School E-mail February 22, 1996

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Subj: e-mail to voters
Date: 96-02-22 08:49:37 EST
From: James.C.Klagge@bev.net (James C. Klagge)
To: admin@gisone.com

Michael,

Here's what I've sent out so far. I'll put you on the list, and I've appended the two mailings I've already done. It gets me lots of responses:

First mailing:

I am the school board representative from District F, recently elected in November. I began serving in January. I am trying something new--electronic mailings, to try to improve communication with people in Montgomery County. Although you do not live in my District, I probably know you from some context or another, and I am interested in your views, and I would like to share mine with you. This should also make it easy for you to communicate with me. If you don't wish to receive these mailings at all, please let me know and I'll delete you from the list. (And if you know others who would like to receive these, please send me their addresses, and I'll add them.)

As you may know, the school board has been working on a budget for 1996-97. In fact, in the 6 weeks I've been on the board we've already had 8 meetings! We presented the budget to the Board of Supervisors a week ago, and they will now deliberate about how much of the budget to fund. This is a crucial time in this process. You can be sure they are already hearing from voters who want NO new taxes! Unless they hear from voters who are willing to pay more taxes for education, we will have the usual result of a minuscule increase in funding for education! The responsibility lies with you now. If you have been reading the paper lately, you may have seen the ads I've run encouraging voters to contact their supervisors.

The supervisors are:

District A: Jim Moore, 552-1856, E-mail: moorej@bev.net (He is pro-education, but I've heard that he hasn't been hearing from anyone willing to pay new taxes, so please give him the moral support and the eyeful-by-e-mail that he needs to support this!)
District B: Nick Rush, 382-9318 (He has not traditionally been a strong supporter of education because he is opposed to the property tax since it is regressive--falls more harshly on the poor and those with fixed incomes. He has a good point, property taxes are not ideal, but they are all we have. And we can hope that the economic growth stimulated by education would eventually relieve the burden on individual taxpayers.)
District C: Joe Stewart, 268-2303 (He has said that if we could find a farmer who is making more money this year than last year, then, and only then, he will vote to increase taxes. Can anyone help us out with some examples here? I don't think he has ever voted in favor of increased taxes.)
District D: Henry Jablonski, 382-8001 (He is the Chair, and a very intelligent and thoughtful man. I think he may be the crucial vote. He has traditionally not supported tax increases.)
District E: Ira Long, 552-2528 (He is the vice-chair. He has traditionally not supported tax increases.)
District F: Mary Biggs, 951-2906 (She is new on the board, and is a strong pro-education person.)
District G: Joe Gorman, 552-2150 (He has been a supporter of education and modest tax increases. He needs all the moral support we can give him to stand up for tax increases for quality education.)

If you don't know what district you live in, call the voter registrar at 382-5741.

I think a crucial vote will be Henry Jablonski, Chair of the Supervisors (382-8001). No matter what district you live in, I recommend also contacting him directly. If you wish to write a letter to the whole Board of Supervisors, it can be sent to Box 806, Christiansburg, VA 24073. Also, please contact any of them that you happen to know personally.

I am assuming you are somewhat acquainted with the budget we are proposing. If you want a copy, call the school board office at 382-5100. If you have questions, please contact me, or your own school board representative (I've listed their names and e-mail addresses at the end of this letter). It asks for an increase in funding of nearly $6 million (nearly 13%). (Some have estimated that this would add about 18-20cents/$100 of assessed value to your taxes.) That is a lot of money, but I think it is well-justified by the Focus: 2006 vision. It includes a 7% average salary increase for employees, a number of new teaching positions to reduce class-size, and to keep up with growing enrollment. (It also includes a doubling of salary for school board members from $150/month to $300/month. I thought this would be a good way to get that difficult issue out for public discussion. Please let us know your feed-back on that--we have mixed feelings among ourselves.)

The supervisors will be deliberating this month about what size maximum tax increase to propose for public discussion. There will be a public hearing on that possible tax increase and on the county budget as a whole on March 21 at 7pm at Auburn High School. Then after that the supervisors will decide how much, IF ANY, of that possible tax increase to enact. Last year they enacted none of it. So your input is crucial at 2 points. It is especially crucial now, as they deliberate about a maximum possible tax rate. But it is also important to try to get them to enact as much of the possible increase as we can. PLEASE MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD IN THIS PROCESS.

We are asking for a lot, but I hope we can see this as a wise investment in the future. Quality education assists economic growth and reduces crime. But it also shows where our values are when it comes to our children. I am hoping that the interest generated in education by the fall school board elections can be translated into an active participation in the political process that leads to funding education. The supervisors need to know that the taxpayers of the county are willing to support the vision of the Focus: 2006 report with their wallets. Otherwise it will die of neglect--good ideas too few wanted to pay for!

Thanks for your help,

Jim Klagge

Other school board representatives are:

District A: Annette Perkins,aperkins@pen.k12.va.us
District B: Bernie Jortner, bjortner@vt.edu
District C: Mary Beth Dunkenberger, mdunkenb@pen.k12.va.us
District D: Barry Worth, bworth@pen.k12.va.us
District E: Michael Smith, masmith1@pen.k12.va.us
District G: Wat Hopkins, whopkins@vt.edu
Blacksburg: Roy Vickers, roy@vtvm1.cc.vt.edu
Christiansburg: David Moore, drmoore@pen.k12.va.us

(N.B. People who live within Blacksburg or Christiansburg also live within one of the alphabetical voting districts. This is a form of double-representation that will be eliminated in 2 years.)

Second mailing:

Dear Voters,

At the school board meeting last night we found out more details about the timeline the supervisors will be using for their budget. The most important item is that Monday (2/26, at 7pm, on the 3rd floor of the County Courthouse, in downtown Christiansburg) they will have their last meeting that includes PUBLIC ADDRESS TIME before they set the maximum possible tax increase. This is an important opportunity to be heard. Your comments can be no longer than 3 minutes, and if you have them written out, it is good to leave a copy for the board. We really hope for a good turn-out! (Unfortunately, Kipps has a PTA meeting that I will be addressing at the same time.)

Timeline:

Monday, 2/26, 7pm: Public hearing before setting maximum tax rate
Wednesday, 2/28, 7pm: Supervisors hold a work session to discuss the various budget requests, including ours. The school board will be present to answer their questions. The public is welcome.
Thursday, 3/7, 7pm: The supervisors will decide and then announce what is the maximum tax rate they will consider adopting.
Thursday, 3/21, 7pm at Auburn High School: Supervisors will hold a public hearing about the proposed county budget as a whole, including the school budget, and on whether they should adopt any or all of the announced tax rate.
Late March or early April: Supervisors will decide on a final county budget, and set a tax rate to support it.

I urge you to make your views known in this process. I hope this timeline will help you make best use of your energy. THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

I have gotten some feed-back about the salary increase for school board members, but I would like to hear more. Someone thought the following information might be relevant: The school board salary has been the same for many years--$150/month. The supervisors, who have a somewhat comparable job, make about $575/month.

-Jim.

email: admin@gisone.com