Keller Citizen Legislature

From Today’s Citizen:

Pugh also questioned why district officials were hanging on to a valuable 100-acre site on Old Denton Road near Golden Triangle Boulevard.

At a time when funds are tight, the district would have “a double benefit” from selling the property.

Not only would they gain from the proceeds of the sale, but they could also get tax revenue because the property is prime commercial land. The site was originally purchased as a possible location for the second stadium.

I give Randy and Jim Maine credit for getting the word out on this land.  As taxpayers, we need to continue to push the district to sell this land and put the money to use rather than keeping valuble land off the tax rolls.

I would suggest a followup story by Sandra Engelland, but this time, get the powers that be at 350 Keller Pkwy on record what they plan to do with the site.  I’ve tried and failed, but will ask the question once again.  Sandra, I’ll make you a deal, if you can get the story first, I’ll foot the bill for your bar tab at Sabor’s one night, if I get the story, first you have to mention Keller City Limits in your next story with a link to the site.

Tarrant County has published the precinct by precinct breakdown of the election.  Every single precinct that voted against Proposition #1 was East of 377 and all but one were in Keller.  (Precinct 3398 in Watagua went 78 for and 82 against).

Precinct 3422 in Keller (situated around Mt. Gilliad Baptist Church) had the largest percentage of No votes in a large Precinct (705 for, 820 against).  My own Precinct (3554) voted for the bond 935-780.  Every super Precinct  (over 2,000 votes) in the District voted in favor of Prop. #1 no matter where they were located

Not a single precinct voted in favor of Proposition 2. 

There were nearly three times as many early voters (43,062) compared to election day voters (15,281)

Prop 1 Results

Prop 2 Results

Got this email from a group called Alliance Advocate:

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has urged taxpayers to vote NO on both Keller ISD bond propositions. If you have not voted, their editorial is attached for your review. In addition to the Star-Telegram’s NO vote, you should also consider that unlike all previous KISD bond issues, school board members removed language in this one that would require KISD administration to spend bond money only on projects specifically approved by you, the voters.

As the Star-Telegram recommends, we urge you to vote NO on both propositions in the Keller ISD bond election. But please vote!

I received this email at all three of my accounts.  I don’t know who is behind this group, but I sent a response asking. 

Maybe they needed spellcheck, originally uploaded by kellercitylimits.

Is there money for spelling programs in the bond package?

In today’s FWST Article:

Should bond money be used to pay for school district projects with short life spans, such as vehicles and gym floor resurfacing?

That’s a question for Keller school district voters, who are being asked to authorize a $167.9 million bond package Tuesday. Nearly 21,600 school district voters had cast early ballots through Monday, Tarrant County election officials said.

Bond money has traditionally been used for buildings and other capital improvements.

But Keller’s two-proposition bond package includes several items that otherwise would have been funded by the district’s maintenance and operations budget, which covers day-to-day expenses such as teacher salaries and utility bills.

The strategy is akin to paying for something with credit instead of cash.

I think someone else made that same statement a couple of months ago in a LTTE in the Citizen.  Wonder who that would be?

But, on to the reason for my post.

A group of parents and other residents supporting the bond initiative has reported donations of $30,000 from Oct. 3 through Monday, according to reports filed with the district. Citizens for Great Schools received $5,000 from VLK Architects of Arlington and $25,000 from Steele & Freeman construction managers/general contractors of Fort Worth. Both companies have done previous projects for Keller school district, including the new Caprock Elementary and Timber Creek High School, opening in August.

The citizens group has paid $27,330 to Ward Consulting of Grapevine, the report said. The group is sending mailers to voters this week and has ordered signs, said Smith, chairman and treasurer of the pro-bond group.

There is no organized opposition.

VLK and Steele Freeman are the two largest vendors the School District has.  Steele Freeman has done hundreds of millions of dollars worth of work for the district…and guess what?  It was no bid.  Negotiated.  VLK also has received millions of dollars worth of work from the district, also non bid.

The School District will bid out its office supplies, but refuses to take bids on hundreds of millions of dollars worth of construction projects.  Jason Wylie explained his support for Construction Manager at Risk during our podcast, but I am still a huge opponent of this practice.  Over the past decade, it has probably cost the district millions of dollars.

This isn’t the first time Steele Freeman and VLK have donated tens of thousands of dollars to get a bond passed, but the School Board needs to pass an ethics policy to make sure it is the last.

Keller City Limits is proud to host our first contest…with a prize.

The object is to predict the following contests correctly.  The winner will win a $50 Gift Certificate to Sabor’s Cigar and Wine Bar at Keller Arthouse.

US President

Texas State House District 98

Tarrant County Commissioner, Precinct 3

KISD Bond Proposition #1

KISD Bond Proposition #2

Tiebreaker:  Name the percentage Yes/No on KISD Proposition #1

Second Tiebreaker:  I’ll flip a coin

Thanks to Scott for coming up with the Contest and to Big Bob for offering up the Gift Certificate.  There has been some interest in having a election watching party at Sabor’s, and I have a call into them to arrange it.  Maybe they can offer up some other prizes for the night.

Rules:  You must post your answers in the comments to this post no later than 5:30pm on election day.  You must have a valid email address in your login.  Your last comment is your official one, if you want to change, post up a new comment.  You have to be over 21 (It’s a wine bar), and if there as any questioning of the rules or the outcome, either Jim Carson or myself will determine the outcome.  Our decision is final.  Not valid in all 50 states or in case of a coup d’état.

In this episode we have a conversation with Keller ISD Athletic Director Bob Dejonge.  We talk about the proposed stadium, his vision on winning, whether or not Keller High School is changing its mascot plus a host of other topics

UPDATE:  Bob’s answer on the question of Coach Dodge of SLC/UNT Fame

Glad the interview turned out well – Hopefully my answers will be an interesting read…

Coach Dodge was at FRHS before I became the athletic director.  I did have some responsibility in the athletic dept so he and I did have some contact.  I will tell you that I think he is an outstanding coach and a good man.  His is a very driven and goal oriented coach.  He is also a great example of the fact that wins and losses don’t always tell you about the quality of a man or his coaching.  I think that he is just a good of a coach today as he was in his days at Carroll.  It’s all about timing, being patient enough to build a foundation when all the pieces are not in place and knowing that victories just like losses are just a progress report.  You don’t live and die on each game – your use them as tools to make your foundation and program stronger.  As far as his reasons for moving on – I can only say that people make decisions that they feel are best for their careers and families.  It’s not really about a greener pasture – it’s what the best fit is for each individual.

Episode Music by David Kraut – Don’t Listen.

You can find David’s music at his website www.davidkraut.com.

You Don’t Know My Mind – The Dead or Alives

You can find their music at www.myspace.com/deadoralives

Click on orange logo above to open a new page with a flash player to listen, click here to download the mp3 file or you can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, with your Zune or an RSS Feed by clicking the corresponding button beneath the logo.

In this episode we have a conversation with Keller ISD School Board Member Jason Wylie. We talk about the upcoming bond, his opinion on our Superintendent, whether he cheers for the Indians, Panthers or Chargers plus a host of other topics

Episode Music by David Kraut – Don’t Listen.

You can find David’s music at his website www.davidkraut.com.

Click on orange logo above to open a new page with a flash player to listen, click here to download the mp3 file or you can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, with your Zune or an RSS Feed by clicking the corresponding button beneath the logo.

From Shellie Johnson:

Attached is a Letter to the Editor that Dr. V submitted to the Keller Citizen this week before today’s Star-Telegram editorial. This letter can stand as our response to the community.

Dear Keller ISD Patron,

In five meetings over the summer, the Citizens Bond Advisory Committee met to review Keller ISD’s growth projections, new facility needs, major facility maintenance needs, technology, and the results of recent community surveys. In the most recent survey, growth, overcrowding and technology needs were overwhelmingly recognized as the biggest challenges facing the school district.

To compensate for growth, new construction of classrooms for elementary through middle school students is included in the 2008 Bond Package. Additionally, several projects focus on the security of KISD students including adding registered sex offender tracking systems at every campus. Safety concerns were also discussed including addressing major maintenance issues such as older equipment and flooring that could not otherwise be funded by the district’s general budget. Technology enhancements made up a large portion of the CBAC’s final recommendation as it looked at ways to update equipment, while increasing network capacity to keep up with growth and maintaining security of the district’s digital resources. Projects like the installation of classroom video projectors at older campuses and construction of a small theater at Fossil Ridge High School were included to assure that every KISD student has the same opportunities regardless of which school he or she attends.

The CBAC was the first phase of KISD’s checks-and-balances system with the community. With the passage of this bond, as with the past two, the Citizens Bond Oversight Committee will then step in to assure that the district is fulfilling its promise to the voters and spending tax payers’ money in a responsible manner. Utilizing short and long-term financing, past and future bond proposals also provides for the most efficient use of our limited financial resources.

Growth, safety and security, technology, major repairs, and equity: these are the concerns addressed in the 2008 Bond and offered to the Keller ISD community for consideration.

Please remember that you can exercise your right to vote with Early Voting October 20-31 or on Election Day, November 4.

Sincerely,

Dr. James R. Veitenheimer

Keller ISD Superintendent

Thanks to Randy Leake for pointing this out:

It’s a bad time for the Keller school district to be asking for $25.6 million to build a stadium. Wild as Texans are about high school football, today’s economic turmoil highlights job worries and bare-bones taxpayer budgets.

But as choices go, that’s the easy one on the two-proposition, $167.9 million bond package that district voters will see on the Nov. 4 ballot. The other proposition would pay for two new schools and land for a third in the fast-growing Keller district. The schools are needed, but lumped into that same proposition are tennis courts, natatorium upgrades, baseball and softball bleachers, and artificial turf on practice fields.

District trustees could have put the schools in a separate proposition from the frills. Instead, they purposely piggybacked the extras that some people want on top of schools that students need. They set the stadium aside as a sacrificial lamb, but they forced voters into an all-or-nothing decision on the rest.

One trustee wanted the stadium and everything else in just one ballot proposition.

The trustees acted arrogantly, and their decision was short-sighted.

On Aug. 11, we recommended a ballot with three propositions: one for instructional buildings and improvements, one for athletics enhancements and one for technology upgrades, security additions and maintenance items.

Time and economic conditions have shown how wrong trustees were to reject that advice. How can voters accept handing over an extra $167.9 million to the school district, part of it to be spent on things that clearly are not necessities?

Bond proponents might argue that approving these propositions only gives trustees the authority to issue bonds, but they would not do so if economic conditions are unfavorable. That’s saying you should trust the same people who did not want to provide real choices about how your money is spent to turn around and decide not to spend it after you give it to them.

Trustees should repackage the bond proposals and bring them back next spring, broken down into categories that voters can approve or reject individually.

The Star-Telegram recommends voting against both propositions in the Keller school district bond election.

Sounds like they hired Jim Carson to write for the editorial board these days.

Seems the no’s have it.  With 71 votes total, the poll results are as follows:

• I will vote yes on items one and two  24 votes 33%
• I will vote yes on item one and no on item two  8 votes  11%
• I will vote no on item one and yes on item two  2 votes 3%
• I will vote no on both items  39 votes  53%

Our last poll on the bond had very similar results.

From the DMN:

When NTTA won the right to build and operate State Highway 121, its win over Cintra came with a tight deadline — and a big upfront payment. To make the payment on time, the agency took out some $3.5 billion in what are called Bond Anticipation Notes.

But the notes comes with an expiration date — November 19, 2008 — and have to be converted into other, long-term debt before them.

Over the past year, NTTA has been doing so in phases, most notably last February, when it refinanced some $5 billion in revenue bonds, and converted a bunch of the BANs. But since then, the credit market has only gotten worse and the deadline has loomed like a bad headache for the agency.

It still has $225 million in unconverted BANs, and Monday’s meeting is a sure sign that the agency does not expect to be able to convert the notes by the Nov. 19 deadline. Spokeswoman Sherita Coffelt said Friday that the credit market remains perilous for public agencies seeking to sell long-term municipal bonds.