On Tuesday, Sept. 29 I went to a meeting at the high school, which was called to tell the public why a $36.5 million school bond is being presented for a villagewide vote on Oct. 27.
All of the presentation was given by the school board and the various consultants who prepared the estimates. However, the meeting began with a thank you to the Joint Conference Committee (JCC), a group composed of the presidents and vice presidents of the four property owners’ associations (POAs). They were credited with sponsoring the meeting. In fact, as a resident of the western section who regularly attends meetings, I know that our POA was never solicited for an endorsement of the bond referendum. Our POA, which deals almost exclusively with village administrative matters, has not solicited input from our members on the issue. I have no idea why the JCC was asked by the school board to host the meeting, unless it was to give the impression that the various POAs endorsed the bond.
Although the meeting was publicized in both village newspapers, I counted fewer than 40 residents in the audience. Does this mean that everyone agrees that because the school board says so, additional taxes need to be raised? Does everyone know what is included in the proposal? Oct. 27 is not that far off. If we don’t start asking questions now, we will not have enough information to make an informed decision. Let us all start paying attention to what is going on and study this issue.
Arnold Finamore
