Westwood residents will vote on two referenda impacting the Los Angeles Unified School Board in November’s election.

One of the initiatives – Measure US – would authorize a $9 billion bond to fund technology, repair and construction projects, with the bond being repaid by a tax on homeowners. The other initiative, Measure LL, will change the way school board redistricting works to make it independent of the LA City Council.

Money raised through Measure US will go toward things such as new interactive whiteboards, security buzzers, furniture, health facilities and climate control systems, said school board member Tanya Ortiz Franklin. The bond would be restricted so it cannot be used for staff salaries, programming or curriculum expenses, which are funded by the state and federal government, she said.

“We have about $80 billion worth of needs in infrastructure and technology, and we currently only have about $8 billion in progress,” Ortiz Franklin said. “We’ve got a big way to go in this. The $9 billion that we’re asking for will get us a little bit closer.”

Ortiz Franklin added that she believes the bond is necessary to repair schools and improve learning conditions.

However, Susan Shelley, the vice president of communications for the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, said her organization opposes the measure because she believes the district – which has decreasing enrollment – could instead raise money for renovations by economizing.

Shelley said she believes school board members do not want to present plans for cutting costs – including by consolidating schools in response to decreasing enrollment – because they are worried about political blowback. She added that she believes the board should have prioritized renovating buildings in its past spending.

“This is a huge tax increase on the people in the LAUSD,” Shelley said. “Why have they not fixed these high priorities with the money already spent? Given that enrollment is declining and projected to continue declining, where is the plan for consolidating schools? They do not have one.”

LAUSD has received over $25 billion in bond funding since 2000, after $7 billion bonds were approved in both 2008 and 2020 – money Ortiz Franklin said the district is still in the process of spending. There were 565,479 students enrolled in the district during the 2022-2023 academic year, according to LAUSD figures.

Capital projects such as renovations are completely funded by bonds, Ortiz Franklin said. She added that there is currently a 30-year waiting list for classroom repayment and that not all classrooms are currently compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Ortiz Franklin said repaying the bond will require each homeowner in LA to pay around $9 a month extra in tax.

“We’re grateful that folks would say, ‘Yes, I’m happy to give $9 a month to help improve some of these facilities that literally can only be paid for through bond dollars,’” she said.

However, Shelley said she believes the tax increase could significantly raise the cost of living in Southern California because many landlords will pass the costs onto renters. She added that she does not believe technology is a good enough investment to justify taking out a 30-year loan because many of the purchased items will not last for 30 years.

“There wasn’t enough public input or outreach about it and how the money is to be allocated, and it’s a huge tax increase on the people of Los Angeles at a time when everyone is already paying higher electricity bills, higher gas bills, higher food bills. And this is going to raise property taxes,” Shelley said.

Measure US has also been controversial because its proposal was submitted only two days before the deadline.

The decision to submit the measure close to the deadline was tactical to make it more difficult for opponents to prepare their campaign, Ortiz Franklin said. She added that by submitting the proposal late, the board hoped to hamstring attempts to call the bond’s increased spending unnecessary.

“There are some folks in opposition generally to increase taxes, and the more advanced notice you give people, the stronger of a campaign against you they can prepare and run,” Ortiz Franklin said.

Shelley said she believes attempts to avoid scrutiny on the measure were dishonest and an attempt to mislead voters about how widespread opposition to tax increases are.

D. Michael Hamner, the chair of the LAUSD Bond Oversight Committee, also said during an Aug. 7 school board meeting that committee members did not feel they had been sufficiently consulted about the measure because of how late it was submitted. He added that even though he understands the district has pressing needs, there was not enough consultation on the bond.

“The BOC … has valuable insights to share that could have informed policymakers and help ensure this bond measure was structured to be as effective as possible,” Hamner said at the meeting. “The process by which this bond measure was developed and put forward, without consultation of key stakeholders groups such as ourselves, and therefore outside public view, prevents us from providing any meaningful comment.”

The Bond Oversight Committee did not respond to the Daily Bruin’s request for comment.

Voters in Westwood will also vote on Measure LL, which would change the way school board district maps are drawn.

Ortiz Franklin said the measure – which she cowrote official arguments in favor of – was created after a recording was leaked of city council members discussing gerrymandering along racial lines in October 2022. She added that she is supporting the measure because she is hoping it will provide for fairer, more transparent elections.

“When you have elected officials appointing the people who look at the maps, who look at the numbers, who get to say which communities that are represented by which elected official, it can get really uncomfortable and sketchy and inappropriate,” Ortiz Franklin said. “It’s great to prevent things like that by having as many objective processes as possible.”

[Related: Los Angeles City Council explores expansion, ethics reform]

Mindy Romero, the director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy at the University of Southern California, said independent redistricting will ensure elections are fair and increase trust.

“We have a long history of abuse by those who are redrawing lines to favor them, or at least to ensure that they will be reelected or their colleagues could be reelected,” Romero said.

Alejandra Ponce De León, the senior manager of Political Voice at Catalyst California, a racial justice advocacy group, said the change will also create more socioeconomic and ethnic diversity in the people who are making redistricting decisions, ensuring that the school board districts are fair and representative.

LA City Councilmember Paul Krekorian also said school board redistricting is currently partially controlled by the city, which has different constituency boundaries than the school district. He added that Measure LL was proposed in line with Measure DD – a similar measure that would create independent redistricting for the city council.

No opposition arguments were submitted in response to Measure LL. The independent redistricting commission will cost LAUSD $6,161,630 over its lifetime, according to a financial impact statement written by City Administrative Officer Matthew Szabo.

Ortiz Franklin said when it comes to the measures, she hopes UCLA students will have the stamina to research the issues and vote on local measures.

“I love that UCLA students are getting involved and educated and hopefully making some good decisions on behalf of their broader LA student base,” she said. “A lot of students either were LA Unified students, or maybe they’ll stay in LA and their kids will eventually be in LA Unified schools, and then they’ll get to benefit from the passage of this bond.”

Los Angeles residents can vote in-person Tuesday at the Ackerman Student Union, the Hammer Museum or De Neve Plaza, among other locations across the county. Voters can also submit a vote-by-mail ballot as long as it is postmarked by election day.

Contributing reports by Martin Sevcik, Daily Bruin senior staff.