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Measure B: Here we go again
Here we go again!
Bond fever works in mysterious ways, forcing our bond-addicted Tamalpais Union High School District to come up, again and again, with creative "essential" projects to justify their insatiable thirst for taxpayers’ money.
Attending the District’s board meetings,over the last several months, following the defeat of Measure A, I have experienced first hand nothing less than the miracle of the multiplication of “essential projects." The $80 million deemed essential for urgent projects presented by the District’s own staff at the March 26th, 2024 Board meeting has magically turned into essential additional projects, for a total $287 million in Measure B.
At one point, the Trustees and Administrators considered a $380 million bond, then, after surveys and presentations by their expensive political consultants, they settled on $289 million, apparently a reduction from Measure A’s $507 million, sufficient to convince the voters to approve it. After all, they now brag, without even a hint of irony, that they are saving us taxpayers $218 million!
This mathematical magic worked particularly well for Archie Williams. In just one year, construction and renovation projects for over $60 million that did not even make the list for Measure A, have become essential and included in Measure B.
Among the essential projects, two columns at the entrance of the main parking lot (private school envy by the administrators?), wavy overheads to decorate some of the older buildings, and very large signs to identify different offices within the multi-million dollar way finding budget. Clearly, without a large sign saying, "Main Office," students and teachers and administrators will be unable to find it!
When it comes to Archie Williams, the District is apparently trying to seduce San Anselmo and Fairfax taxpayers into supporting Measure B, buying their vote with a $60 million bribe, so they can spend more than $70 million for a cafeteria at Redwood, one among the many vanity projects included in Measure B.
And while the District claims financial Armageddon if the Bond is not approved in November, already threatening to be forced to fire teachers, somehow the many administrators and consultants that the District keeps hiring are never considered for layoffs. Just in the last year, at least 8 new senior administration positions have been created and payments for consultants are regularly over $10 million a year.
Meanwhile, academics standards are falling, class sizes are getting bigger and bigger (with a declining population, how come?), but there is always money for more consultants (e.g., $450K just approved for Tam High alone for the 24-25 academic year: View their contracts).
Last but not least, without any concern for potential conflicts of interest or even the appearances of conflicts of interest, the District has already granted contracts in the millions of dollars, for projects included in Measure B (not approved yet by voters) to construction companies and consultants that had generously donated to support of Measure A, less than one year go.
As one of the signers of the arguments against Measure B, I strongly encourage all residents, parents, students, teachers, and business and real estate owners to look very closely at the claims made by the District to justify Measure B. They want to float another large bond to cover their financial mismanagement, penalizing taxpayers without adding any value to the education of our students.