VOTE NO TO SCHOOL TAX LEVY IN CLEVELAND, OHIO ON NOVEMBER 4, 2014

Submitted by Satinder P S Puri on Tue, 08/05/2014 - 16:33.

VOTE NO TO SCHOOL TAX LEVY IN CLEVELAND, OHIO ON NOVEMBER 4, 2014!

 

 
FIGHTING CORRUPTION IN CLEVELAND, OHIO!

In 2001, Cleveland voters approved Issue 14 – a $335 million bond for the construction of new schools or renovation of existing schools in the CMSD (Cleveland Metropolitan School District). Based on a funding formula, OFCC (Ohio Facilities Construction Commission) provided $2 in matching funds, in most cases, for every 1 dollar raised locally. As a result, the funds available for fixing the schools totaled nearly $1 billion.

In 2001, CMSD had an enrollment of 77,000 students which in 2014 has dropped down to less than 40,000 (38,612) students.

Because of loss in population, several schools are operating at less than full capacity.

Despite the drop in enrollment, not all the required schools have been built or renovated and the funds are expected to run out at the end of 2014.

So CMSD needs more money to build or renovate 19 or 20 schools and update 23 to 25 schools for an estimated enrollment of 32,400 in 2019.

The latest CMSD Master Plan has divided the city into 12 neighborhood clusters with varying populations. A public meeting was held in each cluster between May 28 and June 29, 2014 and comments were sought from the public. The attendance was sparse compared with the number of parents in each cluster.  

The Board of Education, at a special meeting held on July 15, 2014, unanimously (9-0) approved a $200 million bond to finance the construction of new buildings and renovation of existing buildings in their School Facilities Master Plan for 2014-2019.

VOTE NO TO SCHOOL TAX LEVY:
PHOTOGRAPHED AT THE CMSD BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING,

07-15-14, 1110 Superior Avenue, Downtown Cleveland, Ohio.

 

 
Again, based on a funding formula, OFCC will provided $2 in matching funds, in most cases, for every 1 dollar raised locally.

The bond will be paid for with a tax levy on property owners and will be on the ballot in the November 2014 election.

The levy will also include funds needed for the maintenance of the school buildings.

According to Eric Gordon, CMSD CEO: “Property owners will not be paying any more millage with the passage of the levy than they do today.”

For Issue 14, the millage was 6.1 mills. So the tax on a $100,000 home would be $213. It is estimated that the principal and interest on the bond – starting in 2015 would be paid in 37-years --- by 2052.

CASE OF JOHN MARSHALL HIGH SCHOOL:

The construction of the new John Marshall High School on West 140th Street is being funded from the Issue 14 property tax revenues.

The community never wanted the new school. We wanted historic John Marshall High (built in 1932) to be renovated like historic John Hay (built in 1929) and historic Rhodes (built in 1932) High Schools.

The option for a new school was rejected soundly by the community in three successive zero votes – zero vote, after zero vote, after zero vote -- but we got the new school anyway.

It is presently under construction – a jazzed up warehouse is what it is – without an auditorium, swimming pool, or underground running tracks.

How the historic John Marshall High School – an architectural gem was destroyed and construction of a new school started is an indictment on the absence of: honesty, trustworthiness, accountability, clarity, and transparency in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and City Hall.
There was sustained and collusive inaction; denial of due process; vote rigging; cooking of financial numbers; sustained stonewalling: running out the clock with incessant delays extending into months; reminder, after reminder, after reminder; and legal gobbledygook.

The groundbreaking ceremony was also a fake one.

A School District that aspires to be the premier district in the United States and teaches our children ethics and fair play did not played fair with over 2,400 petitioners in the $50 million John Marshall High School Construction Project.

In addition to destroying our heritage, the School District permitted the Demolition Contractor to poison our environment.  

Over 400 pages of correspondence document the multiple irregularities in the $50 million John Marshall High School Construction Project.

We have a corrupt political system in Cleveland, Ohio – led by philistines and dishonest politicians – and which is aided and abetted by the media where the sewer flows from City hall all the way down – and engulfs every crony, goon, aide, and abettor -- who wallow in the muck.

VOTE NO TO SCHOOL TAX LEVY:
PHOTOGRAPHED AT THE 2014 INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATIONS,
07-04-14, Kamm’s Corners, West Park, Cleveland, Ohio.

 

 

VOTE NO TO SCHOOL TAX LEVY:
PHOTOGRAPHED AT THE 2014 INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATIONS, 07-04-14, Kamm’s Corners, West Park, Cleveland, Ohio.

 


VOTE NO TO SCHOOL TAX LEVY:
PHOTOGRAPHED AT THE 2014 INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATIONS, 07-04-14, Kamm’s Corners, West Park, Cleveland, Ohio.

 

VOTE NO TO SCHOOL TAX LEVY:
PHOTOGRAPHED AT THE 2014 INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATIONS, 07-04-14, Kamm’s Corners, West Park, Cleveland, Ohio.

VOTE NO TO SCHOOL TAX LEVY:
PHOTOGRAPH OF YOUNG GRADUATES SUPPORTING OUR CAMPAIGN, 06-27-14, West 133rd Street, Jefferson Park, Cleveland, Ohio.

 

 

VOTE NO TO SCHOOL TAX LEVY:
PHOTOGRAPH OF 7-YEAR OLD GALENA, OUR PET DOG,  SUPPORTING OUR CAMPAIGN, 06-27-14, West 133rd Street, Jefferson Park, Cleveland, Ohio.

 

 

VOTE NO TO SCHOOL TAX LEVY:
PHOTOGRAPHED AT THE CMSD BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING, 06-24-14, Clark School, 5500 Clark Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio.

 

VOTE NO TO SCHOOL TAX LEVY:
PHOTOGRAPHED AT THE CMSD BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING, 06-23-14, 1110 Superior Avenue, Downtown Cleveland, Ohio.

 


 

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Please visit the following two sites for additional information:

CMSD:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CEgQ...

THE PLAIN DEALER:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&u...

 

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