September 30, 2010

Alameda School Funding Issue Debrief

Well tonight I attended my first town hall meeting about the proposed school closures in Alameda due to school budget issues. Here are my initial two take-aways:

1) Holy crap
2) Alamedans are a brave, eloquent and inclusive bunch.

I went to the meeting thinking "Wait, wait, wait, let me get this straight. You want to close Bay Farm? Wha? I bought a house across the street from it at the height of the market 3 years so my wee-ones could that school that scored 10 on greatschools.org! Bring on mama bear."

Some pissed off Washington parents spoke (and I was very impressed with their extremely valid points), then a presentation was given with several options of the different (but same) crazy scenarios with impending MEGA-elementary schools and potential 7th grade High School freshmen who aren't even wearing training bras (OMG, I just did the math, my daughter would be 11!!! double holy crap).

Then the floor was given to the community to sound off. First, I was half expecting people with picket signs and marauding manic moms to just have a go at the board. Was that disappointment I felt when lo and behold, people ever so patiently waited politely in line to state their opinions? Wow, this ain't no Jersey Shores.

Almost every person had a question or comment that made sense, effectively made their point, and was considerate of other people's opinions. Pat yourself on the back Alamedans, nice job.

The part I was less impressed with was when the floor was given back to the Board. Many Board members (nice to meet you Board, this apathetic mom hadn't even known who you were until tonight, sorry about that) also had eloquent responses.

But I wasn't really wanting to hear what they thought at this point because I know they've been thinking about it for way longer than me (thank you by the way).

However, I would have rather seen this meeting being actually facilitated by someone (maybe from Switzerland), who wrote down specific questions the community had asked then gave the board the ability to respond directly to those questions. We would understand if they didn't have all the facts at that time but some questions were probably already easy to answer. Some questions were answered but it was somewhat confusing.

The way it was done, I'm not sure what happens to those comments and questions that the community voiced. Will there be a website that lists them with the answers below? That would be nice. I would have also preferred that they put the options back up on the screen because it seemed the Board was saying they prefer option 1 & 4. Um, I couldn't remember either option, can you repeat?

I also don't get the time line. If today was a public hearing and most community comments/questions asked that the Board go back and present a plan that had less "close this, save that" and more enlightened alternatives that takes the essence of Alameda into consideration first, I don't get when they would have time to do that. So why have a public meeting? They have to present their plan by law by December 14th. I'm thinking they are not going to go back and take a retreat in some secluded island to come up with a totally innovative and completely out of the box alternatives to what they've already spent most of their time on.

So I heard basically (sorry, I was busy searching Trulia on my iPhone by that point) "something, something, present our school closure options by December 14th, something, something, Parcel Tax is the only way to cover us for SOME of the money, something, something, Parcel Tax option needs to be presented in November so it can be in the March ballot." Oh, and I also heard most board members stating they also agreed mega-elementary is not the way to go, whew...for now....oh.

So I came back home, looked up Option 1 and that looks like to me that proposed scenario saves Bay Farm for next year but closes Lincoln & Wood and brings class sizes up to 32. And again, that's for now. What was that name of that Realtor again? Kidding...kind of...

So for concerned Alamedans that don't have insomnia (again) or time to digest this, here is my suggested action plan. Rest up because it will be a busy Fall...

1) Attend Monday's (Oct 4th) Alameda Mayoral Candidate Debate (I don't know how all of this works but something tells me we need a Mayor that's going to start kicking some ass around here).

2) Research why Measure E didn't pass, from what I've seen, the opposition had tons of valid points. Turns out they are eloquent like-minded Alamedans too.

3) Decide your educated stance on this whole thing and then tell a neighbor. I don't like Measures either or the words "only way" but it sounds like unless Bill Gates decides to take Alameda under his wing, we need a Parcel Tax to avoid immediate doomsday scenarios and frankly, we don't have enough good Realtors for that option.

4) Attend the next Parcel Tax public hearing (October 14th) - there are only two public meetings on this, then you can't whine that it's a terrible tax plan.

5) Pay attention and vote in November 2nd election and please don't write in Mickey Mouse, doesn't help any of us.

6) Attend November 23rd Parcel Tax Public Hearing meeting. Wait a minute, that's the day before Thanksgiving (and my lovely daughter's birthday). Seriously? Come on people. This is the last one before it goes to vote. Happy Birthday honey, we're off for a fun evening in your first civic lesson. Mama doesn't want you dating burly seniors at age 12.

7) Join AlamedaSOS.org so you can help spread the word. They are not coming up with the Parcel Tax plan. They are just smart enough to think ahead and organize so they can help communicate the Measure so doomsday doesn't happen immediately.

If you are opposed to Parcel Tax or thought it was poorly written, now is your chance to get a smart option in place. Don't just oppose it later because you're freaking Goldilocks and need the perfect option either. I don't want a stupid Measure that I pay into either but it's probably still cheaper than private school and if it comes to this, I'll just start shopping at the next town I move to which won't be yours. I'm starting to swear, that's a cue I need to go to bed.

Good night whoever cares out there.

No comments: