Let me get this straight. The Pro-Bond people had the entire PISD administration, the PISD faculty, most of the the School Board members, the Facilities Committees, the Pittsburg Gazette and prominent business owners pushing for the School Bond proposal. They had meetings, supposedly for the public; a blog site; ads; Letters to the Editor in the Pittsburg Gazette; and signs all over the city of Pittsburg and out into the country side. This seems like a mighty powerful coalition to me.
According to a Letter to the Editor, however, by Ms. Reynolds in this week's Pittsburg Gazette, a "force" of three people overcame the power of the pro-bond people people by simply writing Letters to the Editors to the Pittsburg Gazette? How funny. Couple this with the fact that Roger Standsbury was defeated for the School Board by Ricky Parker by almost the exact percentage, and you have to wonder, how do three people have such a monumental impact in one community. In fact, Ms. Reynolds' letter is just plain silly. If you think about it and accept the facts, the people of Camp County spoke loud and clear: they are fed up with the excsess taxation by the PISD School Board and the ineffectiveness of the School Board. For sure, more changes are in the works. Look for Mr. Brison and Mr. Carter to be voted off the board when they next run for re-election. Change, for the better, is coming to Pittsburg and Camp County.
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My Response to Ms. Reynolds: Setting The Record Straight
Ms. Reynolds, I assume that you are writing on behalf of those who favored obligating current and future property and business owners to much higher school taxes. I think that you are giving too much credit to too few for defeating the school bond proposal. One or a few of us did not defeat the school bond proposal. One or a few of us are not thwarting the visions of the county leaders and ruining this county.
Ms. Reynolds, you have insulting the intelligence of the overwhelming majority of voters. Ms. Reynolds, the world has changed and continues to do so. Your suggestions for restoring happiness by reverting to better and happier times are unrealistic. You should give more thought to causes and effects, how democracy works and what we are leaving for future generations.
Ms. Reynolds, the majority is not telling you to move out. The majority wants to work together using our collective intelligence. I am one of the majority. The majority resists being dominated by a well-organized minority. You should be more concerned about the quality of educational opportunity than you are about the appearance of a few buildings. You should help unify the citizens of our county. Many of us want to help, do you?
Supporters of the school bond election should not be too surprised by the results. Voter turnout was greater than in typical spring elections. The approximate 25 percent of the eligible voters turnout in Camp County was much greater than an average turnout of about 10 percent in most areas across the state in which school bond elections passed. The Pittsburg Gazette, Internet sites, and local meetings were effective in informing voters. More analysis of the reasons school bonds were passed and rejected can be found on the Internet by googling (Texas school bond elections). There are many factors involved. There were many places across our country where school bond elections failed.
Considering the economic and political uncertainties across our country, I am surprised that the vote ratio was not greater than 2 to 1. I think that had the voter turnout been greater or if more people had understood the economic issues, the defeat would have been even more overwhelming. The results of the elections should send a message to supporters of the PISD school bond election and the opposed school board member. Democracy is alive and well in Camp County.
Those supporting the school bonds should understand that bullying people, peer pressure, unethical tactics, and other actions are not effective or acceptable ways to get people to vote. Voting is an individual and personal matter. How people say that they will vote under pressure or emotional stress is not necessarily the way that they will actually vote. When voters have good information and enough of them vote, democracy works and good decisions are made.
For future reference those native to this area should note, that as the population ages, more retirees will come to our county. Many of these retirees will network. Some will communicate with one another via the Internet. Many of these retirees will be better informed on voting issues and will want to be included in county matters rather than excluded and only valued as tax payers. Few retirees from outside Camp County will be willing to vote increases in taxes greater than their increases in income. In the future those seeking elected positions or favoring bond elections will be expected to effectively communicate their thoughts in writing to larger numbers of well-informed voters.
Many of those who turned down this bond proposal support meeting the most essential education needs of the students in Camp County. Although, I am not a leader of any organized group that opposed the bond election, I think that some separate well-conceived proposals might pass. One proposal that I think that many would support is raises for effective teachers, and helping teachers pay for professional development in their teaching fields.
I have recently been told by a person favoring buildings over teacher salaries and academic programs that there is a law that “virtually” prevents using bond money from being used for teacher salaries. If there is a law preventing deserving teachers from earning higher salaries, others and I will oppose it. Perhaps our PISD superintendent or a school lawyer can explain this issue and how changes can be made.
Bob Roe
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