Ah...

I take it Silverdale wasn't as prosperous then as it appears to be today.

Prosperous? I dunno. Cheap? definitely.

I think the school board did the two-shifts thing to punish the community.

It sucked to be a kid in those days.

I just meant that I was under the impression that it was a prosperous community with lots of high-paid nuclear personnel living there and good property values. Just seems like the type of community that would support education. Maybe it wasn't that way back in the stone age when you went to school?

Yup. Then it was populated by highly-paid coal-fired boiler engineers, and buggy whip makers.

I think the property values were part of the problem. Back in those days of the first oil crisis and the beginning of rampant inflation, property values began to climb. Those climbing property values led to climbing tax bills.

I see...cheap-ass buggy whip makers, eh?

DW Link

I am among the many frustrated parents and taxpayers living in the Montesano School District, and I am one who just voted “no” on the levy propositions.

My main reason in doing so has nothing to do with the children or teachers in the district. Instead, it has everything to do with continuing to demand accountability of the people in charge of running the daily affairs of the district.

I have grown tired of the seemingly constant requests for money coming from the school district. Over the past five years, the district has had to borrow money more often than not just to make payroll. Now the district is under a mandatory financial watch from the state government, and the district is asking for taxpayers to help bail them out again.

Granted, the rate for the proposed levy is less than the current rate. However, property values have risen, meaning that assessments will be higher. People will end up paying more to the school district than they currently do.

While we hear that we “need” more money for buses, why are local taxpayers being hit with an extra bill for those buses when the state has been reimbursing the district for years? Why is it that neighboring districts can make this work and Montesano cannot?

Finally, I am frustrated with the editor’s suggestion last week that voting against the levy would be punishing the children. Does this mean that voters should automatically say yes to everything the school board asks? If so, why even have an election?

Voting for the levy is merely enabling the poor management that has brought us to this point. I am confident that over the long-term the new school board will be able to work out many of these issues that have been left unaddressed for several years. Perhaps if enough progress is made, they can earn support for future levies.

Meanwhile, I encourage voters to reject this excessive levy and ask the board to come back with a more reasonable offer in April or May.



The best lesson to teach our children now is discretion — not how to engineer a quick fix. It is time to stand up for accountability and restraint.

Scott Dilley

Montesano

I hadn't decided until today, after reading Jack Dwyer's OP-ed in the Vidette, how I'm going to vote.

It's going to cost me more than $1000 per year, and my student probably won't participate in many (if any) of the main programs funded by the levy but I'm voting yes. I think the new board in general, and Jack particularly, have their heads on straight. I guess for me it's almost entirely a matter of trust.

That said, it is absolutely not an easy decision. I do not fault anyone for coming to a different conclusion.

And it was called Stonedale.

Besides, you know what happens when you feed stray animals...