Chatham Parent: Let the Voters Decide How the $22 Million Referendum Should Be Spent

The following letter was submitted to Chatham Patch by a Borough resident. The letter follows two other submissions discussing a proposal to spend $14 million to build a new 975-seat theater at Chatham Middle School. Read the first letter here, and the second letter here.

To the Editor:

Two weeks ago, the School Administration found that it could break it’s $22 million referendum out into 6 separate questions to be voted on independently by the public. This is good news.

Prior to this, we were told by the Board of Education that they only had two options: 1) bundle the $22 million referendum as a single question with one vote; or 2) list each of the projects as separate questions, where each questions’ vote would depended on passage or failure of the question preceding it.

Now the Board has a third option: list each project as a separate and independent question on the ballot, and let the voters decide.

>>Related: Township Resident Weighs In: Debate Over $14 Million Middle School Theater Continues

To date, the Board’s reasoning for keeping the referendum as a single question has been two-fold: 1) they did not want to give the appearance of “haves and have-nots”, and 2) they felt each project was of “equal importance”.

Given the Board’s new-found option of allowing each project to be voted on independently, these reasons no longer apply. Since passage of any one project is no longer contingent on passage of any other project, each one can stand on its own merit, all of “equal importance”, and the voters can decide.

At this point, bundling the referendum as one single question risks failure of all of the projects – all would be “have-nots”. Given the growing unpopularity of the PAC center on the referendum, they are risking having reasonable projects sacrificed as well.

In addition, one has to question the objectivity and fairness of the Board in its decision to go forward with constructing a PAC center and keep it bundled with the other projects in the referendum, when, during the first public referendum meeting, one of the members of the Board of Education, using a personal cell phone from the auditorium stage, snaps a photograph of a small group of supporters called “Encore!” holding up blue “Thank You” signs. Encore!’s singular stated mission is to support the construction of a Performing Arts Center here in Chatham.

The Board should represent all groups fairly and break up the $22 million referendum into 6 separate questions to be voted on independently by the public.

If you agree, and you think you should be able to decide how your tax dollars are spent, come to the Board of Education meeting on Saturday Feb. 28 at 8:30 a.m. at the Chatham High School auditorium and let them know: break up the referendum and let the voters decide.

Sincerely,

Libby Hilsenrath

Chatham Borough

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