Forget about a parcel tax
By John Horgan
Friday, April 13th, 2007 at 7:42 am in Uncategorized.
The campaign, in its embryonic form, has begun. As the San Mateo Union High School District continues to struggle financially, there has been a no-so-subtle effort (fueled, in part, by employee union members) to tout the idea of a parcel tax to alleviate the fiscal strain. That will never fly with skeptical taxpayers. The district, awash in fresh funds, has more money than at any time in its history. It’s just that its trustees and administrators have failed to be good shepherds of that groaning pile of cash. Adding a parcel tax on top of two huge bond measures and generous property tax increases over the last decade would be just one more opportunity for the authorities to mishandle the trust of the long-suffering citizenry. So forget about a parcel tax. The public, fed up with the district’s self-inflicted miseries, won’t buy it. Not even close.
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April 17th, 2007 at 11:03 pm
The district does not need a parcel tax but an Amendment to Measure M to allocate $80 million to pay of the capital debt of the Certificates of Participation. The pay-off was not included (specifically left out) in the original measure therefore must be amended to use the money for this purpose. The District used this method to amend Measure D in order to obtain funds to demolish San Mateo High School.
The movement of $80 million from construction funds to debt relief along with the elimination of the 7 period day ($1.5 to $3 million per year) will put the district on its feet again.
As for an interim Superintendent, try Elizabeth McManus the Asst. Sup of Business. She has been the shining star of the recovery process and tells the TRUTH… the first time.
April 18th, 2007 at 5:51 am
Elizabeth McManus has been with the district for less than a year. Asking her to run this troubled and dysfunctional organization might be asking too much at this time. And would she even want to take on such a thankless task? But there is probably little doubt that she has crossed the minds of the trustees.
April 18th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
Reports are coming out of the SMUHSD Budget Committee that the district will have to cut an additional $1.5 million off of the 2007-2008 budget. Its time to go back to basics. Its time to suspend the 7 period day and the Academic Core rebuild the district from the ground up. The greatest casualty of this fiasco is trust. The board needs to begin to make decisions that will build trust.
Given all of the problems that continue to build (Skanska, Teacher and CSEA Contracts, Bond Surveys, etc) the board should place Johnson on administrative leave with pay until he retires. This will enable the board to clean up the mess without any strings attached. It seems that Johnson is in the middle of each of these issues that could solved or eliminated if he were to move on right now.