Week in review

offender takes plea deal

A registered sex offender who purposely kept his pants on while masturbating in front of two young girls at a Colma Target store to avoid a felony charge of indecent exposure pleaded no contest this week to misdemeanor lewd conduct.

William Louis Lemay III, a 49-year-old transient from Alameda County, was immediately sentenced to 120 days in jail and two years probation. He receives credit for 15 days and must stay away from the Colma Target store.

Lemay, who was convicted of felony indecent exposure and theft in 2005, was on parole when around 3:10 p.m. March 31 Colma police arrested him at the 5001 Junipero Serra Blvd. store. Police reported he masturbated underneath his clothes at different times and in different locations in the Target store in front of an 8-year-old and an 11-year-old girl.

Lemay volunteered to police at the time of arrest, "This is not a 314. I never showed my penis,” referring to the Penal Code section for indecent exposure, a felony, which requires the genitals to be uncovered.

Speier goes to Washington

Former state senator Jackie Speier succeeded in her bid to represent the 12th Congressional District, fulfilling a goal she first set for herself 29 years ago.

Speier first ran for the seat as a young legislative legal council who survived gunfire in Guyana, which killed the U.S. Rep. Leo J. Ryan. She lost the campaign to fill her assassinated boss’ seat in 1979, but won this week with 79.9 percent of the vote in San Mateo County. The 12th Congressional District represents most of San Mateo County and a southern portion of San Francisco. Tom Lantos held the seat for27 years and was expected to defend the seat against Speier in November, but died Feb. 11 of esophageal cancer.

District faces tax trouble

Flawed ballot language limiting the San Mateo Union High School District means property owners could pay taxes for an additional 15 years to complete the goals of Measure M or construction will be scaled back 40 percent.

Voters passed Measure M, a $298 million bond measure, in 2006 which included language limiting the debt to 25-year bonds. Ordinarily, districts have the option of utilizing up to 40-year bonds. The voter-approved language restricts the district’s ability to fund the promised projects, said Superintendent David Miller during a press conference this week. Now, the district is petitioning the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors to amend the bond language allowing the use of both 25-year and 40-year bonds. The change would extend taxpayers payments up to an additional 15 years — from 2037 to 2052 — but allow the district to finish the original renovation plans.

Measure M outlines that the last set of bonds could be issued in 2012 for 25 years. The last payment by taxpayers would be made in 2037 using those restrictions. Following those dates, however, could not generate the $298 million, said Chief Business Official Liz McManus.

Four options to fix the problem were put before the board: Extend the bond issuance period to 2022 instead of 2012; extend the issuance period and use loans to fill the gaps; increase the tax rate from $16 per $100,000 of assessed value to $23.21; or issue a combination of 25-year and 40-year bonds.

The last option was approved unanimously by the board in March. It would require the last series of bonds to be issued in September 2012 for 40 years meaning taxpayers would make their last payment in 2052, said McManus. This plan calls for the projects to be completed by 2012 instead of 2013 and a $7 million cushion.