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Thursday, March 28, 2024 |
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Facilities link on MCSD web site |
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Mike_Presta
MUSA Council Joined: Apr 20 2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 3483 |
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Posted: Mar 26 2012 at 7:40pm |
Perhaps I can clear up some of the confusion regarding the
way these salaries are reported, or at least how they have been reported in the
past. (I have not seen the actual list
this year.) The list does not report “salaries”, but rather reports compensation paid to an individual over
the course of a calendar year, and lists that person’s title at the end of that calendar year. If butcher John Doe was hired at a salary of $70,000/year on
July 1, he would make only $35,000 during the calendar year, so he would not
show up on the list. If baker Jane Doe had a salary of $70,000 per year, but resigned
or was terminated on June 30 she would have made only $35,000 during the
calendar year, so he would not show up on the list. If candlestick-maker Richard Roe had a base salary of
$40,000 per year worked so much overtime that he ended up earning $65,000, he
would be on the list as a “candlestick-maker” with a “salary” of $65,000. If Fred Foe started the year as a “master chef” with a
salary of $120,000 per year, but was demoted on November 30 to “bus boy” at a
rate of $3,000 per month, he would be listed as “bus boy” with a salary of $113,000. I hope that this helps with the understanding of how the list
is compiled and reported. |
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“Mulligan said he ... doesn’t believe they necessarily make the return on investment necessary to keep funding them.” …The Middletown Journal, January 30, 2012
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acclaro
Prominent MUSA Citizen Joined: Jul 01 2009 Status: Offline Points: 1878 |
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In 30 days a top consulting firm could come in, and wipe out 55% of the staff without one iota of negative impact on scores and rating.
NB, nope, you missed my pt. I acknowledged the willingness of Ms. Andrew and Mr. Fiora to have open debate only, and never gave praise to a lackluster academic performance nor bloated overhead. I did state also, it is obvious to most the changing demographics of Middletown made a comparison with performance in the 60's a little out of kilter with the performance today. The fact Monroe left Middletown is sufficient enough to see the school district has been lacking for many years. |
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'An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.' - Winston Churchill
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jsmith2011
MUSA Resident Joined: Mar 25 2011 Location: Middletown Status: Offline Points: 57 |
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It doesn't matter what they do all day......those salaries cannot be justified when you look at this school district. Both the size of the school district and the performance. Come on.....over a million dollars in salaries in the administration building alone. This doesn't include principals, assistant principals and whatever other positions there are here and there.
Plus, keep in mind that these amounts are only their salaries. It doesn't include the cost of the Iphone they all carry around, the Ipad that everyone has, the car mileage allowance, insurance and all the other perks. |
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Neil Barille
MUSA Resident Joined: Jul 07 2010 Status: Offline Points: 238 |
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Vet, what I'm saying is that the job description you read will make the position sound very important and the duties varied, and you will not be satisfied with the description.
acclaro, as I recall the Super was hired at $130k. Not sure where the other numbers you quoted are coming from. And I thought not long ago you were touting the good efforts of MCSD and its board? I'm guessing this Phase 2 has changed your tune?
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acclaro
Prominent MUSA Citizen Joined: Jul 01 2009 Status: Offline Points: 1878 |
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Ms. Andrew, there is simply no factual means to justify overhead, none. Isn't it also a fact Mr. Rasmussen started at a salary of under $110,000. and now is $147,000.? What on earth has he accomplished, other than a body, an FTE, put in a position with a title, the same as the treasurer under investigation from Monroe, just another FTE. You could wipe out 35-40% of administrators, and not tell a difference in performance. I do know the system and Ohio, as I am good friends with Kim Gray, who was super at Franklin now in a Cincinnati system. This constant excuse and blame game of fed or state is really getting old.
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'An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.' - Winston Churchill
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VietVet
MUSA Council Joined: May 15 2008 Status: Offline Points: 7008 |
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Neil, these are taxpayer provided positions in a public setting. They are obligated to communicate with those who pay the bills and who subsidize this. I think the public has a right to know what their money is buying as to activity on each job created if we are paying for the ride. Have you ever seen the school supply a job description to the public? How about info. on the position activity? Aren't you the least bit curious about what these positions entail on a daily basis? Don't you think they have an obligation to provide more information than to just create some abstract job, dissolve others, without some sort of detailed explanation as to their activities? Giving notice of a new position created and the salary that goes with it is not enough. What does it hurt to request some information? We don't get enough of it as it is. If you don't know what the job is, how can you make the statement that "I think it is likely these positions are needed and important" (kinda gullible, right?).......or, Neil.....maybe not. |
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Neil Barille
MUSA Resident Joined: Jul 07 2010 Status: Offline Points: 238 |
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Vet, do you really think the answers will satisfy you? I'm guessing a detailed response about each position will be filled with details none of us are familiar with. I'm sure what you hear would be that they do a lot of state and federal mandated reporting, assessments of this and that, measurables, metrics, budgetary issues, etc etc. These answers could be snow jobs or do be very accurate. I think it is likely these positions are needed and important, but what do I know.
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chmoore1
MUSA Resident Joined: Jan 25 2012 Status: Offline Points: 230 |
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Isn't the Director of Operations being granted a two-year contract at tonight's meeting, according to the online Board Agenda? At what salary? chmoore
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VietVet
MUSA Council Joined: May 15 2008 Status: Offline Points: 7008 |
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"We have trimmed the ranks of administrative staff and everyone is doing more. I invite you to learn more about the work of the central office so that you can understand why the work they do is essential to the operation and success of the school district".
Marcia Andrew Just out of curiosity, Ms. Andrew, I would like to know what a typical days schedule looks like for the Director of Instructional Leadership and the Senior Director of Learning. What would they do in a typical week that would justify their positions and salary? How do they fill their time? IMO, the positions by title allude to being relatively the same or at least in the ballpark of similar duties. Perhaps having jobs with similar titles confuses those not familiar with the hierarchy. When they were positions, what did the Director of Technology, the Assistant Superintendent and Director of Communications do for a full week? How did they justify their salaries and fill their time? On the surface, to the taxpaying layman, these jobs really look like part time positions with hefty salaries and alot of "walking around checking on things" with an occasional meeting to go to. That's the perception. Perhaps an activity explanation to the public concerning each position and why it is necessary is in order here. Might clear the air about wasteful position creations on the part of the schools. The thinking with the general public is that there is inner circle cronyism and exaggerated position creation occuring both in the schools and in city government. Perhaps if you would offer an explanation as to why the position was needed along with the announcement of the position, it might end the mistrust the public has with your schools. Now for the truth. Have you cut positions but added more in other areas not announced or have you cut positions and not replaced at all? Seems to be a bit of confusion. |
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Marcia Andrew
MUSA Citizen Joined: Jan 09 2010 Status: Offline Points: 365 |
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I am at work right now and do not have time for a lengthy response. However, there are a lot of inaccurate statements being made about the salary list and admin employees.
First, the Journal list is based on old data. For example, it lists Dennis Newell, the former high school principal (and it lists him as a teacher). Carmela Cotter has been the high school principal since last July. We hired a new Treasurer last August, whose salary is approximately $85,000. I don't know why the list does not include the prior treasurer, Lisa Fahnke. Her salary was in the same range.
Yes, the school districts's budget and complying with state and federal regulations IS so complex that an assistant treasurer is needed.
The district used to have an Assistant Superintendent, who had responsibility over learning/curriculum, and she ran a department that included other staff--including curriculum coordinators, grant specialists. You can't run a public school district without people performing these functions. I see you do not like it, but it is the truth. When the Asst Superintendent retired, the district hired the current Senior Director of Learning to run that department, but at a lower salary than an Asst Superintendent would have made. The department she supervises already existed, it did not grow from 0 to 9 in 4 years. We actually eliminated at least one curriculum coordinator position.
Similarly, Dr. Ison was hired with the new title of Director of Instructional Leadership. That title did not exist, but the department he supervises did, but it was called Student Services and was led by Susan Combs, the Director of Student Services. Dr. Ison makes less than Susan Combs did. At the same time, the Director of Technology and Director of Communications positions were eliminated. All of the functions of the various departments in the admin building were restructured under 2 fewer departments/directors. I explained this all on this board last year when the cuts were made and the departments were restructured, and I know all of you who just posted, posted then, but I guess its easier to just keep repeating misinformation.
All of the psychologists employed by the district are trained psychologists, not teachers. They are required to administer a district that has almost 20% students identified as special needs, on federally mandated Individual Education Plans. This is over 1300 students who require IQ/cognitive and other testing that is performed by psychologists. Not to mention severed emotional challenges that many of our students struggle with. Unlike a private school, it is not an option to send them elsewhere because there needs are so great.
We have trimmed the ranks of administrative staff and everyone is doing more. I invite you to learn more about the work of the central office so that you can understand why the work they do is essential to the operation and success of the school district.
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TonyB
MUSA Citizen Joined: Jan 12 2011 Location: Middletown, OH Status: Offline Points: 631 |
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It's really not a matter of questioning these decisions; it's more a matter of justifying them! The purpose of a public school system is education, not employment! Yet, it seems that every decision made preserves a job instead of improving education. Administrative overhead needs to be reduced along with the ridiculous regulations that hamper education. Teaching to pass a test is not education; employment that does not further education needs to be reduced to essentials. I don't mind paying good teachers but I object to paying large salaries to questionable administrators.
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acclaro
Prominent MUSA Citizen Joined: Jul 01 2009 Status: Offline Points: 1878 |
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These practices and the given if you are a bad performer, you can move around any district, boils me.
The redundancy and waste is appalling and shocks the senses. I used to run a $125 Mm business unit and refused an EA, as I was fully capable of doing my own PPT's, word docs, and spreadsheets. I cannot fathom how inefficient the Ohio public school system is, as are the municipal and city governments. I have five generations of school educators in my family, including a direct relative one of the first graduating from Miami's School of Education. I am simply appalled at the waste, lack of accountability, mediocrity, and constant "dummy-down" by the school board as if everyone is a fool offering excuse after excuse. I recall a wonderful senior educator in the Cincinnati Archdiocese writing a Letter to Editor regarding one of the levies which failed, stating how effective the catholic system ran compared to Middletown. I recall he recanted Middletown having 9 psychologists at that time, several whom were teachers who had no psychology training, but had moved into those positions to carry on with their tenured years. The public school system in Ohio is broken, and it far outweighs the unconstitutional aspects of school funds. The system needs to be consolidated, and quit having every district have such bloated overhead. It does nothing for educational performance and the MCSD has absolutely no credibility in the manner they have comported...NONE. My humble opinion of course. |
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'An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.' - Winston Churchill
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jsmith2011
MUSA Resident Joined: Mar 25 2011 Location: Middletown Status: Offline Points: 57 |
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Not long ago, let's say 10 years, there was ONE person in charge of facilities, now there are Thompson and Klapper with a combined income of $175,190.00 PLUS 4 more employees listed on the website. I believe Klapper is one of the double dippers who came to "help out" the school district a few years on a temporary basis and secured a nice position.
Also, there was one or two people in charge of curriculum but now the Dept of Learning has 9 employees with 5 of them making $467,868 that's the dept that came from the taxpayers asking for the school district to eliminate the asst. superintendent position, so the school district changed the title to Senior Director of Learning and hired a new person. Now her staff has grown to 9. Then last year they decided to add ANOTHER department called the Dept of Instructional Leadership and it now has 7 employees. This department has 3 secretaries for 4 people. I think if you would delve deeper into this you would find that its the same old story of friends bringing their friends onboard. I've heard the principal who took over Mayfield this year has already had one of her friends from Cincinnati hired at the school district. It's the same story with asst. principals. When the taxpayers make an uproar, they cut the positions for a year or two, put those employees back in the classroom, making a boatload of money, and then when it quiets down in a few years, those positions are back. I understand the superintendent recently sent the employees an email stating that the school district will need to operate with about $1 million dollars less next year but at the same time, all of these people will have their contracts renewed tonight at the school board meeting. I agree, a lot of money and a lot of waste, but dare any of us to question it. |
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VietVet
MUSA Council Joined: May 15 2008 Status: Offline Points: 7008 |
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"The asst. treasurer makes $69,751"
jsmith2011 And that's one of the problems.....assistants to the assistants. Does the school district treasurer have that much to do (if they stay out of trouble, that is) that they have to hire a person to help to the tune of $69 grand plus benefits costs? Is the school budget that complicated and the money so ovewhelming that one person just can't possibly keep tabs on it? Does Nancy Nix have an assistant for her county Treasurers position? That budget is larger than the Midd. school budget is, isn't it? Would it be cheaper to outsource this as opposed to paying both salaries and benefits packages? Are all these administrative positions needed? How many Directors of Curriculum and Instruction, VP's of Lunch Room Operations, Senior Managers of Washroom Facilities and Executive VP's of Shipping Dock Operations do we need with six figure salaries? Seems to be packed to the hilt with positional fat in the upper echelons of this district, doesn't it? Add to that, the high salaries negotiated over the years by the teachers union that have now reached a level where the public has taken notice and has raised some eyebrows. The whole scenario has gotten out of control. No one to police the situation when salary assignments are given to specific jobs. The school board, past and present, was/is suppose to be the voice of the public taxpayer (voter) and is suppose to maintain control over rampant position filling of large salaries and in teacher negotiations. Think they've done a good job in representing the people who placed them there? Look at the salaries from top to bottom and decide. |
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jsmith2011
MUSA Resident Joined: Mar 25 2011 Location: Middletown Status: Offline Points: 57 |
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I looked at the salaries in the paper today for MCSD and looked at the school website that lists the employees in the Administration Bldg. According to the website, there are approximately 44 employees in the Admin Bldg. Of those 44 employees 14 had their salaries listed. The journal must use old information because neither the Treasurer or the Dir. of Instructional Services were listed, they were both hired this year and they both make over $60,000.00. The asst. treasurer makes $69,751 and I believe Ison was over $100,000.00 when he was hired this year. Anyway, of the 14 salaries the total comes to.......$1,121,153.00.....and that total doesn't include the other 30 employees not listed. One Million Dollars + Maybe they could look there for some money. Maybe not, all of those people are going to have their contracts extended for 2 more years at the board meeting tomorrow night.
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Mike_Presta
MUSA Council Joined: Apr 20 2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 3483 |
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Vet and Acclaro, Those are exactly the reasons you (and others) should come
to a Community Engagement Meeting and provide input!!! I believe that they will hear you out!!! They haven’t “liked” everything that I’ve had
to say, but they’ve fully heard out everything I’ve wanted to say. Some things they have rebutted adequately, to
the point that I re-considered. Other
things led to them changing or adding to the options that the committee had
under consideration. Now, not all committee members are this open-minded, but for
the most part the committee members are not at the Community Engagement
meetings. (If they are, they are there only as citizens. In fact, they are not even permitted to “vote”
in the polling portion of the meetings.)
But the MCSD Business Manager and the Fanning & Howey people who
facilitate the meetings are as I have described. At least one option was added to the list as a result of
input from citizens at a Community Engagement meeting. I, myself, attended one Community engagement meeting, and I
can attest that they heard out everyone who wanted to speak at any time
throughout the meeting. They entertained
questions throughout the meeting. Also,
at all times the citizens were treated with respect. It was unlike City Council meetings. |
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“Mulligan said he ... doesn’t believe they necessarily make the return on investment necessary to keep funding them.” …The Middletown Journal, January 30, 2012
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acclaro
Prominent MUSA Citizen Joined: Jul 01 2009 Status: Offline Points: 1878 |
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Mr. Presta, I believe what you are stating is that one should attend a meeting to say no to the higher costs. I was approached to be on this Committee and I feared my time would be wasted for the reasons which have become factual. Attending the meeting and the number of supporters or dissenters does not mean by any means, the residents will approve moving this forward. I frankly feel residents are not quite that stupid. Buildings don't generate higher results, nor fill buildings.
It is apparent this was a stacked deck, I knew it when it was being formed. I don't need to be in the audience to say NO at the ballot box. As a management consultant within the big 4, I would disagree with you on one element of your statement. Consultants are to be objective and impartial. You lose all credibility when your bias is shown. That bias has been revealed by the fact a simple upgrade and continued support in the budget for ongoing maintenance was not even included for serious consideration. These exercises in futility are easy to reach. You build your desired outcome and work backward, to have some substance as to how you derived that outcome. In this case, the Board and the Committee were glaringly unwillingly to exert even that fundamental effort. This will fail. Too many houses terribly undervalued, and Middletown is a wasteland. Only a FOOL would vote to build school buildings. There are plenty of them in Middletown, but more that get the fact performance is miserable and building shrines hasn't effected performance to date. When you just need a belt but get this, its a 60-40 DEFEAT. |
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'An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.' - Winston Churchill
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VietVet
MUSA Council Joined: May 15 2008 Status: Offline Points: 7008 |
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Mike, would they accept comments from people like me who want to see them make do with what they have, not place the levy on the ballot and realize that this is a poor community with the majority of the people not able to afford more taxes? Do they realize we are still in a period of unemployment for some, foreclosures for others and a recession for all of us? These same people, who want the Taj Mahal for every school and new schools only, seem to have no clue that there are people hurting out there. They are not in tune with what this community can afford.
If I went to one of the meetings, as you suggest, they wouldn't like what I had to say as it is not on the option list. They want new schools, no matter what the cost, no matter what hardship confronts the people of Middletown. Hell, they make this one of the poorest communities around with Section 8 and crappy paying jobs, then expect us to approve things like we have the money that people in West Chester or Springboro do. We are not affluent here. I say, monitor your costs-adjust as necessary, make do with the facilities you have, repairing as needed, downsize your spending and do what we all are doing. ( ie....If the budget won't allow, don't buy that new car you want and incur payments you can't afford....make do with the old car, fixing it as you go, until you can afford new.) Why do they think they are so special that they don't have to do these things? BAD TIME TO BE ASKING FOR ANY INCREASES IN ANY ARENA. COMMON SENSE IS OVERSHADOWED BY THE SELFISHNESS OF A FEW. Thought this was conservative country. Everyone around here claims to be a conservative money-watching, watch how you spend your money Republican, but these same people want to spend money like it's water if it involves their special interests (like this new facilities fiasco)........and that makes them hypocrites, promotes non-believability and reduces credibility. JMO |
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Mike_Presta
MUSA Council Joined: Apr 20 2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 3483 |
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I think that it is time for an update on my experiences on
the MCSD School Facilities Committee. As you may or may not recall, the purpose (at least as I
understand it) of the Facilities Committee since I have been on it (February 2,
2012) was to “reevaluate phase II of the original State-approved master plan;
and to either reaffirm the original phase II plan or to suggest to the Board of
Education better master plan options, given the changing parameters in our
city, and the fact that circumstances have moved the time for the implementation
of phase II, originally scheduled for 2010, to four or five years down the
road.” [NOTE: This may not be the exact goal, but it is my best understanding,
and it was with this understanding that I approached the process. I apologize if I have not gotten it exactly
right.] Phase II of the original State-approved master plan called
for a new high school (grades 9 through 12) to be built on the Verity Middle
School site (on Breiel Blvd., near Bonita Drive); for the existing high school
to be renovated into a combined middle school (grades 6, 7, and 8); and for Vail
Middle School (the old Middletown High School) to be demolished. First, a few statements of fact: I have attended each and every
Facilities Committee Meeting (at least since I was invited to be a member, beginning
2/2/12) and one of the four “Community Engagement Meetings”. Someone (perhaps Fanning &
Howey, MCSD’s consultant; perhaps employees of the MCSD; perhaps members of the
Facilities Committee prior to 2/2/12; perhaps someone else???) provided several
options, in addition to the original Phase II option for us to consider. These options were explained and considered. “Order of magnitude” cost estimates were provided
for each option. Additional options proposed by
members of the Facilities Committee were considered, and either deemed
unworkable or added to the list of options. At least one option suggested by a
citizen at one of the “Community Engagement Meetings” was deemed workable and added to the list of
options at a late date. Although Fanning & Howey ran
the meetings, the MCSD Business Manager was at every meeting that I attended
and acted as moderator/facilitator. He
seemed to have no pre-ordained favorite option and remained neutral in all
matters. He supplied all reference
materials (previous reports, etc.) requested by email in a prompt manner. Other MCSD employees (principals, operations,
etc.) were also cooperative and helpful, although perhaps sometimes overly
quick to point out shortcomings in existing facilities. (This may be a somewhat
subjective observation, possibly due to my background.) Next, few observations and impressions: I think that some of the committee
members that were holdovers from the earlier committee (2007?) feel that they
were correct then and they are correct now and resent that they are being
questioned. They think that the original
master plan Phase II should be followed (or at least something very close to it)
and that nothing else need be considered. Both the Business Manager and
Fanning & Howey seem to think that no more than THREE options should be
presented to the Board of Education. (Perhaps this was a mandate from the Board???) During our voting last night
(3/22/2012) to narrow the many options down to three, I didn’t feel that the
fact that our choices would be “weighted” (3 points for our first choice, two
for second choice, one for third) was made clear. The people at our table weren’t aware that
choices would be weighted at all. We
just thought we were to vote for three. The least expensive option did not “make
the cut”. I suggested that, regardless
of any voting, we had an obligation to the Board and to the citizenry to
include the least expensive option in the presentation to the Board. This suggestion fell on deaf ears. (I intend to keep lobbying for this.) Conclusions and suggestions: I think that the MCSD Business Manager is, to the best of
his ability, trying to keep this an open, fair process that considers all
possible and realistic options. The same is basically true for Fanning & Howey (aside
from their built-in bias for trying to subtly convince the MCSD that they need
F&H as they go forward—something all consultants do as they conduct
business…it’s in their DNA!!!) Everyone with “skin” in the game (read this as taxpayers)
should try their very best to attend one of the “Community Engagement Meetings”
to be held in April. I believe that your
voices will be heard, your questions will be answered (if possible) and
suggestions of merit will be considered (and at least brought back to the committee). The MCSD may need to be reminded if the community places importance
on economy. The Community Engagement
meetings are the place to do this. At
the FOUR March meetings there were,
I believe, a TOTAL of THIRTY-NINE Middletown community members
in attendance. You can make your
feelings known anonymously without even speaking!!! (They have little “remote
control-like” thingies that they pass out.
You can push buttons to make your feelings known on various
issues.) This is your opportunity to be
heard. I realize that there are reasons
that you can’t go, but there will be FOUR meetings at different times on
different days. Try to make it. |
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“Mulligan said he ... doesn’t believe they necessarily make the return on investment necessary to keep funding them.” …The Middletown Journal, January 30, 2012
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Vivian Moon
MUSA Council Joined: May 16 2008 Location: Middletown, Ohi Status: Offline Points: 4187 |
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Mike
After watching the school board meeting it seems the City is putting a great deal of pressure on the school board to support the Butler County Land Banking agenda. However many questions remain about how all this funding will be returned to each community.
I was impressed that the school board did question this program unlike what happened at the City Council Meeting where it seemed they just wanted "More Free Goverment Money". |
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Mike_Presta
MUSA Council Joined: Apr 20 2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 3483 |
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I received the following noticed via email from the MCSD:
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“Mulligan said he ... doesn’t believe they necessarily make the return on investment necessary to keep funding them.” …The Middletown Journal, January 30, 2012
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Mike_Presta
MUSA Council Joined: Apr 20 2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 3483 |
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Information from last evening’s (Thursday, 3/1/2012) meeting
of the Facilities Committee will be posted sometime today on the MCSD
website. See the first post in this
thread for the link. It is disappointing to learn at each of these meetings of
new (at least new to me) “strings” attached to the “free” money. There will be at least eight “Community Forums”—four later in
March and four in April—at various times and locations around the city. These Forums will offer all interested citizens
an opportunity to learn more about situation, the various options under
consideration, and a chance to provide input.
I certainly hope to see some of you in attendance at the Forums held in
the evenings. Note to Pacman: There
will be Community Forums on both March 15 and March 19 at 7 pm. If one or the other is convenient, and you
would like to attend, I would be pleased to take you. Don’t let me forget!!! |
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“Mulligan said he ... doesn’t believe they necessarily make the return on investment necessary to keep funding them.” …The Middletown Journal, January 30, 2012
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VietVet
MUSA Council Joined: May 15 2008 Status: Offline Points: 7008 |
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Michael Eugene Presta.....if you do decide on that new Audi, be sure and save the hood on the Envoy before trading it in. The city may decide to bring back the car hood idea for the PAC and Cohen may not have as many since the last idea was introduced. While you're shopping for that Audi, and looking at German cars, look for a nice used Porsche 911 Turbo for me. The old budget won't allow me to go over a hundred grand on a car right now.
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Mike_Presta
MUSA Council Joined: Apr 20 2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 3483 |
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Oh…and we are a “two car” family, and my wife’s car is also
a 2002 model. Do we need TWO new
Audis??? Perhaps we can sell them both and get by with one mini-van??? Her car LOOKS better than mine…should we
keep it to attract those shallow people who are taken in by shiny facades??? Or should I give her my car so that I can get
the new Audi??? But wait…if the Envoy
isn’t good enough for me, even after the repairs, how can it be good enough for
her??? |
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“Mulligan said he ... doesn’t believe they necessarily make the return on investment necessary to keep funding them.” …The Middletown Journal, January 30, 2012
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Mike_Presta
MUSA Council Joined: Apr 20 2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 3483 |
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Acclaro, Well, yeah, I like the Audi…it’s a great car. But my 2002 GMC Envoy still runs pretty
well. The body and frame are sound. It doesn’t use oil. Of course the paint is faded and scratched, and there are a
few dents in it. It also leaks power
steering fluid, and lately the automatic heating/air conditioning controls have
been acting up, and it will be due for a tune-up soon. I don’t care about the paint. I am well past the point of caring about people
who might be impressed by a bright, shiny car.
If they like me only for a fancy car, then they will leave me for the
first person who comes along with a brighter, shinier, fancier car. An experienced mechanic tells me that I can
get all of the other items repaired for less than $1,000.00. If I do so, the Envoy will take me anywhere I
need to go and will do so quite comfortably, and will likely last another eight
or ten years. A new Audi A7 will set me back over $60,000, but it will
have a better stereo system. I listen
mostly to talk radio…should I spend an extra $59,000 for something I don’t
absolutely, positively need (and can get along quite well without)??? I think not. Now…if the transfer case begins to “click” , and blue smoke begins to bellow out of the exhaust as I drive it to the mechanic’s shop, and I notice that it “slips” when it shifts into each gear …well then I might re-think the issue, and a new car might make more sense. |
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“Mulligan said he ... doesn’t believe they necessarily make the return on investment necessary to keep funding them.” …The Middletown Journal, January 30, 2012
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