Board appoints members to Citizens Bond Oversight Committee for Measures G, E, I and Technology Measures

The East Side Union High School District Board of Trustees on June 5 appointed new and renewing members to the district's Citizens Bond Oversight Committee and thanked outgoing and continuing volunteers for their oversight of bond spending.

The appointments matter because state rules for Proposition 39 general obligation bonds require a citizens bond oversight committee to review expenditures and ensure bond proceeds are spent as voters intended. The board voted to appoint Kaushik Sholikar and James Bridal as new members, to reappoint Rajani Nair, Carol Pefeli and Barry Shimmel for additional terms, and to name Joanne Owen and Sangeetha Vijandiran as alternates.

Dorsey Moore, representing the CBOC, reminded the board of the legal requirement, saying in part, “Pursuant to section 15278 of the Education Code, the district is obligated to establish a citizen bond oversight committee in order to satisfy accountability requirements for Proposition 39, type general obligation bonds.” That presentation noted the committee must have at least seven members, cannot include district employees or vendors, and serves voluntarily.

Trustee Dave Cortesi made the motion to approve the committee appointments, which was seconded by Trustee Lay. Student representative Katie Hyung and the four trustees voted “aye” and the motion carried 5-0. Board members and staff publicly thanked the committee for attending grand openings and for keeping oversight work visible to the community.

The board did not identify a specific reporting schedule for the CBOC beyond the statutory duties described in Moore's presentation; the committee's duties and term lengths were described as two-year terms with a limit of three consecutive terms.

The appointments take effect immediately and the board asked staff and the CBOC to continue public outreach about bond-funded projects.