Post by JB on Apr 18, 2008 5:08:00 GMT -6
Dist. 204 continues with bad decisions
The last six months has been littered with the Indian Prairie Unit District 204 School Board's abandonment of the only third high school site ever supported by the voters -- Brach-Brodie; the board's repudiation of its own promised high school boundaries; its embracing of a school site (Eola/Molitor) that the board once (considered) to be too dangerous; and the collapse of its first Eola/Molitor deal when Midwest Gen withdrew its contaminated property.
This led hundreds of supporters of a cautious, reasonable approach (not all members of Neighborhood Schools For Our Children (NSFOC) -- as evidenced by speaker records) to attend the Monday, April 14 school board meeting. Over 20 individual speakers asked the board to slow down and consider all the options. Unfortunately for all residents in District 204, the board, with the notable exception of Ms. Vickers, irresponsibly moved forward with the approval of a contract for land acquisition.
The site purchased has not been appraised, has not been tested beyond a perfunctory level (according to test results released by the district), and was never considered prior to just a few days ago. The mandate of NSFOC is safety, fiscal responsibility and accountability. The decision made by the board fulfills none of these criteria. The same safety concerns that have always surrounded this site remain: high pressure gas lines, EMF radiation, highly polluted neighboring parcel.
More than $60 million in damages potentially hang over the district in three separate pending lawsuits, none of which was considered by this board prior to their vote. Also, without doing a fair market appraisal there is no way to know if the district overpaid for the parcel. By not checking with the other parcel owners, that had been considered and had due diligence conducted, the board again demonstrated a complete lack of fiscal responsibility with $124.5 million of taxpayers' money.
NSFOC demands that our elected officials be accountable to the residents in complete contradiction to how Mr. Metzger and the school board have conducted the district's business throughout this entire process. The recent actions of this board have only emboldened the opposition within the community and the NSFOC to continue the lawsuit and continue to bring the facts to the voters.
Jim Walker
Member
NSFOC
The last six months has been littered with the Indian Prairie Unit District 204 School Board's abandonment of the only third high school site ever supported by the voters -- Brach-Brodie; the board's repudiation of its own promised high school boundaries; its embracing of a school site (Eola/Molitor) that the board once (considered) to be too dangerous; and the collapse of its first Eola/Molitor deal when Midwest Gen withdrew its contaminated property.
This led hundreds of supporters of a cautious, reasonable approach (not all members of Neighborhood Schools For Our Children (NSFOC) -- as evidenced by speaker records) to attend the Monday, April 14 school board meeting. Over 20 individual speakers asked the board to slow down and consider all the options. Unfortunately for all residents in District 204, the board, with the notable exception of Ms. Vickers, irresponsibly moved forward with the approval of a contract for land acquisition.
The site purchased has not been appraised, has not been tested beyond a perfunctory level (according to test results released by the district), and was never considered prior to just a few days ago. The mandate of NSFOC is safety, fiscal responsibility and accountability. The decision made by the board fulfills none of these criteria. The same safety concerns that have always surrounded this site remain: high pressure gas lines, EMF radiation, highly polluted neighboring parcel.
More than $60 million in damages potentially hang over the district in three separate pending lawsuits, none of which was considered by this board prior to their vote. Also, without doing a fair market appraisal there is no way to know if the district overpaid for the parcel. By not checking with the other parcel owners, that had been considered and had due diligence conducted, the board again demonstrated a complete lack of fiscal responsibility with $124.5 million of taxpayers' money.
NSFOC demands that our elected officials be accountable to the residents in complete contradiction to how Mr. Metzger and the school board have conducted the district's business throughout this entire process. The recent actions of this board have only emboldened the opposition within the community and the NSFOC to continue the lawsuit and continue to bring the facts to the voters.
Jim Walker
Member
NSFOC