Should Council Vote for a New Bennett Middle School?

We need to replace Bennett Middle School.  I don’t think there is anyone arguing that we don’t.  Accepting this, does that mean the Wicomico County Council should vote on Tuesday to include a new Bennett Middle School in the county’s capital budget?  No.

There is no question that Wicomico County cannot afford the project this year.  Why, then, should the council agree to include the project?

The argument goes something like this …

By putting the project in the capital budget now we are not committing to funding it.  Unless the county’s financial picture changes, we don’t have to include it when the county passes its bond bill in the fall.  However, if we don’t the county loses that flexibility.  We will certainly face higher construction costs in the future AND we move to the bottom of the pile when seeking funding from the state.

All of this is true.  In fact, if a majority of council votes to include a new Bennett Middle in the capital budget on Tuesday this is the same argument we will hear in the fall when passing the bond bill.

Betting On the “Come”

Given the last two rounds of property reassessments, and the current trend in income tax receipts, does any member of council honestly believe that the county’s financial picture will change sufficiently to justify borrowing this money in the fall?  Of course not!  Why include a project that you wouldn’t vote to fund … unless your real intention is to go ahead and add to the county’s dangerously high debt levels with no real plan for funding it?  When voters elected 6 Republican, and supposedly conservative, council members last November they thought the days of “betting on the come” would end in Wicomico County.  Tuesday’s council vote will let voters know if this is really true.

A Monument to John Fredericksen’s Ego

While the county’s less than rosy financial situation is reason enough to strip the Bennett Middle project from the capital budget, there is another very important reason for doing so.  Superintendent John Fredericksen, and the Wicomico County Board of Education all need to be taught an important lesson – deceiving the council AND the voters of Wicomico County should not be rewarded.

In Monday’s Daily Times we are treated to the following:

School board President Michelle Wright and Superintendent John Fredericksen say there are good reasons to keep the project a possibility. It would give the school system and county more time to discuss cost-cutting ideas and to pursue alternative financing ideas, they say.

Really John?  Really Michelle?  Just last week the School Building Commission received a consultant’s report (costing the taxpayers almost $20,000) that outlined some very modest cost cutting measures in the proposed project.  The BOE stance was that replacing brick pavers (expensive) with more modest concrete would harm the “ambiance” of the school.  While I’m sure that the BOE will “discuss” cost-cutting ideas, they are only going to implement them if FORCED.  Sadly, County Executive Rick Pollitt doesn’t possess the backbone to force the BOE to do anything.

In an earlier DT article, Wright is quoted:

Wright said though she was aware there was a perception the building was a "Taj Mahal" and more than needed, it was her understanding that all of its features were necessary to meet state construction guidelines and instructional needs.

Are we to believe that the state is REQUIRING brick pavers?  I know that this is one minor example.  However, it is illustrative.  The public simply cannot trust the word of Fredericksen or most of the Board members.  The building IS a “Taj Mahal”.  The proposed project is a monument to the collective egos of John Fredericksen and the majority of his board members (along with numerous BOE bureaucrats).

We’re NOT Playing Politics

To add insult to injury, Fredericksen and his merry little band are using YOUR tax dollars to politicize the issue.

We shouldn’t forget that your tax dollars go to pay the salary of the wife of the Daily Times’ Managing Editor.  Coincidentally (sure), the DT has run at least 3 articles on this subject in the past week!

In addition, tax dollars are being used to “communicate to parents” the “need” to move this forward NOW.  Using tax dollars to “encourage” parents and board employees to lobby for more county spending (and debt) is legal, but ethically questionable.

However, we shouldn’t be shocked that board members such as retired teacher Ron Willey find no problem with this:

Board member Ron Willey said he didn't want the board to be perceived as running a political campaign, but he thought it was important to communicate to parents of students at BMS feeder schools that the project was in jeopardy.

The Bottom Line

Wicomico County simply can’t afford to build a new Bennett Middle this year.  Even if we could, funding this monument to ego shouldn’t be funded REGARDLESS of the county’s current financial situation.

Fredericksen and Wright should be forced to come up with a REALISTIC and financially prudent plan BEFORE the council agrees to move this project forward.  A vote by council to place this on the county’s capital budget is a vote to endorse the spendthrift ways of the WCBOE, a vote for more fiscal chicanery, and a signal that the taxpayers of Wicomico County simply don’t matter in comparison to the desires of the county’s largest bureaucracy.