An architect and a general contractor will join the citizens committee that oversees the spending of a $21 million construction bond for improvements at Arroyo Grande High School.

Renovations on the high school are expected to be complete by fall.

Joe Crescione, an architect and former two-time Pismo Beach mayor, and Tom Murray, owner of Clean Cut Construction, have been appointed as new members of the Lucia Mar Unified School District's 11-member Bond Oversight Committee.

Next month, the men will attend their first committee meeting since their Jan. 22 appointment by the school board.

“The nice thing about those guys is their experience in construction,” said committee Chairman Carroll Pruett. “They're experienced in school construction, so there's no learning curve, so they'll be productive immediately.”

The Citizens Bond Oversight Committee is a committee of Lucia Mar parents, local financial experts and others from throughout Arroyo Grande.

“It's quite a commitment of time, and you want to have a broad spectrum of people,” said school board President Erik Howell.

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The committee's primary purpose is to provide annual audits of major bond construction projects in the district, make sure bond money is used only for the purposes specified in the bonds, and act as advisors to the school board, Pruett said.

Crescione and Murray are filling the vacancies left by two other members who resigned.

Neither appointee is a stranger to community involvement or school construction bond projects.

“I'm always happy to help,” said Murray.

As the owner of Clean Cut Construction, Murray helped build Grover Beach's skate park and is a member of the board of San Luis Obispo Green Build.

SLO Green Build is an organization that provides peer reviews on the energy efficiency of buildings and other construction projects.

Thus, Murray said, he will focus as much as possible on advising the board to make energy efficient choices.

“It's a little late in the game, but if I have the opportunity, I will certainly be encouraging the district to look carefully at those issues.”

Crescione is an architect whose wife, Marcia, was a teacher with the Oceano School District early in her career, before it eventually merged with Lucia Mar.

“The school district plays a very, very, big part of our family,” Crescione said. “It's my way of paying (the district) back, by providing a service to them.”

After graduating from Cal Poly, Crescione first became Pismo's mayor in 1973.

He eventually moved to Yolo County - near Sacramento - when he was offered a job as the county architect. Later, he eventually got a job with the state, but his heart was always on the coast.

Upon his retirement, Crescione moved back to San Luis Obispo County and was on the Pismo Beach City Council and eventually became mayor the second time around.

A newspaper advertisement about a vacant spot on the oversight committee grabbed his attention.

“I saw that this would be something that I could certainly get myself into after having handled millions and millions of dollars of worth of (construction) projects,” he said with a laugh.

District officials said they are excited to have Crescione and Murray on board.

“The bottom line is we have two very good members of the Citizens Bond Oversight Committee,” said Howell.

Natalie Ragus can be reached at 347-4580 or nragus@santamariatimes.com.

February 3, 2008