Chamber Board Votes to Back CEPS Amendment

By Jorge Casuso

Feb. 24 -- In a move that came earlier than anticipated, the Chamber of Commerce board Tuesday morning voted to support a controversial Charter Amendment that would require the City to give at least $6 million a year to the cash-strapped School District.

The vote comes less than one week after City officials made a presentation to the chamber board characterizing the proposed ballot measure as “devastating” to the municipal budget. That the board did not take a position after the presentation, City officials said, was a good sign.

The resolution approved by the chamber board allows it to withdraw the endorsement if it determines that "an alternative funding arrangement between the City and the District" is demed to be "preferable to the Initiative."

Dr. Michael E. Gruning, chairman of the chamber board, which had also heard a presentation by sponsors of the measure, issued a statement Tuesday calling the charter amendment “reasonable” and good for business and saying it comes “after many years of unsuccessful attempts to codify an agreement with the City.

“With the volatility and uncertainty of state funding for the last few years, there were few if any options left,” Gruning wrote. “Our children deserve better than having to survive on bake sales and PTA raffles and fundraisers.

“In a city as prosperous and progressive as ours, it seems somewhat disingenuous that our city fathers have not chosen to give a modicum of security to those who represent our future,” Gruning wrote.

“It is simply a question of priorities. In a city that can find resources for a 70 million dollar library and a 60 million dollar public safety building, 6 million dollars per year for our most precious resource does not seem excessive.”

Mayor Richard Bloom, who was not allowed into the closed door meeting, said the vote was “political” and did not reflect the views of the wider business community.

“My sense is that this is part of an internal political agenda being endorsed by a minority in the chamber and that this is not supported by the wider business community, which doesn’t know about CEPS,” Bloom said.

“This has been a carefully orchestrated, very quiet measure drafted in secret,” the mayor said. “There has been very little publicity about it. It’s being sold as a concept, as opposed to what it amounts to -- a sea change in the way the City does its work.”

Although the chamber was expected to eventually take a position, the seeming urgency of Tuesday’s vote came as a surprise.

After the City’s presentation last week chamber’s Executive Director Kathryn Dodson told The Lookout: “I don’t think there’s a big move to do something right away. If it came down to a vote, I’m not sure what would happen. We’re not there yet.”

But a high ranking chamber official said Tuesday that the chamber had been ready to take a position after hearing CEPS’ presentation and delayed the vote to hear from the City.

“The reality is it was up for a vote before, and in the interest of fairness and equity it was suggested that we hear from the City,” said the source, who asked to remain anonymous.

Sponsors of the initiative -- which requires the signatures of some 8,000 registered voters to make the November ballot -- said they were pleased with he chamber’s position.

“It’s very good news,” said Shari Davis, co-chair of CEPS. “We’re very appreciative of their support. It shows that our community will benefit from the measure, and we look forward as we progress to see the different segments of our coalition grow.

“We believe that our community benefits every day in having strong schools, and this shows the chamber recognizes that as well,” Davis said.

Davis echoed the sentiment expressed in Gruning's letter that “a long term formal funding arrangement worked out in advance between the City and the District would of course be preferable.”

“CEPS goal is to obtain long-term predictable, stable funding for the schools, and we’re not ruling out different options for achieving that goal,” Davis said. “The door is open.”

But CEPS has not heard from the City officials and must “move forward so we can meet all the deadlines to put the measure on the ballot,” she said.

“I find it really surprising how vehemently opposed to the measure the City is,” Davis said. “They shouldn’t find it threatening. The City is very strong in its financial position. I never thought backing an education measure would mean fighting City Hall.”

Bloom echoed the position of City officials when he called the measure “a very irresponsible spending mandate” that would lead to a disastrous budget and vowed to fight it.

“We’re going to fight it in a responsible way,” the mayor said. “Our first step is to educate the community so they don’t sign the petition to get it on the ballot. Everyone ought to have the opportunity to hear the City’s perspective and how this will lead to a disastrous budget.”

Bloom criticized the chamber board for taking a position at such an early stage, and said the City would “continue the tradition of providing millions of dollars of direct funding to the schools.

“I can’t imagine an issue like his moving through the City process at breakneck speed,” Bloom said of the chamber’s vote. “I think for some people this is a tool for their own political goals that have nothing to do with education.”

The chamber, which has often been at loggerheads with the City Council majority backed by Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights, will endorse council candidates in the November election for four council seats and has formed a Political Action Committee to help bankroll the challengers’ campaigns.

If the CEPS amendment makes the ballot, it threatens to split SMRR’s ranks. While the council members oppose the measure, SMRR chair Denny Zane is one of its staunchest supporters, as are other high ranking members of the powerful tenant rights group.