On Aug. 5, the San Jose Unified School District Board of Trustees unanimously approved a recommendation that established a process for replacing committee members who resign. If membership in the 15-member committee should fall below 12 or if one of the required categories is not represented, district staff will convene an interview committee, advertise for new members, conduct interviews and recommend the appointments to the board of education for approval. If the interviews yield more qualified candidates than the committee has space for, the unselected applicants will appear on a ranked waiting list.

"The recommendation is a sound one," says San Jose Unified School District Associate Superintendent Jerry Matranga. "It will allow the district to keep meeting committee requirements and maintain a broad spectrum of members from the community."

San Jose Unified School District retiring Superintendent Linda Murray concurs with Matranga's approval of the recommendation. "It is important to maintain a certain number of members on the committee," she says. "If, for instance, people have job requirements and can't serve, or they move, or find that it is more work to take on than they initially thought, the committee should keep a set level and have a preapproved list of qualified candidates. We need a pool of people that are available."

Although San Jose Unified School District Board of Trustees member Carol Myers, who represents Willow Glen schools, agrees that the Measure F Citizens' Bond Oversight Committee should maintain a certain number of members, she raises a concern over the number of members.

"We need more than 12 people on the Citizens' Bond Oversight Committee," she says. "In fact, I think we should have at least 15. Because we have so many subcommittees, we have had people drop off or disappear. Also, what if people have health emergencies or family issues?"

Should unexpected emergencies or waning interest prevent members from participating in the committee, Myers is in favor of having a preapproved list of qualified candidates.

She says, "Once you have gone through the interviewing process and have four or five qualified people on reserve, why go back and have interviews again? Then you have to advertise and go through the process again. People get fed up and drop off, and the pool of candidates gets shallow."

Myers, however, is critical of the district's level of involvement in selecting committee members. She says, "The school district needs to be at arm's length in the interviewing process, because you lose objectivity. We should have a citizen-driven committee, with no one but citizens involved in selecting the candidates."

Former Measure F Citizens' Bond Oversight Committee Chairman Dave Fadness reiterates Myers' suggestion. He says, "When the appointers seek out people and get them to step forward, the people they find are not necessarily as interested as those who step forward of their own accord. They don't attend meetings as frequently. It's exasperating." Fadness chose not to seek reappointment on the committee.

Current Measure F Citizens' Bond Oversight Committee Chairman Alan Rice, who took over Fadness' seat, is more comfortable with the district's involvement in the committee. Although he says he has mixed feelings about maintaining a preapproved list, he calls the recommendation a good compromise.

"With the new process, there is no way of knowing what area or category will be underrepresented in advance. I would like to see the district selection committee meet every time a member drops out, but I understand that this is difficult."

But he adds, "If a pool is established, then things like geographic boundaries and categories should not come into play. Anyone who is qualified should be put on that list."

Established in 2002 in accordance with the Strict Accountability in Local School Construction Bonds Act, the Measure F Citizens' Bond Oversight Committee monitors how the district spends the bond's $429 million over 30 years to repair aging campuses.