Mr. John O’Leary, aka Mr. Watson, posted a blog and is moderating comments. I tried to comment twice but he rejected them because they did not agree with his point of view. So here is what I sent him with a little more detail:
As to the Glorietta property, you are just simply wrong Mr. Watson. I have explained this before and will try to explain this again.
The district leased the property as bare land. The leaseholder spent the millions of dollars to build and maintain the Assisted living facility. I do not need to explain to you how much more expensive a medical facility is to build as compared to standard commercial construction. The lessee pays $20,000/month to the district. That equals $240,000 per year. The lease also has an annual escalator clause so the rents will increase each year. The fact that the Lessee had to put in the MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS to construct the facility on the vacant leasehold is why they make more money in lease payments then they pay to the district. It’s really quite simple to understand. They need a return on their investment, as any investor would. I explained this to a CHS freshman and a MWS 7th grader last night. They had lots of questions but they got it. Maybe thats because they do get a great education in Coronado. Maybe you are suggesting the District should have spent School monies to build the facility. Really? We both know that is not only ridiculous but would also be illegal to use school monies for this. Had they not built the facility, the district would not be getting $20,000/month in rent. But in all fairness, had they not leased the land out and allowed the medical facility to be built, they would be able to sell the property for much more. But they wouldn’t have had the income for the last 20 years. And they probably would have sold it years ago for much, much less. However, the previous School Board did decide to lease the vacant land and I think they did a fine job in getting top rent for the land and an income stream to the district.
Your idea of taking out a mortgage is simply ludicrous! If they borrow $3.4M on the property, the payment would be around $20,000 per month, THEY SAME AS THE RENT THEY RECEIVE. So the district would have money for 1 year and payments for 20 years. What’s worse is the district would then lose the $20,000 income stream they receive every year after the 1st year for 20 years. You talk of mismanagement, well THIS would be short sided and would border on criminal mismanagement in my view. If I git this wrong, plea do clarify how this idea of mortgaging the property would would work. Unlike you previous blog, this is open to comment.
As for the pool, WE GET IT!!! It may not have been handled in the best fashion when it was built but they have worked hard to turn it around. I know you will never admit this because this is not really about the pool. After all, THE POOL DOES NOT GET A DIME OF SUBSIDY FROM THE GENERAL FUND ANYMORE. It is no longer being subsidized and still has a $500,000 reserve. BTW, when the District did subsidize it, it was for $100,000/year. Had they not built the pool, the district would have spent over that to support the water sports teams. Are you aware that when the City rebuilt the Municipal Pool years ago, using CDA funding by the way, the built it MUCH smaller than the original facility. It cannot handle Coronado Aquatics as has been stated before by City Pool staff. They are full. Now you might say, lets just do away with all sports and extra curricular activities. And do away with everything but the minimum three “R”s. That’s an option but not one most rationale people in Coronado want, in my opinion. Again, if we could go back and have a do over on the pool, perhaps it would have been handled differently or not built at all. But the district did a great job of turning it around and is to be applauded for it.
John, I make you this offer. Lets meet to discuss this and you can show me where you are wrong. I will even offer to pay for a neutral CPA to meet with us and perhaps he can end once and for all these bogus claims.
Buzz Fink
CHS Class of ’79
PS: If you don’t want to allow comments on your blog that are different then your own, then please close the blog to comments. As Colonel Jessop said in the Movie A Few Good Men said, YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH.
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