The Tussle in a Teapot is over
Mayor Val Carpenter and Council Member Ron Packard paid a visit to the regular LASD board meeting on Monday April 23. Mr. Packard asked to speak during the agenda item discussing the prospective $100M school bond. He said that the Los Altos City Council would be introducing an item at the City Council Meeting tonite, April 24. It would be a letter expressing a desire to cooperate, but requesting that the LASD affirm it has no desire to exercise eminent domain on property owned by other governmental jurisdictions. But Mr. Packard said it was ok by him to exercise eminent on privately-owned property.
In response several LASD board members, including Tamara Logan, affirmed there was no desire to exercise eminent domain on government-owned property. Furthermore, the board said it had been planning to write a letter to the City of Los Altos expressing that it has no thought of such eminent domain. Also the LASD board would like to cooperate even more tightly on sharing of facilities, such as gymnasium space. It appeared that LASD would now wait to receive the city’s letter, and then craft its letter. These letters will allow the City to proceed with planning for needed repairs of the Hillview Center.
LASD … affirmed there was no desire to exercise eminent domain on government-owned property
Los Altos School District Board, April 23, 2012
At one point, in a gesture of reconciliation, Bill Cooper cracked a joke about “annexing all of Los Altos.”
The school bond polling of likely voters started Monday night. It is expected to continue for about one week.
Tamara Logan urged that the board consider conducting an EIR for the sharing of Covington by LASD and BCS, just in case the search for a 10th site was not fruitful. Staff will shop for possible EIR consultants to hire and come back with fuller information.
Because it is now clear that the 10th site should be in Mountain View, the board realized it needed to establish close relations with the City of Mountain View, similar to those it has already established with the City of Los Altos.
An ad hoc committee of Bill Cooper and Steve Taglio was formed to approach the City of Mountain View to ask for help in looking for and securing a school site somewhere near Walmart.
