Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

I see a number of issues beginning to come to a head, here in Pickerington, on November 5th. It also has been pointed out on this web site that prior and shortly after the 1997 bond issue drive to build the two middles schools, the PLSD school board commissioned two groups to study the tax base problems that Pickerington had in 1997. In public I was cautioned for not giving the community leaders an opportunity to follow through on the reports posted to your left and the promises made by many that run for office the following year.

The voters of Pickerington: It has been five long years. We have supported one school levy after another. We have known for five years what the problems were. It was officially reported to the school board in 1998. It is posted to you left on this web site. Before proceeding please open up those pages and read what was recommended in 1997/1998. What has the school board done in the last five years to act on these reports? What have they done just their last meeting? It seems they have a bucket with a hole in it and they keep trying to fill the bucket up with our tax dollars only to have the money pour out the bottom. Why did they commission this study in 1997? Why did they commission the boundaries committees this year only to ignore the people that wasted their time studying these boundary issues? It appears that the Pickerington Local School Board, only wants to present a front to the voters to show they are concerned, nothing more. As Clara used to say, ?“Where?’s the beef??” The Pickerington School Board?’s silence is a show of their support of the Pickerington City Council and all the new homes that they have approved in this last five years. In fact board members have gone out of their way to prop up these councilmen.

The school board president mistakenly says they school board has no control over the council?’s decisions. This was in response to Mr. Brink?’s call for them to speak out. I understand that there is yet another school board meeting on Tuesday August 27th. We will be there again voicing our opinions. Will they listen?

I am sure over the years these levy and bond campaigns have asked for support from other local political and social groups of Pickerington. I am sure without a doubt the political groups and social groups will continue to stick together. I am sure being a member of one of these groups it is going to get even harder to openly support a school board that supports the very political entity that is causing the problems for them to again return to the voters.

If the Pickerington School Board and its members are going to openly support the very people (city council) that have caused our overcrowding, then this school board is part of the problem. If the Pickerington School Board is going to sit on their collective hands while the Pickerington City Council approves 1200 more building lots then they are part of the problem. If their only solution and purpose for existing is to raise money to provide schools for the developer?’s homes then they are the problem. Pickerington School Board members it is time to fix the hole in the bucket.




By Dr. Pepper

9000 kids

The Pickerington School Board?’s silence is a conscience effort to keep the facts from the voters. They are deceiving us as I write this posting. In an earlier posting someone mentioned that Marty England had predicted the school enrollment would be at 10,040 in the year 2010. Well hot off the press there is an AP story quoting, Chuck Kemper, the Junior High Principal that our school system has 9,000 students in it RIGHT NOW and it is only 2002. The official count comes in October. The claim above in 2000 was to mislead the voters. In other words all of these levy and bond supporters helped support a lie. They wanted the voters to believe that the BRAND NEW NORTH HIGH SCHOOL would still have room in the year 2010. The fact is that it will be full before it opens.

The idiots at city hall are trying to tell us that these 1200 new lots that they are about to approve will have a ten year build out period. Home mortgages are below 7 % right now and July had a record in new homes sales. The economy will struggle for at least the next year and those rates will remain low. You all need to figure out for yourselves that Bushman and the School Board are working together and they are lying together.

The fact is that the city in no way can guarantee us any rate of growth because they just never thought it was a problem. The only control over our residential rate of growth solely rests with the housing market and how many these builders can physically sell and build. Maybe Joyce can get out into the parking lot and, do her rain dance, for about 6 months out of next year. If we are lucky one of the water trucks will bump her.

The school board is working for the City. We heard it last year and we are hearing now. Until the school board gets over their love affair with Joyce and the clowns that she surrounds herself with on the first and third Tuesdays of each month then we will continue to dig our collective hole deeper. Building more schools doesn?’t solve the problem. Putting pressure on the City Council starts the problem solving process. Until we control the growth rate and place limits on the council?’s good buddies then we will never solve these school issues.