School bond citizen committee experiencing a bit of a rebirth

Benjamin Grove

Tuesday, May 4, 1999 | 9:31 a.m.

The Clark County School Board has approved a plan to revive the citizen committee assigned to watchdog billions of dollars spent on school construction.

The Bond Oversight Committee was created in 1989 to watch over school bond money, which is voter-approved tax money used to construct new schools and renovate old ones.

But in recent months several committee members have said the committee was not getting enough direction from the board. They also have wondered if their 19-member committee, plagued by absenteeism, was too unwieldy.

So the board on Monday approved bylaws that cuts the committee to 15 members. Three members in recent weeks have resigned, so they will not be replaced. The next member to resign also will not be replaced.

The bylaws also narrowly define the purpose of the committee.

The bylaws outline the duties of the committee's five "working groups" -- essentially subcommittees that study school design, construction, site selection, financing and handle community relations.

"For the first time, we actually have a mission," committee member LuAnn Day said.

"Before, it was loosely organized," added Joyce Haldeman, the district's community outreach director, who oversees school bond expenditures. "What the bond oversight committee did or did not do was really up to the chairman of the committee. I think this will really increase the credibility of the group."

Voters have approved three school bond issues in the past five years, including $605 million in 1994 and $643 million in 1996.

Voters last year approved another school bond issue that will freeze property taxes. That property tax freeze, plus money generated in hotel room taxes and real estate taxes, will raise roughly $3.5 billion to construct 88 new schools in the next 10 years.

The district audits bond expenditures to guard against waste. But the Bond Oversight Committee, made up of independent builders, engineers, architects, developers and financial managers, is supposed to be another watchdog of taxpayer money, board members said.

Board members said the new bylaws empower the committee by giving it clear direction.

Board president Ruth Johnson said she wants to see specific recommendations from the committee. For instance the board is looking for better methods for awarding contracts, Johnson said.

Board member Lois Tarkanian said she had new hope for the committee.

"They were sort of in nebulous land and without direction," Tarkanian said. "I'm hopeful they will follow (the money) as closely as possible. That was my hope from the start, but we've gotten away from that."