Leland Yee: Do You Get What You Vote For?

As a San Francisco Board of Education member beginning in 1988, I believed that our public schools were among the best in the United States. Some needed modernization and several needed to be entirely rebuilt, but I believed that in San Francisco, with its strong political and environmental sensitivities, eventually our students would have learning facilities, equipment and opportunities that would make other school districts envious.

During my tenure on the Board of Education there were always questions about the use of bond monies. Regardless of this, I worked hard to improve our school system, although the need for greater checks and balances was clear.

In the early 1990s there was talk about a new bond measure. However, I could not support such a bond without settling rumors about mismanagement of previous bonds. I requested that the school superintendent initiate an independent audit of previous bond expenditures. The formalizing of an independent audit was a precondition for my support of a new school bond measure.

The superintendent agreed and in 1997, with my support, San Franciscans voted overwhelmingly to approve a $90 million bond, Proposition A. The publicity surrounding that measure identified many projects, including an $11 million obligation to rebuild the Parkside School.

In the five years since the passage of Proposition A, many of the needed improvements to our school facilities have been carried out. Much of this resulted from additional state matching funds to identified projects. However, among the projects completed, according to the SFUSD 1997 Proposition A Quarterly Report issued Dec. 19, 2001, a total of $12 million was spent on projects never identified in Proposition A. Moreover, Proposition A bond money was never meant to fund unidentified projects, pay additional salaries or be used for deferred maintenance. This is not what the voters intended.

Now it's time for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to require city departments to be forthright in their requests for new bonds. I have drafted an ordinance - The Bond Truth Act - that will require disclosure of information in connection with bond-financed projects, provide public access to financing proposals and limit the transferability of bond spending authority. The ordinance will also require that a description of the project or projects to be financed with the bond proceeds is included, the location of the project or projects is identified, the total projected costs are calculated, other sources of funds are determined in advance and the completion date and order of priority are secured.

Finally, there will be assurance that the date on which the authority for voter-approved bond measures expires is included in the voter handbook as part of the bond measure. Ultimately, the city controller will enforce the provisions of the ordinance.

San Francisco voters expect to get what they vote for. This new Bond Truth Act and my earlier Bond Accountability Act, which provided for additional reporting requirements on general obligation bonds, will ensure that projects are specifically identified in bond measures and that vague language cannot be manipulated to allow for non-specified use of bond money. These measures will force city departments to be accountable to the voters and San Franciscans will finally have some guarantees that what they are voting for is what they get.

Supervisor Leland Yee represents District 4. He is also a candidate for state Assembly.