Foothill-De Anza Wins Measure C Bond Lawsuit

The Santa Clara County Superior Court on Monday, Dec. 4 validated the results of the June bond election held by the Foothill-De Anza Community College District, ruling against the two challenges that had been filed. In order to serve students with upgraded facilities and equipment, the district is now proceeding to issue the first series of bonds for Measure C.

Superior Court Judge C. Randall Schneider ruled that Foothill-De Anza followed and met all legal requirements of its Proposition 39 bond, which was approved by 65.69 percent of those voting (http://www.sccgov.org/elections/results/june2006/ ). Area residents Aaron Katz and Melvin Emerich challenged the validity of Measure C in response to a judicial validation action filed by the district June 8 obliging the court to promptly address challenges to Measure C.

"Judge Schneider's broad ruling validates the election process and the bond issuance," said Hal Plotkin, president of the Foothill-De Anza board of trustees. "All ten of the judge's findings confirmed that the college district followed the law at every stage. The substantial rights of the taxpayers were preserved and Foothill-De Anza will move swiftly to sell its bonds to renovate, build and equip our sorely needed classrooms and facilities for our students."

"We are pleased to receive such an all-encompassing ruling," said Chancellor Martha J. Kanter. "We complied with all Proposition 39 legal requirements, our detailed list of bond projects is valid, and our bond measure met all of the Proposition 39 accountability provisions."

Also according with Proposition 39 requirements, the board of trustees in October appointed seven community members to its Measure C Citizens' Oversight Committee, which will be responsible for reviewing bond-related expenditures and reporting to the public. Appointees and categories of representation are Ralph Adams, taxpayers' association; Phyllis Bismanovsky, at-large; Dexter Dawes, business organization; Carol Johnson, at-large; Jim Sandstrom, senior citizens' organization; Jim Walker, district auxiliary organization (Foothill-De Anza Colleges Foundation); and Sarah Wiehe, student organization. This committee has the responsibility to inform the public about the district's expenditure of bond proceeds. The committee will review and report on the district's Measure C expenditures and its annual independent fiscal and performance audits to ensure compliance with Proposition 39.

The Foothill-De Anza Community College District (www.fhda.edu) has served the heart of Silicon Valley-the communities of Cupertino, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale and portions of San Jose, Santa Clara and Saratoga-for almost 50 years, preparing students for careers and for transfer to four-year colleges and universities. The district educates more than 44,000 students each quarter.