Why the CUSD bond is necessary
BY JIM BISHOP
Our committee, “Yes for Chandler Students,” has been diligently making efforts to educate the public on the need for the bond measure for CUSD. As the election date rapidly approaches, I want to take this opportunity to advocate for the necessity of the bond. This bond measure will not only benefit our students by providing essential funding for additional classroom space, maintenance repairs and technology upgrades, but it will also allow the citizens of the CUSD district to invest in the community at large.
The message of the bond has been very straight forward, it is about “Buildings, Buses and Computers.” This $196 million bond will provide $80 million for additional classroom space, $54 million for maintenance and repairs on existing facilities, and $40 million for computers and buses. CUSD has not asked voters to pass a bond since 2010. This bond will cost the median homeowner less than $1 a month. Every registered voter in the CUSD district (this includes many Gilbert residents as well) received a ballot after Oct. 8. This ballot must be mailed in by Friday, Oct. 30, to ensure it is received by county elections before Tuesday, Nov. 3.
possible to buy a textbook for $75. CUSD has done an outstanding job navigating seven consecutive years of budget cuts. Despite these cuts CUSD continues to produce an outstanding product and provide educational opportunities for every student regardless of ability or need or socioeconomic standing. Passage of this bond will help encourage perspective businesses to relocate to this area. Both the Gilbert and Chandler chambers of commerce endorsed the CUSD bond. Both realize it makes financial sense to invest in education.
Top-rated Tennis Center leads list of healthy City amenities
BY MAYOR JAY TIBSHRAENY
The United States Tennis Association (USTA) recently awarded the Chandler Tennis Center its prestigious Featured Facility Award, the highest honor for any tennis facility, public or private, in the country.
Why should you vote “Yes”? The simple fact is this bond is a necessity. Arizona is now 50th in the nation in perpupil funding according to the latest U.S. census data. The majority of cuts to education have come on the capital side of the budget. The capital portion of the budget pays for new school construction, long-term maintenance and technology, or simply put, “Buildings, Buses, and Computers.” CUSD receives one-sixth of the capital funding it received in 2007. In 2007, the state funded CUSD for capital expenditures at a rate of $500 per student, in 2015, it is $75 per student. It is not even
Residents of the CUSD district have a unique opportunity to let it be known where our priorities lie. It is time we viewed the state budget as a moral document. The budget should be a direct reflection of what we as a society value and honor. No state in the nation experienced a higher percentage of education funding cuts than Arizona has over the previous seven years. Education continues to be the one major area of the Arizona budget that has not recovered to pre-recession levels. Do we really believe our community and Arizona as a whole will be competitive in attracting future business to our state when we won’t invest in the future? An Aug. 14 article in the Phoenix Business Journal detailed the story of 3,000 high-paying jobs that bypassed the Phoenix area. These 3,000 jobs paid twice the average Arizona wage. The owners of these companies stated the main reason they chose an out of state location was a deep concern for the low level of education funding in our state.
Please vote “Yes” on this crucial bond measure for CUSD. When you receive your ballot, open it, mark it “Yes” and mail it in.
Thank you, Jim Bishop Yes for Chandler Students Facebook, www.yesforchandlerstudents
Share your opinion with SanTan Sun News!
It was a true privilege to receive the award, and it exemplifies the quality of recreational facilities and amenities that cities and towns provide residents. Healthy communities mean strong communities, and it is another reason why Chandler continues to thrive.
Serving for many years as mayor and as a member of the city council, I have placed a focus on providing the best recreational amenities and programs that our budget would allow. Some of those projects include the Paseo Trail, skate park, pools, sports fields and community centers. We are also nearing a decades-old policy goal to build one neighborhood park in every residential square mile within the City.
The Tennis Center was built in 1996 during my first term as mayor and renovated last year. Located within Tumbleweed Park, the facility features 15 post-tensioned concrete courts. In addition, tiered concrete seat walls and a large hitting wall were added during the facelift. Additional landscaping was also installed. It’s a beautiful setting.
The USTA judged its award on criteria that included the overall layout
preferred submission method, to Letters@ SanTanSun.com.
and adaptation to site; excellence of court surface and lights; ease of maintenance; accommodations for players, spectators and press/officials; aesthetics; graphics (including the use of signs and landscaping); amenities such as casual seating for spectators, food services and social areas; and the facility’s participation in USTA programs. If you’ve thought about taking up the game, or want to pick up a racket again after a layoff, the Chandler Tennis Center has everything you’ll need to get in the game. Information about the center, youth, teen and adult group tennis lessons, recreational leagues, tournaments, special workshops and dropin play can be found online at www.chandleraz.gov/tennis. Providing more opportunities for residents to get out and be active gives families the chance to live healthier and more productive lives. And Chandler has done a tremendous job in providing great places to play. The Tennis Center is just one example of the amenities that allow our community to thrive.
Mayor Jay Tibshraeny’s term expires January 2019. He can be reached at jay. tibshraeny@chandleraz.gov.
Have a story idea or news tip? Know of an interesting photo opportunity? How about positive feedback or constructive comments? We’d like to hear from you. Email us at News@SanTanSun.com. We know you have an opinion! Share it with the SanTan Sun News. Please keep your Letters to the Editor around 200-300 words, or they may be edited for length. Include your first and last name, community or development name in Southern Chandler (Cooper Commons, Ocotillo, Sun Groves, etc.) or ZIP code and daytime phone number for verification. Anonymous letters are not typically accepted. Email is the
Deadline
mailing address: PO Box 23 Chandler, AZ 85244-0023
telephone: (480) 732-0250
fax: (480) 883-8714
©2015 SanTan Sun News
For News Tips, Editorial Articles, Opinion or Classifieds, email is preferred.
news email address: news@santansun.com
ads email address: ads@santansun.com
website address: www.santansun.com
All submitted Letters to the Editor and Community Commentaries become the property of the SanTan Sun News and may be reprinted in part, quoting the letters’ authors, or in their entirety. Your submission to the SanTan Sun News is considered your permission to print your written opinion. Opinions expressed in Community Commentaries, Letters to the Editor or cartoons are those of the author, and not that of the SanTan Sun News.
Proud member of the
Editorial and Advertising
12 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, 2015, for the Saturday, Nov. 7, 2015, issue 35,000
Total Circulation 27,250+ Driveways
Fifty square mile coverage area from Price/101 to Greenfield and from Frye to Hunt Highway.
publisher Steve T. Strickbine
publisher emeritus
Laurie Fagen
account executives
Tracy Walsh
Tracey Wilson
website maintained by
Susan Kovacs, n-ergizing
executive editor
Christina Fuoco-Karasinski
associate editors
Ken Abramczyk
Kenneth LaFave
writers
Julia De Simone
Shane De Grote
Michelle Talsma
Everson
Tracy House
Kyle Kercheval
Meghan McCoy
Tim Randall
Alison Stanton
Julia Strublic Krista Tillman
editors Meghan McCoy Steven Solomon
Odello
Civer
Cawley Wendi Olson
Jim Bishop. Submitted photo
Mayor Jay Tibshraeny. Submitted photo
Letters to the Editor
Vote ‘No’ in CUSD bond election
Here we are, one year after the single largest property tax increase I have ever witnessed. It was in large part due to bond and override initiatives instituted by the Chandler Unified School District. Not surprisingly, I received a pamphlet from the Chandler Unified School District for an election on Nov. 3, once again asking for a “Yes” vote for a $200 million bond initiative. This bond initiative would once again increase our property taxes by an additional $150 per year for the next 20 years based on a $250,000 assessment of your home’s value, as explained in the pamphlet.
Bob Rice, CUSD board president, was previously quoted as saying approximately half of the 60 percent
tax hike last year should be returned to the taxpayers in future years by way of lower taxes as others build near the schools.
And this was not true: “We appreciate the extra sacrifice for the children of Chandler and to those people we pledge to use the funds prudently, to provide the best education system possible and in doing so be a positive factor in attracting new businesses, more jobs, higher property values and lower future tax rates.”
I urge all of you to vote “No” prior to Nov. 3.
Bob Pascente Chandler
The editors of the SanTan Sun News are seeking residents of the Southeast Chandler community to contribute to our publication. We have been delivering the news of the area to 30,000 driveways for more than 17 years. As a writer for the SanTan Sun News you would be compensated for reporting on local stories in your community. Professional writing experience is required. If you might have an interest in joining our stable of talented community journalists, please send your resume and writing samples to Christina@SanTanSun.com.
It’s time to rethink wars and conflicts
Thanks to the Kim Davis affair for providing me the opportunity to say that I object, on religious grounds, to our country going to war for political, economic and/or ideological reasons (e.g., in Vietnam and Iraq). There was once a way to refuse to participate in such wars, viz., conscientious objection. Obviously, this method of refusal did not stop the war; millions of Vietnamese and 58,000 Americans died in this conflict. This included many of McNamara’s Project 100,000, called “the Moron Corps” by other soldiers because it was made up of recruits from urban ghettos and Southern rural back roads who had previously failed to meet the armed services’ physical and mental requirements. And then President Nixon oversaw ending the draft as an effective way to undermine the antiwar movement; he thought affluent youths might stop protesting if they did not have to fight.
As for our invasion of Iraq (without a declaration of war), I looked for ways to protest against or refuse to support or contribute to that fiasco, that colossal hoax. One idea was to buy a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and read it in its entirety. I found that, according to the criteria for determining if a war is just or unjust, the invasion of Iraq was unjust based on religious grounds. I wrote my findings to the Most Rev. Bishop Olmsted, Bishop of Phoenix, and asked him if he could on religious grounds denounce our invasion and occupation of Iraq. His reply came down to this:
The church respects the legitimate autonomy of the state and does not interfere in its activities...The church exercises an important pastoral and catechetical role.
After countless letters, including several to Sen. John McCain, and fruitless and frustrating poorly attended vigils on street corners with a candle in my hand, I asked myself, “What else can I do?” I remembered that some Vietnam protestors had said they would refuse to pay the portion of their taxes that they believed contributed to the war effort. I wonder today what ever happened to those people? What to do? Millions of Vietnamese, millions of Iraqis dead, maimed or displaced (some even tortured). Countless American youths left suffering from irreparable wounds, both physical and mental. Can I, like so many others, just refuse to think about them?
George Johnson Chandler
Fun Run/Walk. This run has an event for everyone, including a 5K or 1 Mile Run/Walk and a 100 Yard Dash, so bring your family and friends! The fun starts at 8am. Proceeds from the run benefit the Orthopedics departments at Chandler Regional and Mercy Gilbert Medical Centers, which support the Total Joint Replacement and Sports Medicine programs. Registration