November 2-7, 2015
Nov 02 02:26 ISD742 School Board corruption alert Nov 02 11:42 Theft by different methods Nov 02 15:45 Monday afternooon humor Nov 03 19:58 ISD742 bonding vote Nov 04 01:43 ISD742 proposal rejected Nov 04 15:14 The first fight is over; now the battle begins Nov 04 15:32 Jerry von Korff's diatribe Nov 05 07:17 Hint to Harner: it wasn't the messaging Nov 07 23:38 Why the referendum was defeated
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Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
ISD742 School Board corruption alert
I haven't hidden the fact that I thought from the outset that the ISD742 School Board was corrupt. (I first wrote about it in this post .) This LTE provides proof that either their math skills are deficient or that they're liars, corrupt to the core. I don't think that their math skills are deficient, which means that they're probably deceitful and corrupt.
The part of Colleen Donovan's LTE that caught my attention is "The Dec. 19 Times report 'St. Cloud schools hike tax levy 14.75%' reported the district stating an owner of a home valued at $150,000 - if their home value did not increase - would pay an $49 more in taxes due to the 2015 levy increase. My 2015 tax statement showed that levy increased my taxes by 54.5 percent, or an increase of $79.59. And my house is valued under $100,000. This is far from the $49 on a $150,000 the district reported in December. The district did not need voter approval to do this."
I wrote about that property tax increase in this post . I quoted Mark Sommerhauser's article where he wrote "St. Cloud school district has imposed its largest tax levy increase in six years for 2015. The district's property-tax levy will increase by $3.3 million, or 14.75 percent, to nearly $26 million. The school board voted unanimously Thursday night to approve the 2015 levy."
Let's do some quick math on this. Ms. Donovan's property tax increase was $49 on a property valued at less than $100,000. That's on a tax increase of $3,300,000. This bonding referendum is for $167,000,000.
The mailers that the School Board sent out said that they're asking for permission to issue $167,000,000 to pay for renovating Apollo High School ($46,500,000), a new Tech High School ($113,800,000), technology ($4,200,000) and security ($2,500,000). The ballot question just asks for bonding authority for $167,000,000 without describing where the money will go. The ballot question is the only thing that's legally binding.
The School Board might or might not keep their promise. The School Board might or might not have published an accurate estimate of how much property taxes will increase, though I'd bet the proverbial ranch that they didn't.
The ISD742 School Board has proven that they're corrupt. They wanted to keep the referendum low profile. That goal died when I wrote my first post about this referendum. They worded the ballot question so that people had to approve the entire $167,000,000 or reject the entire $167,000,000 intentionally.
It's time to vote no on this bonding referendum. Then it's time to vote out the corrupt school board members the next time they're up for re-election. This school board is comprised of mostly hardline progressive machine DFL politicians. They need to go ASAP before they bankrupt us.
Posted Monday, November 2, 2015 2:26 AM
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Theft by different methods
Here in St. Cloud, the ISD742 School Board is attempting to lift money from taxpayers' wallets by writing a bonding proposal so that the taxpayers either accept a massive tax increase or they reject school renovations. I thought that the ISD742 School Board was corrupt. (I still do, actually.) That was until I heard about the outright theft and vandalism campaign being conducted by the Vote Yes people in the north metro. Mitch Berg's post highlights the DFL's depravity, including this link to the Washington County Watchdog's Facebook page. You'll want to check out the screen grab of a Vote Yes activist (thief?)admitting (actually, bragging is more accurate) that she stole Vote No lawn signs. Mitch further quoted that the "Watchdog confirmed that one of the women is affiliated with/employed by the 'Vote Yes' campaign." Actually, that person was uninhibited enough to say that she "might make a day" of stealing the Vote No signs.
What's particularly disturbing is Nicole _____'s total disinterest in obeying the law. At one point, she said "Logan and I may go to jail today but at least we have coffee!" Check this screen grab out:
The woman who admitted that she's stolen Vote No lawn signs isn't a Republican or an independent. She's a hardline progressive who thinks whatever she does is justified because it's done to achieve her goal of raising people's taxes to pay for a huge bonding referendum.
Theft is a crime. Because she's already admitted to committing the crime on Facebook, the police should arrest her ASAP. She should then be prosecuted at the earliest possible time without violating any of this activist's constitutional rights. Then she should be given the maximum sentence/fine allowed by law. It shouldn't matter if she's never been arrested before. It shouldn't matter if she's been nominated for any civic award.
Clearly, this woman cheerfully violated other people's constitutional rights (the First Amendment, specifically) without hesitation. She did it to prevent people with whom she disagrees from exercising the same rights the Vote Yes campaign is using.
Further, the legislature should write a law that makes the theft or vandalism of lawn signs a felony. This punishment should be 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Keeping this a misdemeanor with a slap-on-the-wrist fine keeps in place the plan that gives the Nicoles and Logans an incentive to continue vandalizing campaigns. It has to stop ASAP.
Originally posted Monday, November 2, 2015, revised 03-Nov 3:18 PM
Comment 1 by Dave Steckling at 02-Nov-15 09:49 PM
Well I'll be dipped!! Does this mean that I have to look out my window all day tomorrow until the polls are closed? It took me several hours to make and install my VOTE NO yard sign on Clearwater Road. Guess I have to let all the neighbors pet snakes out to patrol the area.
Comment 2 by MplsSteve at 03-Nov-15 04:30 PM
When I lived in Minneapolis, the DFL treated the city like their personal fiefdom. Any GOP sign (be it for city council all the way to President) was fair game.
They were brazen enough to go down an entire city block and take every GOP lawn sign on that block. In the past, there were a few areas that had some blocks that had as many as 4-5 of our lawn signs on it.
It was infuriating to have to go out the next day and replace every sign. I remember once replacing one of our lawn signs as a couple of DFL block workers came into the yard. I remember verbally tearing them a new one. They probably weren't the ones who stole the signs - but heck, I had to take my anger out on someone. It felt good too.
Comment 3 by Alex Mundy at 03-Nov-15 07:15 PM
Like Mitch Berg and the Washington County Watchdogs (Matt Behning and Eric Langness), you're obviously determined not to let the facts get in the way of a good story.
There is NO EVIDENCE that the woman accused actually took any signs. She stated it was online joking between friends and stated, "No signs were actually taken."
According to the Forest Lake Times today, the Forest Lake Police Department "had not received any reports from anyone who had a sign stolen."
In the same article, John Freed, one of the leaders of Taxpayers for Accountability, the group opposing the bond and distributors of the signs, said he and other members of his group "haven't actually seen anyone physically stealing them."
So, if you wouldn't let the Left skate by with this sort of apoplectic reaction to a ginned-up issue devoid of proof, maybe you should just let it go. It was just a bad joke, like your article.
Response 3.1 by Gary Gross at 03-Nov-15 07:24 PM
Really? Let's hear you explain how "some of the signs were replaced, and some were returned." As for your lie that Nicole Lemay said that "it was online joking between friends", why did she then say that "Logan and I may go to jail today but at least we have coffee!"?
Your spin is better labeled BS.
As for stealing signs, that's been one of the Democrats' tactics starting in 2004. Since then, Democrats have gotten convicted of vandalizing yard signs. One of those years, the son of the Democratic Party's chairman in Milwaukee was convicted of sabotaging rented vans meant to get out the elderly vote in Milwaukee. Don't tell me that the Democrats don't do this. It's part of their time-tested bag of tricks.
Monday afternooon humor
A frequent reader of LFR sent me an email that put a smile on my face. Here's what it said:
- I'm not saying let's go kill all the stupid people. I'm just saying let's remove all the warning labels and let the problem work itself out.
- I changed my car horn to gunshot sounds. People move out of the way much faster now.
- You can tell a lot about a woman's mood just by her hands. If they are holding a gun, she's probably pissed.
- I didn't make it to the gym today. That now makes 1,500 days in a row.
- Dear paranoid people who check behind your shower curtains for murderers:- If you happen to find one, what's your plan?
- Everyone has a right to be stupid. Politicians just abuse the privilege.
Posted Monday, November 2, 2015 3:45 PM
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ISD742 bonding vote
This afternoon, Dennis Whipple, the chairman of the Independent School District (ISD) 742 said "We are having record, historic turnout. All of our polling places -- it's really exciting to see the community engaged around this vote." Later, Chairman Whipple said "Historically, we were told to expect for a special election or a referendum to expect between 4,000 and 6,000 votes to be cast. As we understand it, that happened before 11:00 am this morning.
This afternoon, I followed Chairman Whipple on Dan Ochsner's Ox in the Afternoon show. (Click on this link to listen to those interviews.) One thing I highlighted is that I didn't see EdMinn people pounding the pavement this cycle. I didn't see many yard signs out, from either side really, either. This was a low-profile campaign on a high-profile issue.
Though there wasn't much advertising run on the issue, interest in this issue ran high. When you break the turnout record before noon, that's exceptionally high turnout.
Check back after 8:00 pm for updates and election results.
20:15 -- Chairman Whipple was just on a local radio station from ISD 742 headquarters. He was asked what the next step would be if the bond was approved or rejected. Whipple said that it's the same either way, adding that if it's rejected that "we'd go back to listening to the concerns of the district."
20:45 -- The absentee ballots are being counted as this is being written. We might have those results at the top of the 9:00 o'clock hour.
21:00 -- St. John's University vote is in : Yes 74. No 45
21:45 -- Ballots have arrived from Colts Academy, Tech High School, Talahi Elementary School, Lincoln Elementary School. They're counting the absentee ballots and the ballots from Apollo High School. Thus far, the SJU ballots are the only ones counted and announced.
22:15 --
- Tech High School 473 yes, 635 NO
- Colts Academy 695 yes, 784 NO
- Talahi 695 yes, 861 NO
- Lincoln 132 yes, 171 NO
- Apollo 621 yes, 777 NO
- Discovery totals: 468 yes, 515 NO
22:30 -- Oak Hill totals: 1,379 YES, 1,146 no
With 8 of 13 precincts reporting, 4,527 yes (47.8%), 4.934 no (52.2%)
23:00 -- St. Augusta totals: 435 yes, 835 NO. Westwood ballots just arrived. (H/T Kevin Allenspach) With 9 of 13 precincts reporting: 4,962 yes votes (46.2%), 5,769 NO votes (53.8%) total votes cast: 10,731
23:10 -- Westwood results: 588 yes, 560 no. Unofficial totals with 10 of 13 precincts reporting: 5,550 yes (46.7%), 6,329 NO (53.3%). ( H/T Kevin Allenspach ) Total votes cast: 11,879
11:30 -- SCSU results: 342 yes, 256 no. Absentee results: 435 yes, 487 no. Total votes: 777 yes votes, 742 no votes. Total votes cast: 13,399 With 11 of 13 polling stations reporting, 6,327 yes votes (47.2%), 7,072 no votes (52.8%)
Technically, there's still 2 polling stations still left to report but the referendum will fail by a pretty substantial margin. School Board Chairman Whipple and Superintendent Jett haven't officially conceded defeat but they've made gloomy-sounding statements before leaving their 'Victory Party' headquarters.
Consider that the last update of this post.
Originally posted Tuesday, November 3, 2015, revised 04-Nov 2:57 PM
Comment 1 by Jarrett at 04-Nov-15 12:36 AM
Long silent walk home for Von Korf, Mohs and the rest of the diversity cheerleaders from the Courtyard Marriott victory party !!!
Comment 2 by Gary Gross at 04-Nov-15 01:23 AM
This certainly wasn't the outcome they expected.
ISD742 proposal rejected
Yesterday, the ISD School Board put its best happy face on during their interviews. Whether they believed that they were going to win or whether they knew a defeat was in the cards, the indisputable truth from Tuesday night was that taxpayers rejected the School Board's proposal by a pretty significant margin.
Tuesday afternoon, School Board Chairman Dennis Whipple told KNSI's Dan Ochsner that most referenda and special elections attract approximately 4,000-6,000 voters in St. Cloud. When all the ballots were counted, ISD742 residents cast 15,853 votes; 7,393 (46.6%) were yes votes while 8,460 (53.4%) were no votes.
It's one thing to lose a tight race. It's another to lose by 1,000+ votes.
Tuesday afternoon, I told Dan Ochsner that we would look at the Times' Our View Editorial as the turning point if this bonding referendum lost. At the time, I wrote in this post that it's "foolish to think that this group of "experienced leaders" is running an under-the-radar campaign because this is a terrific deal for St. Cloud. If this deal was that important and that well thought out, these "experienced leaders" would've canvassed St. Cloud at least 3-4 times."
The fact that only 3 mailers were sent out and that few Vote Yes signs were put up around town indicates that the School Board didn't put much effort into this campaign. In hindsight, I never saw anyone from EdMinn dropping lit or knocking on doors.
Whipple said that the School Board would "return to" listening to the people. Hint for Chairman Whipple: it's time for the School Board to start listening rather than talking amongst the education community, then telling the taxpayers what their bill will be for the School Board's plans.
Posted Wednesday, November 4, 2015 1:43 AM
Comment 1 by J at 04-Nov-15 07:11 AM
At least some people are starting to wake up. Job well done, Gary.
Comment 2 by Rex Newman at 04-Nov-15 10:29 AM
LFR readers: I called this outcome, predicting a "big" defeat, and I think this margin qualifies given the off cycle timing and the usual union support.
Your Board should read this as a perceived lack of credibility. Two things seem obvious to this Metro reader. One, the discipline and academic problems at Tech have to be openly, directly addressed. A new building solves nothing, especially one blind to the real needs of the new demography.
And two, claiming a new roof "could cost" $10 million raises red flags with those of us who have some experience in such matters. That's a lot of roofing, possibly necessary given the age of the structure underneath. But what do you bet there is all manner of extra "rain water capture" and "green roof" and "solar panel" nonsense baked in?
"You say you got a real solution
Well, you know
We'd all love to see the plan."
The first fight is over; now the battle begins
Last night, the taxpayers sent an unmistakable message: they didn't appreciate the ISD School Board trying to shove a bad plan down their throats . Let's not kid ourselves, though. Taxpayers won this fight but the battle still continues. Anyone thinking that this corrupt School Board will stop trying to push this plan through next year is kidding themselves.
Before last night's vote totals started rolling in, the Board members getting interviewed were reminiscing about the great civic participation that they'd seen, how they were proud of how citizens of past generations had built schools that they'd benefited from and how confident they were. I got the impression from listening to those interviews that they were totally blindsided when the first polling stations were reported. Those results weren't that close. Some polling stations' results reported blowouts. That's the honest way of putting it. It's important that we not sugarcoat things.
I voted at Talahi Middle School. The vote there was 695 yes votes, 861 no votes. Here's some more results:
- Tech High School 473 yes, 635 NO
- Colts Academy 695 yes, 784 NO
- Talahi 695 yes, 861 NO
- Lincoln 132 yes, 171 NO
- Apollo 621 yes, 777 NO
- Discovery totals: 468 yes, 515 NO
I don't doubt that the School Board will listen to that rejection. Whether they draw the right conclusions is questionable. I'm betting they don't.
First, they didn't plan right. The plan they presented to the public called for a capacity of 1,800 students at Tech, 1,800 students at Apollo. The combined student enrollment at those school this year is approximately 2,700. Why anyone would think that St. Cloud high school student enrollment would increase by 33% over the next 25 years is incomprehensible. That's a fantasy.
The ISD742 School Board acted like a political machine. It's time to stop that machine ASAP. That'll require citizens from outside the 'Education Community' to run for the school board. That will require them to campaign hard. That'll require them to respect the people they represent.
If that doesn't happen, then yesterday's victory will have just delayed the inevitable.
Posted Wednesday, November 4, 2015 3:14 PM
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Jerry von Korff's diatribe
After last night's bonding referendum victory for taxpayers, a loyal reader of LFR sent an email to Jerry von Korff. Here's von Korff's response:
What I heard is that you are so angry at Somali immigration that you are going to screw the white kids along with them.Here's what was sent to von Korff:
If that is not the correct message to receive out of all of this, then what is your message.
When we stand UNITED we ARE heard.Where did von Korff purchase his dog whistle? Talk about hearing what a person didn't say. That's stunning. That's considered an anti-Somali email? WOW. I think it's time that Mr. von Korff retires.
We were respectful.
We spoke FACT.
We were transparent.
We asked to be heard and were ignored, brushed off, and arrogantly pushed aside and insulted.
We fought the media, we fought the self-righteous political "leaders" with agendas that ARE not sustainable.
Posted Wednesday, November 4, 2015 3:32 PM
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Hint to Harner: it wasn't the messaging
This paragraph from Kevin Allenspach's article show how out of tough the school board was:
"We were cautiously optimistic for this vote because we had the support of so many community groups," said Harner, co-chair of NFSE. "It turned out the no group wasn't very big but they were powerful. Now we've got to go back quickly and get feedback. We're going to have to have more listening sessions and see if we can get the input we need on what to change about our message."
Here's a hint to Ms. Harner. It wasn't the message that caused the referendum to fail. It was the fact that people weren't included in the planning process from the start. It's that we didn't have the opportunity to vote separately on the issues. It's that you tried sneaking this referendum past us.
In short, you pretty much did everything wrong.
Posted Thursday, November 5, 2015 7:17 AM
Comment 1 by Rex Newman at 05-Nov-15 06:33 PM
When you're proposing building shiny objects at someone else's expense, getting "community input" and "stakeholder buy in" isn't difficult. Those who see that they are the ones paying and/or that the project has no merit are easily and safely ignored. So you wind up with a Pauline Kael "but everyone I know supported it!" reaction to the loss. Even more predictable is that "we didn't get our message out" lamentation when once again, their message was the problem.
Why the referendum was defeated
This St. Cloud Times Our View editorial cites some things that've gotten questioned on this blog. When the Times says that the "price of a new Tech was $113.8 million, and Apollo's improvements tallied $46.5 million", that isn't accurate. If the Times wanted to say that the ISD742 School Board said that these figures are accurate, that's one thing.
I cited Barclay Carriar in this post because he said "What a lot of them don't recognize is, with the cost of designing a building, 80 percent of it isn't going to be designed until after the referendum. And the plans we've got now are still tentative." Hypothetically speaking, that means they couldn't have more than a rough estimate of the school's cost.
If the School Board doesn't let interested taxpayers see the blueprint of the new Tech, they'll face an uphill fight. That's because people now know that a) the combined enrollment of Tech and Apollo is roughly 2,700 students and b) the projected capacity of the new Tech and the renovated Apollo will be 3,600 students.
This morning's editorial asks the question "So how do district leaders, elected and professional, craft another referendum that addresses so many potential points of disagreement?" The answer is simple. They shouldn't try. On a project this big, they should immediately commit to listening sessions before attempting to draft another question. Specifically, the listening session should include a healthy percentage of people who voted no this past Tuesday.
If the School Board changes a few things, then presents essentially the same plan with a smaller price tag, it's possible they might prevail but it'd be hardly worth it. It wouldn't be worth it because they wouldn't have won over a spirited bunch of people who opposed the referendum for multiple substantive reasons.
It's especially worthwhile to note that 15,853 people took time to vote on this referendum. According to Dennis Whipple, the chairman of the ISD742 Board, most referenda have a turnout rate of about 18%. In this instance, the turnout rate was 31%. They turned out because they were upset. They felt like they were taken for granted. They thought that they were talked down to.
If Chairman Whipple and the Board treats the taxpayers like ATMs again, they'll face an uphill fight on getting a new referendum passed.
Most importantly, they will have wasted the opportunity to build a little trust with voters.
Posted Saturday, November 7, 2015 11:38 PM
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