Tish Busselle has seen it all when it comes to the San Mateo-Foster City School District. She has been on board during good times and bad.
Right now, the district can use some help, quite a lot of it actually. Busselle just might be the right person in the right place at the right time. At least that’s the hope.
The district’s supporters are preparing for another construction bond measure intended to address projected enrollment growth. A $130 million bond package, Measure P on the ballot, failed badly at the polls last November.
Busselle is part of a new team — the Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center is a key element as well — that’s going to provide outreach into the community as part of an effort to pave the way to reverse that 2013 outcome.
She’s a veteran educator who has spent at least 25 years working with, and for, the district in a variety of capacities. For 22 of those years beginning in the late 1970s (when enrollment was declining rapidly, ironically enough), she was a full-time district administrator.
She left the district during a period of upheaval and controversy and wound up working for the deeply troubled Vallejo City Unified School District as it tried to cope with serious issues, most notably a state takeover of its finances and administration.
Most recently, she has been back serving San Mateo-Foster City as a consultant; she brings with her extensive local perspective and experience.
She lives in the San Mateo Park neighborhood and has been a constructive influence in her community for many years. She had a hand in the doomed pro-Measure P campaign last year. But changing the roiling local political landscape in late 2013 was beyond her (or anyone’s) control.
In terms of personal and professional investment over an extended period, it’s likely that no one connected with the district’s decision-making process, even on a consulting basis, has been directly involved longer than Busselle at this point in time.
Securing success for the next bond proposal will be a challenge. Measure P didn’t come close to passage, receiving just 47 percent of the vote; the threshold was 55 percent. The scope of the defeat represented one of the worst routs in recent history in a mid-county public school district, an affluent area where such measures usually win with relative ease in a general election.
Opposition to Measure P (which was organized and loud) came primarily from unhappy San Mateo voters, including a district trustee and a couple of members of the City Council who found too many flaws in the tax request and would not back it.
There was a strong view that the proposal, as designed, would funnel a disproportionate amount of money to elementary schools in Foster City.
There were also complaints that the district, which contains about 11,700 students (72 percent of whom are nonwhite), was not adequately addressing the needs of underserved, low-achieving youngsters, mainly in San Mateo.
Those arguments, among others, sank Measure P. Counterarguments simply didn’t resonate or pass muster with a skeptical electorate.
So, now, a concerted move to bounce back has commenced. A firm date for a new bond try has not been specified. But district officials want to have all of their ducks in a row when that critical time comes, more than likely at a general election where the 55 percent rule prevails.
Another rejection by the taxpayers would be devastating. Busselle and her cohorts are attempting to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Daly City lament
If you haven’t seen the YouTube video “Hitler Tries to Rent an Apartment in San Francisco,” do so.
It’s a hilarious spoof of the tough rental situation in San Francisco, using footage from the 2008 movie “Valkyrie” and faked subtitles (it’s not the first time the scene has been used in similar fashion).
Now here’s the Peninsula kicker: When Hitler realizes he can’t find a reasonably-priced apartment in Burnoose by the Bay, he laments that he will have to find something in Daly City. The horror! Daly City! What a horrid concept. At least that’s the message.
But be forewarned: The short clip contains some blue language; more than one Hitler F-bomb belches forth. It’s not for the kids.
John Horgan’s column appears on Thursday. You can contact him by email at johnhorganmedia@gmail.com or by regular mail at P.O. Box 117083, Burlingame, CA 94011.
