The absentee ballots have gone out and seeing the wording on TPS's levy renewal raised my eyebrows. Who approved the wording and the font? Looks a little misleading, look for yourself. I apologize for the blurriness, you can click on the image to get a larger version.
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Nothing like a declared "emergency" to scare people into accepting reductions in their freedoms, be it a Wall Street bailout, the Patriot Act, or a mismanaged public school district.
Maybe the COSI folks should have used the word "emergency" in their latest levy proposal. Heck, perhaps all politicians should make use of this term:
" A vote for John Doe is a vote to prevent a MAJOR EMERGENCY, while a vote for Jane Doe is to SUPPORT TERRORISTS."
That kind of thing. Our political discourse has now devolved to 5-second soundbites, guilt-by-association, and political violence, so why waste words? Just label all your opponents as pedophiles, terrorists, and Satanists and let the scared sheep vote accordingly.
http://historymike.blogspot.com/
maybe emergency is the new pink. I just wish fashions stayed out of politics.
BTW I believe the TPS "Emergency Requirements" is the largest font on the whole ballot.
today on my mothers ballot. I was astonished at the blatant fear mongering in declaring an Emergency by the TPS. Now TPS can blame whomever approved this misleading tactical ballot language for my NO VOTE!.
- Just the KAT, thinking out loud again.
you were going to vote no anyway!
You do not know me at all. I usually vote No on new taxes and Yes on renewals. But when presented with deception on the ballot it's an automatic NO! I guess TPS is taking their cues of deception from ACORN.
- Just the KAT, thinking out loud again.
My house is in Washington Local, so I only have to decide on a "dual purpose, continuing" levy, not an "emergency" levy. WSL should take a page from TPS and start using ballot gimmicks so I will feel a sense of urgency to cough up more of my hard-earned cash.
http://historymike.blogspot.com/
what the legalities around ballot language is? Maybe the SOS office should be made aware of this misleading typography on official ballots.
- Just the KAT, thinking out loud again.
Let's hear Dale explain this LATEST TPS FARCE. See how I put that in capital letters to show how shatteringly important it is?
I ain't mad at cha. I am voting no on all levies. I may consider the Cosi but i think that if it passes, what is the probability that it will benefit me and my family? Will the fee be more than I can afford? Or will it only be affordable for out of towners on vacation?
When is an emergency, no longer an emergency. This levy was first passed in 1991for three years. It was renewed in 1994 for 5 years, again in 1998 one year ahead of schedule and again in 2004. Each of these renewals was for 5 years.
In June of this year HB 562 changed the maximum term of an emergency levy or renewal of a levy to 10 years from 5 years. The law became effective September 23, 2008 and the Board approved placing the levy on the ballot August 14th. The ink was hardly dry on this change.
The levy does not expire until DECEMBER 31, 2009. So this levy vote is a year before the last opportunity to place it before the voters.
Foley and Treasurer Romano wanted to go for new money. They were looking at asking for $30 million or about twice the $15.7 million that a renewal of the existing levy would produce. This would have been a 9+ mill levy. The Board was hesitant so the compromise was a 10 year renewal.
Here is an interesting fact. In March they placed a levy on the ballot for renewal. At the time the 5 year forecast showed a deficit of about $12 million in FY2010. So they were crying poverty before the March levy vote. In May 2008 a new forecast was made public and amazingly they had a balanced budget at the end of FY2010. They had to show a balanced budget as state law prohibits approving any contract where the money is not available to pay the amount due over the time period of the contract. TPS had just given their unions over $30 million in raises over the next two years ending in FY2010.
So from November 2007 to May 2008. TPS "found" over $42 million of additional revenues and spending cuts to have a balanced budget in May 2008. Amazing! Makes you wonder what else might be hidden in those books or how much more TPS could and should cut in spending.
Since the levy does not expire for more than a year, a NO vote means no loss of revenue for TPS as a result of this levy vote.
I would recommend a NO vote simply because TPS has not been very open about their finances and a NO vote will not result in any loss of revenue. We need a complete accounting of their spending. My first question with a loss of 1700 students from last September to this September (2008), how much over capacity do they have and why have they not indicated that school closings would be in order?
Which raises the question as to whether they need to renovate 8 schools with local money because the OSFC won't match their money to renovate these schools because projected enrollment is not sufficient to justify renovating the schools with state money. The Bond Issue (Issue 35) also deserves a NO vote.
We simply need more information and a little truth telling.
We'll have more at TPSINFO.COM in the next few days including all the supporting documentation. Check in out.
Well, obviously, the loss of tens of millions in FREE MONEY would seem like an emergency to anyone who benefits from such largesse in the first place.
I'm still waiting for Dale to explain the emergency, here ... at least other than I'm framed it. :^)