[Winona Online Democracy]
On Nov 18, 2005, at 14:41, LindaF wrote:
[Winona Online Democracy]
I didn't say informing a voter was wasteful. If* the funding comes
from private sources, fine, as long as the information given is not
propaganda.
I have no idea how long you have lived in this district but it is
notorious for waste. Where to start? First items that come to mind are
the piles of desks, etc that were thrown out on Broadway from the
middle school.
I have been a member of this list almost as long the time that I have
not lived in this town; and yet, I am still spoken to as an outsider.
In another breath many complain that no one wants to stay in Winona. In
yet another breath, it is implied that those who lack motivation are
the ones who leave Winona for greener pastures. Yet, in none of those
breaths is it asked, "Why is Winona so undesirable?" Since others
regard Winona as undesirable how does this affect other issues?
And I really don't care if some people would rather we all forget that
ever happened, it did* happen and it was extremely wasteful.
First, the critics constantly say the district is notorious for wasting
money. Yet, when challenged for examples, the supposed proof is of one
time incidents. If the waste were so notorious, one would expect to
find items that can be cut from the budget every year. Perennial waste
would help the district more than these one time complaints that
dominate the discussion.
I am told the new Middle School has round corners? How many thousands
of dollars did that add to the building? It seems the district has an
easy time spending the voter/taxpayer money.
The politics of Winona demanded a low cost building when it was
approved. It is too easy to forget the politics of Winona during that
horrible era. When the proposal was made, the common argument against
the new Middle School was we have done this two times before why do we
need to vote down another one. Other arguments that were made were that
the building, any building, would be too expensive. This mindset forced
a low cost emphasis for the proposal if it were to have any chance to
pass. This is one of the reasons that the referendum for the new Winona
Middle School had three questions, one for the base school, one for
district-wide building maintenance, and one for building a swimming
pool and auditorium. All three questions passed.
oh, you wanted figures, not charges of waste. Well, I don't have those
figures in front of me and you probably knew that when you posted.
I cannot and will not take your argument seriously. I will not take
someone at their word whom attempts to make a pure pathos argument for
something that is measurable. Further, the district makes its numbers
available and you wrote on November 2 in the Winona Daily News that you
were voting against the referendum. It has been two weeks since that
column where you state that the "district has to learn to live within
its means just like every taxpayer/voter does" as the base for the
thesis. If I would take such a highly visible stance against the
referendum (or for it), I would take the time to gather information to
defend my position especially if I were making the charges that you
have made.
I have seen charges in the paper that the school district is fiscally
irresponsible yet no one wants to cite facts. During the previous
referendum, a challenge even appeared on Winona Online Democracy that
stated if you can document ways to save the school district money that
this member would vote against the referendum. I seconded that
challenge and no one provided a response.
I am always amazed that those who are in favor of raising the property
taxes think the rest of us are against 'children'. It has nothing to
do with the 'children'. If you read my column in the daily news it
more than explains how I feel about the WAPS.
Actually your column has me more confused. I plan to comment on that as
well.
Linda Fort
btw, I think the PSEO program is fantastic.
[previous messages snipped]
********************************************
David Dittmann
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