I guess one of the city councilor’s mother has been popping around on different social media platforms and defending their child over their NO vote on the SOS charity. It’s not the first time I have seen her (and this person’s spouse) come to her child’s defense. Heck, they don’t even live in this state. While my mother does comment on my site, she knows I have big kid pants and can defend myself. Maybe it was all the cabbage she fed me as a child?
Either way, what bugs me the most about the situation is that first off, I find it a bit hypocritical of the RS5 to say they don’t approve of giving away around $5K because of the Enterprise fund rules when they didn’t blink an eye and set a precedent after giving $1.5 million to a PRIVATE non-profit from the entertainment tax fund, something that had NEVER been done before. But you know how it goes, when Denny says ‘JUMP’ everyone says ‘HOW HIGH’? I was against the theatre giveaway and I was against the SOS giveaway for the same reasons RULES, which leads me to the second reason why this whole thing irritates me.
The school district has the funds to do this, especially after giving large raises to administrators. In fact, one administrator got a $20K raise from 2019-2020. Ironically, if the SFSD decided to do this, it may not cost them a penny. They could easily ask companies like BIC or MEAD for donations of product they can’t sell. The program could also be anonymous, so not to embarrass the children who are asking.
While I commend the Banquet for doing this, and all the people who generously give, I think that both the city and school district are very well funded and can provide these things without a big pissing match or elected official’s parents getting involved. A pretty petty fight over some notepads and backpacks. Everyone involved needs to grow up and make this a TEACHABLE moment in compromise and consensus.
#WWTCOCD? (What would the Chief of Culture do?)
Is this the same councilor who has complained Thresa correct him was acting like his mommy?
Perhaps assisting welfare level school students is not a duty for city leadership. It seems more oriented toward the school district and/or charities. Kmart and Shopco handled most of the school supply donations. They are no longer here.
Here’s an idea:
Why doesn’t school administration donate 10% of their raises toward the Banquet fund? It would look good and they probably need the tax deduction.
Dan, the sad part is that TEACHERS often buy their students supplies out of their own pockets. Like books, I think public schools should supply the bare essentials, like pens/pencils/notebooks and binders. Funny how they can afford $400 electronic tablets but not 10 cent pencils. Go figure.
The SFSD purchases very few textbooks.
In the elementary school I worked at almost everything was done on the Smartboard, and the few times the kids did use textbooks, they had share.
I wonder what the District does with all the tax dollars they used to spend on textbooks!?