In a letter to the editor, North Hudson Sewerage Authority Commissioner Kurt Gardiner, speaking as a private citizen, gives his take as to why the “Kids First” Hoboken Board of Education slate should be elected after taking a stand against the $241 million referendum.
Dear Editor,
Every year three members of Board of Education are up for election. This year two of the incumbents decided not to run for undisclosed reasons leaving just one incumbent.
We also had a special election this January 25th, 2022 on a referendum to support a $241 million bond that when you calculate interest payments it worked out to $331 million over 30 years.
That would have made it one of the top five most expensive high school projects in history.
I did not support this project by Voting No for the following reasons:
1) The process itself was not transparent.
2) It was too costly and that would have hurt taxpayers and renters alike.
3) 2/3 of the new HS was for amenities and not the classroom.
4) It relied of bogus projections of HS growth that quite frankly were laughable.
5) The State Board of Education would not even fund it one dollar. What does it say about their opinion about the project when they wont contribute a dime to it?
6) A Middle School was not even considered and I have to ask why not? That is where the reliable growth is anyway.
7) The current HS educates just 400 kids; it has the capacity for 1200. It is completely adequate for the next 30 years based on any sane projection of HS growth.
8) A Hockey Rink is an exorbitant cost that you wont be able to contain. Not even top High Schools in Minnesota all have a rink.
9) The members of the board of Education at the time completely abrogated their responsibility as board members by not adhering to the correct process for drafting a proposal.
Now it is this last point, point number nine that any board member who voted yes on this proposal should no longer be on the board.
I voted for some of the people on the board but when they allowed the Superintendent to put this slap-dash and quite frankly sloppy proposal up they all gave up any control of the process and should be voted off the board for that reason alone.
They failed to meet the minimum standards of being a board member.
For this election we have two main slates, the “team that claims to listen” who would vote yes again next year in 2023; however this time it would be over $400 million dollars because interest rates went way up.
I put “team that claims listens” in quotes because if they truly listened the referendum would have never gone for a vote in the first place. If you are hell bent on spending over $400 million dollars on a HS that will sit empty this editorial is not for you.
I at least would like the members of that slate to articulate why the HS proposal was so great and explain that to an electorate that voted it down over 2 to 1. At least I am listening.
Now the genuine slate, Kids First, would have voted no if they were a board member and certainly voted no on the proposal as presented.
They are anything but the anti-slate though. They would vote yes on a proposal that first and foremost is based on fact and not ludicrous projections and have a process in place that ensures adequate public input.
I have met the candidates from the Kids First Slate namely Pavel Sokolov, Cindy Wiegand, and Donna Magen and believe in them.
They are the only candidates that have the open mind necessary to produce a proper plan to ensure the public schools are taken care of in the future.
To vote for the “team that listens” (they don’t listen but rather talk down to you) is a wasted vote a serious waste of taxpayer dollars.
How else can you explain the “stealth move” to put this on the ballot in January instead of November where it belonged? That move thankfully backfired in a major way.
The Kid’s First team needs you to show up at the polls on Tuesday November 8 and vote 6-7-8. Otherwise, there will be another HS referendum that will be shoved down the taxpayer’s throats in 2023 and it will likely be more money than the last one.
That is why Kids First has my wholehearted endorsement.
Sincerely,
Kurt Gardiner
NHSA Commissioner acting on behalf of myself