You can always count on the left to hide their true agenda because if you are a rational freedom loving American and knew the truth, you would never vote for it. Such is the case with Prop 210 or whatever number it finally ends up with. Neither free, nor fair. Take a look at the summary and you will see that it increases you taxes to fund leftwing wacko candidates that couldn't raise their own money and locks in election fraud in perpetuity.
Prop 210‘s terrible ideas include:
Click on the stop sign to visit the website and see then entire charade for yourself. VOTE NO IF IT MAKES IT ON THE BALLOT EVER!!!
As the usual opponents of ROT's positions rear their heads again with the claim that Reclaim Our Town is against "THE CHILDREN" when opposing the Bond and Override, a careful examination of the largest donors of the "YES" campaign reveals that "YES" is not about the children of Fountain Hills either. It appears to be a blatant and obvious attempt to secure the contracts for the work on the schools within the FHUSD paid for by the taxpayers through property tax increases. Let's examine just a few of those working "FOR THE CHILDREN" making some serious financial contributions to this campaign. You will notice that there are no businesses from Fountain Hills on this list.
When examining the shopping list from the school district, amazingly we will find among other things, "basic needs like roofing, flooring, HVAC systems, complete improvements to school sites, upgrade transportation facility with renovations and additions." And then we have a donation of $100 from Mayor Dickey and her husband. Of the 3rd quarter total donations of $15,600, $15,000 came from contractors in line for work on the schools as part of the bond paid for by FH taxpayers. 96% of the 3rd quarter funds supporting the pro bond PAC came from contractors in line for the work. And of course, all of this is "FOR THE CHILDREN". Once again, ROT calls for a business plan for success before a shopping list for contractors.
Fountain Hills lost a good conservative school board member and candidate with the passing of Judy Rutkowski. That leaves only Madicyn Reed and Libby Settle as the only remaining true conservatives in this race. These ladies are the only candidates to come out against the bond and override and are currently being crucified for that, even though their reasoning is sound. Both have said that at the current time there is no concise plan to turn around the declining enrollment or an effort to find areas of duplicate spending and waste in an effort to live within the budget before asking taxpayers for more money. Jenny Amstutz-Guerrette supports both bonds/overrides and Tara Lamar has come out in support of at least one of the bonds. Lillian Acker is the hand-picked candidate of the Democratic Club and Liberal Ladies automatically telling you that there will be more wasteful spending, CRT, SEL (social and emotional learning), equity and diversity woven into the curriculum. She is a supporter of teachers unions and is against school choice promoting the status quo of a broken public education system currently providing children with a continual decline in the quality of education at never ending higher costs per student. VOTE FOR SETTLE AND REID AND ABSOLUTELY DO NOT VOTE FOR ACKER!
ROT has taken a position against both the bond and the override at this time and for very specific reasons. None of our reasons have anything to do with hurting children or eliminating schools from Fountain Hills. This will explain our position in the simplest terms. So, let's begin.
Economics and Finance 101:
REQUIREMENTS WHEN BORROWING FROM A BANK FOR YOU, THE INDIVIDUAL
In short, FHUSD has brought no definitive plan for growing the enrollment and without that, no guarantees for survival of the collateral, making both the bond and the override bad investments for the taxpayers, which are the bank.
Average statewide turnout for the Aug 2022 Primary election, 35%. Fountain Hills turnout, almost 61%. Congratulations Fountain Hills voters.
Educate Fountain Hills voters about issues that may affect them directly or indirectly regarding the general lifestyle and character of the town to which they moved.
Mission accomplished. 3 conservatives added to Councilman Friedel changing the direction of the current left leaning majority.
Stay engaged and monitor the town staff and government ensuring that the concerns of the community are the priority of the mayor and council.
Eliminate needless studies and projects. Better stewards of development and small business advancement. Plan for economic future.
Campaigned and ran as a Republican and voted exclusively with the left-wing Democrats, Dickey, McMahon, Magazine and Grzybowski. Advocated for expanded residential detox conflating his work with his youth prevention coalition (key word prevention) with treatment facilities. Supported wasteful spending and anti-business measures.
A three-time convicted ethics violator who will be best remembered for being brave enough to lecture the residents from the dais during the Council meeting of April 5, 2022, on the subject of residential detox. Paraphrasing, I'm not going to listen to you. Then confirming unaware of the open mic as the council recessed, "I not going to sit here and listen to this."
Smart, concise, thoughtful conservative that would have made a great mayor but was ultimately frustrated working with left wing liberals over the last 4 years. Often standing with his counterpart left behind, Friedel, on important issues that the majority of FH residents would agree with, these two were crowded out by the left-wing majority on almost every issue.
Just a few examples of the 65 violations:
1. 80% of audited entries have no support by authorized signature and date.
2. Procurement errors. No written quotes obtained from vendors for purchases from $10K-$100K. $48.5K in conflict of interest payments to employ as vendor.
3. Payroll errors. Missing gov't forms, background checks, finge
Just a few examples of the 65 violations:
1. 80% of audited entries have no support by authorized signature and date.
2. Procurement errors. No written quotes obtained from vendors for purchases from $10K-$100K. $48.5K in conflict of interest payments to employ as vendor.
3. Payroll errors. Missing gov't forms, background checks, fingerprint.
Click on this link for the actual report from the AZ Auditor General.
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.azauditor.gov/sites/default/files/Fountain_Hills_USD_FY22_LOD.pdf
Taxpayers gave the school $8MM in 2013 and Math testing scores went from nearly 80% proficiency to currently below 30%.
Taxpayers gave the school $8MM in 2013 and Reading test scores went from above 80% proficiency to just above 40%.
The aging demographics of the Town of Fountain Hills along with the poor academic performance of the school projects declining enrollment well into the future. By the school's own projection, enrollment is predicted to be around 700 students by 2030.
Current enrollment of 1119 students out of a possible 2994 (2022 census date 2994 18 year
The aging demographics of the Town of Fountain Hills along with the poor academic performance of the school projects declining enrollment well into the future. By the school's own projection, enrollment is predicted to be around 700 students by 2030.
Current enrollment of 1119 students out of a possible 2994 (2022 census date 2994 18 years and younger) living in FH. Dr. Cain Jagodzinski will tell you 1171 but that is the virtual students and preschoolers that actually do not count as state enrollment. That equates to less than 40% of the possible school age children actually attending FHUSD. Where are they going and why?
A $25MM bond plus interest adds millions to the already current total of $14+MM/year the school receives from the state.
In a recent school board meeting, the board put up this slide which predicts by their own admission, that the enrollment will continue to decline and be around 700 students by the year 2030. If this is true then the $25,000,000 bond plus interest is approximately $50,000/student in addition to the $15,000/student/year projected to be distributed by the state starting in 2024.
Question: Where will the enrollment be when the bond expires in 15 years? 2039
Public schools are funded with our tax dollars, and they’re supposed to use their taxpayer-funded resources to educate children—not meddle in politics. But Fountain Hills High School in the Phoenix area used public employees, public property, and even its own students to make a political campaign ad meant to influence an election, in blatant violation of Arizona law.
On September 17, Fountain Hills High School football coach Gary Zauner posted a campaign video urging Fountain Hills residents to vote “yes” on a $25 million bond measure in a special election this November. (These bond measures would let local school districts charge their residents extra property taxes so the districts can spend more money than they’re normally allowed to spend under state law.) The entire video displays the slogans “Vote Yes FHUSD Bond” and “VOTE YES! ‘IT’S ALL ABOUT THE KIDS,’” alongside footage of the football field and other locations on school property. In fact, much of the video appears to have been filmed on school time: during the school day, sports practices, and games.
Even worse, the video features dozens of junior-high and high-school students, dressed in their sports uniforms and appearing with their teams, stumping for an election most aren’t even old enough to vote in.
All of this is an abuse of the public trust. What’s more, it violates Arizona law, which prohibits any “person acting on behalf of a school district” from “spend[ing] or us[ing] school district… resources… for the purpose of influencing the outcomes of elections.”
While the video is thinly disguised as an “update” about fundraising for the school’s new football field, its true purpose is clear: to influence an election using school resources, Coach Zauner’s official position, and advocacy by students. In fact, just in case the campaign slogans and the rest of the footage left any doubt about the video’s message, it concludes with Coach Zauner urging viewers, “Anytime there’s a bond, vote ‘yes.’”
Public schools have a duty to steward taxpayer resources for their intended purpose of educating students, not meddling in local politics. And when families send their children to a public school, they trust that the school will educate those children, not exploit them as political activists for a cause they (or their parents) may not agree with.
The Goldwater Institute will always fight, in Arizona and around the nation, to hold government institutions accountable, protect taxpayers from misuse of public resources, and keep politics out of public schools.
John Thorpe is a Staff Attorney at the Goldwater Institute.
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