Last updated on 2011.03.18
...even though the Madville Times has already been doing this for months...
Chuck Clement's revised report on the Madison Central School District's proposed "public work session" on the high school new gym and renovation project now includes some more narrow-minded pro-new-gym propaganda, then closes with this paragraph:
The school board approved making a request to the Lake Area Improvement Corporation for assistance in conducting surveys to gather public opinion about the proposed renovation project. The board members also approved making a request to LAIC to help with an economic impact statement, looking at the economic impact of an improved high school facility and how it could help local businesses and the overall local economy.
Is gauging public opinion really that hard? Didn't we already conduct a pretty thorough survey of public opinion on the proposed new gym and renovation project on February 1? With the "public work session" just two weeks away, couldn't the school board get as good a picture of what citizens are thinking and even engage them in substantial conversation by putting up a blog with an online poll and opening a comment section where all citizens can post their thoughts and see what everyone else is thinking? Why does the school board not recognize valuable public input right under their noses?
In the time it will take the LAIC to hire some out-of-town analyst to compose a questionnaire, gather data, and then massage it into a report that says what the LAIC wants it to, the school could just set up a Facebook page... or better yet, just send everyone to the Madison Community Dialogue page that my wife designed to promote and document exactly this kind of public conversation. Ask people about their priorities for the high school facility. Let them brainstorm and discuss in public. Give people who can't make the March 28 work session an opportunity to participate in forming a new plan.
Getting public opinion isn't that hard. The LAIC is welcome to conduct whatever public opinion survey it wants, but it seems unlikely that such a survey will tell us anything we don't already know or that we can't find out through easier, cheaper, more transparent means.
Stay tuned: more on that "economic impact statement" and the proper role of the school board coming up! Update: If you think economic development is the school's responsibility, don't build sports facilities: pay your teachers more.
Your blog, your opinion, I know all this. I am just wondering if you can ever get over the whole gym idea, the implied conspiracy to build a gym, and the fact that YOUR ideas are not the only ones the rest of the world abides by?
Cory, you have some great ideas, but there are times when the repetitive anti-establishment comments really get tiring.
I am sure you or your followers will view this as some sort of attack and I will be subjected to a slew of words I can only hope to be able to look up, but for a person seeking a public position, and with such a high regard for your own opinion, you seem intent on forcing voters to not vote for you, further allowing you to claim you are being alienated by the "establishment".
But Jim, not one word of what you just said addresses the specifics of anything I said in the above post. Why do we need a survey by the LAIC? Why was the vote in February not a sufficiently valid gauge of public sentiment about the project? Why can the board not gain valuable insight into public opinion from the many statements made by people in the comment sections here, both pro and con? I'm not the issue, Jim: real attention to the voice of the people is. You can call what I say opinion, and I can call what you say opinion, but that doesn't get us anywhere.
And if the establishment repeatedly does things wrong, is there anything wrong with saying that the establishment is doing things wrong?
Sorry, Jim, but the argument isn't about me. It's about ensuring that we spend our tax dollars in a way that takes care of our school's needs and aligns with the priorities of the voters.
(And Jim, I find it at least inaccurate, if not laughable, to say I have any "followers." No one takes orders from me, except maybe my five-year-old, on a good day. There are simply fellow citizens who agree with me on some issues and disagree with me on others.)
A jaded person would say the school board is just collecting more ammunition to support their position. Obviously the LAIC would say an improved school would benefit economic development. But then again they also said a low cost housing project would benefit economic development and where has that gotten us? You can't ask an organization with an agenda to collect and present an unbiased view.
Economic development? Prove it! That was the argument for building the last two school projects, and I think jobs have been lost, not gained, since then. And if it is economic development, then the city should step up to the plate with money to help fund the economic development instead of just the county taxpayers. I also believe the LAIC involvement is just a plan to gain more favor for the present proposal.
As for Jim's comment above about the implied conspiracy to build a new gym. I don't believe it was a conspiracy, but I do believe the promoters knew the word "gym" would sink the proposal and thus avoided the word at all cost, aided and abetted by the local paper. They skirted the actual cost of the new gym part of the project by insisting it only cost a certain amount (probably the actual shell of the gym only) while the entire gym part was more than double that.
Pay off the elementary school, do the necessary repairs needed right now, and when the capital outlay fund is again freed up, then talk about the dream school/gym when the funds are there to pay for it. Run the school like we have to run our household budgets.
Cory-
I never intended to address what your original post was about. I was simply stating that you have very strong opinions of how things are done and if your opinions are not the driving force behind decisions, they are wrong.
You are able to twist/manipulate/spin your headlines to benefit your view, but if others suggest your words have another meaning you are quick to dismiss it as bull dookie.
You, Cory, supply the medium and opinion for others to vent, and there are posters that place a high value on your opinions, and seem to mold your opinions into theirs. In my opinion, being a follower does not mean a person takes orders from another.
Please keep in mind that most of the time I agree with what you are trying to say, but not always in the way you are saying it. Correct me if I am wrong, and I am sure you will, but if a person (or group) takes off the blinders of their opinions, and actually listens to the opinions of others, and then actually tries to understand those opinions, things would get resolved in a much more civil, and possibly timely, manner.
Could we have Jim's full name--perhaps others could do the same courtesy. It's hard having a community dialogue when we don't know who is really writing. Ends up being like a Halloween costume party. Everyone has character but sometimes you don't have any idea who you are talking or listening to.
Cory-known you for a long time and the passion you have for letting people see another side to issues is one of your greatest traits. However, I have to disagree with you about letting people voice their opinions on your site or Erin's. Your mediums are reaching a certain group of people but not the entire school district. Also, with your known passion and your comments here to Jim, are people really going to say what they mean or are they simply going to temper their opinions? I haven't read the discussion so I am really just basing this on my previous knowledge. (Some may refer to it as bias but I chose to think of it as wisdom!) A survey is always going to have bias whether that of the LAIC or yours. What I would like to know is, how are the students responding to the issue? They are the ones who daily "live" in the building. Granted they are young and will have crazy comments but for the most part, I believe that they have a pretty good understanding of what is really needed. (Ok the structural issues may not be on their radars but other than that...)
Before the district spends money on an elaborate survey, could we at least consider using Dakota State University and its students as a potential survey outlet. Between the Marketing and Statistics students, there must be a potential project that would garner similar results with less expense.
I like your idea Rod and I suspect that there would be less of a bias argument against the final results of the survey.
FYI Nonnie, the city gave the LAIC 100k in 2010 (can't bring up their 2011 pdf). For a few years the county didn't give anything. This year they are giving 25k per Linda.
http://www.cityofmadisonsd.com/vertical/Sites/%7B9C1D8490-A618-44AD-9306-F4F21A6F5FC6%7D/uploads/%7B2BF624BD-982B-4E3A-9C03-82B7C4DF6573%7D.PDF