Reese Scalds Tribune And CASB

Greeley Report has agreed to publish District 6 school board member Brett Reese's statements unedited.  Despite repeated attempts to work with the Lib Trib, they have repeatedly skewed their reporting.  Therefore, Reese uses Pirate 104.7, his blog and Greeley Report to share the truth.  The following article contains Reeses' experiences this past weekend in Colorado Springs, at an event held for school board members from across the state of Colorado.

"After $20k of in kind advertising which blatantly pushed the huge property tax hike 3A, the Greeley tribune lost miserably by 2 votes to 1.  What do you suppose a local newspaper, in touch with local sentiment and anxious to “serve” the local community would do?   Yeah, me too.  But not Bart Smith, Randy Bangert and the gang.   In spite of their community speaking loudly and clearly for our school system to  become less wasteful, the Greeley Tribune is holding to their liberalism with a death grasp.

Their latest article follows their traditional pattern in that  the reporter interviews people who are in agreement with them.  Draws example after example of school districts who are allegedly doing so much better than we are because of their community’s cooperation in raising its own taxes.  The Tribune proclaims the merits of  multiple attempts at raising our taxes and finishes with several statements from a supposed expert (on their side of course), Glenn Gustafson, who I happened to have just had a conversation with last weekend.

What a reporter can do with the subtlety of words is nauseating.  For example, Did American forces “invade Iraq” or did our young men “liberate” Iraq?

So the huge article was all about how Greeley is nearly alone in raising more taxes.  All the districts around us have had at least one tax increase.   Sarah McQuiddy, big wig down at the chamber of commerce would love nothing more than to increase taxes on every chamber member.  Many chamber members I’ve talked with personally are readya for her to move on.  I wonder though, before she goes away, if she would be good enough to proclaim to all of Colorado that since we haven’t raised our property taxes, we now have one of the lowest costs of doing business in the state!!??  Nice huh?  Remember what I said about subtlety of words?  Still, if Sarah Mcquiddy, chamber prez would start thinking positively, this would be  nice selling point!

So the Tribune believes we need to revamp and try again.  More taxes dagnabbit!! There’s an old quote that goes something like this, “a liberal is a man who believes he owes a debt to society, which he proposes to pay for with his neighbor’s money”.   Or in the Tribune’s case, with their advertiser’s money.   Or in Sarah McQuiddy’s case, with her chamber member’s money.   If they want the money to go to the general fund of district 6, why don’t they get Bob Tointon and Dick Monfort to write a couple of $10 million checks directed toward the problem, not a campaign to make us working class folks pay for it.

Here though I have to let you all in on a little secret.  I just spent nearly a week sipping the finest wines.   Eating caviar, venison and veal.  Plates of desserts and long beautiful walks along the hotel lake bridge.   I walked the marble winding staircase to one of many elegant fireplaces.  Garth Brooks and U.S. presidents slept where I slept.  Julia Roberts and Jerry Seinfeld had  shared my banquet facility.  I stayed at the Broadmoor hotel.  I was attending my first CASB convention.

I hated the fact that our district was in deep financial trouble and all the school board members and top administrators from 2/3 of the districts in the state were spending over $200k for 5 days in Colorado springs’ Broadmoor hotel.  I learned an inestimable amount about how districts should work and how to change them.  But I couldn’t help but wonder if I couldn’t have learned it for less than $2 or $300k?   To be sure, event leaders made sure to address the exploitation of public dollars by explaining that we couldn’t get such great speakers to come if it weren’t for the broadmoor’s name, and there were virtually no other facilities that could house all the workshops.  Bull butter.

We could do it all for almost nothing.  How?   Well, let’s all get used to thinking outside the box.  How could we.    Let’s think about what facility could provide all those workshops and ballrooms.   Another word for workshop is class right?  See where I’m going?  Another word for ballroom is auditorium!! …why not use our own darn facilities?  Let’s clear a big 5a school in Denver for a Thursday and Friday and use all their classrooms.  Oh, and the nationally known speakers that wouldn’t come unless it was the Broadmoor?  Maybe we aren’t interested in what those speakers have to say anyhow.

I needed to attend this session of CASB.  I will fight to move the convention to a much more reasonable venue.  We need the public to know about this. The rest will happen…  I don’t know what I will do next year if it is not moved. But about the most nauseating thing was the continual push of how to raise taxes for schools.  It was a consistent, persistent drum beat.  How to manipulate levers.   There was even a workshop about how to frame your plea for taxes and strategies for changing your community’s thinking.  I even asked the CEO of the place the president of CASB, “why is there not a single word said about using our current millions of tax dollars more efficiently?”  I’m a businessman.  If we can’t increase income—we cut costs!!

Believe me when I report to you citizens of Greeley and district 6…there is not an appreciation of how hard your life is or how tight your budget is.  And it’s true for most districts in the state. No recognition at all.   I was laughed at and metaphorically patted on the head as a “newbie” board member.   I know there are an awful lot of people here in Greeley who have their hopes pinned on me.  No worries;  I won’t be drinking the kool-aid.

We have made an important first step in denying 3A and the heaping of our hard –earned tax dollars into the general fund accounts of our schools.  As I said during my campaign, don’t worry, it will be back next year, whether it passed or not. As you know I have taken on the responsibility of a school board member.  And still I have very little access to financial information.  My meetings with teachers are even being resisted.  Don’t worry, I will get the information, either through an open records request, or litigation.   I am working with the current board and we can improve our schools significantly, but it will be through openness, caring, trust and business, parental and pastoral involvement.  I realize I may be just one member, but my cause is right and together with you, the people of this community, we will overcome.

Eventually, with the contacts I’ve made and the resolve I possess, you and I will show the rest of the state, both fiscally and academically how success can happen in their district,  without crippling the community.    Since the Tribune have proven themselves powerless to report objectively,  I will begin interviewing with Amy Oliver Cooke on a competing radio station, KFKA the Tuesday morning after each Monday school board meeting.  Of course I will be producing a quick commentary here first.

Thomas Jefferson said, "The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers."  So much wisdom…

I hope that soon other community leaders begin boycotting both the Tribune and their sponsors until they begin reporting the facts as they are, not the subtle spin of the radical left.    I have made contact with the editors at www.greeleyreport.com and for now, thouogh they remain anonymous, they seem to report the truth, albeit with too much aggression.  That’s greeleyreport.com    So until my  next board meeting report, I’m Brett Reese

Comments

[greeleygirl]

Sarah has got to go. She has been dragging Greeley down long enough.

[Bronco]

Mr. Reese has experienced first hand what many of us have already witnessed, government waste.

I would not be a tax cutter if taxes did not need to be cut.

I challenge all of you to visit your local government and look around. Look at the books. Look for accounting anomalies. Look for year to year adjustments that are not explained. For example the ending year fund balance compared to the next years beginning balance.

Look at the number of employees in relation to the work load.

Fight this fight at the source.

http://www.limitpropertytax.com/
http://www.cotaxreform.com/
http://www.limitcodebt.com/

[Reasonable Centrist]

Wait a second...

Moving the meeting to a school location...like...Cherry Creek or Boulder High or somewhere when school is out of session, thus saving money and actually involving elected members in their schools?

No way it'll fly. Too much sense.

[GodsGreeley]

Thank you so much, Mr. Reese, for your common sense stance, and courage against highbrow bullying.