[img]1705|right|Mike Reynolds||no_popup[/img]What wreckage?
Not at all, says Mike Reynolds, the School District’s first year Assistant Superintendent for Business, standing astride the shattered remains of the much-pumped but now stillborn bond measure campaign that went to its quasi-eternal rest last Monday night.
“It will be like a phoenix rising from the ashes,” Mr. Reynolds said.
Led by Karlo Silbiger, the School Board swung hard and surprisingly 3 to 2 against further pursuing a bond measure for the November ballot, a killing a probable $75 million project to repair swiftly declining facilities across the District.
“We just need to provide some additional research and information to the Board and to the community,” he said.
“That was the message from Monday night.
“We need to do a little more due diligence into the particular projects that might be funded into the areas that might be of priority concern to the community. We would be tying the projects to the lifetime of the bond. In other words, 25-year bonds should pay for 25-year projects. Those are my takeaways from the meeting.”
Question: Mr. Silbiger complained that the bond campaign was being pushed too fast without matching information to enlighten both the Board and the community.
“I think taking our time will allow us to give much more in-depth information to the Board and the community,” Mr. Reynolds said. “That is a good thing.”
Is pairing the bond campaign with next June’s round of primary elections the next best option?
“We probably would want to focus on gathering the information that the Board and the community would like to see, and then let them decide when they feel the appropriate time will be to move forward.
“That,” said Mr. Reynolds, “is the message. We need to do more research, to provide a lot more information, and we need to look at a variety of factors that go into bonds and parcel taxes. Then we will see when the Board and the community are ready to move forward.”
How will they know the right time to go to the people?
“A lot has to do with a public opinion poll we might conduct to find out if the public would support a bond campaign,” Mr. Reynolds said. “Sometimes it is better to do a June ballot, sometimes November.
“We have been instructed, and we will follow through accordingly.”
