Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/725652
Ihavefoundmyselfhum- ming a tune from Mary Pop- pins about investing "tuppence wisely in the bank safe and sound." The song is sung by Dick Van Dyke, who is playing an an- cient banker ad- vising a young boy about invest- ments and the importance of frugality. I guess the song resonated with me be- cause I was thinking about Measure J, the Red Bluff Joint Union High School District bond that could raise slightly more than $20 million for needed improvements. Some have asked me why a bond is necessary to bring the Red Bluff Joint Union High School District facilities and in- frastructure up to modern day standards. The question is often asked "can't they just budget more carefully?" Or, "don't they have a lot of money?" The yearly budget for the Dis- trict is about $19 million. That may seem like a lot of money, and it is, but the reality is that the annual revenue just barely covers operating costs. The other reality is that the budget- ing is done very carefully, and the district has been operat- ing in a deficit spending mode that is projected to continue un- til 2018-19. The money given to the district to spend on pro- viding education to more than 1,600 students each year does not contain enough to deal with the issues that the bond ad- dresses. The district spends about $400,000 per year to pay down the debt to the state from the district's last major facilities project from seven years ago. Education is not cheap. On a statewide basis in 2014-15 it cost more than $10,500 per year per student to run a high school district; the costs are slightly higher in Red Bluff in part be- cause of the extensive busing and the vast area the district covers — 2,000 square miles. By the time our district pays for salaries, the cost of books, supplies and operating ex- penses, there is very little left to spend on other things. The "re- serve," such as it is, is projected to be only the state required minimum of 3 percent of the budget in 2018-19. Clearly carv- ing out enough money from the budget to take care of the multi- million dollar long "to do" list is not possible without a bond measure or significant grants. Some have told me they feel salaries at the District are high. Compared to the general local labor market teacher salaries may seem high, but when you look at the statewide teacher market the salaries our teachers receive are barely competitive salaries, and the district has to compete statewide for qualified teachers, particularly these days when teachers are harder to find than in recent years. In 2014-15 average salary for teachers in high school districts was $79,281, in Red Bluff it was $71,455. In the same year the median salary for superinten- dents in mid-sized high school districts was $168,625; for Red Bluff the salary was $135,026 at that time. The retirement of a significant number of senior teachers last year has brought the overall average teacher sal- ary down in the district. Compared to the rest of Te- hama County and the state, the district does well on such im- portant measures as SAT scores, class size, dropout rates and preparation for post-secondary education. The Red Bluff Joint Union High School District Bond will require 55 percent of the voters who turn out to vote yes. It will increase property taxes. The current property tax rate within the district is $1.005 per $100 of assessed valuation. That means if your property has been assessed at $100,000 you pay $1,005 in property taxes. If the high school bond passes you would pay $30 more per year. A small investment, to say the least. The median single family home in the district is assessed at about $123,000; that home- owner would have an increase of less than $36.90 per year for the life of the bond, about 30 years; that amounts to about 10 cents per day. The last time the district at- tempted a bond issue was in 1994, and it failed to get the required votes. At that time the threshold for passage was higher than 55 percent. Another bond issue on the ballot in November will be statewide Proposition 51. If that measure passes, and if Mea- sure J is successful the dis- trict will be in a good position to get some state funds to help meet the more than $50 mil- lion needed to bring all facilities and infrastructure up to mod- ern standards. Measure J alone will only cover less than half that amount. JoeHarropisaretired educator with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net. JoeHarrop A dime a day is all you'll pay Compared to the rest of Tehama County and the state, the district does well on such important measures as SAT scores, class size, dropout rates and preparation for post- secondary education. Statementaboutdeputies disrespectful Editor: The morning of Sept. 2 I was listening to KBLF Radio and broadcaster Cal Hunter, along with ex-Mayor of Red Bluff Earl Wintle. They were saying that the deputies, who make $42,000 a year, are al- ready making too much and Cal said if they get a raise they will probably spend it on booze and broads. First of all, $42,000 is lower middle income. Terrible wages for anyone, but especially for people who put their life on the line. I have heard Cal put down our community and make fun of it for many years, even though he lives in Redding, but to make such a bigoted state- ment about our law enforce- ment was so wrong. I have had my share of prob- lem with bad cops on the force, under Sheriff Parker. I was stalked, harassed and treated with no respect by many of them, but I still ap- preciate that they put their life on the line to try to protect us, with increasing crime and psy- chos living in our once fine and safe community. It has to be very frustrating for them, because once they arrest them, they are released back to do us more harm. This has got to be so demoralizing to them. They deserve better for their effort. Our County Administrator Bill Goodwin, who lives in Red- ding and doesn't do anything but collect his salary of over $150,000 a year, can be eas- ily replaced for half that money with anyone with half a brain. The Board of Supervisors, who have ruined Tehama County, keep bugging us to give them a raise because they are paid so low. They are, but are getting what they are worth, especially when you look at their other sources of income. All of our supervisors are fi- nancially well off, except for Su- pervisor Candy Carlson, who still has to work another job to pay bills, but the people of Tehama County keep voting these never do well good ole boys time and time again. It makes no sense. Department heads make over $110,000. Most have been shown to be completely worth- less and lazy and do not put their lives on the line. Interest- ingly, our excellent Sheriff Hen- cratt, only makes $88,000. We need to clean house at Te- hama County. Vote no on raises for super- visors until they pay our dep- uties what they deserve and no more increases for our al- ready overpaid elected and ap- pointed officials, until the low level employees, who make $2,000 to $3,000 a month get paid a livable wage. For a complete list of over- paid employees at Tehama County go to http://transpar- entcalifornia.com/salaries/te- hama-county/. — Pat Johnston, Red Bluff September madness Editor: I have never met Superinten- dent Todd Brose, but I felt com- pelled to throw in my two cents of advice. I was saddened and shocked to hear just yesterday that Kathy Brandt was removed as head girls basketball coach at Red Bluff High School. Why was I saddened and now angry? Having been a teacher for 31 years and a girls basket- ball coach for 25 of those years, I have seen everything possible on and off the courts. I have ex- perienced barfing on the courts — truly a magical experience — black eyes administered, to having been threatened phys- ically by a parent. I have won championships and been ex- posed to abject embarrassment. Since I know nothing about Mr. Brose's bent towards sports in general I cannot know how his values compelled him or his next-in-charge to dismiss Kathy Brandt. Does he fear parent un- rest? Athletes whining might be on the back burner as well. The mantra of today seems to be "everybody gets a trophy" and if you don't, whine until it's on your shelf. Sorry gang, that's not how life works. Mr. Brose may have been an athlete as well as a parent who had ath- letic children. I am certain of one thing: losing Kathy Brandt will be a colossal mistake, not only for the athletes who will forego her knowledge of the game, but to RBHS as well. I have known Kathy since she was 16 years old and have watched her abilities mature into magnificent accomplish- ments up to and including this day. She is profoundly gifted as a athlete, coach and a human being. Additionally, she is hon- est and holds the best interests of all students. What Mr. Brose is throwing out the window is a leader and coach as gifted as any star. If he is already rebuffing to me, "what about the kids who don't get to play much," I have 25 years of experience that tells me the players who rarely get to play are not suffering. They may not be ecstatic, but their greater energy is invested in the team. Their parents might be torked off, but the players deal with life quite well. The players know they are part of a greater united team effort. As a coach I always let every player play in every game, even if only a very few minutes. One final thought on winning, Mr. Brose, a vibrant, jubilant and ecstatic basketball team and stu- dent body will override a whining parent or six. What is wrong with keep- ing an exemplary coach such as Kathy Brandt who gets it? She had to lose a great job for what? Isn't fairness to all an admira- ble goal for all people? Right now I don't feel Kathy Brandt has been dealt an iota of fair- ness as a result of her dismissal and the basketball players are losing out on learning some of the best skills available. — Rob Marshall, Forest Ranch Your opinions Cartoonist's take What we learned from the "Commander-in-Chief" exer- cise the other night is: (a) nei- ther Hillary Clin- ton nor Donald Trump is fastid- ious about facts, (b) Matt Lauer is a nice guy but not up to presidential pol- itics, and (c) vot- ers expecting bet- ter in the "real" debate Sept. 26 should not hold their breaths. Trump told us his plan for de- feating ISIS is to get new generals to run the military and give them 30 days to come up with a plan for defeating ISIS. Clearly Trump doesn't understand how the mili- tary operates. What he does know is that he can say just about any- thing in a public forum or debate and get away with it. Clinton told us she will never put American boots on the ground in Iraq or other Mid- east hotspots. Apparently she has overlooked the fact that we currently have some 5,000 troops in Iraq and thousands more in the region. Lauer told us that "Lester Hope" (sic) will moderate the first actual debate and "For Matt Lauer (sic), I'm Matt Lauer." All sides tore into Lauer, whose performance probably wasn't as bad as Twitter suggested. The big- gest beef was that he didn't chal- lenge Trump for claiming — as he always does — that he was totally opposed to the war in Iraq. Clinton supporters felt that Lauer dwelled too long on the email scandal, and denied Clinton proper time to expand on world and military affairs. It's an almost impossible task. As Chris Wallace, who will mod- erate the final debate on Fox, cor- rectly said: "I do not believe it is my job to be a truth squad." Yes, outright misstatements should be challenged — and Lauer did some of that — but the format doesn't allow for a second- ary debate about shades of truth. Moreover, Trump and Clinton have both proved that they are prepared to stand firmly behind their own versions of the facts, the truth be damned. Diehard supporters of both candidates, apparently, couldn't care less. So the table is set for the Sept. 26 debate, likely to be one of the most heavily watched shows in television history. Alas, the meal will be all sizzle and little steak. Lester Holt is similar to Lauer in style and demeanor. He's no pit bull, which is precisely why both political parties were able to ac- cept him as a moderator. Among the many difficulties are that the core issues — say, the economy, terrorism and per- haps either healthcare or climate change — are not the hot topics for either candidate. Viewers expect Trump to be asked about immigration, his failed businesses and his total lack of experience. They expect Clinton to answer questions about emails, her health and the Clinton Foundation. Moreover, both Trump and Clinton have chewed their oratory pablum so fully that nothing fazes them. Trump will remain surpris- ingly cool, as he was with Lauer; Clinton will be distinctly un-shrill and overly wordy, as we observed the other night. Holt will be diplomatic, which is to say he should make it a point not to read Twitter for 48 hours following the debate. What we have are candidates who will say anything, vot- ers who don't seem to care, and moderators who would find it easier to herd cats. Peter Funt can be reached at www.CandidCamera.com. Peter Funt Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump debates will underwhelm GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIAL BOARD How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@ redbluffdailynews.com Fax: 530-527-9251 Mail to: P.O. Box 220, 728Main St., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS PeterFunt Joe Harrop OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, September 10, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4