without having to ask for a bond

issue, like the recently failed Huntington Beach High School attempt.

Huntington Beach wanted a big box retailer on the Crest View site to

increase sales tax revenue and negotiated the rezoning of the property

accordingly. Residents ultimately got the most well-buffered commercial

project in the city. Other homeowners should be so lucky. The rest of us

living in the Ocean View School District got fiscal responsibility.

MEADOW VIEW

The Meadow View School problem is the unfortunate combination of

several factors: residents who like their abandoned, quiet schoolyard and

the local youth soccer organization that desperately needed to bring

Meadow View back on line in order to take some heat off of all the other

surrounding overused school sites.

Prior to the Meadow View turf renovation, the board of trustees held

public hearings even though there was no legal requirement to do so.

After completion of the renovation project, the amount of soccer use

at Meadow View has been no greater than at virtually every other

schoolyard in the district, or the city for that matter. But certain

factors, such as the single frontage street and heavy weekend use by a

dance academy and other on-site lessees, adds to the parking problems.

Since problems arose during soccer tournament use, Tarwater inserted

himself into negotiations between a few disgruntled homeowners and the

AYSO. He initiated the city Community Services Commission hearing. He has

placed heavy restrictions on AYSO use. The all-volunteer AYSO has taken

on a tremendous responsibility in renovating and maintaining Meadow View

and in contrast to the Independent’s editorial staff, believe that the

superintendent has worked very hard to please the residents.

GYMNASIUMS

Finally, after years of more will than wallet, Ocean View can realize

its dream of bringing its middle school facilities, which are clearly

substandard, up to a level other communities would consider a minimum.

The multipurpose gymnasiums are long overdue. On back to school and open

house nights and during other midyear school gatherings, 1,200 to 1,800

parents and kids show up with nowhere to park or gather under one roof.

The gymnasiums will not only solve these problems with formalized

parking areas and a quality facility large enough to accommodate the

existing crowds but local youth basketball and volleyball groups who are

already using middle school grounds for practice, can move inside and

have the benefit of night use opportunities.

This is a real boon to working parents and coaches. It is only fair

that they help pay for the maintenance of the facility. Modifications to

the project have already been made and new ones will surely be

incorporated that will lessen the impact to adjacent homes.

Most importantly, all of the above issues raised by the Independent

can be summarized as the Ocean View School District attempting to do the

right thing by all of its children and constituents while a dedicated

group of residents respond with, “Not in my backyard.”

There will always be bumps along the way, but it would be nice to see

some positive recognition from the Independent instead of another kick in

the pants.

It would be nice if others in our city took Teddy Roosevelt’s advice:

“far better it is to dare mighty things ... even tough checkered by

failure ... [than] to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy

much or suffer much ... because they know neither victory or defeat.”

* MICHAEL GREEN is a member of Save Our Kids.