Pass/Fail

Well, there's really no surprise tonight, at least on my part. There was every expectation that the school levy would pass (easily) and that the village income tax levy would fail miserably. I was off in my expectation of only 25% support for the income tax levy, it did pull about 30%.

Where do things go from here? The School Board continues to be forced to make some tough calls. The Superintendent has already indicated that they've discussed eliminating more positions, even with the passing of the levy, but some of these will be due to attrition, and the slow decrease of children in each grade level. Other positions will be released as decided upon.

One positive development that has surfaced recently on the Discussion Board is the indication of a desire to do something with the land that is situated between Katherine Thomas Elementary and the Turnpike. This is a large piece of land that is just sitting unused. One has expressed a desire to develop this land into some type of sporting facility, possibly with multiple baseball/softball fields. I believe that this would be an excellent idea. With some community help, this could be nearly entirely funded through private donations, depending upon the type of facility, and the requirements for development by the various involved zoning boards.

It would be an excellent idea for the Village Council to be involved in something like this also. When we consider the beating that this Income Tax Levy just took at the polls, it cannot only be seen as a statement concerning the levy, but also as a statement of the view that the Village has of its Council. There needs to be some serious image reconditioning done by all members of the Council. It presently runs the serious risk of being seen as a totally ineffective body to lead this community. Part of the image makeover could possibly be a project that has an overt impact upon the community such as the one that has been suggested.