August 31, 2007
Haven’t we got anything BETTER to spend our money on??
This one kind of burns me up, probably because my wife and I have our daughter enrolled in the autistic program at the excellent Mary Munford school. When I read over this article, I felt a surge of rage. Where on earth is the city getting off that it’s right to spend money to move the school board out of City Hall? Can’t that money be better spent elsewhere such as increasing the programs for our children’s schooling? I don’t care if the school board or the mayor’s office is paying for it; bottom line is that this is OUR tax dollars.
Compiled from the Times-Dispatch:
The author of the ordinance, 3rd District Councilman Chris A. Hilbert, said he had not seen the lease until yesterday. Normally, the city seeks the council’s approval to execute leases, he said.
Hilbert called for the public to voice its outrage over the mayor’s demand. He said the move would cost the city at least $3 million over five years.
“The citizens have to let the mayor know they don’t appreciate him wasting this money and they want the wrangling to stop,” Hilbert said.
Absolutely unnerving to me. And what makes it especially sad and pathetic is that our “leaders” are quibbling over petty issues that we try to instill in our children how NOT to behave.
Wow. Great role models there, everyone.
Amazing, but not surprising. Our local gov’t has been this way for as long as I can remember.
But let’s not leave it at our publicly elected officials (and by saying that, I am not defending Wilder, Council, or School Board either).
The fact is that the local corporate leaders have a huge, unduly influence over City priorities.
Case in point: Its absolutely morally reprehensible that the CenterStage/Virginia Perfroming Arts Foundation BOONDOGGLE is taking priority over Richmond Public Schools’ ADA access needs.
Contact the “Gang of 26″ (Ukrops and others) and let them know they are dishonoring Oliver Hill’s legacy, sabotaging what’s left of Wilder’s, and creating huge future problems for the City with their egotistical white elephant schemes.
It will be interesting to see if Mr. Hilbert applies this same sense of righteous outrage and concern when he votes on whether or not to hand $25 million (plus $500,000 a year) to the Virginia Performing Arts Foundation (VAPAF) and the CenterStage boondoggle.
I wonder if he will ask the public to voice its outrage over this planned measure that would handsomely reward a private and secretive group (VAPAF) that has already wasted more than $8 million in public dollars… and I wonder if (in the name of “saving money”) he plans to vote to hand control of Richmond’s historic theatres over to the same consortium of bigwigs that squandered the Carpenter Center endowment and left that theatre closed for more than two years.
We’ll see on Sept. 10 if Mr. Hilbert’s outrage over the wasteful use of public money and resources is selective. His constituents should ask him, in any case.
Seems like the teachers agree: check this out:
http://www.styleweekly.com/article.asp?idarticle=15061
[...] Perhaps it’s a move to make up for the budget’s downfall possibly created between the Mayor and the School Boards’ seemingly constant quibbling. When the School Board trimmed the busing services, it also cut 45 bus-driver positions and created [...]