School board member says he won’t resign
BY DAVID RICHARDS - EDITOR@SIERRASTAR.COM

Bert McSwain

In a final report released Tuesday, the 2004 Madera County grand jury is recommending the resignation of a member of the Yosemite Union High School District Board of Trustees.

The report, as described in its introduction, stems from a complaint filed by a private citizen alleging a board member does not reside in the area in which he has been elected.
The individual who made the complaint is not identified in the report, nor is the board member the complaint refers to, but Bert McSwain, a board member since 1988, confirmed Tuesday he is the subject of the report.

“It’s every citizen’s right to do these types of things, but they have to be justified,” 80-year-old McSwain said, of the complaint. “They have to have proof and nobody has this.”

The grand jury’s report indicates this is the second inquiry into the issue as the 1998-1999 grand jury also spearheaded an investigation based on a previous complaint.

“Their findings at the time indicated that the Madera County Clerk’s Office confirmed that the address listed by the board member is within the boundaries of the Yosemite Union High School District,” Tuesday’s report reads.

“They also indicated that there was no evidence to suggest that the board member’s permanent address is anything other than the address listed on registered voting polls. With all due respect to the 1998-1999 Madera County grand jury, their investigation was brief and not in depth.”

McSwain responded to the report and called the complaint ridiculous.
He said he has been a resident in Madera County since 1988 and added that he has owned his Bass Lake area home since approximately the late 1970s.

He also said that his wife owns a business in Fresno and, while he retired in 1986 from the Pacific Gas & Electric Company, is employed with his wife’s business.

McSwain said he commutes back and forth between Fresno and Bass Lake and has been a tax-paying resident of Madera County since the late 1980s.

The report addressed these issues.

“It was confirmed that the board member in question indeed did pay property taxes on a parcel owned in the Bass Lake area of the school board and that he consistently votes in Madera County,” the report reads. “It was also confirmed that the board member in question owns a home in Fresno and lives there for a majority of his time as his wife owns and operates a business out of that home.”

Officials at the elections division of the Madera County Clerk’s Office verified that McSwain is a resident of Madera County and a registered voter.

“In order to run for office, he has to be a registered voter in the community that he runs,” said Susan Conner, chief assistant, county-clerk recorder.

A representative at the Madera County Assessor’s Office also confirmed that McSwain does own his Bass Lake area home.
The grand jury’s report raised questions about the representation McSwain can give with his situation.

“How is it that the area really does get representation on the school board if the school board member does not live in the community to know how the community thinks and feels?” the report reads.
McSwain disagrees and said that he is readily available to area residents.

“I’ve done it,” he said.

He added his Bass Lake area phone number is in the phone book and said he can access his messages when he is not in the area.

“On weekends, when I have time in the late afternoon or early evening, I’ll take out the phone book and flip to the Oakhurst and surrounding areas section,” he said. “If it’s in Bass Lake, Ill call them and introduce myself.”

Priscilla Pike, also a board member, said McSwain has been a popular choice by voters.

“The last time he was up for re-election,” she said, “he received more votes than anyone running in that election. That pretty well let’s you know that he’s supported by the voters and that’s rather important, I would say.”

At the end of the report, the grand jury lists four recommendations.
The jury first recommends the board member resign.

“Since a safe assumption would be that the board member does not indeed live full time in the school district area that he is representing, it is a recommendation of this grand jury that the school board member should resign his duties as a trustee of the Yosemite Union High School District School Board,” the report reads.
McSwain said he does not intend to do that.

“I am a resident of the Yosemite High School District,” he said, from his Bass Lake area home. “I have been since I moved up here and I will continue to be even if I am defeated in an election, but I will not resign.”
The report lists three other recommendations, including recommending the board rewrite and redefine the school board member requirements; that all future school board members be held to their integrity and honesty in regards to their residence and other requirements; and that the 2004 Madera County grand jury charges the 2005 Madera County grand jury with the follow-up of the recommendations as outlined in this report.

On Wednesday, Bill McCabe, superintendent of the Yosemite Union High School District, issued a two-page statement.

“The grand jury rules provide us with 90 days to issue a formal response,” the statement reads. “That response will be made available to the community and will ease any concern that the community may have.

“While we prepare that response, we do want the community to know that the grand jury’s report is directly contradictory to the conclusions reached in the past inquiry. We also note that the new report lacks any discussion of the law of residency and board elections which we believe allows Mr. McSwain to hold this position.”

McCabe’s final paragraph added this about McSwain.
“Mr. McSwain is an excellent and dedicated board member and Bass Lake resident.”