Tea Party has been vocal on issues
In recent weeks The County Press has printed two editorials from LeRoy Mabery in which he has made assertions about the Lapeer County Tea Party Patriots. It is unfortunate that in his writings Mr. Mabery did not state accurate facts regarding this organization. He has asserted that the Tea Party has been silent on issues regarding the proposed Michigan budget and tax increases. This however, could not be further from the truth.
In order to verify this, one would have to go no further than Rep. Daley, Sen. Pavlov and the governor himself. All three received position letters from The Lapeer County Tea Party Patriots within a short time of the proposed budget being released. All three were informed that we were not in agreement with the proposed budget and were not in favor of any tax increases. We clearly stated our opposition to the tax increases being proposed on pensions, as well as other areas of contention.
Furthermore, Rep. Daley and Sen. Pavlov both appeared as guests at two of our monthly meetings in order to give us more information on the budget and to state their perspectives regarding it. Both gentlemen were open to targeted questions at those meetings and both received comments from those in attendance that members of the Tea Party were not in agreement with what we heard coming out of Lansing. Rep. Daley and Sen. Pavlov were both told before the elections that we would be holding their feet to the fire and that is exactly what we are doing.
The Lapeer County Tea Party Patriots also produced written materials at its meetings regarding the proposed budget and sent out emails to its 1,000-plus email contact list pointing out flaws with the budget proposal. The fact that no rallies have been held and no letters to the editor have appeared in the papers by no means indicates that the organization has been silent on these issues. Not all actions taken by the Tea Party get publicized. Despite repeated invitations, the local newspapers do not choose to attend and cover the monthly meetings held by the group, so the activities of the organization do not always get reported.
Monthly meetings are held the first Tuesday of every month at Maple Grove Church in Lapeer Township with a broad range of topics covered and excellent speakers providing insight and education to the large group in attendance (ranging from 100-200). “Courthouse speeches” as Mr. Mabery calls them, are not always possible. Reservation of a location, weather, ability of people to attend, and other factors all have to be considered when planning such events. The occurrence or lack of them on specific issues is not a barometer of the group's positions. The Tea Party is a truly grassroots organization with volunteers using their own time and resources to do everything from write materials to printing them to reserving the courthouse lawn for a rally. We operate on the generosity of citizens that care about the country and believe in what we are trying to do. Those funds have to be used scrupulously (unlike how government often operates with our tax dollars). We do not have the luxury of taking out ads in newspapers or buying radio spots to publicize all of our actions and positions. That is why it is important for people to attend the group's meetings, sign up for email contacts, and get involved.
On the local level, the Tea Party has been working to organize specified groups of individuals to attend the local school board meetings, county commission meetings, and other local government meetings and report back to the membership on what is happening at these various government levels. It is amazing to attend these various meetings and see the lack of community involvement and attendance. No wonder our government has gotten so out of control. The fox easily steals the eggs when no one is watching the hen house.
It is easy to make assertions, but perhaps before doing so, Mr. Mabery should take the time to validate his premises in the future. The Lapeer County Tea Party Patriots has been far from silent on actions being taken in Lansing and locally. We are not able to accomplish all that we would like to do and there is much work to be done. However, I think it would be safe to say that The Tea Party, both locally and nationally, has been anything but silent. Pick up any large newspaper or watch the news for any length of time and “tea party” will come up relatively quickly. If anyone wonders what the Tea Party is about or what actions we are or are not taking, the best way to evaluate the group would be to attend a meeting.
We are all about transparency and yes, in case anyone wonders, we are still all about the original founding statement: Taxed Enough Already.
Danette Starr Lowery
Lapeer County
Tea Party Patriots
North Branch dips into fund reserves; opts against privatization of support
District bus drivers, custodians offer $400,000 in savings
North Branch teachers demonstrated outside the high school Monday evening, site of a school board meeting at which time officials adopted a budget for the 2011-2012 year. Photo by JACOB HUNSANGER NORTH BRANCH — The North Branch Area Schools Board of Education approved the district’s 2011-2012 school year budget Monday night. The good news for many school supporters came when the board voted unanimously to keep both the transportation staff and custodial staff on district payroll.
The bad news for the school, the majority of the $1.5-million shortfall will be coming out of the school district’s fund equity.
The board met on Monday evening in the high school auditorium to accommodate the large audience anticipated. The budget needed to be balanced and approved by the end of the month to comply with state regulations, and North Branch school officials waited until the last minute to vote on tough decisions.
North Branch school administrators were greeted Monday by a demonstration of disgruntled teachers. Photo by JACOB HUNSANGER The school district’s budget shortfall led the board to consider outsourcing the transportation and custodial services to private companies. Concessions were asked of every group, administration, teachers and support staff, and the necessity of using the fund equity was weighed over several public board meetings and closed-session negotiations.
The first action item of the night was to ratify the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) contract. Through that new contract, the transportation and custodial staff members were able to find around $400,000 in concessions and savings. The board of education voted unanimously to approve the contract, grateful that the employees found savings on their own.
“All employees of this district have done immensely wonderful things to help us through this budget crisis,” said superintendent Tom English.
The board moved onto the administration and non-represented employees’ contracts, where a freeze on wages was accepted and the decision was made to contribute 10 percent, or $156 monthly, toward health insurance premiums. The contract ratification received “aye” votes from board members Rosann Clark, Jack Lewis, Jerry Schlaud, Cathy Severance and Cory Mabery. Board members Kevin McRory and Ginger Russell voted “nay.” Russell said, “I just don’t think it’s enough.”
The school board then voted to reject the privatization of both the transportation staff and the custodial staff, despite the fact that additional savings could be found through privatization. However, the school district was required to at least seek bids on privatizing staff in order to qualify for Gov. Snyder’s best practice funds.
If the district meets all the requirements for the best practice funds, ensuring the most cost efficient means of operation, North Branch will receive $238,000 from the state. The board of education voted at a meeting last week, however, not to include that money in the budget discussions until they are absolutely certain they will receive it.
Like all Michigan school districts, North Branch will be receiving less funding per student next year. That combined with falling revenue, due to fewer North Branch residents and lower property tax values, were the major contributors to the school district’s budget shortfall. Yet the decline in revenue was not as drastic as it has been in past few years. “The trend is less bad,” said Schlaud. “It’s not good. It’s just less bad.”
The North Branch board of education’s policy regarding the fund equity balance is to remain above 9 percent of the district’s operating costs at all times. The policy allows the board to dip into the fund equity balance beyond 9 percent, only with the understanding that the money must be replaced by a minimum of 1 percent a year.
North Branch has been forced to cover a portion of its budget shortfall for several years now. Last year the board voted to use over $300,000. The year before the board used over $400,000. This year’s budget crisis left the board with no choice but to use the majority of the money in the fund equity balance.
In order to cover the shortfall, the board of education will be using $1,118,714 from the fund equity balance, leaving only $961,738, or 4.9 percent.
Cheryl Bruff, North Branch School Director of Finance, spoke to the board at the end of the meeting, providing numbers and statistics on the fund equity balance, revenue and general operating costs. Bruff explained that 91 percent of the school funds come from the state, “so when the state struggles, so do we.”
“It’s a struggle,” said Jack Lewis after the meeting adjourned. “We’re a year away from deficit spending.”
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Imlay City Schools privatize custodians, slash budget
IMLAY CITY — Imlay City Community Schools’ six remaining custodians offered to make $77,000 in benefits concessions, but it wasn’t enough to save their jobs.
School board members on Monday approved a $18.95-million school budget, that included a $519,000 dip into the district’s fund balance and $924,000 in cuts.
After the district’s bus drivers agreed to a 18 percent cut in their compensation package two weeks ago, the board voted unanimously to take privatization of the district’s transportation service off the table, at least for this year.
However, the board began slowly privatizing the district’s custodial service several years ago and has whittled the number of district-employed custodians from 13 down to six through natural attri- tion. Currently Jenisonbased Hi-Tec Building Services does most of the district’s cleaning work.
While the custodians offered to give up $77,000 in compensation, Superintendent Gary Richards told board members that privatizing custodial services would save the district $211,000.
He called it “an agonizing decision.” The board spent nearly an hour in executive session discussing its options before taking a vote in the middle school library.
Amy Swantek, the district’s business manager, told board members that while the six districtemployed custodians earn between $23,000 and $35,000 annually, with health insurance, retirement and other compensation the cost per custodian ranges from $46,000 to $66,000 per person.
She said privatizing custodial services would cut the district’s costs by 42 percent.
Tom Greyerbiehl, the union representative for American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 1421-02, urged board members to dip deeper into the district’s fund balance to save the custodians’ jobs.
He noted that even with taking $519,000 from the district’s fund balance for the 2011-12 school year, there was still $2.1 million, or 11.4 percent, left.
Swantek said due to state-mandated changes in retirement funding, which will push the district’s contribution to just over 27 percent of all wages and compensation two years from now, the district could find itself all but broke and facing the possibility of a stateimposed emergency financial manager.
“I think it’s fair to say,” said board president Sharon Muir, “that the length of time we were in closed session is indicative of how difficult it is to consider putting these six people out of work. Nobody on the board would choose to do this, but our options for balancing our budget are becoming fewer and fewer.”
The custodians weren’t the only one to lose their jobs. The board approved eliminating a teaching position each at Borland Elementary, the Middle School and the High School that had been funded by EduJobs money, which will disappear the end of the month.
The board also cut a non-instructional aide, a secretary at the Central Office and a bus driver. Class size in Weston Elementary’s second grade and Borland Elementary’s third grade will rise to 27 students per class, with the elimination of a teaching position at each school. The board also voted to eliminate a temporary specials teaching position at Weston.
Other cuts include cutting the athletic department’s uniform budget by $14,000; trim capital outlay by $52,000; delay the purchase of two new buses for one year; and eliminate the year end academic awards banquet and staff recognition breakfast for a savings of $10,000.
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