By Linda Sutter -December 11, 2021 Ignorance runs rampant at board meeting. The Citizens Oversight Committee (COC) meeting regarding the $25 million school bond met Friday, December 10th at 3:00 pm. Only four Board members showed up out of the 7 members needed for compliance but that is typical. Three of the Board Members quit due to the fact they could see the corruption that exists and didn’t want anything to do with it. The only Board Member who actually is holding the COC accountable is Angelina Countess-Bieber. Several items were placed on the Agenda and when members of the public approached the podium to ask questions the Chair Steve Lyons sat there in his chair and said nothing. Not one board member would answer any question posed by the public. One such item that was questioned was regarding the tiny house shop building built behind the high school. When a public member questioned whether this project was included with Measure A, the public member was met with cold silence from the board members. When the public member informed the board members this was a Brown Act Violation, Board Member Karen Sanders, stated, “You are only allowed to comment and cannot ask questions.” Ms. Sanders then goes on to ask the public member what governmental meetings allow you to ask them questions? The response she got was, “the City Council and the Board of Supervisors.” Karen Sanders then shakes her head NO to the public member, and the public member placed Ms. Sanders in Check by stating, “You are never at the public meetings so how would you know?” Later in the meeting, the Chair Steve Lyons became hostile towards the public, got up out of his chair, and took a flex stance toward a tax-paying public member who was criticizing his performance as a board member. One minute after a public member began to speak, Steve Lyons not only took a flex stance but yelled out, “Recess,” cut the microphone, and walked out of the room. This violated not only the Brown Act but public members’ First Right Amendment rights to speak. The public should be concerned and this is why. Throughout the meeting when the public is informing the COC there are serious issues with the $25 million dollar school bond in spending double and triple money on the same project, it fell on deaf ears. Steve Lyons, Karen Sanders, and Jessica Curry refuse to acknowledge any problems or issues. The three of them do not have the concept or understanding they are representing the public and the public is supposed to depend on their honesty and integrity of what they write or approve in the COC report. So the question to ask the public is this, If you were a board member and the public asked about double and triple expenditures on school projects, would you blow them off or would you investigate what they were saying?