Worse still is when a public official throws his lot in with another quasi-political organization. Unfortunately, that is what Cabrillo Unified School District board President Charlie Gardner has done.
In addition to his school board duties, Gardner is also a director of something called Coastside Community First, which bills itself as "an educational nonprofit corporation." It is affiliated with a political action committee called Put Community First, which endorses candidates and provides political funding. How closely tied are the two organizations? Decide for yourself: Visit coastsidecommunityfirst.org and then point your browser to putcommunityfirst.com and try to tell the two apart.
 Charlie Gardner |
The Cabrillo district is, or at least should be, fully engaged in the Beachwood problem. The city has contributed $50,000 to an ongoing Community Schools initiative. Any shudder in the city's tax base that could ultimately come from the judgment could have dire consequences for cash-strapped local schools. And the district has already done substantial research on the Podesta property just to the west of the high school. (The Review has filed formal public records requests for an appraisal we believe the district commissioned on the property when considering where to place a new middle school.)
While we believe Gardner is sincere when he says he thinks public officials ought to be more, and not less, engaged in community groups like Coastside Community First, we simply think he's wrong. The potential to drag CUSD into costly litigation and the obvious conflicts of interest are obvious.
Elected officials like Gardner must remember their primary concern is the best interest of the people who put them in office, and sometimes that conflicts with their own grand plans for the Coastside.
- Clay Lambert
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