A no vote on the Cape referendum is not a vote against students, teachers or better schools; it’s a vote against being dumb. It’s a pathetic shame – and sham – that we in Sussex County just continue to just accept repeated poor choices – or no choices – to vote upon.
The Sussex County power people seem to think developing every cornfield and forest into $500,000 cookie-cutter homes is a good idea. They also think solutions come in the form of roundabouts, jamming a McDonald’s into Milton, and building a Royal Farms around every corner. These are the same folks who hired a Rehoboth city manager for a million dollars of taxpayers’ money.
Just as the thoughtless destruction of Sussex County should be completely reassessed and the hiring of Rehoboth’s city manager be recalled, the voters should overwhelmingly reject the Cape Henlopen School District referendum, because it just plain “stinks on ice.”
First, how could anyone rationally vote to raise your school tax based upon your house’s assessment when the reassessment of your house has not been completed? That would be dumb. The school district should leave the voters alone and be restricted by law from randomly creating new referendums until the reassessment is completed.
Second, something very back room and unethical smells about the entire proposal including: 1. How decisions regarding the proposed land purchases and prices were made; 2. The wisdom of bus ownership, leasing, maintenance, central location of a repair shop, etc., should be debated given the crazy increase in traffic, size of the district and trends in bus ridership; 3. Why does Cape need a newly constructed administrative building when other good options exist?, and; 4. Superintendent Bob Fulton’s completely speculative average cost per home per year in tax increases and promises of future tax decreases were an embarrassment to read in the Cape Gazette. Fulton says things are in desperation mode. People need to stop running around with their hair on fire and get real.
Third, taxpayers should demand a complete and simple line-item breakdown as to the 2025 district budget. Why and how is Cape now spending so much per student? Why and how would a higher tax help the poor education situation? When taxpayers are surprised to discover that Fulton gets paid $36,000 more than Gov. John Carney while teachers and other school employees are counting pennies, something is seriously wrong with the existing system. Why should we continue to support the status quo? And why is the school board so quiet? Didn’t they guide us to this suddenly desperate situation?
Get out and vote no on all calls to raise taxes until all assessments are completed and we get some real answers.
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