Why I Circulated the D-15 Bond Petition
Let your voice be heard Nov. 2nd.
To tell you the truth – I had no intention of getting involved in this one. Let someone else do it – I spent enough time going to school board meetings, writing up detailed notes on the weekends and then publishing them online.
I didn't even attend the March 10thCommunity Consolidated School District 15 Board of Education meeting when the resolution to borrow $27 million for a working cash fund was voted on – and narrowly approved with a 4 to 3 decision.
There was an article in the newspaper the next day and another a week later about a group of citizens looking for volunteers to circulate a petition. They wanted to stop the bond sale and let the voters decide the issue in November. They wanted to know why these funds were needed now and reasoned that this would give the district several months to educate the community.
Curiosity got the best of me and I requested the DVD of the meeting from the district. I watched, listened and transcribed a few notes to post online.
What I soon realized is that the district's primary goal was to find out how much money they could borrow without taxpayer approval. It didn't matter whether they had to refinance old debt and max out their credit in the future. What seemed to matter most was how much they could have now. Figuring out how to spend it was secondary.
The majority of the board that voted yes did not ask any questions during the bond consultant's elaborate presentation that evening. Did they have the financial background to know what to ask and know if the answer given was correct? Were their minds made up before they even entered the room? Selling bonds surely is a complicated matter.
The board minority did ask questions. They even proposed borrowing a lesser amount that would cover necessary building repairs for a few years and gave their reasons.
But the majority seemed to have made up their minds – it was all or nothing.
No discussion. No counter proposal. No compromise.
That is why I chose to circulate the petition. It is why I knocked on my neighbors' doors and stood in the cold (and rain) at the post office. It is why I spoke with strangers inside and outside the village hall during a tax appeal meeting.
It wasn't simply a matter of letting others know what happened at a school board meeting. It was a matter of taking a stand for openness, transparency and accountability in our school district.
Today with less than 30 days until the November election, the district has yet to hold a public meeting or post information on their web site as to why anyone should vote yes.
However, two community groups – Citizens for Accountability in D15 and District 15 Parents Involved in Education - have provided their reasons to vote no.
Don't dismiss the efforts of almost 200 petition circulators and 7,500 petition signatures with your silence.
Get involved. Educate yourself, ask questions and demand answers.
Most importantly, be sure to vote Nov. 2 - whether it be yes or no.
Mark
9:25 am on Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Exactly the reasons why I too circulated the petition. This mentality of maxing out the debt has got to end. When bond issues come due for expiration, rather than let the debt level decline and give the taxpayers a break, they then try to issue new debt on the argument that "it won't increase the tax levy". The tax bar just goes up and up, never down.
Louise
11:07 am on Thursday, October 7, 2010
The 3/10/10 board meeting was disgusting. It was obvious the municipal bond investment banker had orders to present one main proposal: to borrow and structure a bond deal so the district would max out the debt limit and stay under the statutory limit to avoid a referendum ballot question. When some of the minority board members asked questions about a lesser bond amount the investment banker begged off ignorance. It was clear the $27 million bond deal was to be rammed through; just as the board majority planned all along. We now have a referendum question on the ballot because of the remarkable citizen petition drive.
celtic citizen
7:04 pm on Thursday, October 7, 2010
I notice that the title of the column is called "education matters". Nowhere in Ms. Mondy's article does she mention anything about students or education. It costs money to educate students. Our voters said NO to the referendum several years ago because the tax watch groupies ran a very effective scare campaign about ridiculously high taxes. Congratulations, all you tax watch groupies- we now have higher class sizes, schools falling into disrepair, and a school district budget on the brink of disaster.
Here we go again- let's not raise our taxes, let minimally informed voters have their say even though the group of educators who have knowledge and experience, and the board of education (whom the voters elected and who followed a legal decision-making process) made the LEGAL decision regarding the bond. Because some of you tax watch groupies don't like it, you pull the focus away from what is BEST FOR STUDENTS and scare people with the specter of out of control taxes. Shame on you.
Let's hope the voters remember that there are children involved here. Voters, FULLY inform yourselves and remember that our children really do deserve the best possible education.
Louise
8:53 pm on Thursday, October 7, 2010
CC – Perhaps you missed it but we just saw the past superintendent resign and run out of town and the most recent past business manager was a temp. These are the people who were involved with $27 million working cash bond deal. This “knowledge and experience” hardly inspires confidence. Perhaps if this sterling group had bothered to inform the public on the merits of working cash bonds, maxing out the debt limit thus hog tying future administrations and boards there would not have been such an outcry. My question: how is spending education tax dollars on refunding fees, penalties, and compounded interest expense “BEST FOR STUDENTS”? It seems it is only best for the municipal bond industry.
Vicki Wilson
11:43 pm on Thursday, October 7, 2010
Celtic Citizen, you are so misguided. It seems as though you have no grasp as to what is actually happening in this district. You seem to live in a fantasy world where facts mean nothing. This district has shown that they care very little for the kids. That is the problem. Please stop spreading your lies.
mary vanek
7:29 am on Friday, October 8, 2010
I get so tired of these retired educators who keep insisting that every dollar borrowed, every penny levied is "for the kids". If the District hadn't unreasonably increased employee salary and benefits in 2009 when revenues for the District had flatlined, maybe the District would be in better shape. But for the knowledgeable and experienced educators, there is no such thing as a spending problem, there are only revenue problems. If the experienced knowledgeable former educators on the school board were smart they would have dropped the bond issue, waited a year and gone for a full out tax increase referendum. The way they are spending money they are going to need that in the near future, but they aren't going to get it because nobody has any money to spare and nobody trusts them.
Vicki Wilson
3:30 pm on Friday, October 8, 2010
Also, I don't know how anyone can dispute Jennifer Mondy. She has worked countless VOLUNTEER hours over many years attending, recording, and transcribing the Dist. 15 Board meetings because she knew there were people who wanted to attend but were unable to. She has provided an UNBIASED historical record of the Board meetings via Spotlight on the Board. If anyone wants to know what has gone on at Board meetings, she has made it incredibly easy for them and she has done it for FREE. Thank you Jennifer.