Some people mistakenly think I am against the MARSHALL
BOND, even the building of a new MARSHALL school.. The fact of the matter is
that I am against the BOND as presented. The claim that taxes won’t or can’t be
raised seems to me to be a shell game at its finest.
Perhaps taxes can’t be raised directly to service the
debt and money has to be found elsewhere in the budget to pay for it.
Somewhere, somehow services will have to be cut. The question then becomes is
there a willingness to sacrifice. People get used to benefits and usually
aren’t willing to give up something they have gotten used to receiving. It’s
just not in our DNA. My guess is taxes will be raised then to cover and restore
whatever was eliminated.
Believe it or not, that’s okay. That is how our system is
supposed to work. Choices have to be made. To downplay the necessity of making choices
lessens the VALUE of the choice. A new
school is important, important enough for us to make sacrifices. To present it
as otherwise is to rob us of our dignity. Resorting to some accountant’s
sleight of hand just to insure passage of the current project will only result
in long term mistrust.
It is not so much the size of the BOND but the continued
escalation of the amount and the failure to acknowledge that a lower amount was
ever considered. It started out in the
twenties, then went to thirty five million, next ninety million, and
finally ninety two. Given the lawsuit over the valuation of the taken land, the
stability of the soil, the problems with the noise and vibrations from the trains
and the soil contamination ( whatever degree it is) will require some sort of
remediation, does anybody seriously think this project will come in at budget?
I know the MSBA has this new reimbursement schedule that is supposed to be :pay
as you go” but the rapidly and wildly changing amounts of our proposed
obligation only illustrates to me that the people on our end don’t have a firm
grasp of that schedule. I was told of a training that some people attended. Well
it seems to me like somebody missed a few sessions.
We have bigger problems than just one school and
temporary trickery will dampen our resolve to objectively assess the necessary
remedies for the district.
I know I post at my own peril but I have a slightly different take on the issue of cost to the tax payer. The reason that it is important to the tax payers replace Marshall and our other old buildings is that the cost in the long run to maintain these old builds will be way more then the cost of replacing them. This is especially true in a situation where the state will reimburse a large chunk of the replacement cost. Now I know the amount of that chunk is under some debate but I still think it is worth it to the tax payer.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that we need some more aggressive oversight of the building of the new Marshall. The Brookline site is not my first choice but I do believe that fight is mostly over. Now we need to focus on making sure we have some new leadership in City Hall that will ask hard questions, make smart choices and not allow us to have another fiasco like we ended up with Classical.
I love a man that takes a stand. I will agree that an investment in EDUCATION is worth the cost. I don't like the deception in the soft sell. I guess it may be hard to be upfront when you don't have the answers. They say they do but then they keep changing. They are either lying or worse - ignorant. Either way it breeds trust issues.
DeleteThe fight isn't over. It is just getting started :)
ReplyDeleteFew more tid bits I learned tonight.
Taxes cannot be raised more than 2.5% as a general rule.
80% of eligible costs doesn't cover land acquisition.
MSBA will also not pay for any enviromental cleanup or the soil stability clean=up. To be fair EVERYWHERE in LYNN is somewhat contaminated. Some areas more than others, A big problem LYNN faces is that surely ALL the old buildings have tons of ASBESTOS tainted materials and disposal of that is extra expensive. Probably the best we can do right now is seal it to prevent exposure, much like they did with the pretty new tile at FORD SCHOOL. The BIG problem they have with the OLD MARSHALL is the water because they can't seal it from the bottom. Plans gave been reported to tear it down in 2016, right after the new one is built. We will have to pay 100% of that. When was the last time you heard of a school actually being torn down? Usually the sturdy construction makes them PERFECT for re-purposing. Something is up I tell you.
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