LOV Director: 'We Will Survive'

"We will survive," League of Volunteers (LOV) executive director Shirley Sisk told Patch the morning after Newark Unified School District trustees rejected a proposed lease agreement and loan repayment package Tuesday night. 

LOV owes the school district approximately $67,000 in unpaid rent. The nonprofit organization uses the former Ruschin Elementary School campus for its offices and the MacGregor Alternative Education Center for its Bingo games.

"I was disappointed," Sisk said about the trustees' vote. "I didn't know until last night that we wouldn't get to use MacGregor."

Now she will have to find replacement offices and a new Bingo site.

"We are already looking for a place to move to and we will," Sisk said.

She said a real estate broker will donate services and fees to help in the hunt and that she hopes the school district will give LOV until August to relocate.

That rejected agreement would have permitted LOV Newark to pay $10,000 toward past due payments and pay an additional $1,800 per month from Bingo revenues it would generate by continuing to rent space at MacGregor.

Trustees Charlie Mensinger, Nancy Thomas and Gary Stadler voted against the agreement Tuesday night, characterizing the losses from the relationship as "money off of our kids' backs" as Stadler put it.

Sisk said LOV remains committed to repaying what it owes. 

She said LOV's board of directors will meet Thursday night to help chart the organization's next steps.

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• School Board to Vote on Draft of Lease Agreement with LOV Newark
• LOV's Executive Director Responds to Dispute With School District