Ludington Councilor Gives School Brochure a Failing Grade

[XLFD]

In Thursday's edition of the City of Ludington Daily News (COLDNews), a Ludington city councilor took the local school district to task for doing something which appears to violate the law, as we had reported last weekend in regard to a flyer paid for by the school district (LASD).  Angela Serna, serving the Fifth Ward, explains first what happened with what she calls propaganda mailed by the LASD, then describes state election law that strongly frowns on such acts performed within 60 days of the election.  Then... read it for yourself (click on the article to enlarge):

The 'informational' brochure does fall flat on being an unbiased source, the forum letter explaining that deftly.  Her confidential source (not me, I'm more notorious than prominent) confirms what many suspect of diverse types of local public infrastructure/institutions:  years of planned neglect have led to the current 'crisis'.

Invest little in maintaining the water and wastewater treatment plant, spend tens of millions well after the state has found them insufficient.  Instead of using city marina profits to update docks over time, spend next to nothing and beg the State to intervene when it becomes a two million dollar project.  Want to improve the West End of Ludington Avenue into something other than a parking lot?  Let it fall into disrepair so that the State will be more likely to approve a grant to remove the eyesore created. 

In much the same vein, the State-controlled Harbor View Marina loses its private leaser, simply because they reached a point where they cannot ignore maintenance any longer, and the cost of such investment makes it unprofitable to continue their lease.  Force the money whirlpool onto the taxpayers, including private marina owners in competition with them, most who cannot afford boats due to their own high costs of housing, transportation, and taxes.  All of this isn't proactive, it's just fiscally foolish on public or public/private endeavors.

Former WSCC Professor (current Floracraft executive) Vic Burwell remarked early the next day on a Facebook page dealing with Ludington issues said about the plan behind the millage:  "It is a sound plan, well thought out, with thousands of people hours invested in visitations, consultations, state input, intensive research and inquiry, community involvement, collaborative thinking, and most importantly with the education of all the children, now and the future taken into consideration. FYI, there is NOTHING ILLEGAL about the informational flier.  Come to the April 3, presentation at Peterson Auditorium, to hear the facts and then decide."

He wasn't a law professor.  This was both unethical and illegal for the school to put out a brochure filled with-- to borrow Ms. Serna's rhetoric-- propaganda, thinly disguised as information.  Consider, what would you think if an incumbent school board member running for re-election spent $10,000 of school funds on flyers that were 'purely informational' and sent them just before election day? And let's assume the 'pure information' was that he was a great guy, with a great record and had an outlook for a great future, while informing us that his opponent was an inexperienced hack, with a bad record, who would lead the school to ruin.  It never says, however, who to vote for or vote against. Is that ethical and legal to do?  

According to my own reliable sources, Councilor Serna (above) has lodged a formal complaint with the Secretary of State's office over this use of LASD resources within 60 days of an election.  The Ludington Torch appreciates public servants like her that will stand up for the law and for what's right, an ethical failing of too many that serve this area.  

[Willy]

Most everyone understands the City and School are separate entities. I/we are just tickled that an elected official is voicing a concern. She is someone they will listen to unlike the drone taxpayers who dutifully are dragged into debt by those that think money flows from an unending source which they can tap into and use to maintain a wish list.  The fact is that children from the 19th and 20h century schools were much more educated in the basics. Now days kids cannot do math without a calculator. Noone even considers what would happen  when the power goes out.

[shinblind]

COUNCILOR SAYS LUDINGTON SCHOOLS BROKE ELECTION LAW.

As a public service I rewrote the title the COLDS put with the letter from Angela Serna referenced above.

[Freedom Seeker]

Not to lose sight of the elephant in the city, $100,900,000 some million dollar proposed new debt for schools when the city is starting to drown in their near $50 million dollar debt for water and sewer infrastructure.  The sewer lagoons were starting to smell today.  With the loss of jobs and citizens, Kennedy and the school board should pull this debt bond off the ballot. Take care of what you have and appreciate it.

[XLFD]

Another thing I'm not understanding is regarding this "21st-Century learning" that has been pushed as the reason to expand the size of all classrooms.  These are educators, they should be able to teach us why this needs to be done when our City is pushing "workforce housing" (i.e. apartments, at the cost of "affordable housing") which requires school kids to reside in cramped housing units.  

Recall "19th-Century learning"?  Kids would come from their 40 acre farm to the local often-cramped one-room schoolhouse and learn their lessons.  This 'wide open spaces to close quarters' move didn't seem a big obstacle to learning for them, but it was improved on over the next century when advances in transportation allowed single-grade instruction and less, consolidated schools. 

Elbow-room doesn't seem to apply in Maslow's hierarchy of needs, powerful computers come as small as a textbook, so why the push for bigger classrooms now with static or dwindling enrolments, other than new-school contractors need some extra money?  

[snide]

Apparently now this fool running the LASD (Kennedy) is hosting forums to try to drum up interest to get the good citizens of Ludington to pay more in taxes - because he feels what we pay now is nowhere near enough.... How out of touch with a community can you be to come into it (and a six figure job) and request something like this...? Some say that takes nerve -- I call it Gall . This just in Mr. Kennedy, we have many businesses going under , a large factory about to kick out 150+ workers and a local radio station going away . These things with a declining enrollment show that this is a WANT not a NEED..... The board members should be ashamed.

[AQUAMAN]

Kennedy is just another implant that wants to run locals here like a big city Super. Hell, they don't even have custodian/janitor staffs anymore. They did quite a bit of maintenance all year around on everything, so nothing went into severe disrepair. It's been the same with the COL on their projects. They get the grant monies for projects, then let them go into disrepair and claim the useful like expired. If all us citizens acted the same, we'd be broke from the stupidity every 5 years. TAX, TAX, TAX is all they can come up with as normal!!!!!!!!!