November 26, 2013
By Mickey Friedman
Like so many others in The Best Small Town in America, I voted against the $56 million renovation of our high school.
With no room on the ballot for alternatives, the choice was simple. Raise Great Barrington’s real estate tax yet again to make some needed repairs, while adding a host of new features to the high school. Our $30 million plus $26 million from a state fund derived from taxes we pay for gasoline.
While the voters of Stockbridge and West Stockbridge said “yes,” the voters of Great Barrington said “no” 955 to 596. So the school board needs to decide what’s next.
I know they’ve worked hard to come up with a plan that would fix and improve our high school. But, for what it’s worth, I know why I voted “no” and I’ve spoken to others who voted “no.”
In their letter to the Massachusetts School Building Authority, the quasi-state entity that uses our tax dollars to fund school projects, the board cited two main factors that contributed to the “no” vote in GB: “tax fatigue and concerns about the project.”
“Tax fatigue” is the prettiest way you can describe “having had it up to here.”
Some folks believe their plan is completely dead, but the board, in fact, asked for more time to garner support.
So will more time, more outreach, more robo-calls bridge the gap between those who think $56 million is a reasonable amount of money to spend to fix a high school, and those who start to tremble?
Taxpayers often agree to higher taxes for important projects with the assurance that in “x” amount of years their taxes will go down again. But GB taxpayers still have large debt from other projects, and will be taking on 20 years of huge debt with this project.
When I first mentioned the board wanted $56 million to fix Monument, Jon Greene, an early-morning regular at Fuel, was convinced I meant $5.6 million.
And it’s not just the school board. The Great Barrington Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee agreed we should spend $56 million to fix the school.
Since education is at the center of this discussion, maybe we can take some time to examine the disconnect between our elected officials and the voters.
I suspect for many there is a big difference between what is necessary and what we’d like. A leaky roof needs to be fixed or replaced. Get rid of an old inefficient boiler and put in a new one. Of course, ensure that all have access to the facilities.
But since when do high school students need an indoor greenhouse? An outdoor classroom?
It sometimes feels as if some want to turn Monument into a public school version of a private school. Paid for by the taxpayers. And there’s the strong presumption that if you want your kid to go to the best colleges, you send her to Monument. Let the others go to Mount Everett.
And again, the “free money.” Downtown Redevelopment, now the high school. And the strings attached to the free MSBA money are as formidable as those that pretty much trumped real public input in our downtown planning process.
I’m no builder but I can Google “new high school construction costs 2013.” According to the 2013 Annual School Construction report, “the median (new) high school cost $38.2 million and provided 200,000 square feet. It was designed to accommodate just fewer than 900 students.” So perhaps the MSBA is all about high-end construction costs, with large amounts of overheard and profit, and labor costs which far exceed what our local tradesmen get.
Many voters want to break up this project. Want competitive bids and an independent, outside consultant to find out if there cheaper ways to do all this.
But the school board is wedded to the MBAS. Their free money; their rules.
And so the school board expects the local carpenter to vote “yes,” even though he can barely make his mortgage and truck payments. For a $56 million project he can’t work on. A project that will pay others far more than he makes.
And they expect our aging population to vote “yes.” Here’s a small suggestion: the school board, Selectmen, and Finance Committee ought to walk from Gorham and Norton down to the Senior Center. Watch the sidewalk disappear. I’d fix our sidewalk before you ask them for an indoor greenhouse.
As I sat in the cafeteria listening to the school board, I couldn’t help wonder what they paid their cafeteria workers? And wondering what those workers thought about the $56 million. How about a living wage?
Ultimately, you shouldn’t ask voters to ignore what they’ve learned about life. Only the wealthy get everything they want. The rest of us make hard, painful choices every day of our lives. We learn to say “no.”
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You can find the 2013 Annual School Construction Report at:
http://www.peterli.com/spm/pdfs/SchoolConstructionReport2013.pdf