Jim was not the sitting board member when Newport reneged on their deal. Jody , Emily and Angie were the board members. Emily could not get Newport to stick to their deal. Newport has not been good neighbors in my opinion. When you get an increased tax bill this summer keep that in mind. I did not vote to increase your taxes.
Cathy
Low turnout
costs Croydon taxpayers.
High turnout at Tuesday’s town/school
officer elections gave hope that perhaps school issues had triggered the
attention of Croydon taxpayers.
Saturday’s school board meeting dashed
these hopes. Despite the high
stakes of the warrant articles (over $2/$1,000 or 20%+ increase in the school
tax rate), the meeting drew only 40 to 50 residents.
One of the most astonishing aspects of
the meeting was the administration’s complete lack of preparation. Article 3 requested ~$138k to pay for
last year’s Newport tuition that was under-budgeted*. One should expect voters to ask for the
numbers behind this request – the administration had none. At best, the front table ventured crude
guesses as to the source of the disparity.
While the funding request may have been
perfectly valid, the lack of even basic support was troubling. Worse, a majority of voters passed this
large warrant article without this information.
In Special Education, lack of
transparency is the norm. Accordingly,
the board requested a 74% increase in Special Ed spending for 2013-2014. Calls for openness and restraint were
drowned out by veiled threats of horrific consequences should all spending not
be approved at once. Board chair
Jody Underwood read an impassioned speech calling for a board member to be seated
on the IEP committee to represent the taxpayers.
This is a great step forward, though it
fails to provide transparency to the other two board members. It is also inappropriate to phrase this
idea as a request or a suggestion; this should be a demand. The administration works for the board,
a fact that seems to be routinely ignored. It is past time to reestablish the board as the leader of the district, second only to the taxpayers.
Two large warrant articles passed with
virtually no information available to the board or the public. Votes of such cavalier ignorance are not characteristic of the people of Croydon; they arise from a self-interested minority willing to spend their neighbor’s money with reckless abandon. Democracy works best when voting
represents a cross section of the electorate. Clearly this was not the case.
I personally have great faith in the
people of Croydon. History shows
that at times of heightened public interest, fiscal restraint, public good, and
self-determination dominate Croydon politics. When the public becomes disengaged, irresponsible spending,
cronyism, and subordination to special interests gain strength.
At Town Hall, the rubber stamp crowd won
the day, and we can expect to pay a hefty price. Families in Croydon will now pay hundreds of dollars more in
property taxes with no discernible benefit.
*Amusingly,
one of the usual suspects blamed me personally
for this budget issue, even though I wasn’t on the board when Newport changed
the tuition rates.
Jim Peschke
Jim Peschke
