Jeff “Podunk” Pelline is drinking the Kool Aid being ladled out by the proponents of Measure B, portraying the $47 million bond issue as a necessary expense for repairing and upgrading our high school educational facilities.
This comes after he criticized my recent column in The Union opposing Measure B, which pointed out the money would be used to pay for deferred maintenance that should have been done years ago. According to Podunk, the column was another example of the “get off my lawn” attitude of the retirees who dominate thinking around here.
Maybe he’d like to extend that criticism to Dan Walters, long-time political columnist for The Sacramento Bee, who writes the following today:
“School districts and other local governments often neglect maintenance of their facilities to meet demands for other spending, particularly pressure from unions for increases in pay and other benefits. Then, after the deferred maintenance results in deterioration that can on longer be ignored, officials draw up bond issues to make repairs that could have been avoided with proper maintenance.”
Sound like any school district you know? Walters’ entire column is here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/dan-walters/article111932412.html