A Saugus Union School District meeting to discuss the future of the Santa Clarita Elementary School site quickly devolved into a shouting match led by an angry group of residents concerned about the district’s potential to put housing on the site.
Much of the anger seemed to come from posts several people said they found on social media contending that low-income housing is in the site’s future, which district officials said were ill-informed.
“There is no discussion of low-income housing at this location. It’s not on the agenda. I’m not sure why there’s posts that say that,” said Nick Heinlein, assistant superintendent of the school district. “I can say with confidence, we’ve never discussed low-income housing.”
Heinlein’s message did little to dissuade the crowd, which was so large, the committee leading the meeting made the rare decision to move it from a portable classroom to outside in order to make public comments more accessible.
The move, however, did not help with crowd control, as residents began shouting over each other as the committee tried to give residents a chance to speak.
Many of the residents in attendance were not aware the meeting did not include the district’s governing board, because it was the Asset Management Advisory Committee, which is tasked with recommending what to do with the property after the governing board voted to close the campus earlier this year.
Several also complained about the outreach ahead of the meeting. District officials said the meeting was posted online and through the district’s parental-notification system.
Heinlein speculated that the misunderstanding might have come from verbiage in the presentation posted online.
It states: “Teacher Housing Act of 2016 (H&S Code §53570, et seq.) Established a state policy for districts to facilitate affordable housing for employees,” and references financing mechanisms such as Low Income Housing Tax Credits.
The committee and its process is a legal requirement of the state after the Saugus district governing board voted to close down Santa Clarita Elementary in March, due to concerns about the potential cost of retrofitting the site built in the 1960s for earthquake-compliance.
The roles of the asset management committee, which is made of community volunteers who live in the district, includes: reviewing enrollment projections and other data to determine surplus space and real property; establishing a list of acceptable community uses; provide hearings for input on those plans; and giving the board a list of recommended uses based on those steps.
The committee, by statute, is made of a business owner, a landowner, a teacher, an administrator, a parent, an expert in environmental impact or legal contracts and an at-large member who represents the district’s demographic.
Prior to the start of public comments once the meeting was moved outside, a resident shouted at James Shea, who led the meeting as chair of the advisory board, asking him where he lived, implying he didn’t want affordable housing in his neighborhood.
“I live over there,” Shea replied, pointing across the street. “I walked here.”
The tone of discourse did not improve once the committee opened the floor to public comments, with the board deciding to call the meeting due to the audience shouting after about 15 minutes.
Another resident asked in frustration why residents were being given the opportunity to comment before any real information was presented.
Wednesday was the third meeting of the group with respect to the discussion, but the first mention of any details regarding teacher housing, which ultimately did not get discussed Wednesday due to the interruptions.
Some of the residents appeared to be upset about the outreach for the “district’s plans” on the proposal for affordable housing intended for teachers. This resulted in district officials repeatedly saying there was no actual plan yet, only proposals for discussion. Some indicated they didn’t want to see any housing there.
One resident asked why the site couldn’t be used for the library and community center the Saugus community has been promised for 20 years, to cheers from the crowd.
Once the meeting adjourned and the board went back inside the portable trailer where the meeting started, the asset-management board discussed its options for outreach and the next meeting.
“This was a site-tour day,” said Sarine Abrahamian, a consultant working for the district on the plans, told a resident, referring to the original goal of the meeting. The meeting’s agenda called for a site tour and a discussion of the district’s presentation about the housing proposal.
“Nobody was expecting this,” she added, referring to the crowd, saying the meeting was intended to be an “educational opportunity” for the group so it can know what the district’s options are.
The next meeting is scheduled to be held at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 9, in a space large enough to accommodate a crowd, according to officials.
