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Lobbying for lights
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| File PHoto Boosters President Dale Kline, (standing, left), at a recent school board meeting. |
Supporters of night games to weigh in Nov. 10
By Tim Omarzu
Marinscope Newspapers
Dale Kline, the President of the Novato High School Sports Boosters Club, has been leading the charge to get lights for night games installed at Novato and San Marin high schools.
But if the effort was a sporting event, the not-in-my-backyard contingent that opposes night lighting would be winning, he said.
“At this point, I’d say yes, absolutely. I blame myself,” Kline said, explaining that he didn’t encourage supporters of lights to come to two school board meetings when it was on the agenda.
“In the beginning, the thought was, ‘Let’s let the neighbors have their say,’” said Kline.
But Kline now thinks it was a “huge” mistake to let the neighbors’ concerns go unanswered. That’s partly because on Oct. 27 at a special Novato Unified School District board meeting about lights, school trustees Ross Millerick and Cindi Clinton “came out and said they would not support spending any of the remaining money for lights,” Kline said.
The remaining money in question is $24.5 million that the school district received from the state as partial reimbursement for $109 million in Measure A bond money that Novato voters approved in 2002. The state reimburses school districts for some capital improvements.
The original bond proposal listed projects for which bond money could be spent.
But the reimbursement money that the school district got from the state can be spent more flexibly on capital improvement projects that the board deems to be high priority, according to John Silvestrini, the school district’s Executive Director of Facilities.
“It’s much more flexible,” he said.
Solar panels and a new, district-wide burglar-alarm system were two things that trustees suggested spending the money on at the Oct. 27 meeting. Silvestrini told the Advance that solar panels have the advantage of saving the district money on its electricity bill, and that money could be used for something else.
Kline insists that installing lights at the high-school athletic fields would generate about $80,000 a year in net income to the district through fees to use the fields, gate fees and concession-stand sales.
“There’s absolutely no doubt in my head,” he said.
The school board is planning a special meeting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 10 to come up with a list of priorities of values it will use to decide how the money should be spent.
Kline plans to be at that meeting with as many supporters of night games as he can summon.
He said that his first estimate of about $800,000 for the cost of lights erred toward the high side; a San Francisco school just installed the 25-year-maintenance-free lights that Kline wants installed in Novato for less than $350,000, he said.
He wants the district to evaluate the lighting proposal.
“If I come back with a number … nobody’s going to believe it,” Kline said, since he’s pro-light. “The district hasn’t given it its due diligence, and that’s the bottom line.”
Maria Carillo High School in Santa Rosa has installed the type of directional field lights that Kline wants installed here. Maria Carillo also installed the same kind of public-address system that Kline would like to see installed in Novato.
“You can’t hear the P.A. system unless you’re sitting in the stands. It’s amazing,” Kline said. “I keep telling everyone to go (visit) Maria Carillo.”
But if the effort was a sporting event, the not-in-my-backyard contingent that opposes night lighting would be winning, he said.
“At this point, I’d say yes, absolutely. I blame myself,” Kline said, explaining that he didn’t encourage supporters of lights to come to two school board meetings when it was on the agenda.
“In the beginning, the thought was, ‘Let’s let the neighbors have their say,’” said Kline.
But Kline now thinks it was a “huge” mistake to let the neighbors’ concerns go unanswered. That’s partly because on Oct. 27 at a special Novato Unified School District board meeting about lights, school trustees Ross Millerick and Cindi Clinton “came out and said they would not support spending any of the remaining money for lights,” Kline said.
The remaining money in question is $24.5 million that the school district received from the state as partial reimbursement for $109 million in Measure A bond money that Novato voters approved in 2002. The state reimburses school districts for some capital improvements.
The original bond proposal listed projects for which bond money could be spent.
But the reimbursement money that the school district got from the state can be spent more flexibly on capital improvement projects that the board deems to be high priority, according to John Silvestrini, the school district’s Executive Director of Facilities.
“It’s much more flexible,” he said.
Solar panels and a new, district-wide burglar-alarm system were two things that trustees suggested spending the money on at the Oct. 27 meeting. Silvestrini told the Advance that solar panels have the advantage of saving the district money on its electricity bill, and that money could be used for something else.
Kline insists that installing lights at the high-school athletic fields would generate about $80,000 a year in net income to the district through fees to use the fields, gate fees and concession-stand sales.
“There’s absolutely no doubt in my head,” he said.
The school board is planning a special meeting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 10 to come up with a list of priorities of values it will use to decide how the money should be spent.
Kline plans to be at that meeting with as many supporters of night games as he can summon.
He said that his first estimate of about $800,000 for the cost of lights erred toward the high side; a San Francisco school just installed the 25-year-maintenance-free lights that Kline wants installed in Novato for less than $350,000, he said.
He wants the district to evaluate the lighting proposal.
“If I come back with a number … nobody’s going to believe it,” Kline said, since he’s pro-light. “The district hasn’t given it its due diligence, and that’s the bottom line.”
Maria Carillo High School in Santa Rosa has installed the type of directional field lights that Kline wants installed here. Maria Carillo also installed the same kind of public-address system that Kline would like to see installed in Novato.
“You can’t hear the P.A. system unless you’re sitting in the stands. It’s amazing,” Kline said. “I keep telling everyone to go (visit) Maria Carillo.”
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