Two foundations for the price of Home Ranch

Deirdre Newman

Two foundations are better than one.

That’s the philosophy the Costa Mesa City Council adopted in

deciding how to channel the $2 million it received as part of the

Home Ranch development agreement for three Costa Mesa schools.

The Segerstrom dynasty offered the $2 million years ago to sweeten

the deal for its massive project, slated for the property bordered by

the San Diego Freeway, Fairview Road, Harbor Boulevard and Sunflower

Avenue.

On Tuesday, the City Council approved the Segerstrom proposal for

two school foundations on a 3-1 vote, with Allan Mansoor dissenting

and Mayor Karen Robinson absent. One foundation will focus on Costa

Mesa High School, the other on Estancia High School and TeWinkle

Middle School. Each foundation will get $1 million.

The other two options under consideration each involved one

foundation that city officials would have established.

The two-foundation format is the best way to ensure the schools’

individual needs are met, Councilman Gary Monahan said.

“It became pretty obvious to me, after talking to the people

involved and looking at other foundations, that the two schools

needed their own individual foundations, and this is the best way to

get there,” Monahan said.

The city received the $2 million in July, but took painstaking

measures to explore various options that delayed the disbursement.

After six months of anticipation, Costa Mesa High School parent

Bonnie Saryan said she was thrilled the wait was over. Saryan lauded

the council’s decision as the one that gives parents the most control

over the foundations’ purse strings.

“It gives the parents [and the teachers] hands-on participation,”

Saryan said. “And [the spending] can be coordinated easier because

there are so many entities that deal with money at the schools.”

The foundations will each include between five and 15 board

members. The Segerstroms selected seven initial directors for the

Costa Mesa High School foundation and five original directors for the

Estancia/TeWinkle foundation last year.

Forrest Werner, one of the original members of the

Estancia/TeWinkle foundation, said these groups will have to take

stock and see if all their members still want to serve, since the

disbursement of the $2 million was significantly delayed.

“No one has met since [last summer], when the City Council kind of

poured cold water on the whole prospect,” Werner said. “So we have to

go back to square one, regroup, find out if the folks who were

interested are still interested and reconstitute our boards and look

for some fresh blood.”

The council diligently went step by step over the aspects of the

Segerstrom proposal, approving some as suggested and tweaking others.

The council restricted the use of the principal of the grant funds

to $50,000 for each foundation in the first year. Werner said the

intent of the original board members was to use the majority of that

money to hire an executive director to oversee fund-raising so both

foundations can build their monetary base.

The foundations won’t be able to use any of the funds on athletic

facilities or equipment and can’t use more than 25% on nonrevenue

generating athletic activities, such as after-school sports.

The foundations will not have to adhere to the strict Brown Act

rules governing meetings that the City Council does, but their

meetings will have to be open to the public and publicized at the

schools. Meetings regarding legal issues and fund-raising can be held

in closed session, though, council members said.

Saryan, who is poised to be the president of the Costa Mesa High

School Foundation, said she can’t wait for the school to start

reaping the financial benefits of the Segerstroms’ generosity.

“This is our first [foundation] and something we’ve needed for

many, many years,” said Saryan, whose twins are in eighth-grade at

the school. “Now we have the seed money to go out and raise funds and

make it happen. This will benefit the kids that are in kindergarten

right now when they get to [Costa Mesa High School].”

Estancia Principal Tom Antal said the major advantage of the

Estancia/TeWinkle foundation is that it can devote itself fully to

kids on the Westside.

“By having [up to]15 people, we can include enough people from

TeWinkle and Estancia to really get issues and have input and vision

that you don’t get with six or seven people trying to share two

schools,” Antal said. “There will be a lot of people involved and

those discussions should be pretty darn rich. I would think with

TeWinkle and Estancia, we will focus on the transition from sixth

grade though 12th and try to make a seamless education.”

Tom Wood, the acting city attorney, will now start drafting an

agreement between the city and the two foundations based on the

council’s approval.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN may be reached at (949) 574-4221 or by e-mail at

[email protected].