Submitted by Ella Croshier
Responding to the article about not enough money to provide education to students and also maintain the buildings, here is my take:
This would not be a problem if properly managed. But then why bother when the managers (the School Board and the people they hire) have only to beg, borrow or steal money to keep the operation going. Perhaps that sounds too direct, but running a business does not mean spend all you want and have the taxpayers pick up the tab. However most government entities seem to be doing just that. Coronado Schools are Public Schools. They are not private schools. If parents want a private school education for their children they need to locate one and pay for it. Coronado moved from a Public School institution to a Private School institution paid for by the tax payers. That’s a pretty cleaver feat. There isn’t enough room for a full history lesson to reveal how this all started but the school board and city council, present and past, do know about it and were participants in it. In brief, the manipulations that went on to build new schools and THE OLYMPIC SWIMMING POOL was achieved. As I understand it, bonds were sold and payments being made even though I believe it was the assistant Manager who lied before the court telling the judge there were no bank statements when asked to produce them. That all happened just before proposition E was voted on, and so the appearance to the public was that there were no existing bonds to be paid. The city council and the school board did not disclose that when they were trying to get the public to approve another bond measure for more money. Well, the facts were finally revealed but not without having to go through the court for the information. When you know the truth and you sit back and say nothing – so to me that is the same as a lie. And our city council and school board did just that and pushed for the bond measure to pass using all their persuasive methods to do so.
So my opinion on this matter, for what it’s worth, is that operating a government institution is a business and should be operated like one. Unfortunately, that has not been the case from the school boards to city councils, county boards, state and federal government. And that is why the people are frustrated and fed up. We all should take a good look in the mirror and know that it is up to us to elect the best people to do the job. We have done a poor job of this in the past. Hopefully we will see some honest citizens stepping up to be our leaders and do the job they are paid to do. I think a good housecleaning from the Federal level to the School Boards need to be done. Previously we have seen the old guard leave and new ones come in, and yet we are still in a hole that is just growing bigger. We have seen cities in bankruptcy due to mismanagement and it wouldn’t surprise me if Coronado goes that direction at some point. And I have to ask the question …how much infrastructure in our city is being addressed??? From where I sit the attention is how to keep the tourism going with little regard to our streets and infrastructure. How many years will we have to look at the overhead wiring in our beautiful city. Undergrounding should have been done years ago. And, have you driven through the residential areas at night? IT IS REALLY DARK. Not enough street lights. And, what about those old Xmas trees in the parkway on Orange? Those should have been replaced eons ago. Young trees could have been planted and growing while the older ones met their demise. That must have been too hard to figure out.
Forgot to mention the bicycle thing. We have spent so much money and frustration over this and for what? It didn’t begin with the cities and we wouldn’t have been involved if it weren’t for grant money available. And, let me tell you, we would do well to stop this quid pro quo game. It’s nothing more than that. We send our tax dollars to the Federal Government and the only way we get it back is if we agree to spend it on million dollar water fountains, millions of dollars on life guard building, roundabouts, bulbouts, etc… We have other things more important to do than that. Not to mention the new senior facility. I’ve been there and for the few people that utilize it there was no need for it. Other public buildings could have been put to use. But then we are not talking about practicality. The name of the game is what grants are available and how can we get that money and our city manager is considered to know all the ropes in that department.
I’d like to be the one to throw bouquets but quite frankly I’m fresh out of flowers. The well done people don’t need bouquets, anyway. They know when they have done a good job. However, the others need to be called out and not enough citizens are standing up to do that. Only when it affects them directly. Well it’s your town, state, country, so we all better be standing up.
Ella Croshier
Coronado, CA
