by Joe » Fri Feb 24, 2012 12:32 pm
Maybe a start would be for those in charge of this school district to start being honest.
In April, new superintendant Durand comes before the Greenfield city council (I can provide the tapes if necessary) and says "We just figured out we have been paying $42,000 a year for the 3 summer months when school is out to maintain the athletic fields. We don't know WHO is using them, so we can't charge for them. Therefore the CITIES should pay the schools from their general funds. He indicated he also made that request to Rockford and Corcoran. (this despite the use calendar is on his own school website)
A few months later suddenly he comes across with this great plan to take our city park and get money to put a "varsity baseball field" on it (again, I can provide tapes and documents). Furthermore, the school will kick in $100,000 towards this (not fighting for money suddenly?? - maybe he should have spent that on the $500 it would take to replace the rusty electrical boxes).
At that time, a member of the school board, Chuck Tryon stated upon request of a council member that there were no referendums planned from the school district. Of course this was a flat out lie, as reviewing the school board meetings later showed it had not only been discussed, but DECIDED that there would be a Feb. vote. Of course, he disclaimed it by 'well, if something breaks we might have to ask for money to fix it'. Legally, did he lie? No. Was he truthful and forthcoming knowing the INTENT of the question? NO.
As soon as that project fell throught, here comes this bond. And what do you think is in it? Yes, ANOTHER varsity baseball field, with almost $6M of sports spending.
Which part of "we are struggling to pay our bills while watching property values plummet" don't people get? Have you noticed how much support the Vikings have right now for their billion dollar handout? Did anyone ever think, wow ... this sounds just as unreasonable as what THEY'RE asking for? No .. they just said .. if we sneak this in with things that people would HAVE to vote for, we can have our cake and eat it too. And I know, that is what Durand must need to happen for him to get his $10,000 raise on his 3 year anniversary. I'm sure he's just as concerned for this community as he was in his last 6 districts.
While opposing this bond, I consistently said how happy I was that they showed their true colors by grabbing for the most outrageous amount they could think of. Durand has apparently told people that next year he's going to up it to $30 million. He don't get it. If the school board had put something practical past - REPAIRS only - It would have been significantly more cost effective, and would have had a much better chance of passing, and would not have gotten nearly the resistance.
Greed doesn't work. PERIOD.