Come on up here and meet the REAL people! And whilst you're at it, you can pay my taxes, because this useless new school cost FAR TOO DAMNED MUCH and I have to pay for it.
Could never understand knocking down a perfectly good school building for something like this. Makes no sense.
In my neighborhood the city council put up a referendum for various improvements to the local high school. As the parents of two children attending we took this very seriously. We examined every issue (there were many, always different) and made our own conclusions. At one point I offered my services to deal with their HVAC complaints, free of charge (my offer wasn’t rebuked, it was simply ignored).
The facility was fine. Computer Labs, Gymnasium, Performing Arts Area, Cafeteria, Outdoor Commons, Faculty Lounge, everything you could observe, were perfectly serviceable. It was IMHO 10% less than state of the art. It just wasn’t NEW.
This went on for ten years; each time the voters said “no”. Every referendum was voted down by a fairly large margin. The majority of the voters in the area felt the same way I did; it was unnecessary overreach and an undue burden on the taxpayers destined to support it.
For two years there were no more referendums. As a naive voter I thought to myself, “They finally got the point”.
The next year the big construction equipment arrived on site and stayed for the next three. We now have a brand new state of the art high school. Among the niceties it has is state of the art signage on the corner equipped with hi-def color graphics which can be programmed from a cellphone.
The city council simply went ahead with their most grandiose plans privately, without voter knowledge or involvement. It’s been said you can’t fight city hall. Oh you can, however if you win it will be a Pyrrhic victory. The vast majority of the members were kicked to the curb. Yet the increased taxes remain . . .