Board of Trustees Meeting - Thursday, February 10, 2005



This is it. This is the final countdown. Now, more than ever, we have to unite and make that final extra push. If nothing else, please do the following:

1) Please write a letter as outlined below. A sample letter is available in the side bar to the right. Just click to print, sign and mail.

2) Please make a point to appear at the Board of Trustees meeting as mentioned below. We have to show our solidarity.

If you haven't already read this all before, the Fountain Valley School District is planning to sell former school sites for residential development as single-family and low-income housing. The Wardlow Field, is being used not just by the community children but other children and youth groups as well. Most notably, HeadStart, the Boys & Girls Club, the American Youth Soccer Organization and Huntington Valley Little League to name a few. Mark McGwire himself funded the redevelopment of this field into the great little league baseball diamonds that we have today. Needless to say, if we lose the Field it's not the adults who will be affected but the KIDS!!!

By some estimates, the Huntington Valley Little League, Mark McGwire and the City of Huntington Beach have, combined, spent well over $350,000 (since 1998) on various and sundry improvements. Most notably, the creation of "Inspiration Field". If these organizations had any idea that in less than 10 years these donated funds would be squandered, I wonder if they would have been quite so forthcoming. Imagine, in 6 short years, $350,000 wasted. As none of these entities are listed on the title to the land, nor with liens on the property, they stand to gain, not a penny, once the Real Estate is sold. Is that fair? I think not.

When Mark McGwire gave us the money to build Inspiration Field, we were in the running with another community in St Louis.  A community who really needed the funds more than us, and probably would have never considered tearing it down 6 years later.  I am more than a little embarrassed that the Fountain Valley School District doesn't treasure such a generous donation and gift to our children.

This is an issue that you may or may not be aware of but this will certainly affect hundreds if not thousands of children in the community not to mention your children’s future. We believe in saving Wardlow Field as it is right now not only for the adults but for the children and the youth yet unborn. Should you support this endeavor please contact or send your letter and comments to the District Board and voice your opinion on this very important matter.

The Board of Trustees will meet on February 10, 2005 to finalize their plans regarding this field. If they decide to sell the fields, then our children will suffer a tremendous, irreversible loss. If you feel strongly about this, please attend the meeting on the 10th, as this will be open to all interested parties. It will be held at:

Fountain Valley School District
District Office Board Room
17210 Oak Street, Fountain Valley CA 92708
(714) 843-3200

Alternatively, you might also consider writing letter to your collective representatives. A list has been provided at the end of this article.

Additionally, please tell everyone you know about this issue and send them a link to this web-log. Here is the best place where people can go to and see for themselves why we need to save our field and keep up on what's going on. The address is: http://www.saveourfield.org/

We fear that the School district is losing sight of what is most important and is instead paying more attention to their bottom line, rather than the kids. We hope that we can count on your support regarding this very important matter.

Alan Gandall
President
SaveOurField.org

Here's a link to a map where the meeting will take place:



Additional alternate letter recipients:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol
Sacramento, Ca 95814
916-445-2841
http://www.governor.ca.gov/state/govsite/gov_homepage.jsp

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer
2250 E. Imperial Hwy, #545
El Segundo, Ca 90245
310-414-0980
http://www.senate.gov/~boxer/

U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein
11111 Santa Monica Blvd., #915
Los Angeles, Ca 90025
310-914-7300
http://www.senate.gov/~feinstein/

U.S. Representative Dana Rohrabacher
45th District
101 Main Street, #36
Huntington Beach, Ca 92648
960-6480
http://www.house.gov/rohrabacher/

State Assemblyman Tom Harman
67th District
17011 Beach Blvd.
Suite 570
Huntington Beach, CA 92647
Phone: (714) 843-4966
Fax: (714) 843-6375
http://republican.assembly.ca.gov/members/


State Senator Ross Johnson
35th District
18552 MacArthur Blvd., #395
Irvine, Ca
949-833-0180
http://republican.sen.ca.gov/web/35/

Posted: Mon - January 31, 2005 at 10:26 PM          

©