Heads of the Foundation speak on controversy, financial questions.

KHTS sat down for a special on air interview with Rick Patterson and Gary Condie, the President and Vice President of the Hart District Facilities Foundation.

Hear what they talked about by clicking here!

Foundation Vice President Gary Condie

The show touched upon recent criticism that the Foundation has received by some who think they’re withholding information.

“Right from the beginning, we have had a certified audit every year,” said Vice President Gary Condie. “After we started getting criticism, we tried to be more proactive, so for the last two years we’ve given out our annual report.”

Their most recent annual report was mailed to 55,000 homes in Santa Clarita.

“Were trying to put that information into people’s hands before they have to ask for it,” said Condie.

They also spoke about the overall mission of the Facilities Foundation, which is essentially to acquire land for the William S Hart School District. The Foundation is a non profit organization who has determined their sole beneficiary to be the District.

Sometimes, the job they do can get confusing, and may lead to more questions.

Take, for example the land that Golden Valley High School now sits on. That land was purchased by the Foundation for $18 million. Then, they entered into a deal with the City to give away some of the land so that it could be used for the Cross Valley Connector. In return, the City handled certain aspects in the development of the site for the Foundation.

Then, when the School District was ready to build, they bought the site from the Foundation at market value, which was $30 million.

That left a remainder of $12 million that was essentially “profit.” However, since the Foundation is not for profit, they have used that money to continue to conduct business that will benefit the District.

How they use that money can be seen in their annual report.

Click here to be transferred to the Foundation’s website where that information is available.