With the November election about one month away, supporters and opponents of the Hermosa Beach school bond initiative Measure “J” squared off last Friday during the first public forum on the issue hosted by the Hermosa Beach Coordinating Council.

Dozens of measure backers — city and county officials, residents and district administrators — attended the debate and spoke in favor of a bond that would fund the construction of new school facilities such as a gym, classrooms and computer labs.

Shawn Moonan, author of the argument against the measure, voiced his opposition on the $13.6 million bond which he contends would unnecessarily gouge taxpayers.

The Hermosa Beach School Board July 24 unanimously approved the bond measure for the Nov. 5 ballot. If it passes, the district intends to purchase property occupied by Adelphia Cable to construct modernization projects outlined in a detailed construction list.

Supporters in attendance included Hermosa Beach City Council members Kathy Dunbabin, J.R. Reviczky and Mayor Sam Edgerton, along with state Assemblyman George Nakano.

Jennifer Rosenfeld, the committee co-chair to support Measure “J,” informed the attendees that Congresswoman Jane Harman recently gave her endorsement on the initiative.

“We need to put an investment into our schools,” said Rosenfeld. “I’m very passionate about this measure, and what it will do for our schools and our community. Everyone knows better schools means safer communities and it’s also good for our property values. This measure is a way for us to invest in our community through our children.”

Moonan, a Hermosa resident, filed an argument and rebuttal against Measure “J” earlier this month. Former Hermosa Beach Mayor Robert Benz and Hermosa Beach resident Fred Huebscher signed Moonan’s petition for an argument filed with the Los Angeles County Register/Recorders office.

“I think this measure has a very emotional appeal,” said Moonan. “It’s hard to vote against this measure when you look at it on the surface. We spend a lot of money in our schools. Proposition 98 mandates $7,000 per pupil and with an average of 28 students in each class, that’s $196,000. Where is all of this money going? I don’t think it’s fair to ask the taxpayer to spend more.”

During its July 10 meeting, the School Board upped its bond amount from $12 million to $13.6 million to negotiate with Adelphia for the property acquisition. The district could receive $1.6 million from the California government through a statewide bond, which would give it close to $3 million to buy the property. In the absence of state funds supplied through its bond, the district would then only have an estimated $1.6 million for the purchase.

Hermosa Beach Superintendent Duffy Clark explained expenditures of Proposition 98 funds, $5,000 of which is allocated into the School District’s General Fund which pays for teacher salaries.

The remaining $2,000 is restricted funds which is used specifically for the class-size reduction program, instruction materials and the district’s library collections.

School Board member Cathy McCurdy also added the district is not able to spend this money on construction projects.

“I think we need to be reminded that this money from Prop. 98 cannot be spent on construction nor can construction money be allocated to the district’s General Fund,” she said. “The district has a separate modernization account because you can commingle these funds.”

In his argument, Moonan also claims the district does not need the North School site and failed to explore the notion of selling it in lieu of a bond. Moonan believes the district would be able to sell it for between $20 million and $30 million.

“If anything, I think we should scale back this bond and sell surplus, underutilized land like the North School site,” said Moonan. “That land is not being used and why not sell something the district is not using instead of costing taxpayers millions of dollars to build more? Right now, that building is seismically unsafe yet we put an adult school program and preschool there. ”

Clark responded to Moonan’s claims by saying that the district did examine this alternative and concluded it would have sold the land for much less because most of it is zoned as open space.

“There were a number of reasons as to why the committee thought it a bad thing to sell the property,” said Clark. “It is the last piece of land not currently occupied by our students. It’s a piece of property full of complications. The city has the first right of refusal and can purchase property. The question is, at what price? It’s our last piece of land and we have been criticized for selling property in the past, and that is something we had to consider. ”

Councilman Reviczky agreed with Clark and added the value of the property is considerably lower than other areas in Hermosa Beach.

“Most of the North School property is zoned open space which is worth about $12 a square foot as opposed to residential property which is worth anywhere from $150 to $300 a square foot, vacant.”

According to Moonan, the school bond in the end, will cost between $24 million and $25 million because of interest, and this could produce financial problems for people living on fixed incomes.

A $13.6 million bond will require taxpayers to pay an annual rate of $21 per $100,000 of assessed valuation. Recent bonds passed in Manhattan Beach, El Segundo and Redondo Beach are charging residents anywhere from $13 to $29 per $100,000 of assessed valuation.