Sweetwater District To Examine Shady Land Deal
By Ana Gomez Salcido
The Sweetwater Union High School District Board approved the assistance of a an outside financial group to examine a property deal made by then-Superintendent Ed Brand in 2005.
The School Board approved the deal on a 5 to 0 vote during the regular board meeting held at their administration center board room on Monday, June 13.
The land deal involves a property on L Street in Chula Vista near Bay Boulevard purchased by the District in 2005. Critics have complained for years that the land deal seems suspicious both in the way it was purchased and how it was handled by Superintendent Brand. The District spent $24 million in bond dollars to purchase the property, but transferred the ownership to a non-profit organization called the California Trust for Public Schools, and an LLC called Plan Nine Partners.