By Alan Elmont
The past five years have seen disastrous budget cuts, School Board member Karlo Silbiger, a candidate for re-election, advised during last week’s forum co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters and the PTA Council.
Why then did he, and Board colleagues Nancy Goldberg and Prof. Patricia Siever vote to spend $28,000 on an outside consulting firm to investigate placing a bond measure on our November ballot?
After voting the stipend, they did nothing to track, monitor, direct, report on those efforts until the fateful night the plug was pulled on placing a bond measure on the ballot and then did nothing until decisions were forestalled?
Bonds are good for major capitol projects. Parcel taxes are good for on-going expenses. A balance of the two needs to be considered, Mr. Silbiger said in responding to a question at the forum.
I was chairperson of the Community Budget Advisory Committee that is on record for the last two years advising to renew Measure EE, the parcel tax.
Yet when Mr. Silbiger voted to spend the $28,000, he mad no reference to a parcel tax to be investigated in the study.
For $28,000, you could pay for a part-time librarian or nurse or teacher’s aid to a classroom. What about all positions lost during the state budget crunch and not yet brought back?
For $28,000, you could fix drinking fountains or other ongoing maintenance issues that Mr. Silbiger and Ms. Goldberg claim to champion.
The question one has to ask is:
What other monies has Mr. Silbiger squandered in his past four years?
Matching funds for solar from the state?
Contracts approved and not monitored?
We know that $28,000 went down a rabbit hole. How much more?
Since past behavior is an indicator of future behavior, we need School Board members who will watch our dollars go to the students, not down a hole.
Mr. Elmont may be contacted at aelmont@ca.rr.com
