[Vision2020] Moscow Facilities Bond Levy Fails

[joanopyr at earthlink.net]

Though the vote count has not yet been officially announced, I have it on good authority that Moscow School District voters have failed to pass a $29 million facilities bond levy that would have built a new high school and paid for much-needed renovations at West Park and Russell Elementary schools.  This is, in my opinion, both a short-sighted and wrong-headed decision, but alas, it isn’t surprising.  An unholy alliance of anti-public education zealots, the self-interested, and the delusional (i.e., those who believe that a West Park and Russell-only bond can be cobbled together and passed in the fall) came together under the stress of budget cuts at the University of Idaho, the rising cost of gas and other commodities, and economic fears about the future to doom this bond.

The consequence will be the loss of Russell Elementary.  This will happen as surely as night follows day, and it’s a great shame.  I’m sorry for it.  I recently learned that my own elementary, Quirk Road School in Belleville, Michigan, was torn down eight years ago.  I attended Quirk from 1970 to 1976, and the school was slated for demolition even then.  I’m surprised it held out (and held up) until 1997; it was roughly the same vintage as Moscow High School.

I understand that there are many people in this town who felt that they couldn’t afford to pay any more in taxes.  I understand that, and I respect it.  But today’s decision will have long-term negative economic consequences for Moscow.  A town with inadequate educational facilities will not be able to attract the new business it needs in order to make up for the cuts at the University of Idaho.  We’ll suffer for this decision in the years to come.  I don’t say this happily or gloatingly; I say it because I believe it to be so.

If there is one consolation, it’s this: it is far better to lose with dignity and honor intact than to have been associated in any way with Jack Wenders, Dale Courtney, and the belligerents who have flooded Vision2020 these last few weeks with innuendo, accusation, and personal assault on an unpaid, under-appreciated, but dedicated public servant and on the unquestionable generosity of the Trail family.  Next to the Wenders’ salary ad in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News, the worst piece of deliberate disinformation that I’ve seen was a flyer entitled “What Your School Administration Doesn’t Want You To Know,” which was passed out yesterday to students in front of Moscow High School.  Had I put my name on something so despicable, something designed to frighten and inflame high school students by threatening them with a Columbine-style campus, complete with armed guards and razor wire, I would be unable to hold up my head in public without the aid of a crane and scaffolding.

I wish it could have been otherwise.  I wish the supporters of public education in Moscow could have come together and recognized that in the two-year process that preceded this vote, all options were considered, including a renovation/rebuilding of the high school in its current location downtown.  That option was determined to be unfeasible.  It’s still unfeasible.  Nothing about today’s vote has changed that.  When we wake up tomorrow morning and read the official tally (roughly 56% against, 44% in favor), know that we have done a grave disservice to students, faculty, and staff throughout the Moscow School District, and that any remedy – a new watered-down bond, a new watered-down proposal premised on renovation alone – will not pass.

Gritman Hospital’s Emergency Room should prepare itself for an influx of patients.  Jack Wenders and Dale Courtney will have broken their arms patting themselves on the back, and everyone else will soon find that they have a bullet-hole in their foot.

Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment
www.auntie-establishment.com
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