The consistent tone here in Columbus is so overpowering on this subject. We have people in office and one appointed to office by his constituents, instead of being held accountable and voted in by the people who will be paying his high salary. These people with all the noise Columbus has made still continue to ignore it and pray or hope or whatever delusion they are suffering from feel this will all go away. I believe it is obvious that this isn’t going to go away. The school board has a penny renewal soon. And they are going to play the BOO HOO; you’re not for kids if you don’t vote yes. Or, they’ll probably try to call you a terrorist if you don’t vote yes. They are so selfish they cannot just admit they were wrong or that this isn’t the best venture at this time. No, they are continuing forward and they are taking a risk and gambling with the funding for your kids education.

I’ll go ahead and say, if they even consider moving forward with this project, the school board, no, the kids will loose their penny. In order for us to even consider a penny renewal, they will have to scrap these building plans altogether. Then there are going to be some restrictions and rules. It’s time to straighten up and start acting right. Columbus will create and accept a penny renewal with the School Board Trust Stimulus Package Provision. We need to make several provisions and ensure that all member including the superintendent are held accountable to the voters. It is time we put the superintendent back on the voting ballot. In order for us to consider granting another penny, the school board will once a year plan out a budget for all spending and every dollar on it that exceeds a certain amount set forth by the community, must be voted in at years end by the people of Columbus. The amount voted in cannot be changed or amended within a certain dollar range without voter approval.

It is time we give this city back to its people. People complain and say that is too much government, and I say it is called checks and balances. It’s called holding those accountable that think they have no one to answer to. No more blank check rides for either the city or school board. Spending other people’s money is so easy, especially when there is no one to tell you how you can or can’t spend it. It’s time to shut down the corporation OPP (Other People’s Money) and bring its CEO and any other embezzling misspending board members involved to the courts of voter justice.

So, I have proposed two plans that will help earn our trust back. If you want our trust, then earn it. Until a certain period in time where we feel you can be trusted again on your own, there has to be limits. We have a tendency to not quite trust everything we hear when we are told, so, we want it in writing and we want to have our say when it comes to spending our money. We will no longer be told, “to deal with it” or “get over it” ever again. The people of Columbus want to see our city grow and succeed and we also want to see our children be given everything we can afford them when it comes to training their minds for the challenges of tomorrow. We have a recession buster stimulus plan being proposed right now in Washington to help boost the economy. Well why shouldn’t we have a Trust Booster Stimulus Plan right here in Columbus? It’s time to get Columbus moving forward, together again, and it’s time for the people’s voice to be heard in everything we build from this day forward. Marin Luther King Jr. had a wonderful dream and I have a dream of my own today. A dream, where we come together and work together deciding together what’s best for our families, our education, our futures, and our town. Working together is the only way we can change and make that dream become a reality.