“inewsource took a close look at contracts and invoices that document the district’s relationship with real estate consultant Joe Taylor. He was hired in 2010 to review the condition of four of the district’s vacant properties, develop a plan for the best use of the land, and identify potential buyers or partners, among other things.
Since then, Taylor has billed the district about $150,000 for meetings with dozens of people and groups, including several churches, a lobbying and public relations firm, the grandson of Chargers owner Alex Spanos, a company that builds assisted living facilities and officials in the San Diego mayor’s office, according to a review of his invoices.
Three of the properties Taylor is working on are in Mello-Roos districts. The one in Rancho Bernardo, known as the water tower property, is not.
The district’s contract with Taylor raises two questions: Is it appropriate for him to be paid with Mello-Roos taxes? Did his work sidestep the public process for selling land?
In order to sell land, districts must follow a legal process to determine whether it is needed.
Mello-Roos
Catch up on all our Mello-Roos coverage from the past year.
It must form an advisory committee, hold public meetings, and eventually make recommendations to the school board about whether the land will be needed for new schools or other district uses.
Taylor helped to form the Real Property Advisory Committee which held two public meetings in March 2012, in which no one showed up.
The committee’s final report to the school board recommended all four sites be declared surplus.
But by the time the committee released that report, Taylor had already spent months meeting with developers and reviewing bids and letters of intent to purchase the properties.
A year before the report, according to invoices, Taylor met with “Monger Group on taking sites to vote” and to “go over campaign plan.” The Monger Company is a Coronado-based lobbying and public relations firm. Among its clients is Santaluz LLC, a firm Taylor is helping with an assisted living project.
Years of state cutbacks have left districts short on cash, many laying off teachers and increasing class size.
Selling property could help close that gap thanks to a new state law that allows a school district to put the profits from surplus property sales into its operational budget, until next year.
Beatty worries if the district doesn’t follow the rules it could sell valuable land to balance its budget rather than do what’s best for students in the long term, which could be retain the land for future use.
“The procedure could be tainted and then you wonder if the conclusion was formed before the process actually took its course,” she said.”
Disgusting. One thing I’ve seen more often than I’d care to admit is how real estate/development and related deals are full of conflicts of interests and back-room agreements. I’m willing to bet that the district had people on staff who were every bit as capable of determining the value of this land and even meeting with potential buyers. There is no need to hire outside consultants in most of the cases, but that never stops well-connected folks from greasing each other’s palms.
You are so fortunate to be out from under these MR fees. That was a very good decision on your part, IMHO.
