Follow the Money on the YES Vote on the $191 Million School Bond

Caption: Superintendent Steve Murley looks behind him at the crowd that showed up when special education whistleblower, former Iowa City Community School District homeless liaison Stephanie Van Housen had her last hearing in the Iowa City Community School District after she was fired. Last I heard, Van Housen still plans to sue the district. Other ICCSD whistleblowers have also lost their jobs as district superintendents have continued the "retaliatory culture" (Iowa Department of Education report on special education violations under Murley) of their predecessors.

When you follow the money on who's supporting a YES vote on the $191 million school bond, it's easy to see whose financial interests are at stake. Hint: it's not about the kids. If it were about the kids, the Revenue Purpose Statement (RPS) money would have been spent differently. Supt. Murley wouldn't have spent $75,000 on a private executive parking lot for himself and his fellow administrators at the school administration building. He wouldn't have moved his administration air conditioning unit without regard to warranty. He wouldn't have made the physical plant handicapped accessible before all of the schools and playgrounds were made handicapped accessible. Those are but a few examples. There are many more in board member Phil Hemingway's back pocket. He told me about Murley's quixotic quest to save $400 a year by spending thousands more on new equipment. I'm waiting for Phil to elaborate, but he's been busy lately.

Needless to say, I trust Supt. Murley about as far as I can throw him, especially with my money and taxpayers' money in general.

The YES vote donors are the Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce ($17,500); the University of Iowa Community Credit Union ($7,500); Hills Bank & Trust Company ($7,500); Midwest One Bank ($7,500); Hayek, Moreland, Smith, and Bergus, LLP ($2,000); Arlington Development, Inc. ($2,000); Houser Enterprises ($1,000 -- no relationship that I know of to me); Mark and Vickie Ginsberg ($1,000); Jeffrey and Michelle Disterhoft ($500); John and Penny Balmer of Plumbers Supply ($500); Mark Moen and Bobby Jett ($2,ooo); Johnson County Supervisor Rod Sullivan ($50); and so on. The total donations to the YES vote amount to $55,125.12, all in cash. Cash on hand is $42,164.13 at present.

Thinking of donating? Don't worry. The big boys have done it for you. Everyone who has an interest in building schools in cornfields, divesting farmers of their farmland and building residences near those schools in subdivisions, and expanding Iowa City away from a vibrant downtown with fewer neighborhood schools is happy to accept your money, but they have plenty, thank you very much.

Now consider how much money the NO voters have. Rumors have it that there is none. Activist Martha Hampel is beginning to collect money for that effort. I volunteered to donate this morning. First, Martha or whoever the treasurer of the group turns out to be, needs to register the group before the group can take in any donations.

I don't know about you, but I'm voting NO on the school bond. Fool me once (RPS vote), shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. It's a character issue. When the school district says, "It's all about the kids," they should mean it.