In a recent response to Bob Chester on a Facebook post, I commented that this millage election is like a negotiation.
Many of us are in business and enter negotiations of one sort of another quite frequently. It usually goes like this:
Salesman: I can do the job for $10000
Client: That’s too much.
Salesman: If I cut the bells and whistles, I can do it for $8000.
Client: Looks great, let’s do it.
Now if the salesman is worth anything, he will find a way to cut costs whilst delivering the most critical components of the proposed solution.
Consider the same scenario with the School Board:
School Board: We can build a new building for 45 million.
The People: That’s too much.
School Board: How about this then: instead of 45 million can build a new building for 56 million, and it will be 10000 square feet smaller to boot!
The People: ?
What on earth possessed the Board to do this? It doesn’t make a lick of sense. Any salesman who attempted such a stunt wouldn’t last long. You don’t win clients by jacking up the price after they tell you it’s too expensive.
So why did they do this? Why did they think it would be acceptable to jack up the price while delivering less? Was it simple hubris? Did they listen to special interest groups instead of the people?
I am convinced that there is a progressive agenda at work here. A representative of A+ said as much when he spoke at the BCRC. We neither need, nor want that kind of progressive agenda here in Baxter County. There was a perfectly acceptable, tax payer friendly proposal proffered by the state that would have solved the immediate issues with the aging facilities; but I can’t say for certain that it was even considered by the board. Why? They are not talking, but we the people deserve better. We Demand Better.
I encourage the people of the School District to tell the Board where they can stick their proposal. Vote No May 9th.