ALL 10 SPENDING-OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE APPLICANTS APPOINTED.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Palmdale School District trustees named all 10 applicants to its citizens committee that will oversee spending from the $25 million school-construction bond narrowly passed in November.

The 10 people were appointed after being interviewed by the board in closed session.

``We felt it was a small enough group that was manageable in terms of they could get the job done,'' trustee Sandy Corrales said. ``All 10 were present and that showed commitment on their part.''

The panel, which by state law must have a minimum of seven members, is mandated by Proposition 39, the 2000 state ballot measure that made it possible for school districts to pass bond measures with 55 percent of the vote, rather than the standard two-thirds majority.

The committee will not control spending but is mandated to ``actively review and report on the proper expenditure of taxpayers' money ...'' By law, the committee must present a public report once a year to the school board.

At least five of the members must represent different sectors of the community.

One must be active in a local business organization, another in a senior citizens organization and another in a taxpayers organization. Another must be a parent of a child in a Palmdale school, and another must be a parent active in a PTA or school site council.

The district still needs to find someone who comes from a taxpayer organization.

The 10 members are Rebeca Brown; Michael De Coux, a local businessman; Doug Dotter, the parent who chaired the Measure W campaign committee; Steve Fragas; Larry Freise, Antelope Valley Union High School District's coordinator of attendance and special projects; Felix LeMarinel, a Palmdale Education Foundation member; Jeff Little; Ken Meichtry; Tim Murphy; and Robert Richardson.

Meichtry and Murphy had run unsuccessfully for the Palmdale board in the November election.

The $25 million bond measure, approved Nov. 6 with a 25-vote margin after all the absentee and provisional ballots were counted, will pay for Golden Poppy and Ana Verde Plaza schools.