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The Park Solicits Accomplices
By Greg L | 7 May 2007 | Manassas Park | 1 Comment
Unlike many localities, members of the Manassas Park School Board are appointed rather than elected. The MJM reports that board members Michael Wine and Michael Johnson’s terms expire in June, and they along with residents Brenda Foster and Stacy Sieberling have submitted paperwork to be considered for these two seats. On Tuesday at 7PM, Manassas Park residents will have an opportunity to attend a public hearing and provide their input to the City Council. Usually events like this draw only a handful of citizens which participate. Given what we’ve seen lately, it would be far better if a mob shows up.
Manassas Park has decided for some insane reason to spend $33 million (and possibly more) on an elementary school, with the costs per square foot of about $250 whereas everywhere else these costs run less than $150 per square foot. On a per-pupil-served basis, these figures are even more out of whack. If you ask the City Council, which appoints all the members of the school board, about why this is going to cost so much, they do the traditional finger pointing at the school board and refuse to justify this extravagant expenditure. The School Board itself doesn’t have authority to approve capital improvement projects, doesn’t have the authority to issue bonds to finance these projects and doesn’t set the spending level for the school system, and points the finger right back at the council.
This is a great opportunity for residents to raise a much-needed ruckus about who is responsible for this fiscal atrocity, and demand that if this decision cannot be revisited that the contracting process be sufficiently transparent so as to ensure that the taxpayer dollars being spent here will be properly managed and accounted for. They should ask why members of the city council seem to have approved this project based solely on a single powerpoint presentation and a 12 page report by Davenport & Company, who would underwrite the the bond issue to finance this project. Knowing where the candidates for these two positions stand on who should be accountable for capital spending projects, and how transparent the process of undertaking capital improvement projects will be might be useful for Manassas Park taxpayers to know.
Were I a Manassas Park resident, and thankfully I am not, I’d be asking whether it’s members of the city council or the school board who are expecting to get kickbacks on this project. With more millions of dollars getting thrown at a capital improvement project than anyone reasonably thinks is necessary, a financing plan that includes risky arbitrage schemes, and a less than solid financial position for the city, the only way I can imagine this project making any sense at all, given the scant information that’s been provided to not only the citizens but members of the governing body, is that some select group of people are going to end up with millions of dollars in their pockets. This doesn’t at all appear to be a fiscally conservative plan in any respect. It doesn’t appear to be project where the details of what is being done have been divulged even to members of the city council. If this ends up being a sole-source, noncompetitive bid for the design, engineering and construction work, this project will have every hallmark of a multi-million dollar graft scheme.
So perhaps most importantly, now that someone might be paying attention to all of this rather unusual activity, which among the school board candidates would be willing to turn over evidence in exchange for immunity from prosecution after this project is completed, or criminal indictments are handed down, whichever comes first. Those are the folks who should be appointed, although I suspect that they will not.
The opinions expressed here are solely the views of the author, and not representative of the position of any organization, political party, doughnut shop, knitting guild, or waste recycling facility, but may be correctly attributed to the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy. If anything in the above article has offended you, please click here to receive an immediate apology.
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Last night, about 6 people spoke about the school board appointments. Of those, 3 were already on the school board and were endorsements for their co-conspirators.
The remaining three were endorsements by those not on the school board.