Measure C divides Cotati-Rohnert Park school board candidates

As four candidates vie for two seats on the Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District Board, Measure C has divided contenders into two camps: those for it, and those against it.

An $80 million bond proposal, it comes two years after voters approved another $80 million bond.

It is also the only school bond measure in Sonoma County with organized opposition, which includes board candidates Tim Nonn and Chrissa Gillies. Candidate Susan Adams and incumbent Jennifer Wiltermood support Measure C.

This year’s proposal is the second of a three-phase process expected to boost district coffers by $240 million to repair and construct buildings, and improve technology and infrastructure. The district doesn’t plan to ask voters to approve the third $80 million installment until at least 2020, said CRPUSD Superintendent Robert Haley. The bond will be repaid through property taxes, estimated at $49 per $100,000 of assessed value.

Opponents object to the way projects are being prioritized and argue the district’s stagnant enrollment doesn’t necessitate more classroom space. District figures show that from October 2011 to October 2016, enrollment remained mostly flat, changing only from 5,907 to 5,882 students.

But a 2011 demographic study showed a rate of 0.446 students per household, and with the pending construction of 1,645 new homes on the eastern edge of Rohnert Park Expressway among other expected housing projects, CRPUSD can expect more than 730 students to enroll in the next few years.

Wiltermood was elected to the board in 2012 after serving as co-chair on the successful campaign to pass Measure D, the parcel tax that added $1.1 million to the district’s general fund.

The continuation of district improvements is one reason the 47-year-old Realtor supports Measure C.

“Some of these classrooms are the same that they were when I was there,” she said. “Students deserve to have space, warm and inviting atmospheres. It does make a difference when they’ve got classrooms that they can have a sense of pride in.”

Board candidate Adams, 58, serves on the Planning Commission and works as a director of operations at an insurance agency. She co-chaired the campaign for 2012’s parcel tax, was the chairperson for the Measure B campaign and chairperson for the parcel tax renewal.

“The voters in Cotati and Rohnert Park have consistently voted to support our schools, and I’m confident they will continue to do that next Tuesday,” she said.

Adams said she believes the new housing project could produce as many as 100 students more than district math indicates.

The Rohnert Park-Cotati Educators Association endorsed Measure C, while at the same time endorsing the two school board candidates who oppose it: Gillies and Nonn.

Gillies and Nonn are joined by sitting member Leff Brown and outgoing member Ed Gilardi in opposing the bond. Both Brown and Gilardi originally voted to put the bond measure on the ballot, but have since withdrawn their support citing transparency issues with the campaign’s funding.

Campaign finance reports show that more than $60,000 was given to the Yes on C campaign as of Oct. 28, most of it from business interests and developers.

“My bottom line is I don’t think there’s been good accountability,” said Gillies, 54, a bookkeeper. “We still have over ?$44 million left from the last bond; why are we asking for another one?”

The $44 million has been earmarked for a multiuse building at Rancho Cotate High School dubbed the TAG (theater, arts and gymnasium) building.

“Big beautiful buildings are not what attract students,” she said. “We need curriculum, and we need teachers. I’d much rather see another parcel tax passed that goes directly to the teachers.”

Gillies voted yes on the parcel tax in 2012, Measure B in 2014 and the parcel tax renewal in 2015.

“There are necessary things we need to do first,” she said. “A TAG building is all well and good, but I think we need to go back to the drawing board. Do we still have asbestos? Do we still have leaky roofs?”

Nonn, 62, is a writer and educator who said the focus should be on students’ needs.

“That’s what’s been lost in all this push for extraordinary amounts of money for buildings,” Nonn said. “My position is let’s slow down, take a deep breath, prioritize the actual needs, and then we can introduce a bond.”