Phoenix Elementary board approves expanded ballot measure to authorize lease or exchange of district properties

The Phoenix Elementary District Governing Board voted unanimously May 27 to place a revised resolution on the Nov. 4 ballot that authorizes the sale, lease or exchange of district-owned properties, expanding the list of parcels to include sites not previously authorized and administrative properties.

Board President Carmen Trujillo said the amended resolution would allow the district flexibility to pursue long-term lease arrangements and other revenue-generating uses of land. “We want to be strategic and thoughtful with those buildings,” Sarah Sims, the district’s executive director of strategic initiatives, told the board during a presentation on land-use hypotheticals.

The vote followed more than an hour of public comment during which community members and nonprofit representatives pushed specifically to include the Emerson Elementary parcel so a local nonprofit, G Road, could pursue a long-term land lease to build a neighborhood center adjacent to the school. Jesse Stanton, writing for…