1/31/07

Incoming !!

Great letter in the Cary News Opinion section today from one of the P&Z board members. The last vote I cast in Cary was for Glen Lang, coincidentally the last worthy candidate that ran for office. If I have Cary administrators researching my voting record, then I guess the Money Magazine letter campaign has even more impact than I first thought. My credibility was attacked, but the credible impact of being de-listed from Money Magazine's Top Ten was endorsed. Keep the letters coming. They also have a blog for people to share thoughts on Cary. People looking to move here do check the blog, and it is a good place to tell them what to expect. Some positive comments there, some negative. Here's an excellent comment posted by someone from Cary which summarizes the school system's issues quite nicely:

Please do your research on the Wake County Public school system before you decide to move to Cary. There are huge problems with the system. You don't know from year to year what school your children will be going to. Some children are moved every year. They bus your children anywhere they see fit to make sure that every school is "balanced" economically. They do not guarantee that your child will attend the nearest school to your home. As a matter of fact they have reassigned my middle schooler to a school 9 miles away when we have one that is less than a mile from our home. They are also forcing 19 elementary schools onto a multi-track mandatory year round calendar. For those of you unfamiliar with this concept, it means that the school is split up into 4 tracks, 3 of which are in school at a time. The kids go to school for 9 weeks and are off for 3 weeks. 3 of the tracks start school in early July. 1 starts in late July. If you have more than one child this system is very family un-friendly as your younger children will not be on the same school calendar as your older children. If your child is in a YR middle school and they play sports or are in the band, they will have to go to practice when they are out of school, so there is no time to fit in a family vacation. They are also mandating that YR schools attend on Memorial Day. This is a system run amuck. Please do your homework before you move here. We are moving out of Cary as soon as we can (if we can sell our house--mandatory year round has lowered our property values.)

Update: While I still believe it is wrong to publicize an individual's voting record, I couldn't resist hitting the same website used to lampoon me and see what other prominent citizens are up to. I won't use names, but it is nice to know I'm not the only one fighting for a cause despite a poor voting record. Some of our Friends of Wake County have opted not to vote on school bond issues (except the last time when we all got a rude awakening).

The more honest postings like this the better !

1/28/07

The Teflon Mayor

NBC17 ran a short piece this morning in which Mayors McAlister and Weatherly fielded questions about their towns. This short interview did a wonderful job demonstrating the differences between the two mayors. Mayor Weatherly came across as sincere, and provided direct answers to questions. Mayor McAlister came across as the consummate polished politician, evasive at best. Frankly, I think he embarrassed the town of Cary.
In the first exchange, each mayor was given 45 seconds to talk about the state of their town. Mr. McAlister stated that economic growth, roads and fiscal responsibility were the 2006 priorities for Cary, and went on to pat himself on the back for great progress in those areas. Mayor Weatherly talked about economic growth, but also about Apex's objective of managing residential growth which was under 3% in 2006.
In the next exchange, the mayors were asked if the school board was adequately representing their constituents. Mayor Weatherly went first, and gave a very direct answer: "No, they are not doing a good job." He had the facts to back this up. When Ernie got his turn, he started singing the 'we need to work with the school board' song again, and talked about the complexity of their task. No direct answer.
In the last exchange, the mayors were asked a simple question: Do you think your town would be better off with their own school system? Again, Mayor Weatherly gave a direct answer: "yes." Mayor McAlister gave a drawn out answer about MYR taking a back seat to the "long term" view of schools, and as evasive as he was I believe his answer was no. He did explain that the Town of Cary was giving 55 acres to WCPSS to site schools in our area, left out the fact that the Cary Park deeded this land to us for exactly this purpose.
Again, I think our mayor embarrased us today. I'd like him to explain the "long term" view to my kids who will be on different tracks this fall. For months, he's been talking about 'working with the school board' yet I have seen zero evidence that the Cary Town Council has had a single conversation with the school board or administration. If NBC17 has a transcript of the program I'll post it here.
As an aside, it seems the town council will be continuing to fly the "missing man formation." Here's a subject I have got to understand better

1/26/07

BoE

Was able to spend a little time today watching the BoE work session, we should all be very afraid. The process of redistricting nodes and sub-nodes prioritizes achievement of economic mix over all other considerations. In fairness, when that was not in question, the BoE did make some attempts to consider proximity to schools in their assignments. But most of the discussion was about data: what percent F&R students, what percent of capacity, etc. I never dreamed my kids would end up as decimal points in somebody's chart, but that is today's reality in WCPS.
On the upside, for a change one of the BoE members said something I can fully agree with. In a sidebar, a comment was made about our towns' governments being unwilling to control growth, then stabbing the BoE in the [back]. Right on!
WakeCARES was faithfully represented again, keep up the good work.

1/25/07

We're Just Getting Warmed Up


Every day I gain more respect for Patti Head's political savvy. The "Divide and conquer" strategy is winning the day. Traffic on the N&O WakeEd and WakePol blogs is high, and the acrimony between the participants is just depressing. The BoE platform is simple: Create fear and uncertainty, deliver veiled threats of increased MYR, and eventually convince everyone that theirs is the only possible solution.
Stay tuned for 2008. The board has already stated that another bond will be required. The $1B we just approved does nothing to increase high school capacity, and unless we're expecting a bunch of kids to drop out after middle school, we will not have enough seats. Get ready for split-scheduling or MYR to be introduced as Plan A (with no Plan B) to solve the high school capacity crisis.
We need our commissioners to remain steadfast in keeping a leash on the BoE, to help us through this MYR debacle, and to start asking questions now about 2008. Failure to do so will play right into Patti's hands.

1/24/07

Top Ten Money Magazine

A rebuttal letter in the Cary News today, I feel compelled to respond (even if it is to myself). Text of the letter is below.
The writer's kids are both in high school, so I assume MYR is not a problem for them. I have lived in 6 states and 10 cities before settling in Cary 15 years ago. All the cities had 100K+ population, so I think I'm emminently qualified to compare. In all those states and all those cities, I never saw local governments who were so unresponsive to the citizens, and none of these areas turned to MYR to solve their problems. Prince William County in northern VA (one of the spots along the trail) has and continues to experience explosive growth. They do it without fracturing families with MYR, and the county government (at least when I lived there) was, by comparison, devoid of the political maneuvering we see here.
As far as leaving Cary, I'd love to, but with my older son entering high school in the fall I think dealing with the prospect of MYR is better than dealing with the prospect of him starting as a freshman in a new town. The greenways are great, but they don't help with my kids education, and I can't drive on them to avoid traffic. To those of you who have sent letters, my thanks.

For anyone who want to give Money Magazine their opinion either for or against our ranking, you can log directly onto their Top Ten blog here. I already sent in my posting, and you'll see others share my opinions:

  • I have lived in Cary 15 years. In 1992 we probably deserved the #1 Ranking, now I don't think we deserve a ranking in the top ten. The number one issue with Cary that people must consider is schools. The schools are managed by Wake County, and Town of Cary officials do not work with them to balance growth and school capacity. Next year, 18,000 Wake County students are being forced to Mandatory Year Round calendars. In many families' cases, this means having children on multiple schedules, with as little as 4 weeks break in common across the whole year. Log into the Raleigh News & Observer WakeEd or WakePol blogs and see for yourself the mess we're in.

Cary deserves Top 10 honor
I am shocked that there are Cary residents who think our beautiful town is not worthy of Money Magazine’s ranking as one of the top five small cities to live in in the United States! Obviously those people have never lived in another city with a population over 100,000. Cary deserves every bit of the honor, as I’ve lived in many cities around the United States and Cary by far has the lowest crime rate and the most beautiful and accessible parks and greenways, with some of the best schools in the United States, and I have first-hand experience with the schools with two teenagers. Sure there are politics and some weak decisions that have been made, but you will find that in any city with a large population. Cary is an exceptional city and well deserving of Money Magazine’s recognition.

I hope the people who are so unhappy with our town who have gone as far as pleading to Money Magazine to remove us from the Top 10 list will move to another city and experience the growth problems, politics, crime, school policies and traffic there instead. Maybe if they took advantage of some of Cary’s beautiful greenways, parks, people and culture they would see what a great and beautiful city we live in. Becky Finley

1/23/07

State of Cary Address

Our mayor has released his State of Cary address. To view the document, click here. Here's the document, with my commentary in red:

In the Town of Cary we enter 2007 with great optimism. Our sense of community is strong, just read the N&O blogs and you can see how united our parents are over MYR; our quality of life is vibrant; our economy is growing; and together we can celebrate the success of the town we call home.

What makes Cary a great community in which to live, work, and raise a family?

For our children, it's the opportunity to play in acres of parks and participate in a variety of recreational opportunities, and to attend schools in one of the nation's top-rated educational systems. If your children are here long enough, our county's regular redistricting will allow them to attend many such schools. They will also benefit from the opportunity to become more independent as our new MYR format will reduce the time they have to spend with their own families.

For singles and parents alike, it's the opportunity to build rewarding careers, enjoy safe neighborhoods, indulge in great shopping and restaurants, and live in a community with expanding cultural and entertainment options. Of course, actually driving to any of these options may take some time with our traffic being what it is.

For our seniors, it's the opportunity to choose from a variety of residential settings and a senior center and programs that engage seniors as active and valued members of our community.

For existing businesses and prospective companies, Cary offers an unbeatable combination of highly-educated and talented workers and professionals; stable and predictable long-range planning; reasonable costs; low taxes and strong leadership in the private and public sectors alike. Just ask the developers, they love it here. In Cary we have the resources and a quality of life that makes us competitive nationally and in the world economy.

Cary is truly an award-winning community, with top ten ratings from Money Magazine, Frommer's, Consumer Reports, the USTA, and the Morgan-Quitno annual survey of the safest towns in America, just to name a few.

All of these attributes have been earned over decades of hard work. Our continuing challenge is to be good stewards of what we have inherited and do our best to make it even better for future generations. Accordingly, in this year’s State of the Town address I will focus on several areas that you have told me are critically important for our future.

Transportation
As many of you know, the Town of Cary has been aggressively working to address our road and transportation needs. We are benefiting from the recent completion of several major projects including the widening of Highway 55, Davis Drive and significant improvements to US 1/64. We are continuing to move forward with a number of major projects including the widening of Chapel Hill Road, Kildaire Farm Road, High House Road, Southwest Maynard Road and the final Cary section of Tryon Road, as well as completing our traffic synchronization project. At some point hopefully we'll get caught up with the growth we have had over the past three years. We will sustain this commitment as evidenced by the current 2006-2007 budget, which doubled our capital spending on both road and park projects.

Facilities and Infrastructure
Cary's over-crowded roads lead to some of the Triangle's most outstanding facilities for recreation, competition and entertainment. As I mentioned earlier, the United States Tennis Association rated us as one of the top five municipal facilities in the nation. SAS Soccer Park has hosted both the men's and women's NCAA College Cup tournaments and will this year see the inaugural season of men's professional soccer in the Triangle as the Carolina Railhawks begin play. USA Baseball also makes its home in Cary and will be up and running during 2007. The Koka Booth Amphitheater just completed another stellar season and continues to attract world-class entertainers to Cary in addition to hosting cultural festivals and an array of other community events. Our outstanding facilities also include a new regional library, and as a member of the Western Wake Regional Partnership, we are building a state of the art wastewater treatment plant to meet the needs of Cary and our region for years to come, as well as years that have passed. Each of these facilities contributes in its own way to the success of our town.

Economic Development
A strong economy is the engine that keeps our community healthy and vibrant. After a great deal of work and careful consideration, we have developed a comprehensive economic development plan and strategy for Cary. We have hired our first Economic Development Director to implement our plan and coordinate our strategy with the business community with state and county initiatives and resources. This will assure the continued economic prosperity of our town, which is critical for our long-term success.

Fiscal Responsibility
As I said back in 2003, fiscal responsibility is the key to putting our local financial house on a solid and sustainable footing while ensuring we have the resources to maintain and enhance our community's quality of life. Our reduction of impact fees was a great first step. We have restored Cary's long-term fiscal health, maintained our AAA bond rating, and kept our property tax rate low, all while refocusing our resources on our highest priorities.

What are the challenges we must address to keep us successful in the future?

The most important is to maintain our commitment to long-term fiscal discipline. In 2009, we will have to address debt issues incurred earlier in this decade. We can meet this financial challenge by setting priorities, keeping current spending under control, and continuing to build our local economy and tax base. Our first step will be to build a new aquatics center costing $30M.

We also have exciting new opportunities to partner with the private sector. We anticipate strong participation from private resources as we plan for the cultural and performing arts centers downtown and the new regional aquatics facility. In particular, I am excited about our plans to enhance downtown Cary as a destination for community and cultural activities, entertainment, shopping and dining. The financial model we have put in place for these projects is based on our commitment to having significant participation from the private sector in projects that serve our citizens and make our community more attractive. Oops, left out the part where we partner with Wake County to advocate for the children of Cary, so that they may receive a quality education without having their families fractured by MYR.

Economic Development and high quality jobs will continue to be a major focus as we implement our plan and see the fruits of returning to a model of close cooperation and collaboration between your Council and the business community.


In the area of transportation, we are committed to doing all in our power to move forward with the 1-540 Western Wake Expressway and Southern Loop. This major regional project is crucial to addressing our long-term transit needs in Cary and in the Triangle. We can build houses even faster once this is open.

All growing communities have to keep a vigilant focus on public safety. This past year we were again honored as one of the safest places to live in America; nevertheless, we know the daily challenges facing our law enforcement officers and first responders require a sustained commitment. We have added officers and operational capability in recent years, and I am committed to ensuring our police force has the resources it needs to keep our streets and neighborhoods safe. I have nothing but respect for the Cary Police, they do a great job.

The state of our town is strong, vibrant, growing and successful. In 2007 our commitment is to stay focused on the fundamentals that will ensure our success is sustained for the long-term.

As I enter my fourth (and last?) year as Mayor of Cary, I can reflect on the progress we have made over the last three years, and, more importantly, look forward to the expanding opportunities we have in the future. Time and again, you, the citizens of Cary, have provided the leadership, the volunteers, the vision, resources, and commitment to improving our town. We are successful because we have great partnerships, a strong sense of community, and a spirit of cooperation and shared responsibilities. It continues to be my honor to serve as your mayor and to lead a town with the citizen participation and commitment we have in Cary.

1/21/07

T.Vaden Editorial

Ann and I were expecting Ted Vaden's editorial today. Regarding MYR, a significant subject which the N&O has failed to report on is the pain inflicted by MYR on families with kids in different tracks -- how does a married household manage daycare, activities and together time, how does a divorced family begin to deal with this. The only "in-depth" coverage was Lize Weidle's column which speaks for itself. Bottom line, the more people that move here, the more subscriptions the N&O sells. The glossing over of inbound student numbers was particularly disappointing. Mr. Hui from the N&O has done some good work covering education, so when consulted about the "right Number" of new fall students, I would have like to see a more specific answer. Here's a posting I just left on Mr. Hui's blog:
  • Mr. Vaden's editorial in today's paper was disappointing. WCPSS has insisted that there are 8,000 new students coming in the Fall. WakeCARES, StopMYR and other groups have performed independent analysis which supports a much lower number (Thus less need for conversions). The editorial asserts that numbers are irrelevant to the policy debate, yet the BoE uses these numbers as the sole means of support for their MYR agenda. The piece goes on to say that the right number "probably is somewhere between the estimates of the school system and the opponents."

    Mr. Hui, you are in a unique position to bring clarity to the numbers question. You have direct access to the BoE and the anti-MYR groups. I implore you to investigate this further and come up with the right number. Any inflation of this 'right number' by the BoE translates to unnecessary MYR conversions for Wake County children, the price for ambiguity just much too high to leave this open to interpretation.

The Path to Self-Destruction

Ironic that today's N&O article about the mass migration to Wake County points to Money Magazine's ranking of Cary in the top ten places to live as part of the cause.
Thankfully, I have never spent much time in Cooke County. I have, however, spent a great deal of time in Suffolk county (where my anscestors are from), and in and around Farifax county. I lived in Manassas, VA [right on the Fairfax county line] for 8 years prior to being transferred here in 1992. On one hand, that makes me part of the growth problem. On the other hand, I think I can accurately describe the environments which drove these people here -- a living hell. The N&O accurately describes Suffolk/Fairfax counties; Horriffic traffic and real estate prices which make it very hard for a young family to 'get ahead.'
I do note that both counties found ways to deal with their growth rates without MYR. Perhaps the BoE should spend some time with their counterparts in these counties to learn from them. If a quick to NY will help Patti Head get religion, I'll buy her a plane ticket.

Long-term, imagine picking up Suffolk or Fairfax county and plopping it in the middle of the triangle -- that's what we're creating. Our town and governments can slow down the growth rate, but cannot stop it. The question is, how will they manage it.
We should all be very afraid of of ending up as Suffolk County South. As parents, we'll reap the benefits of huge increases in our property values. As families, we'll pay the price of forcing our children to go somewhere else where they can 'get ahead.' Is this the circle of life? Hakuna Matata!

1/20/07

Money Magazine

The nice thing about having a fringe blog is that I don't get a lot of hate mail when I post something controversial, or when the N&O prints one of my letters. Here's what the N&O said today about the Money Magazine writing campaign:

OVERRATED: Cary resident Joe Ciulla has a gripe with Money Magazine's calling his town one of the best places to live.

So he's trying to spark a letter writing campaign to try to get the magazine to "take another look" at his hometown.

His gripe: A school system that shuffles kids around and will force some to attend year-round schools.

"I believe my letter to Money Magazine was one of the first," he wrote in recent e-mail. "I have spoken with several others who thought this initiative was gaining momentum, but can't tell you who started it or how many people have participated."

Cary is a bedroom community to Research Triangle Park, and that's ok. We do not need to become a 'player' in international commerce. Under the former administration, Cary showed that impact fees can slow growth, that's ok too. All growth is not good growth. When our families suffer because of school turmoil, when our utility bills triple because infrastructure is not there, and when we spend our mornings snarled in traffic, how can we think the runaway growth rate is good for citizens? Apart from the sense of pride we as Cary residents have had in our Money Magazine ranking, the major beneficiaries of reduced impact fees are builders and developers (Who have been making a nice living these days). The fees need to go up. A scaled approach is best, minimizing the impact to first-time home buyers. Every year the gap between Cary general budget revenues and expenses is shrinking, raising fees may help stem the tide. Please consider writing a letter to Money Magazine, contact information is in my earlier post on this subject.

1/19/07

Where's a Friend When You Need One

After the bond passed, I have periodically gone back and checked the Friends of Wake County website. This group, funded primarily by developers and other special interests who had a financial interest in us paying for more schools, made the same promises the BoE did; To work with citizens and come up with the right solutions for Wake County education. As far as I can tell, their website went dormant two days after the elections. With all the recent press coverage regarding MYR controversy and clashes between the commissioners and the BoE, I have not read a single word about "Friends" of Wake County being involved. I think a lot of voters got hoodwinked by "Friends" rhetoric, they now can feel comfortable that funding is in place so that more schools can be built (and more real estate developed).
If I'm wrong and the FOWKers are still involved, go ahead and tell me so in the comments section [I do not moderate comments].

How Low Can We Go ???


Last night the Wake County School Board conducted a meeting at Leesville Road High school to discuss schools with parents. The WakeEd blog covers what happened at the meeting, but the school board has sunk to a new low: Kicking parents out of the meeting. Please read it for yourself if you haven't already. It appears Patti Head and the board already know they have lost the battle for public support, and will now resort to whatever heavy-handed tactics they need to push forth their agenda. At least in Cary they just turn off the microphone after 3 minutes.

Pressure is building

A nice editorial by Francis DeLuca in today's N&O, and for a change the N&O did not counter with its own contradictory piece. While I was not able to post here the school board's CIP budget spreadsheets which were questioned by Commissioner Gardner, my wife and I did take some time to go through them last night. A first set of spreadsheets were in Mr. Gardner's meeting materials packet which he received prior to sitting down with the school board. The board handed out a second set of spreadsheets at the meeting, which did not match the first. Some budget line-items increased, others decreased. Closer to home, one anomoly we noticed was that both budget documents featured a line-item for MYR conversion of elementary schools ($12M), as well as a line-item for conversion Wendell and East Cary middle schools. Neither document called out Salem Middle for conversion, but that's what the board announced. We are trusting the 9 people on the school board to responsibly manage over $1 billion of our money. In the corporate sector, shareholders of a $1B company would be appalled by mis-matched budget documents, petty territorialism by management and discovery of hidden 'contingency' funds. As shareholders of Wake County we should be equally appalled.

1/18/07

Chink in the School Board's Armor

An interesting letter from Kenn Gardner in today's N&O opinion section. As someone pointed out to me yesterday, if you state something publicly you'd better be right -- I'm sure Mr. Gardner had confidence in his remarks. Wake County citizens deserve an answer to Mr. Gardner's questions. The first approved installment payment on this bond is over $300M, so a 5 percent variance here and there add up to millions of dollars. The WCPSS's own figures project a 6.8% increase in students next year, not much greater than the 'contingency' they put into project plans. Stop MYR and WakeCARES have both raised valid questions over the validity of the school board's population projections, and neither organization has been given a lucid answer.
The current redistricting plan moves 11,000 students to different schools, affecting just under 10% of the school population. That number does not account for the additional students who are not being redistricted, but are having their school converted to MYR (hint: my kid is one of them).
Our county is in a sad state when the debate between the commissioners and school board must be conducted in the Opinion section of the N&O. In yesterday's WakePol section, Tony Gurley was quoted as saying he will no longer engage in private conversations with school board members, and will only speak with them with others present so that he is not misquoted or misunderstood.
The time has come for an independent audit. If the battle continues to be waged in the press, the real facts may never come out, and our children's needs will take a back seat. I'm not sure right now what government protocols are in place concerning internal audit, but researching that will be this evening's project.
As to the letter regarding Paul Coble, some good questions about county tax rates. My opinion is slightly different regarding Mr. Coble himself. The Wake County School Board has operated on its own agenda for years, and I think his actions are helping to shake up the 'good old boy/girl' network.
Update: I emailed Mr. Gardner this morning and he already responded with a copy of his letter to the WCPSS. I posted it here, back-dated to 1/10/07 -- Scroll down the right hand side under 'Postings' it is the last one listed. His email to me included the referenced spreadsheets, I'm not a webmaster and could not figure out how to post them (they are in .pdf).

1/17/07

The Conversation That Never Was...

When I have spoken at past Cary Town Council meetings, it has always been a one-way 3 minute conversation. The CTC and mayor don't have to answer any questions because they may not be 'prepared to respond' to issues. I guess I'll never get the chance to have a chat with the mayor, so I'm left to only imagine how a phone conversation with Mr. McAlister might go:

Joe: Mr. Mayor, is the education of our children in a family-friendly structure a priority for the Cary Town Council?

Ernie: Absolutely, Education is a priority.

Joe: Great, can you tell me about all the meetings the CTC has had with Wake County officials to jointly address growth and school capacity?

Ernie: ummmm, Education is a priority.

Joe: Alrighty then. Let’s talk about how MYR has impacted the families of Town Council members....

Ernie: uhhh, None of our kids are in public school, but education is a priority!

Joe: OK, Can you tell me what the Town of Cary is doing to accomodate the difficult track-out periods created by MYR?

Ernie: Absolutely, we’re building a $30M aquatics center, they can go swimming whenever they are not in school.

Joe: Wow, where’d we get the money for that?

Ernie: How ‘bout those Panthers, eh?

Joe: One final question... Have you thought about raising impact fees to help pay for amenities like the aquatics center AND perhaps slow down the growth rate (thus allowing schools to catch up)?

Ernie: click


Money Magazine Letters

Please keep the letters coming, here's what I sent them today:

I'm not sure how many Cary Parents have written you regarding a reassessment of Cary's ranking in 2007, but again ask your consideration given the current school redistricting and Manadatory Year Round scheduling debacle.
Here's another story from today's local paper:
http://www.newsobserver.com/1056/story/533245.html

The Blame Game


Great Coverage on the MYR story in today's N&O, and in the Cary News. Much thanks to Ryan Teague Beckwith for the link to my blog. The Cary News Opinion section is exclusively comprised of letters from citizens who are disappointed with the hell-bent approach toward MYR, and who are disappointed with the performance of our Cary Town government. Ann and I both have letters printed there. I'm tired of the blame game regarding MYR, and it is time to put it behind us and start focusing on the real reason we have a school system in place: children. This is not about re-election, who's right/wrong, or reneging on promises. To that end, here's the text of an email I sent Patti Head today:

Ms. Head,
There has been enough finger-pointing on this issue. The school board blames the county commissioners for reneging, the County commissioners blame the school board for proceeding against their wishes, and the parents blame both for failure to provide the leadership in the past which would and could have avoided this crisis.
The N&O's coverage of anit-MYR parents who have become passionate over this issue should demonstrate that this is a non-trivial matter, one which affects a very large number of families in Wake County. Every one of the parents believe there are alternatives, or they would 'shut up and row' like some of our elected officials would prefer.
Dawn Graff's letter in the N&O yesterday makes a pretty clear case that alternatives exist, and she's using WCPSS statistics to do so.
It seems like everyone is more worried about playing the 'blame game' than they are about our children.
If it would help, you are all welcome to placing the blame on me instead. Maybe I wasn't watching close enough to see the school crisis developing, and I probably should have been more focused on my Cary Town government's refusal to manage growth, thus fueling the problem. I won't make the same mistake again, but at least I admit to the mistakes I have made.
I believe Dave Duncan and Dawn Graff have done a fair job of evaluating the growth statistics and the true costs/benefits of MYR. If you can convince the two of them that MYR is truly the only alternative that we have, then I'll 'Shut up and Row.'

Best Regards,
Joe Ciulla

1/16/07

A Voice of Reason

Great Letter in Today's N&O opinion section from Dawn Graff, from the WakeCARES advocacy group. The County's own figures do not support the need for their MYR plan which will wreak havoc on Wake County families. Let's also not forget that the one School Board member (Ron Margiotta) who has vigorously voted against MYR was penalized by having a disproportionate majority of MYR's forced into his district. Again, Patti Head has been in love with year-round schooling for as long as I can remember... Her failure to lead the board in examining any reasonable alternatives speaks volumes.

1/14/07

Cary Bid to Host Olympics



When my kids received Target gift cards for Christmas, they could not wait to spend them. It was as if they believed the cards would vaporize if not used quickly. Such is the attitude of our Cary Town Council who, with their first budget surplus ($14M I understand) in a long time, could not wait to spend it. Here's a list of things they could have spent the money on:

  1. Put it in the bank for the next time we have to pay for expanded water/sewage treatment facilities to support runaway growth......... Nope
  2. Use the money to support existing cost structure, and further reduce impact fees to builders. Surprised this did not occur to them....... Nope
  3. Use this toward a 'pay-it-forward' deal with the state to fund the western loop of the outer beltline....... Nope
  4. Lower the property tax rate, in hopes of increasing runaway growth..... Nope
  5. Buy trailers and give them to the school system, in the hopes of avoiding MYR. $14M buys a lot of trailers.......Nope
Instead, they decided to build a $30M redundant aquatics center.

The best explanation I can come up with is that the Town of Cary is secretly planning a bid to host the 2024 summer Olympic games, and this is the first of many required capital investments. Next up, the Cary Velodrome !!

By the way, anyone who missed the Cary News Opinion piece by Terry Thorne should give it a read, an excellent synopsis of our Cary Government's failures.

1/13/07

Thank You, Patti Head

Patti,
Thank you for your letter published today in the N&O. You raise some very good points:
        • Wake County should have made better funding decisions over a year ago to help avoid this crisis. As the great philosopher Alfred E. Neumann once said, "When it comes to hindsight, everybody's got 20-20 vision." -- Perhaps if you had spent as much energy then on securing funding as you are now at diverting blame, we wouldn't have this problem.
        • Good call on the "unchecked growth." When you're right, you're right.

Did the commissioners 'Renege' as you assert? Maybe. Did the school board renege on their promise to voters to put an earnest effort toward evaluating ALL non-MYR options if we voted for the bond? YES YES YES. At least the commissioners reneged on a promise to you. The school board board has reneged on a promise to our children -- a quality education without disruption of family life. If that was never a promise of the board, it should have been.

1/12/07

Money Magazine Letters

Folks, Please keep the letters to Money Magazine coming. If you send your email to bestplaces@cnnmoney.com you'll reach the department in charge of this annual survey.

Here's a copy of the letter I sent:

When you perform your 2007 survey, I believe you should take another look at Cary, NC before assigning such a high rating. The Wake County School system (which Cary is part of) is not functioning well, and a growing number of Cary families have been negatively impacted. The growth of Cary and surrounding areas, combined with the lack of funding and action on the part of our government officials, has led to our current predicament of insufficient traditional school seating capacity to support the student base. The impacts to quality of life are significant: Constant redistricting of students (my kids have been redistricted five times since moving here), enforcement of Mandatory Year-Round schools which fractures families by placing siblings on different school schedules, and a slow but growing exodus of students from the public school system in general.

Here is a link to an article in this week's Cary News which clearly defines the school crisis and it's impact on Cary families:

http://www.carynews.com/113/story/5158.html

I'm sure Ernie McAlister (Mayor of Cary) is as concerned about the school crisis as Cary parents are, I am copying him here so that he may comment on actions the Cary Town Council is taking to keep education from becoming an issue which costs Cary our rankiing among your Best Places to Live.

Best Regards,
Joe Ciulla

Keep the Letters Coming

My understanding is that the county commisioners are receiving a fair amount of email regarding their attempt to block MYR, and that it is overwhelmingly positive. We all need to do more. Today's editorial in the N&O portrays anti-MYR parents as a small minority -- wrong.

The Wake CARES group feels like our governer may be able to exert some influence over the BOE. In any case, take the time to let the governer how you feel about the representation you have.

Contact the Governor's Office
> You may contact the Governor's Office by
> sending a letter to
> Governor Easley,
> by e-mailing the Governor's Office or by
> calling the Governor's Office
> at: http://www.governor.state.nc.us/email.asp?to=1
> 1-800-662-7952 valid in North Carolina
> only
> (919)733-4240, or (919)733-5811.
>
> The address for all correspondence is:
>
> Governor Michael F. Easley
> Office of the Governor
> 20301 Mail Service Center
> Raleigh, NC 27699-0301
>
> Fax: (919)715-3175 or (919)733-2120

Cary Mayor and Town Council Culpability

The Wake County Commissioners and School Board are (rightfully) under fire right now over MYR. Credit the commissioners for trying to do something, and shame on Patti Head's team for turning the MYR discussion into an ego-based tug-of-war.
While both offices can be blamed for the current shortage of school seats, let's not forget our own town (Cary) government's failure to manage growth has been a major contributer to this problem and others affecting our quality of life.
I have spoken twice at Cary Town Council meetings expressing my concern that the rate of growth over the past several years has put unneeded stress on our schools, roads and infrastructure. Several letters to the N&O and Cary News have made the same argument. Cary town leaders go out of their way to point out that by law they cannot use impact fees to fund schools, or deny building permits based on insufficient school capacity. What they don't point out is that they have the ability to deny building permits, period. Permits were managed under the Lang administration, and have tripled since he left office.
Cary government's response: We don't control the schools, so talk to Wake County officials.
Our town government's side-stepping of culpability is not something I accept, nor should any citizen of Cary.
The opportunity for rapid growth has existed in Cary for 20 years, and is no secret. When our town officials decided to increase the rate of building permits being granted, they could have taken two different paths regarding school capacity:
1. They could have taken the high road, and taken responsibility for ensuring the children of Cary had adequate school seats. This would have meant their engagement with the Wake County government, doing the hard work, and putting the needs of our children ahead of the desire to grow Cary.
2. They took the easy way instead. Huge subdivisions are built, the school seats are not there, and the Mayor and Town Council have forced Cary parents into the breech instead of themselves.
By following this path, our town government has not represented us well, and in fact has not executed the goals and initiatives which they committed to. Check the Cary government website at www.townofcary.org and see for yourself.
Here's the Cary 2006 Budget document: http://www.townofcary.org/depts/budget/currentyearadopted/aob/006-townofcarygoalsandinitiatives.pdf

Failures to execute initiatives:
1. Schools. We don't have enough.
2. Transportation. Earlier versions of this document specified that roads would be built ahead of growth, what happened to that?
3. Infrastructure. Rates for water have tripled, and we are on mandatory rationing.

I can live with failure against initiatives 2 and 3, but cannot accept failure regarding schools. For now, let's focus our energies on the Wake County government, where the only short-term fix resides. Next election, let's remember what our town council has done.



It's My Way or the Highway !!!

Yesterday I sent an email to Patti Head, begging her and the board to set ego aside, act in the best interests of our children, and work with the county commissioners to find a non-MYR solution to school over-crowding. The commissioners admitted they made a mistake in deferring funds to rennovate schools, and fixed it -- knowing they would endure comments from the school board about "back-tracking" and that they would use this as 'proof' that they have been right all along. Translation: "I want my MYR and I'm going to scream until I get it!" Here's Ms. Head's non-response to my email:
Joe, over a period of 18 months we met with, discussed with, shared with, compromised with the County Commissioners on the CIP that was the basis of the Bond that was brought to the public for their vote ...and approved in Nov....the reordering of the request by the BofE at their Monday meeting and the subsequent reversal was, according to Mr Gurley, based not on listening to the public, but on "doing the math" ...they found that their rash decision would cost the county and the taxpayers more money and would not be a wise financial step for our bankers to take....I do appreciate their change of mind and financing the renovations as requested in our first quarterly request following the bond.
The "cross-over" to engaging in educational policy-making by withholding our request for the year round conversion dollars and for the modular units we need for 2007-08 (and which was included in months of documents shared by both boards and included in the Bond which most of the CC endorsed) is not legal and is disingenuous with their support of the CIP and bond....I do fully realize that Mr. Coble was not a part of our meetings or the final approval, but the others were.
I would be happy to discuss this further with you if you'd care to call me at my office
518-0171...I continue to be very committed to working with our CC and all the citizens of Wake County to come up with solutions to address the consequences of the tremendous growth in WC and the direct impact that growth has on our public schools.....as you are aware, we had 7500+ new students this year and are expecting another 8,000 next...Sincerely, Patti Head
Patti Head
Wake County Board of Education

Patti Head has been in love with Year-Round schooling for years -- long before growth became an issue. In a way, the shortage of classrooms is a convenient way for her to do what she has wanted to all along.

1/11/07

Welcome to My World

I am not an activist. Until 3 months ago, I had never written a letter to the editor, never attended a town or county government meeting, and generally skipped over the politics and opinion sections of the newspaper in favor of the sports page.

I lived a happy existance with my family, the kids went to school, we vacationed in the summer, all was good in the world.

Based on the ineptitude of our Cary town and Wake county governments, all that has changed. My family has now been forced to face the next two years having both our children attend school on two different schedules. As I watch our elected representatives bicker over this issue (or in the case of Town of Cary, run away from it), I am more truly amazed every day how our government can be concurrently ignorant and arrogant.

This blog will be updated regularly with views on government management of schools, growth, spending and administration. All are welcome to participate

1/1/07

Kenn Gardner Leter to WCPSS

January 12, 2007


Mr. Del Burns

Superintendent

Wake County Public Schools

3600 Wake Forest Road

Raleigh, NC 27609

RE: Bond CIP Questions

Dear Mr. Burns:

It was noted by Don Hayden after the Jan 8th Commission meeting, that he had not seen a spreadsheet document I was referencing during the school issues discussion. I had assumed that the document came from WCPSS and so I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to you, Don Hayden and Mike Buriss for using the document. It was in my packet and was stapled together with the WCPSS answers to the questions the Commission had asked. After the meeting I spoke to Don and realizing his frustration, I did apologize to him. I have followed up with the County Manager and I have been assured that even if that particular spreadsheet was not familiar to WCPSS, the numbers used were from the school system.

My intent is to try and understand the material before each meeting and I did not receive any information from the school system regarding answers to the questions raised in the December 4th and December 20th meetings until last Friday, Jan 5th. As I reviewed the material over the weekend, I became concerned by what I perceived to be a shifting of money between line items by the school system without a clear explanation. I am uninterested in the rhetoric that has occurred since the Commission meeting and I would like to focus on the issues that I think need to be clarified.

I am attaching the spreadsheet that was in my Agenda Packet (Page 4) and the Spreadsheet that was on the WCPSS website (Page 5) as the foundation documents. I have attached a combined spreadsheet (Page 6) to more easily highlight the differences between the two documents.

I still have concerns and would like to have them addressed for clarity and to establish one document that we can all refer to as “THE 2006 Bond CIP Spreadsheet”. Currently we do not have that document.

My questions are as follows:

1. PROJECT MANAGEMENT:

I understand that WCPSS takes a portion of the Bond for project management services, which is an operational expense. A 3.5% multiplier was used in the assumptions although I did not realize it was the WCPSS intent to apply it across the entire $1 billion bond.

Former Superintendent Bill McNeil stated to the Blue Ribbon Committee that the cost of construction has doubled in the past several years, yet the cost of employee salaries and benefits has risen modestly over the same period of time. I question the use of a project management multiplier based on fast rising construction costs and see this as a significant issue that, if revisited, could free up additional bond funds immediately for seats or land.

Action Request:

a. New Column:

I would like to see a new column which states what that amount is for each line item. (Much like what has been done for Building Permits).

b. Historical Validation:

I would like some historical validation of what your actual project management expenses are. After review of last year’s Superintendent’s Budget I was unable to see where previous bond funds used for Project Management were identified. Please clarify.

c. Outsourcing:

I would like to know if the WCPSS has thought about outsourcing the Bond Program Project Management. I believe this could be substantially less expensive and free up more money for land or additional schools. I would ask the CFAC Committee to investigate the industry standards to validate the assumption.

2. CONTINGENCY FUNDS:

I understand that a 2% contingency is built into every project. The Agenda spreadsheet shifted this amount from every line item and consolidated it into a new category. I

have concerns that non-building related categories could be harmed by diverting their funding into a single contingency fund.

Action Request:

  1. New Column:

I would like to request a new column indicating what each project contingency is.

  1. Land Purchase:

It appears that $2,777,109 is being diverted for PM and Contingency fees out of the purchase of land. Taking contingency money away from the purchase of land does not appear to make sense, and the PM multiplier would appear to be excessive. Please clarify.

  1. Technology, Life-Cycle Replacement, and Assessments:

These appear to be service contracts that would not require intense PM supervision. Please clarify why $2,309,628 in contingency and PM services are being taken from these contract service items

3. PM / CONTINGENCY COMBINED PERCENTAGE:

When comparing the two documents, there is a difference in the line item project budgets. The Web document has included PM and Contingencies in a total project budget. The Agenda Packet spreadsheet has taken these items out of the project budget, yet there is no consistency or explanation.

I thought I understood that 3.5% was for Project Management and 2% was for Contingency, so each line item should have a 5.5% difference, but they do not.

Action Request:

Why is it not 5.5%? Please clarify.

  1. Renovations:

Vary from 1.37% (Smith E.) to 7.29% (Cary H.) and 6.73% (Lacy E). I believe that by adding the new columns for PM and Contingency this will help explain the differences, but I would like a simple clarification.

  1. Enloe:

Why did Enloe’s budget increase by $490,250. Please clarify.

  1. New:

Varies from 2.15% (E31) to 6.11% (E17). Please clarify assumptions.

  1. Mobile Classrooms:

Increased by $3,689,666 (+27.86%)

  1. 9th Grade Centers:

Decreased by $4,562,691 (-26.71%)

These are fair questions that need to be addressed. Let’s put aside the rhetoric, clarify the assumptions, establish the correct figures, and build some schools.

Thank you for you consideration and I look forward to your clarifications.

Sincerely,

Kenn Gardner

Wake County Commissioner

5417 Hunter Hollow Drive

Raleigh, NC 27606

CC: Ms. Billy Redmond Mr. John Mabe Mr. David Cooke

Board of Commissioners Board of Education