The Unit 7 school board unanimously approved a resolution Wednesday to again put the countywide sales tax pro- posal before voters in the April 7, 2009, consolidated election.
The proposal to increase the sales tax rate in Champaign County by 1 percent was defeated in the Nov. 4 election by 262 votes out of 76,820 cast. One board member noted that more than 6,200 people voting in the general election did not even vote on the county tax proposal.
Superintendent Michael Shonk said that at a meeting of county school superintendents earlier this month, all 14 wanted to place the proposal back on the ballot. "I'm pretty positive about the April ballot and that the proposal will fly this time," he said.
I think they're hoping to much lower rural turnout in April, because so many local offices in small towns are uncontested. I wonder if any opposition will coalesce?
Sigh.
One of the things that really irked me about the recent coverage of this issue was the News-Gazette's repeated claims that the "sales tax lost by a couple hundred votes" (I'm paraphrasing). No, the sales tax lost by 50% of those who voted *plus* a couple hundred votes.
It would be nice if the school districts would get the message and find a way to work with what they have (which, lets face it, is ever increasing due to rising home assessments). The economy will only be worse off in April than it is now, so perhaps the urban vote won't be as good. I hope there is organized opposition, but it's hard to find people willing to commit time to organize against things.
So they're concerned that too many people missed the question during the general election, so the solution is to get even fewer people voting on it by running it in an election where the general public input is, "There was an election today?"
It's rare to see such blatant cynicism and contempt for the democratic process coming from elected leaders. Usually they at least try to hide it better. They're just begging for a "Re-Defeat the Sales Tax" campaign.
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Glock21 Op/Ed
I have to confess that I'm completely disgusted with all of the school officials involved in this. We've heard everything from people didn't understand it to we need more. The stock market fell another 700 points today; it's at a 5 year low, and all these greedy, idiotic officials can say is that they want to go again. It's time to clean house of all school boards and officials who do this and won't even consider the idea that there just isn't any more money.
If you consider all of the people who would benefit directly from the increase, in or out of the school system, and if you subtract those people from the yes votes, the outcome might look considerably different.
I would like to see more publicity given to both Chapin Rose's efforts to change the current School Facilities law (sunset clause) and Shane Cultra's efforts to decrease the overall operating costs. I firmly believe that the easiest "solution" to Unit 4's fiscal issues is to raise taxes, but I think the longer-term benefit will be to take a hard look at where money is being spent. Gene Logas was recently in the news for asking for a smaller tax levy than previous years, for which I applaud him. How do we come alongside the unions and compromise on "prevailing wage"? Are the inflated wages of administrators really justified - if not, why do we abide by them?
I feel torn about teacher wages. I know several teachers, and chances are many of you do as well. Heck, some of you are teachers! =) From my own personal observations, teachers are not paid enough for all the hard work they do. Granted, statistically speaking I am sure there are some teachers who may not merit such praise, but I have to believe that number is rather small. Is there a way to offer incentives so as to attract and retain quality teachers while at the same time reducing the overall financial footprint?
I also wonder how the next few months will be spent by those that either oppose or approve of the Sales Tax. At my work place, I have not encountered anyone who was uninformed/uneducated and voted "yes". In otherwords, of the folks I have talked to, they all opposed the Sales Tax after thinking about it. One, that I know of, is a husband to a teacher. They were not undecided, they were not unaware, and they were sympathetic to the needs of the school. And they live, for the most part, in Champaign. Not Tolono, not Mahomet. As curious said, a whole lot of people voted "no" already. What I would like to see is an elaboration of what the Chamber of Commerce provided - a list of pros and cons, and hopefully some intelligent discourse and healthy arguments provided on both sides. I would love to see Unit 4 address some of the "negative" aspects of the referendum. To give the current School Board credit, they have initiated the "Promises Made, Promises Kept". It is a great start, and it must not die. Surely that is one of the promises, right? =) We as a community have to hold them accountable, which helps all of us. Afterall, Board Members are, in all reality, members of the community as well.
"I also wonder how the next few months will be spent by those that either oppose or approve of the Sales Tax."
I'm working on sign ideas:
Perhaps saying "Vote NO April 7" would be more effective... hrmm.
Normally I'm not so annoyed by these constant money beggings by the district. This time though they didn't even bother to try to sell it better or offer any better ideas. Now they're acting like 2 year olds in the back seat screaming "ARE WE THERE YET?" over and over. No, no, no, and NO! Don't make me turn this car around! :-)
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Glock21 Op/Ed
Folks, it will take a lot to get me to change my mind. All I have heard from the school districts is that there is a plan developing to put this back on the ballot come April 2009. I have not heard one item of how the districts plan to constrain spending; I have not heard one idea of creative funding; I have not heard of the boards talking with banks to find out what might be done; I have only heard what the districts plan to do that cost more money. I just listened to the financial news of the day. It does not bode well for next year. Why not put up some temporary yurts as classroom spaces or for other needed spaces; what about the empty buildings available within the community; buy a house and move it onto the school property; think outside the box. I disagree with Charles Schultz that the easiest way to fund education is to raise taxes--what kind of taxes. As a senior citizen on a fixed income and for low income families, this is still regressive. Why does the solution have to be regressive, causing probably a double wammy on those populations that I mentioned? An unobtrusive observation--those most vocal about this sales tax increase are either board members or individuals whose economic level will not feel a major dent by this and the other referenda that were on the November ballot and may be on the upcoming April ballot. I mention this because I wonder if the path of least resistence is a driving force rather than thinking about the burden on certain socio-economic populations.
Pattsi Petrie
VOTE NO
SALES TAX
(AGAIN)
seems like a good sign slogan :)
I'm in. I'm tired of being insulted by my elected officials who automatically call me uneducated or uninformed if I don't vote for what they propose. I'm tired of my elected officials not accepting the will of the people after a legitimate vote. I'm tired of my elected officials throwing money around as if it truly does grow on trees.
I might support this if the law is changed so that there is a sunset clause and there's some way to hold the school districts to their promises of property tax reduction. Until then, JUST VOTE NO (again).
Glock, will you start a chip-in to raise money for the anti-tax campaign?
Putting the date to vote on the sign is a great idea. The election is a well-kept secret otherwise.
Perhaps a parallel effort against the prime instigators on the school board.
*
Vote 'Em OUT
New School Board
April 7
(It's for the Kids)
A blanket campaign against the whole school board would probably make the whole project go down in flames pretty quick. I realize your political views encourage self-defeating policies mixed with reasonable ones, but don't expect me to join in on that. A good anti-sales tax push could appeal to students detached from our public school systems and living on a tight budget, appeal to left-wingers who don't like the regressive nature of the tax which would burden the budgets of the poor far more than they would of the more well-to-do... a concern that should be shared by even the well-off if the national trend of job loss starts afflicting the currently well off here as well... and of course the usual bunch that opposed this for a multitude of other reasons such as lack of faith in the gov't to spend it wisely, demands for property tax relief to match it, etc. Even if their motivation is solely a devotion to the democratic process being respected... there's plenty of reasons why folks can come together to oppose this bill... even if for differing reasons.
A 'vote the bums out' campaign is generally futile and tends to polarize against getting any particular solution done, though I'm sure it would aid your obvious unstated agenda, that when people are 'voting the bums out', they do so by checking the other guys on the ballot, namely your preferred third party candidates. Good luck with that.
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Glock21 Op/Ed
I might support this if the law is changed so that there is a sunset clause and there's some way to hold the school districts to their promises of property tax reduction. Until then, JUST VOTE NO (again).
ditto
I hope some of those pushing this again pay attention to this statement. This is core of it for me and most folks I talked to. If people know that the plan will be held accountable to its concepts, more people will vote for it. Folks understood the proposal just fine. BUT,THEY DID NOT TRUST THE POEPLE ASKING FOR IT! The elected officals need to make note of this fact and deal with it.
To me, the real problem is not the school board it is those who were elected to us with the state and federal government. Most of the posters appear upset at the wrong elected representatives. Its not the school boards fault the State of Illinois underfunds the education system for our children. Yes, income tax is a better way to fund education but given who we elected this will never happen. And yes sales tax is not the best way to make up for this underfunding but it is much fairer than property tax increases.
Maybe you all need to realize the school boards did not put in place mandated programs without funding, its the State of Illinois and the Federal Government. We finally get some talented, dedicated people on the school boards and you are ready to 'vote them out' when they go after what the State of Illinois should be providing. Yet you continue to 'vote in' all those poorly qualified, self promoters, budget illiterate, state representatives who really have the responsibility for funding education and as well as federal representatives who feel obligated to dictate educational mandates without implemenatation funding.
Look in the mirror voter, we are the problem with educational funding.
Sorry, Local Voter, I disagree, at least to a point. I understand what you're saying, but bad representatives at the state and federal levels do not excuse bad representation at the local level. It isn't as if we recognize that we need quality education, but the trend in the last couple of decades has been to equate money spent with quality. We've thrown millions of dollars at education and have an underperforming system.
I'm just plain insulted by my elected officials at any level suggesting that I am too ignorant, stupid, or selfish to understand what is going on and that is why I don't support their plans. At least here in Champaign we have little information on where any new schools will be built (at least I don't understand that there's a solid plan)--we're supposed to give them money and just trust them. Look how well that's turned out in the past.
School boards didn't put the funding mechanisms in place, but they're the ones charged with stewardship of those funds, and I don't think that many of them have done a particularly great job. How are those 4.5% raises looking now that the DOW is under 8000, the Big Three likely to go under, and layoffs being announced by the thousands? Perhaps it's all a moot point--people have to be able to buy things to generate any sales tax anyway.
Voter, I totally agree that the legislature has failed with funding issues. The local tax swap plan was, in my view, an idea that people came up with to accomplish something, at least locally. When others are not getting the job done I'm all good with someone else giving it a shot. Again, what was missing were protections from miss use of the plan, or a failure of the plan for some reason, resulting in higher taxes rather than a tax swap. I am okay with the plan, but I want to KNOW that it will be implemented as promised. If some elected official feels put out by this, then they simply don't respect the people they represent. There is a history behind this distrust.
CD - I disagree that the current school board didn't have a solid plan. Unit 4's did. They sent it out to people, they held meetings about it, they showed it to anyone who would listen. It was a detailed plan. It spelled out what they were going to do with the money when. They made it clear it was for facilities. They made it clear which facilities they were going to build or fix and in which order. They made it clear that there was a property tax abatement that was part of this. The Unit 4 school board also made it clear which items would be subject to the sales tax and which would not. If you buy a sweater, then you would pay additional the 1% tax for the school on that sweater. If you buy groceries, then you would not. I'm not entirely sure I agree with people that this tax is regressive and would hit the poor hardest. It seems to me that ANY tax hits the poor hardest. It seems to me that a reasonable argument can be made that the wealthy, who have more discretionary income, would pay more into the system than the poor.
Dane - You wrote "there is a history behind this distrust." True. Now what? You say that the tax swap idea was a solid attempt by the local school board to do something about a lousy school situation. But if you have to "KNOW" that the plan will be implemented as promised before you are comfortable voting for it, then how will you ever be able to vote for it unless you find the magic crystal ball that can ease your mistrust? A Catch-22 is set up there. Someone has to trust again, or nothing will ever get done. And something needs to be done about our schools. The facilities are terrible, and we ask students and teachers to work and learn in places many of which we ourselves would not like to work in. We ask them to do this cheerfully, freezing or hot, cramped for space, with too few supplies, while we complain incessantly about how much schooling costs. Or the raises teachers get. Or whether they put "D" students on the honor roles, or in AP classes. Or whether they don't.
We all go on about how we value education - this is a university town, we say - and then we suggest temporary yurts instead of real buildings. We say we want to have a strong economy and we need to attract jobs, then we don't listen when site consultants tell us our schools show poorly, or when business owners say their employees are looking for good schools and we don't have them. We say we want a world class university, then ignore it when it says its losing good professors because of C-U's schools. If we were a community that really did value education, we'd have passed that tax. How many posters here are giving up hours and hours of their time each week to run for an unpaid position on the school board just so they can spend hours and hours each week listening to folk say they care and then snap their wallets shut and blame them? Except for Mr. Tomlinson, not a one, I'd bet.
Actully Champaign Dweller the trend in the past decades has been our elected state representatives decided we the voters are "too ignorant, stupid or selfish to understand" when they continue to underfund education in the state budget.
As Dane said, what was missing was a guarantee against misuse. If a guarantee of property tax abatement instead of simply an additional sales tax had been built into the proposal, even I would have voted for it. As it was, it was only a guarantee that sales tax would go up with no protection for property owners.
"If we were a community that really did value education, we'd have passed that tax."
Best of luck when you seek re-election.
Greg Novak here
Going to put my head into the lion’s mouth here on the subject of the sales tax since I am one of those “School Board Members”. Any comments expressed here are my own – and do not reflect that of Unit Four.
First and foremost – any decision to go forward with the School Sales Tax will be determined by the decision of the fourteen school district’s School Boards of Champaign County. Some Boards do not feel that they did the best job of explaining what they were going to do to their voters – and wish to try again. They have the burden of making their case to their voters – should they be denied it? As always the voters have the final say – and may I point out there was a very different margin of defeat between the School Sales Tax defeat – and the defeat of Forest Preserve District proposal?
Second, as I have said before – I support this funding method as it can only be used for facility purposes – including the retirement of existing building bonds. It CAN NOT be diverted to other funds – to pay for teacher or administrative salaries – or operating expenses. It can be used to bring facilities up to the 21st Century standards – which Unit Four badly needs to do. It can be used to retire existing debt – which benefits other district like Unit 7 far better then Unit 4. I realize that we are only about to give a $40 rebate per year in Unit Four – but in addition to giving a small rebate we are also in a position to do work that would require an additional tax levy of $160 or more a year to do.
Third – debt for school district facilities is handled by a separate levy then that for the general fund – and once it is retired it can not be re-imposed except by voter approval. It can not be shifted over to the general fund or used for other purposes. The levy disappears once paid off
As far as the sunset clause and other suggestions to improve the law – I have no problem with such changes – I believe that Chapin Rose may be working on introducing them.
I understand that there are issues with the economy – as a part time state employee who is NOT covered by civil service – my job may well disappear in the next year or so. But the needs of the district that I am responsible for are not going to go away and needed to be addressed. Had boards in the 1980’s and 1990’s done more, I would have to do less – but I need to deal with the hand I have and that includes 14 buildings out of 17 whose youngest age is 50 years – and the oldest is approaching 100 years. In my opinion the district needs to add a school in Savoy – which is now I believe the largest village in the state without a school. We also need to look at building sites north of I-74 and west of I-57 – and have a plan for future sites. Unit Four does need space - and a funding source is needed
I feel that Unit Four did have a plan – and was more then happy to see that it passed muster with a (bare) majority of the votes of the District. We did far better then the last referendum – which indicates we a slowly regaining some support – but we have a long way to go in my opinion.
Again – I encourage people to run for office and help provide solutions.
My .02
Perhaps, Mr. Novak, you have some formula for squeezing blood out of a turnip? Seriously, how can you and the other board members acknowledge that the economy is in shambles and that people are having difficulty, and at the same time maintain that Unit 4 needs more? I understand that Unit 4 has needs--right now everyone has needs. I think the problem is that there is this knee-jerk reaction to keep asking for more sales tax, property tax, or whatever tax until the electorate is worn down. Why not just acknowledge that now is not the best time to be out asking for more taxes, and wait until the economy approves and Chapin Rose has the legislative amendments in place?
And given the fact that we're in such tough times, and money is tight, the 4.5% raises are still galling, I don't care how deserving people are. Now is not the time to be asking for more money, giving more money away or spending more money.
It is obvious that the School Boards are seeking to show us democracy at its very worst through their cleverness. Unwilling to accept the fact that the voters really do not want the sales tax, the School Boards are trying to come in through the back door by pursuing the issue at a low turnout election. Deceitful it is.
Incredible to me it is that the School Board is unwilling to accept that the people dont want the tax, and they come at us again.
I am also amazed at the capacity of the School Boards to spend our money for matters of vanity and largesse in construction that have very little to do with learning and further they actually dare to promote the notion of "environment conducive to learning". Are the taxpayers so easily swayed by such vacuous notions?
So you're for democracy in this instance, but against the imperialist dogs in another thread?
Looks like the typical blackmail to me...either pass the sales tax or we'll lower the boom on some more property taxes. IT's a no win for the taxpayers....the school boards just don't get it......These are tough economic times for us all ( with the exception of state employees), ..quit banging us with even more taxes! A paltry $66 reduction in property taxes to get this super sales tax passed is just not enough. Besides that..it's an UNDENDING tax!
No the the Urbana Park
No to the MTD
No to the Sales tax.
To Greg Novak @ 5:38 P @ 21 Nov--as always much appreciation for taking the time to post and respond. Nonetheless, I find it hard to choose the correct words to express my deep disappointment that you and other board members continue to sing the same mantra of supporting the sales tax increase because it goes for physical building funding and nothing else. You never discuss that the tax is regressive; you never discuss that this may be a moral issue of others paying for our schools; you never suggest alternatives, such as reducing the budget or a long-term incremental plant to expand the schools; you never suggest short-term stop gap possibilities; just we ought to pass this referendum and we do not understand the importance. I have to admit that I have finally reached my limits of patience with the school board related to not thinking outside the box and beating the same drum. Adding to this, is the quote of John Dimit right after the results in the N-G (caveat, we all know that often times the N-G is not accurate). He was quoted as saying even though this sales tax increase is a disproportional burden on the low-income and renters, these people will benefit so much from the generated funds that this makes up for the burden. I find it very difficult that Dimit has ever or for a very long time walked in the footsteps of the low-income or renter. This type of comment indicates disengagement.
A fellow poster took me to task for suggesting temporary yurts. However, this poster other than stating we ought to pass the increase posted no other alternative suggestions. It is time for the IP posters to become more creative problem solvers.
Pattsi Petrie
Greg, and others
I agree that the schools need more cash, and I view the tax swap plan as reasonable, given the circumstances I explained before. I was familar with most of the arguments for the plan and felt--feel, that it is a workable option, provided there are safe guards. 90% of the arguments I heard against the plan were a lack of trust that the money would be used as advertised, and that the reduction in the property taxes would take place and stay in place. Otherwise most folks agreed with the need and use.
On November 22nd, 2008 at 11:06 AM, Champaign Dweller said:
So you're for democracy in this instance, but against the imperialist dogs in another thread?
The problem with sarcasm is that it is so hard for me to figure out when people are using it and when they're not. But I will take it that you agree with me.
The people were asked and they rejected the tax. Now those who are in Positions of Authority are using their Power to place the tax
on the ballot again. This time they do not seek to obtain the opinion of the voters, who have spoken already.
They seek to ramrod the tax through by placing it on the ballot for a generally low participation event,
hoping that those who support the tax will turn out and vote while those who are opposed
might not even be aware of the mostly uncontested or weakly contested municipal elections and simply stay home.
This is a form of democracy at work but it is the deceitful sort where there is no desire
to consult the will of the people but actually it is a sort of election strategy based upon numbers and probabilities
where consideration of the demographics of the election will favour the result desired by those who are in power.
Legal? yes. Ethical? maybe. Angering? ought to be.
"To Greg Novak @ 5:38 P @ 21 Nov--as always much appreciation for taking the time to post and respond. Nonetheless, I find it hard to choose the correct words to express my deep disappointment that you and other board members continue to sing the same mantra of supporting the sales tax increase because it goes for physical building funding and nothing else."
That pretty much sums up my thoughts. I admire any officeholder for coming on here and making his case without calling us idiots. I still cannot afford a sales tax on par with Chicago, however. Unless Illinois Power decides I have been good and heats my house for free.
Greg Novak here
Was up in Chicago the last three days – two nights at the Illinois Association of School Boards annual convention – this is the one perk of the job – I get two nights in Chicago at district expense – room not board – and I get to try and see if there are other solutions out there for my list of problems.
I sat in on a number of sessions looking for “an out of the box” one, and have not seen any. The session on state funding – which had a panel of Tim Johnson, President of the Illinois Federation of Taxpayers, Ben Gaines – Professor here at the U of I, House member David Miller (D) Dolton, and State Senator Bradley Burzynski (R) DeKalb was painful to say the least. All agreed we have issues in the State of Illinois, and all agreed that solutions are NOT in sight for the foreseeable future. There are numerous problems with the state funding system for education, the state pension systems, the actual payments owed or lack thereof – but don’t count on solutions anytime soon..
Tim Johnson, the President of the Illinois Federation of Taxpayers, was rather blunt in stating that his group is opposed to alternative forms of funding schools. In no small part they feel this way because if funding moves off local property taxes to a state run system – his group feels that control will be lost. The current system, with half of local school board members elected every two years, is felt to be more responsive to local concerns then a state run agency in Springfield. (Sorry could not resist a plug for us local politicians who never listen to those who elect us.)
I also sat in on a seminar hosted by Unit Five in Normal – they have done a referendum for building purposes about every six years for the last 25 years. They have kept up their physical plant – which is not something that Unit Four has done. This is not an opinion – this is a fact.
As for to a willingness to be creative and use existing funds to fix our building – several items of note here.
First and foremost ANY construction of a NEW building must be approved by the voters in a referendum. A school board may modify existing facilities – but must seek voter approval for something new. To place a school in Savoy will require a referendum regardless of the funding sources used for that construction.
Second – as to funding projects with current income – we are in the process of doing that at Garden Hills to provide better energy efficiency. However it will take at least 10 years to pay off the project – and there will be at least five years before there is enough income to start adding the new energy efficient windows that we need – as well as do other work there. Effectively we can rebuild a school every 15 years or so with this plan – which would work if we had been doing this all along – but its difficult to start such a program today.
Third, any attempt to make the cuts needed to provide additional funding may not be looked on highly by the plaintiff class or Judge McDade. To come up with the $2 to $3 million dollars a year needed to do a project would require a cut of 40 to 70 staff members – and where do we make those cuts at a time that we are trying to wrap up the Consent Decree on June 30, 2009 by proving that we are making every effort to meet those concerns that School Boards in 1997 and 2002 agreed?? And if revenue were to be collected from such a sources – it will take from 4 to 6 years to collect the money needed to build one school – and who gets it. If we don't have an overflow site - then any work on existing facilities will have to be done in the summer - with increased costs and the danger of missed deadlines. Its not the best solution.
Fourth, As to the unfair nature of a sales tax, all taxes are unfair in some way. It is interesting that in Champaign County a sales tax is already used by the County – the Cities of Champaign and Urbana, and a number of villages as well. All of those sales taxes work under the same rules – they do not apply to food purchased for home consumption, drugs or medicine, vehicles with stickers, and farm inputs. They provide revenue - and one reason that they are used in a university town is to collect revenue from a group that either directly or indirectly needs services – but does not help provide revenue – students living in university owned housing.
It is legal to have sales tax for the benefit of one school district if special permission is gotten from the state – as in the case of Forsyth – or if the City has home rule – it can impose it without voter approval – as in the case of Peru. The county wide sales tax benefits ALL school districts in the county – not the lucky one that has the mall or shopping center located in its district.
As for trying to press ahead in poor economic times – I understand those who say – lets wait? However how long should no wait – and if times are hard will not a county wide influx of funding for facilities be helpful to Champaign County as a whole – and if prices go down – this might be a time to do more for less? Again I may be wrong – and any decision is up to the voters of Champaign County.
I ran for office in no small part because I have watched Unit Four for years place band-aids on bleeding arteries – and I want to start doing it right. I want to have a plan that meets the needs of the district for the next ten years at the elementary level – instead of doing something now to take the problem off my watch and pass it on to someone else.
One last thought, I am too much of a politician to ever want to insult the voters as members of this board have suggested. I however was elected by the voters to do a job – and if I decide to run again in 2011 they will get to render a verdict on me on the job that I have done. Again I invite others to step forward to serve.
My .02
"It is interesting that in Champaign County a sales tax is already used by the County – the Cities of Champaign and Urbana, and a number of villages as well."
Which is precisely why another would be such a hardship.
Novak... thanks for your time on this thread, as thankless as it may otherwise be. But the same arguments don't really change my same opinion of this sale tax referendum. Worse, it being put right back up for a vote right after getting voted down in hopes of exploiting lower turnout to succeed with less public input has only helped make me want to actively oppose it on principle. Quite frankly I find it insulting and it would be a slap in the face for it to pass under such circumstances. So, while I understand that you believe it may be necessary, perhaps maybe even a necessary evil, I still don't and given the circumstances, will now actively campaign against it to hopefully ensure it fails by wider margins to send a message that these kind of shenanigans to thwart the public's democratic input is unacceptable. That alone is probably even more important than the issue at hand, imo.
I'm sorry, but I must respectfully oppose this measure. This time for even more reasons.
--
Glock21 Op/Ed
I am not impressed by the arguments in favour of coming again
with the tax referendum just voted down.
Just tar his clothes boys, because it will take off some hide otherwise.
Sic semper tyrannis.
I'm with Glock--it's insulting for the school boards to put this right back to a vote without changing anything, in the hope that lower turnout will push this sales tax down our collective throats, especially since I see nothing that has changed--no sunset clause, no way to enforce property tax decreases--just a bunch of tax and spend politicians who don't get it. And with all due respect to Mr. Novak, who I agree is brave to come here and discuss these issues, talking about trips to Chicago as a perk of the job is illustrative of the disconnect between the public and our elected officials.
Mr Novak @ 10:29 P 23 Nov. Again thank you for continuing the dialogue. First, I do not see attending a conference that might enhance your abilities of being a good school board member as a perk. Within reason, I find that these are helpful for the "citizen planner." Having made this statement, your report of the session about state funding I find illuminating in that there was absolutely, according to your report, no thinking outside the box by these decision makers. This is most telling as to what is wrong within this state. The news article in today's online N-G is about wind energy coming to Vermillion County, which will generate a lot of income for this county. What is wrong with Champaign County? We definitely have as much wind as Vermillion and with the postings on IP maybe even more. :-) The rest of your posting is what we can not do, but not much about what we can do or if we can't now how to change things so we can move forward.
Pattsi Petrie
Greg Novak here
As to the comment
And with all due respect to Mr. Novak, who I agree is brave to come here and discuss these issues, talking about trips to Chicago as a perk of the job is illustrative of the disconnect between the public and our elected officials.
First and foremost I volunteered for my political job - spent my own money running for an unpaid office that requires me to give up from 8 to 16 hours of time a week - because I care about my community and schools.
My out of pocket expenses this last weekend are far more then I would have spent staying here in Savoy - and my comment about my "perk" was a lame reminder that far from being one of those "fat cat" politicans who feeds at the public expense - I in effect pay to be an elected member of the School Board. One trip a year to Chicago to attend meetings for two days hardly stikes me as a "perk" that shows a disconnect between myself and the community.
Somehow I would expect the posters on this blog to have a better understanding of how things actually work - I am not encouraged.
My personal .02