CBOC presses SFUSD for bond transparency and details on legal fees tied to George Washington murals

The Citizens Bond Oversight Committee's interim chair, Rex Ridgeway, told the Board of Education on May 10 that the committee cannot approve the 2020 audit until it receives a full accounting of bond expenditures. Ridgeway singled out payments to a law firm engaged over the George Washington High School mural litigation and said the CBOC had been given an incomplete accounting that listed a payment to "Remy Moss Manley LLP" without an amount or adequate documentation.

"We cannot approve the audit 2020 unless we know how much money has been expended," Ridgeway said, noting the 2016 bond program totals $744,000,000 and stressing the CBOC's duty to inform taxpayers how that money is spent.

District and legal response: Bond program staff and the district's counsel acknowledged improvements in website reporting and said multiple recommendations are being adopted. District counsel told the board that a line-item disclosure of attorney fees and detailed billing is subject to attorney'client privilege while litigation remains pending and that the district will respond to records requests once the case concludes.

Why it matters: CBOC members and multiple public commenters argued that paying bond funds to defend the district in a public-art lawsuit raises questions about eligible uses and public trust. Audit backlogs and a prior three-year lapse in CBOC activity were also raised as concerns.

Board follow-up: Commissioners asked staff to provide wrap-around audit documentation and to work with CBOC to enhance web-based transparency. Staff said they have been working on new reporting templates, site-level project pages and a CBOC subcommittee to review audits between monthly meetings.

Ending: The board did not overturn privilege claims at the meeting; Ridgeway said CBOC will continue to press for additional disclosures and for timely audits before asking voters to approve future bonds.