Thursday, August 12, 2010

Some final thoughts on the levy - and a suggestion (unsolicited commentary)

Like many others, I have painfully watched these last three Greenville school levies fail. I say "painfully" because it seems everyone was upset: the supporters for not being able to pass it; and the opposition angry at the repeated attempts. I was among the group who wanted the levy to pass, voting for it three straight times (the last two even after my wife and I decided to transfer our children out of the district - pass judgment as you wish).

I have followed elections in this county for a long time, but these levy results were surprising to me. I thought there was a good chance of passage in February when it failed badly. And then I thought there was no chance last week when it almost passed.

The close vote last week seems to have done a couple things. The previously-vocal "no" voters have suddenly gone into hiding (unless you count anonymous comments on this website). And if you supported the levy, the close vote - at least in my circles - has prompted discussions of "what could have made the difference." The current deficit is 80 votes and not likely to change much - which means that about 40 voters decided the most recent election - and the future of the school district, city, and county for that matter.

So the big question is: what could have made the difference?

There were undoubtedly several negative factors that nobody could have changed at this point in time, for example: the current poor economy, the "no new tax" sentiment that some people have right now, and long-held frustration some people hold over the purchase of the Ohio Street property (which was done by a Greenville School Board, but not the current Greenville School Board). I'm sure you could add others to this part of the list.

But there are also other things going on - right now - that played a role in these three levy defeats. I don't claim to be a better authority than anyone else for having a pulse on the community except for the fact that I run a website where people can submit anonymous comments. The comments you see on this site are not all of the comments submitted, and with regard to levy-related comments, there were several topics hit upon time and time and time again. One pretty hard-and-fast rule for comments is that unconfirmed (or unconfirmable) factual allegations aren't going to make it through when those comments could be hurtful to some member of the community. So as to these comments I - and I alone - get to see what people are willing to say when they can hide behind the cloak of anonymity.

The themes (plural) forwarded to me by anonymous comment were consistent and specific, but the communications weren't always exclusively anonymous. A few people have emailed me directly. And these same subjects have come up from time to time at school events, the softball diamonds, casual conversation, etc. There is a dialogue going on in the community that some people are aware of, and others are not. And others yet, I think, are choosing to just stick their head in the sand. I am frustrated and angry that this dialogue, some of which I believe to be completely false, has nevertheless affected my family's future by depriving my community of a new school.

And so I will make the following suggestion, which if followed, will hopefully give our leaders the knowledge necessary to make wise decisions going forward. I suggest that the Greenville Board of Education prepare a questionnaire and submit it by mail to all of the voting households within the district. The questionnaire would ask three questions:

  • Did you vote for or against the recent school levy?
  • If you voted against the levy, why did you vote against it?
  • If you voted for the levy, but with reservations, what were your reservations?

The questionaires would not be marked in any way, allowing the responders to answer anonymously - and be completely candid with their answers. I guarantee that the Board will find its elusive 40 votes, several times over - but it will also get an education in the process. The Board needs to understand what people are thinking right now - and then act upon it.

[no comments will be allowed on this post - respond, if you wish, to darkejournal@gmail.com]

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