Shoreline schools
Incumbents are part
of the problem
I read some of the school board candidates’ statements in the Enterprise with amazement. Are Mike Jacobs, Dan Mann and Jim Leigh so delusional that they don’t recognize their own hand in the ongoing degradation of the Shoreline School District? Or that they think the voters won’t? They, and especially Mike Jacobs, have spearheaded the district’s financial problems for years. Approving contracts without competitive bids, not monitoring spending, and manipulating the numbers to justify their ill-intentioned plans. The job they have been doing is absolutely contemptible!
And now they have extended Sue Walker’s contract to 2010, even though the current contract doesn’t expire for another year! What is the rush? What threat to them has made this so urgent when there are other pressing issues to be dealt with? But then this isn’t the last issue. They also wish to deny our teachers a well-deserved cost of living raise, demanding that the unions accept cuts in pay and benefits that cancel out the state mandated raises. Meanwhile the school board rewards everyone in the administrative offices with generous raises with no strings attached! Truly pathetic.
I hope the 32nd Legislative District Democratic Organization is paying attention and quickly revokes their endorsements of these people who have made a mockery of public service. They certainly are not demonstrating the principles that are the foundation of democracy — honesty, fairness, inclusiveness, compassion and integrity. Endorsing these candidates reflects very poorly on the Democratic party indeed!
If you haven’t been following the continuing scandal that is our Shoreline School Board, I encourage you to learn the facts at: http://www.saveshorelineschools.com/ and http://www.northcitychat.com. There is a very great deal of well-researched fact and careful analysis there, at which the school board has steadfastly thumbed its nose.
Richard Kau
Lake Forest Park
Carrying laptops
not for all
Congratulations to parents and teachers who halted the implementation of forced 24/7 carrying of laptops by fifth- and sixth-graders this fall. Laptops should be on carts for all students K-12 right now. Options should exist for those families to have one 24/7 if they do not have computers at home or are otherwise desirous to carry one for any reason. Many in the district want such options without forcing every child to carry a laptop 24/7.
In 1961, John Kennedy said we would put a man on the moon and bring him back safely by the end of the decade. One year later, he didn’t shoot three people at the moon against the best available advice. There were Mercury, Gemini and 10 Apollo missions prior to July 20, 1969. Without needlessly sacrificing guinea pigs, every single facet of the project was safely improved upon; step by gradual step.
If Kennedy were on the board now, every Shoreline kid would already have free computers in school and also at home without daily hauling, teachers could gradually fashion appropriate learning methods, theft and potential physical harm would be greatly reduced and the district could sensibly grow into an epoch of technological excellence.
If the Shoreline board had been in charge in 1961, three students would have gotten a letter in August, ordering them to report to Cape Canaveral with no option. The letter would tell them to bring a check for insurance and they would be blasted toward the moon despite desperate warnings and misgivings from engineers, parents and surveys. And they would have crashed into an ignominious end because of a dream or vision gone utterly and needlessly awry in implementation.
What a useless survey except as great subterfuge.
Raymond Koelling
Lake Forest Park
Casinos don’t receive tax support from city
In the Friday, June 15, 2007 publication of the Enterprise a letter to the editor made the following statement: “When gambling casinos receive thousands of dollars in tax support, why is a 52,000-square-foot YMCA building awaiting a city partnership that could ensure a dream becomes reality …” I would like to correct this invalid statement made by Ms. Pearl Noreen. At no time have the casinos ever received thousands of dollars in tax support from the city of Shoreline. The casinos pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes each year to the city, and we receive no remuneration.
For the record, the casinos pay all of the taxes that are required of businesses in the city as well as a permissive tax on our “gross net gaming revenue.” Gross net revenue is best described as the total income prior to paying any vendor, employee, or business expense. We then calculate our gaming tax and pay it on the unadjusted amount of revenue, regardless of profit or loss to the company. This is the only tax that is calculated in this manner.
The casinos are the highest taxed business in the city of Shoreline; we also employ a combined total of nearly 900 employees between five establishments. Hundreds of our employees live here in the city of Shoreline, pay taxes and send their children to school. Every employee spends money within the city of Shoreline whether it is shopping at the grocery store, buying gas or shopping at a local business.
It is unfair to compare the issue regarding the YMCA and the reduction of the gambling tax rate from 10 percent to 7 percent during Aurora Corridor Phase I project. Gaming taxes were still being collected by the city even when the local casinos were operating at a loss.
Mary Abel
Casino Manager
Goldie’s Shoreline Casino
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
