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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 6, 2016)
opinion An Opinion: Reasons to Vote YES on the School Bond By Scott Laird I spent a lot of time last week pondering ways to discuss the Vernonia School District Bond and encourage lo- cal voters to support it. An idea to try and break the tension during an impassioned national election year and create something hu- morous on this page, like a Letterman style Top 10 list, was quickly scrapped because raising taxes is not in any way a laughing matter. I know many of our citizens see any increase in their month- ly or annual bills as a serious hardship, even when that increase is designated to help education in our community. Still, I think there are many good reasons why it is important to vote yes for this School Bond. This entire project of moving our school campus to a safe location, out of the flood plain, all started with a School Bond in 2009 that local citizens stepped up and overwhelmingly approved by a 60% to 40% margin. Now here we are, seven years later, coming back around, full circle, and asking the local taxpayers to finish that original commitment and step up again to raise the last bit needed to retire the debt, finish the campus, and make needed repairs to the Mist School building. I know, it’s a big ask. In case you don’t know the de- tails about this bond you’re being asked to approve, here is a brief recap of what led us to this situation: The story really starts on De- cember 3, 2007 when the Vernonia com- munity was flooded and all three school buildings were damaged. FEMA told the School District they would no longer insure their facilities and offered a $12 million buyout to help the District move to a safe location. Voters approved a $13 million bond in November of 2009, put- ting local “skin in the game” and show- ing potential funders the community supported the project. With a proposed $40 million budget, the hard lift now began - finding the rest of the funding. Many people got involved and formed an outreach campaign that secured con- tributions from a wide range of sources, including Vernonia alumni, regional and national corporations, philanthropic foundations, and several state and fed- eral agencies. Moving the Vernonia Schools was named an Oregon Solutions project and received additional state sup- port. Local fundraisers also contributed to the effort. At this point I have to mention that this is not the normal way a new school campus is built. Usually a school district will raise all the funds needed before beginning construction. Because of a strict FEMA timeline to qualify for the buyout of the old buildings, Vernonia was forced to begin construction early and hope they could raise the rest of the funds. In the end that heroic campaign came up about $5 million short, and the District had to borrow that money in or- der to complete and pay for the construc- tion. That debt carries a $400,000 pay- ment each year, which has been paid, up until now, by continuing fundraising ef- forts, but those financial resources disap- peared as the new campus was opened. The Vernonia flood story, and the new school campus lost its appeal to funders and the District still has a $4.1 million debt that has to be paid off. Which brings us back to the new School Bond voters are being asked to approve this November. So, instead of a humorous Top 10 List, here is a serious list of reasons (with a little bit of fun thrown in, be- cause, geez, hasn’t this election season already been too serious?) of why you should vote YES on the Vernonia School Bond. Retire the debt – As I mentioned ear- lier, the District has had this albatross of debt dragging them down since the new campus opened in 2012. The District, its administration, Board of Directors, teachers, and staff need to get back to their real jobs of educating our children, and stop worrying about how to make that next debt payment. The debt has been a serious distraction. It’s time to move on. Upgrades, repairs and final facilities – While the debt for the construction of the new campus is down to $4.1 million, the District is asking voters to approve $6.8 million in the bond. The debt will be paid off and then the District has several other projects they need to undertake. When funding got tight during the original con- struction, several cuts were made to the original plans. With the additional $2.7 million in funding, a fully functional art facility and a welding/metal shop will be added to the campus. Playground equip- ment will be installed at both the Verno- nia and Mist Schools. The Mist School will receive some much needed repairs, including a roof, siding and gutters. A new football field and track will be con- structed at the new campus. Some of you might find this last item somewhat extravagant, but I will make one point here. The Vernonia track team has been practicing on an ex- tremely poor surface for many years, or traveling to other schools to practice on a real track. They are unable to host home meets at their facility. Even without a real track the team has produced several state champions in the last several years, a truly amazing feat. Which brings me to my next point... WE WON THE LOTTERY!!! FREE MONEY!!! - OK, this is a bit of a stretch, but not completely. The Ver- nonia School District was chosen in a lottery by the State of Oregon and is guaranteed to receive $2.7 million in matching funds, IF THE COMMUNITY PASSES THE BOND. That money can- not be used to retire debt and must be used for facility upgrades. So, while it’s not exactly free money, those matching funds would allow the District to fully complete the campus. Vote NO on the bond and we leave $2.7 million on the table for some other school district to use. It’s about the kids... and the commu- nity - Writer John Green has a saying which has been fairly widely circulated on the internet, which pretty simply, yet brusquely makes what I feel is an impor- tant point: “Let me explain why I like to pay taxes for schools even though I don’t personally have a kid in school: I don’t like living in a country with a bunch of stupid people,” says Green. Educating our kids makes them better, and it makes our community better, and is probably one of the best uses of tax money I can think of. Think about how much of your tax money is spent on things you never see or use? To me, it’s a no-brainer. It’s payback time – There were many, continued on page 9 FULL SPORTS PACKAGE! Happy Hour Mon-Fri 4-7 LIVE MUSIC Sat, Nov. 5 Triple Edge Band • Specialty hamburgers • 8 Draft beers & mixed drinks • 5 Craft beers on tap • Pool tables & satelite TV • Free Wi-fi “BIKER FRIENDLY” • Beer & Kegs to go Sun - Thurs 11 AM - Midnight • 733 Bridge St, Vernonia Fri - Sat 11 AM - 2:30 AM • 503-429-9999 Cedar Side Inn Karaoke Every 2nd & Last Friday Taco Tuesday from opening until 9pm 3 hardshell or 1 softshell $4.25 Ladies’ Night every Thursday 6pm-close • Free Pool • Free WiFi • Specialty Pizzas iheck our Facebook page for daily specials and upcoming events 756 Bridge Street, Vernonia 503-429-5841 october6 2016 3 Publisher and Managing Editor Scott Laird 503-367-0098 scott@vernoniasvoice.com Contributors Stacey Lynn Dr. Carol McIntyre Aaron Miller Photography Scott Laird Want to advertise? Have an article? Contact: scott@vernoniasvoice.com One year subscriptions (24 issues) $35 Vernonia’s Voice is published on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month. 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