Board Member Rod Todd's Blog

Update: Brea Sports Park Groundbreaking

2007-08-13T23:59:00.001-07:00

A question was asked regarding the expected completion date of the sports park. City Manager Tim O’Donnell has a section on the city’s website called “City Focus”. The August 7 edition, compiled by Asst. City Manager Terry Matz, had some remarks about the Brea Sports Park and groundbreaking. According to the page, Mayor Simonoff announced construction will begin August 6 and completion of the entire park is expected by early 2009.

Below is the section about the sports park. You can read the entire article here.

Brea Sports Park Groundbreaking Celebrated By 150+

More than 150 people helped mark the official groundbreaking of the Brea Sports Park on July 24. Guests included commissioners, Board of Education members, District officials, members of the Sports Park Advisory Committee, former mayors, Chamber of Commerce board members, Brea residents, city staff and young athletes representing baseball, softball, soccer, football and basketball. Mayor Simonoff and the City Council also welcomed Assemblyman Mike Duvall, Supervisor Bill Campbell, and representatives from Congressman Gary Millers' office and Senator Bob Margett's office.

A brief presentation was followed by the groundbreaking ceremony. The Brea City Council was assisted by some of the children who will soon be "playing ball" at the Brea Sports Park. Mayor Simonoff announced that construction will begin August 6 and completion is expected by early 2009.

Thanks to staff members from Community Services, Communications & Marketing, Development Services, Maintenance, and Economic Development who worked together to coordinate the event.

High School Expansion

2007-08-13T23:45:00.001-07:00

Monthly progress reports on the Brea Olinda High School expansion projects are available on the school district's website at http://tinyurl.com/3dv6zf.

Below is an artist rendering of the completed building.

Brea Sports Park Groundbreaking

2007-08-02T15:25:00.001-07:00

Orange County Supervisor Bill Campbell and myself

Photo courtesy of Supervisor Campbell

State budget at a standstill...still

2007-08-01T18:44:00.001-07:00

From Association of California School Administrators, Governmental Relations Department:

RE: Still no sign of land: Latest on State Budget

As tempers flare and vacations are cancelled we finally head into another late night Senate session tonight, August 1, 2007. As many of you know by now the budget has been stalled in the state Senate over Republican demands for further cuts to the budget that was hammered out and approved by the state Assembly.

This goes to show how volatile and dynamic the budget process can be. A few weeks ago, most budget analysts were expecting the state budget process to be completed fairly close to the July 15 deadline. Legislators were hoping to get voters to approve a change to the state’s term limits law in February, it was reasoned, and therefore they would want to impress the public with their “can do” abilities.

But that was when state revenues were looking fairly stable. Then at the last second came word that revenues had taken an unexpected dip, which only exacerbated a situation in which the state has been facing a structural deficit for the past few years.

Politicians had been able to gloss over that structural imbalance with a combination of state bonds and other fiscal legerdemain, but now, unlike Felix the Cat, they seem to have exhausted their magic bag of tricks.

However, two weeks ago the Assembly passed a budget that made inroads toward addressing the structural deficit, reducing it significantly. But Senate Republicans demanded more. They wanted to see the deficit completely erased.

That meant making hard choices on budget cuts. Despite assurances from the governor and Democrats, the education community is still uneasy about the possibility of more cuts to education. They have called on educators and those concerned about education to contact their local Senators to let them know that education has seen enough budget cuts in recent years, and to request they pass the budget the Assembly has given them.

As developments occur on the budget, ACSA will keep members apprised. Should the budget get passed and signed, please visit ACSA Online at www.acsa.org, for an analysis on the impact to education.

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For more information on ACSA, visit www.acsa.org