Taxpayer group sues MPUSD over records
Wants records related to Monterey High project
MONTEREY >> A group called Taxpayers for MPUSD Accountability has sued the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District over the release of records related to a Monterey High stadium project.
In documents filed by attorney Molly Erickson in Monterey County Superior Court last week, the group alleges the district has repeatedly delayed and denied releasing records related to the project including the costs of processing the project to date.
“I’ve been dealing with (the district) for more than a year and it’s like pulling teeth in many cases to get public records,” Erickson told The Herald Wednesday
year ago, the district announced it would conduct an environmental impact report on its Monterey High School Stadium project at a cost of about $250,000.
The $10 million project will include permanent lights, a new press box, additional bleachers, a new softball and multi-use synthetic field, a 2,400-square-foot weight room/team room building and a track and field event area.
The district had originally planned a more limited mitigated negative declaration for the project but decided to go with a more comprehensive environmental impact report following criticism from residents near the school and the threat of a lawsuit.
According to court documents, Taxpayers for MPUSD Accountability made a California Public Records Act request on Aug. 20 and a second request on Aug. 28 to inform its members and the public about the project before the election. The group claims the district has delayed releasing documents, including the environmental impact report, until after the election to benefit incumbents on its school board.
“MPUSD has delayed the release of the documents due to the in-progress Nov. 3, 2020 election,” the documents state. “The MPUSD action to delay the release favors the school board incumbents.”
Three seats on the seven-person MPUSD board are up for election Nov. 3. Two incumbents, Debra Gramespacher and Veronica Miramontes, are running to hold onto their seats. District spokesperson Marci McFadden issued a statement on behalf of the district regarding the lawsuit.
“The District is unable to comment on pending litigation. We take the public’s right to access public records seriously, and have endeavored at all times to comply with that right within the confines of the law.”
None of the candidates mentioned the project in their prepared statements given to the Monterey County Elections Office, though the lawsuit states both incumbents support the project and at least one incumbent and
one challenger made their support for the project an issue in their campaigns to represent the Monterey area on the school board.
Public policy consultant Kevin Dayton, who’s running against Miramontes and former Monterey Councilwoman Nancy Selfridge for the Trustee Area 3 seat, has expressed support for the Monterey High project in social media and on his campaign website.
The documents identify Marta Kraftzeck as an authorized representative of Taxpayers for MPUSD Accountability. Kraftzeck is listed online as a member of
the Monterey Vista Neighborhood Association, which voiced concerns over the project including installing permanent lights on the athletic field. In a letter to the editor published in The Herald last year, Kraftzeck called the proposal a “vanity project.”
Monterey High Principal Tom Newton wrote in a separate letter to The Herald last year that the project is about providing what’s best for the students, stating noise in the area would be reduced for sporting events with permanent lights replacing the current portable gas-powered lights.
The school moved its high school football games to Monterey Peninsula College last year after officials said they would not officiate night games at Monterey High because of the fumes from the generators to power portable lights.
Erickson said she filed a request for urgency action by the court Wednesday to try and get things moving to inform voters with these public records before the election.
“Public records are pretty simple but unfortunately the district has made it extremely complicated and extremely challenging to try and access school district public records,” she said. “And that’s really too bad because it is the public’s business that is being done here.”