One of my early posts on this blog was about the infamous Los Angeles School District construction fiasco where LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District) built a $170-million High School on an old oil field tract of land that had bubbling gases oozing out of the ground even as construction continued. It is considered a classic case study on how an inept School District mismanaged a construction project, and the entire school had to be torn down due to the environmental problems that were ignored.
Now, the Video News service "Full Disclosure" has issued a collection of CD's of interviews of all the participants and observers in the mess and it is quite enlightening. Below is the press release, but go to their webpage and watch the 7-minute YouTube preview of the CD series. If you are a School Board member, construction manager, etc. you should get his series to ensure you don't make the same mistakes.
vj
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from:
http://www.emediawire.com/releases/BELMONT_LASCHOOLS/SCHOOL_CONSTRUCTION/prweb883694.htm
Full Disclosure Network® Presents: LAUSD's "Belmont The World's Most Expensive High School" a Commemorative DVD Collection from the Cable TV Series
To Commemorate the official opening celebration for the notorious Belmont Learning Center by the Los Angeles Unified School District the Full Disclosure Network® is releasing a Collectors DVD Series entitled "Belmont The World's Most Expensive High School". The opening ceremonies are set for Saturday, April 26, 2008.
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) April 23, 2008 -- The Full Disclosure Network® is releasing a Collectors Series of interviews on DVD entitled "Belmont the World's Most Expensive High School". This series is composed of hour-long interviews with each of the experts who were responsible for the planning, construction, financing and investigations of the controversial Belmont project. The series provides in-depth insight into how the Los Angeles Unified School District managed to spend over a half a Billion dollars while constructing, demolishing, and re-constructing the never occupied school.
Presented here is a video featuring clips from the series with all the players involved in the Belmont project. The school has been renamed twice since the trouble plagued project began in the late 1980's starting with the purchase ("as is") of the 30 acre site formerly known as the "Old Los Angeles Oil Field".
Watch this nine minute video preview from the Collectors Series of 23 DVDs, all interviews that have been featured on 45 cable television channels. More information on the series is available on the URL: http://www.fulldisclosure.net/belmont_learning_center_and_LAUSD.htm
The still partially completed school is expected to open its doors to students in September 2008. The opening ceremony will be held on Saturday, April 26, 2008 is to be attended by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and District officials in anticipation of the facility to be open for students and classes in September 2008.
Here are a few quotes from Belmont Investigators interviewed in the series:
* Roger Carrick, special legal counsel to the LAUSD Inspector General who served on the D.A.'s Task force investigation of Belmont told Full Disclosure, "What we found was enormous waste, fraud and abuse."
* Anthony Patchett Special Assistant District Attorney who headed the D.A.'s Task Force on Belmont referred to "the hundred and seventy five million dollar fraud known as Belmont Learning Center" and called Steve Cooley's report a "white wash".
* Steve Cooley: L.A. County District Attorney told Full Disclosure, "The Belmont learning center was probably the worst public works disaster perhaps in the history of the country, at least in terms of school building."
Full Disclosure Network® programs have been billed as "the news behind the news" since 1992 and are produced by Emmy Award winning Host Leslie Dutton and Producer T. J. Johnston. In 2002 the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences presented a local public affairs Emmy for the Full Disclosure Series entitled "L.A.'s War Against Terrorism".
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Contact info:
LESLIE DUTTON
Full Disclosure Network
310-822-4449
Email us Here
Leslie Dutton
Visit Our Site URL: http://www.fulldisclosure.net/belmont_learning_center_and_LAUSD.htm
310-822-4449
