Did the voter process work?
January 6, 2012 by Staff
Filed under General, Letters to the Editor
From: Harlan Wegschied
Winsted
I noticed a small item in the Jan. 2 edition of the Herald Journal mentioning that the local school superintendant commented on the bond referendum. Quote “the biggest factors were the total cost and the tax impact. He said the school board had received the same feedback.”
A group of us have been at every meeting of the board since the referendum failed and I guess I have not noticed any evidence that they got the message. People keep asking me what was the point of having a referendum in the first place, since the board seems to be hell-bent on spending every last dollar they can get away with.
I went back to the comments made on your blog site right after the vote; it makes for interesting reading. Chairman Bob Carlson, “I now have to seriously consider changing my philosophy based on the decisions of the majority. There will be a lot of thought and review over the next few months.” Yeah, like about five seconds.
A week later, they had a plan to get around the expressed wishes of a large majority of the voters. Fred Blaser said, “It is your right to vote the way you want, it is your responsibility to vote informed.”
So, how many people knew, until it came out in the paper one week before the vote that there was really a $7.5 million plan on the table? Who did such a good job of keeping the public informed?
Ann Meyer said, ”I’d like to see referendum opposers step up and help make a plan that they will support.” Point of fact, a group of us have been at every meeting since the vote, we’ve been on the phone with boiler companies, we’ve had reps from two of the largest come out and look at them, l’ve been on the phone with the Minnesota Dept of Education finance division, the ones who approve or disapprove the plan.
I’ve had some very interesting conversations. A citizen at the last meeting asked the board’s consultant, advisor, or whatever, what he was wearing that night, “How much do you get for this?” Answer: 18 1/2 percent. On the original plan for $7.5 million, he would have gotten $1.387 million. If he gets that percentage on whatever comes out eventually, do you think the board is getting unbiased advice? I don’t . . . .
Does anyone on the board, or the referendum supporters for that matter, read the local paper? How about the statement by the county auditor-treasurer, Cindy Schultz, at a meeting in Winsted, “I feel for the main street commercial property in McLeod County. I don’t see much future if it keeps going the way it is.” Have any of you “yes” supporters taken the time to ask them how bad they are getting hit this next year, not to mention what will happen after next year, when the taxes for this project come online?
Somehow, the supporters argued that this $7.5 million was going to grow the town. Go figure I’ve held up on this letter one full day while Gene Feltman tried to get the reps from these two boiler companies on the agenda of the next board meeting, but nobody wants to talk to us and they sure don’t want anyone who knows what they are talking about to tell them why the biggest mistake they can make is throw out two Kewaunee boilers that were built to be repaired, and incidently, are built for both steam and hot water, and replace them with modern day throwaways.
We could just have them show up and take advantage of the three minutes allowed anyone there for comment period, subject to a total of five person, 15 minute limit, but, the hell with that. Ah, democracy in action.
I’ve been a member of this district for 51 years, paid my taxes like a good little boy, used the school two years when my sons went to kindergarten, and, like a lot of other people, stayed out of school politics.
That was a big mistake. We end up with a board of spend-thrifts. We get no vote on any of this foolishness, but there will be votes in the future, called school board elections.
I still think people will look back in the not-too-distant future and wish they had never opened this Pandora’s box of troubles. I even tried to get a community meeting with pro-voters to see if we could reach some kind of agreement on a program we could all agree on, but that fell flat on its face
Suddenly, people who signed their names to letters to the editor in support don’t want to be connected in any way. So, it’s back to retirement in my private stockade. This time, I will abide by the oath I took 23 years ago, to never, ever, ever again get involved in anything other than an individual’s issues. Bon-jour. Honk as you go by.
I didn’t accept the position of school board to intentionally raise taxes. I ran for this position to make our community and school better. I also heard the public at the last election. We reduced the 2012 levy by approximately $171,000; so, we have done our part to lower taxes. I don’t know why the boiler is the only item you continue to talk about. We need to make improvements and remodel the science rooms to meet education standards by the State of Minnesota. We scaled back the project to minimize any type of tax impact. We heard the “No” voters. We also know (i.e. McLeod West) that if you don’t fix and improve you may end up not having a school. The Lester Prairie School District is one of the largest employers in the City of Lester Prairie.
The open meeting law does not, by its terms, grant a right to comment at public meetings. Court decisions have held that one of the purposes of the statute is to “give the public an opportunity to express its views.” Claude v. Collins, 518 N.W. 2d 836.841 (Minn. 1994). However, due to time constraints we can’t allow individuals more than the allotted time for public comment. Many of the issues and items you have brought up could be handled by administration or meeting with the facilities committee. If you plan on running for school board and win I would hope no one calls you names or accuses you of being foolish or even puts signs out on the highway criticizing you for trying to make this community better.
Rather than using your time to criticize and “call names” you could come to the school and volunteer. You could volunteer your time to read a book to a first grade class or show the Tech Ed students how to put up a very nice wood fence.
Harlan
You sent your kids to our school for two years? That says it all, you could care less if there is a school here at all. That is so sad. We have been long due for some improvements and I applaud the school board for all the time and effort they have put into this matter. The disrespect that was given to board members and administration by people in the no group during the recent board meetings was disheartening. A decision to go forward and make needed improvements has been made and it’s time to accept and show support for our school.
thank you harlan ed
Harlan,
Just to clarify, my name is Amy Meyer, not Ann.
I still believe a strong school makes for a strong town and I support the proposed changes the board is making. Although I have not been able to attend recent school board meetings due to other conflicts, I have contacted each school board member individually to give them my support of the plan.
I’m not sure why you wanted to talk to Yes Voters at this particular point of the process. Your opinion is clear and it is obvious we don’t agree. I trust our locally elected school board to make the best decision for our school so I declined the invitation to meet with you personally.
It is a sad day when we are not here to support our children, past, present and future! I support the school boards decision to move forward with these updates 100%. It is a very difficult decision for anyone to make, and I honestly feel they did a great job!! Thanks for all your hardwork! One more thing, I guess had I known ahead of time, that we were supposed to attend EVERY school board meeting to show our support…..I would have been there!!!!
Chairman Carlson, The reason the boiler is the only thing talked about is because repairing and updating the present system would save alot of money and be as good and of heavier construction than a new system. Money that could be used in the future for school upkeep or better education. All anyone is asking is that the board consider this option. Thank you, Gene Feltmann
Mr. Feltmann,
I agree it could save money, but, if we updated the present system with a new boiler we still have old pipes. We would pay even more if we had to “go back into the system” a second time to replace the old pipes. Could those pipes last? There is a chance, but, then we are “rolling the dice” and don’t have a warranty on the pipes. We may agree to disagree on this, but, we needed to make a choice and I feel the choice I made will keep any tax increase to a minimum or not at all depending on how the reduction of $171,000.00 in the 2012 levy calculates into the property tax mix. Many of those who attended the recent board meeting brought good ideas and it allowed us to question ESG about aspects of the project. Thanks to those who came and even though Harlan said he is done we did appreciate the information. I just wished the attitude and poor behavior could have been avoided. There were moments I would get mad, but, it wasn’t because of the ideas it was the behavior. I never called any of the ideas they came with “foolish”. Mr. Feltmann we may not agree, but, we did appreciate your input and it will be helpful.
Chairman Carlson, We are talking about the present boiler. It could be repaired and updated for the present steam system or a new hot water system. This is not my opinion, it is the opinion of the two boiler maintenance firms that were at school to see the present system. It would be a very exspensive project to remove the present boilers and install a new boiler and the material used would probably be of lighter material than the one currently in place. Again, thank you for the reply.
Easy to spend other people’s money.
Board and “Yes” people: It may be best to let this rest.