Welcome
Welcome to the California League of Bond Oversight Committees (CaLBOC). CaLBOC is an all volunteer, non-partisan association of Citizen Bond Oversight Committee (CBOC) members, current and past, who are interested in helping other CBOC members. CaLBOC was formed in 2006 by CBOC members trying to find better training to help perform their duties. CaLBOC is a 501(c)3 charitable organization. |
Second Annual CaLBOC Statewide Conference
Friday May 10, 2013 • Sacramento
Keynote Speaker: Bill Lockyer, State Treasurer
Communication and Responsible Expenditures: The Keys to Maintaining Public Trust in School Bond Programs.
In 2013 CaLBOC celebrates five years of fulfilling its twin purposes of providing support to local bond oversight committee members through training, while also advocating for them at the legislature on items of common interest. This year’s conference delivers multiple perspectives on some of the most contentious issues currently affecting school bond construction programs.
Capital Appreciation Bonds (CABs) have been a hot topic since national news reports on the Poway School District broke in 2012. Joel Thurtell, a former reporter for the Detroit Free Press, provides background on how the story evolved. Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan (D-San Ramon) will discuss AB-182, the bill currently working its way through the legislature that seeks to deal with this issue. Finally, State Treasurer Bill Lockyer will discuss efforts his office has undertaken to control this issue until legislation arrives.
From the standpoint of how things look for a School District we have two long time District executives with Santa Ana Unified. Santa Ana is one of the 50 largest school districts in the country, and 6th largest in California. Michael Bishop recently retired after 16 years with the District as CBO, while Joe Dixon is the Assistant Superintendent, Facilities & Governmental Relations for SAUSD. In addition, Joe is also the current Chair of the Coalition for Adequate School Housing (CASH), the largest lobbying/advocacy group for the school facilities industry in the state.
Rounding out the event will be a discussion with attorney Kevin Carlin on the use of the lease/lease-back school construction method. This approach has been both lauded for its ability to provide districts with a streamlined development process by some while it has been vilified as a way to avoid competitive bidding by others. CaLBOC Conference 2013: Transparency and dialog in action.
Conference Information & Files
News Headlines...
Lockyer widens request for legal opinion on school bond campaigns
March 25, 2013 | By Dan Weikel | The LA Times
EXCERPT: California Treasurer Bill Lockyer on Monday expanded his request for a legal opinion to determine if some local education officials and the financial underwriters they hire are violating state law by campaigning for school bond measures.
In a second letter to California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, Lockyer asked her office to also consider financial advisors and bond counsel that are employed as consultants to help school districts prepare bond issues.
Lockyer first contacted Harris a week ago when he requested that she render a formal opinion on the conduct of school officials and underwriters as it relates to political campaigns for school bonds.
The state treasurer said a legal opinion is needed because some arrangements between school districts and firms that sell bonds “raise substantive questions” about whether the officials are using public money to conduct campaigns advocating the passage of bond measures—an action banned by state law.
Under some agreements, Lockyer said, underwriters who stand to profit from selling bonds conduct voter opinion surveys or help prepare ballot arguments. Other agreements, he wrote, “specify [that] the underwriting fees paid in connection with any subsequent bond sale will reimburse the underwriter for pre-election campaign services provided.”
Lockyer noted that financial advisors and bond counsel may have entered similar agreements to provide campaign services.
In recent months, the treasurer has been examining the way schools issue bonds, in part because of possible abuses that arose from the issuance of risky and expensive instruments known as capital appreciation bonds. He is now supporting pending state legislation that would limit the use of the most onerous forms of such bonds. ......
To read the complete article please visit:
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-bond-letter-20130325,0,5580921.story |
Friday • May 10, 2013
Second Annual CaLBOC Statewide Conference Webpage
Keynote Speaker: Bill Lockyer, California State Treasurer
Sacramento
Registration Information
CaLBOC Board Of Directors
Meeting Schedule:
• May 10, 2013
• August 9, 2013
• November 15, 2013
Sacramento Chamber of Commerce, One Capital Mall, Sacramento, CA
CaLBOC Chapters:
• Contra Costa County
• Napa
• Sacramento
• San Diego
Searchable Library of:
Articles, Performance Audits, CaLBOC meeting minutes, Bylaws: www.docstoc.com/profile/calboc
Register for free to print out documents from Docstoc or log in through Facebook.
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