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involved in politics in this county, I guess, for over twenty-five years, and by politics I don't
mean Democrat or Republican, I mean in trying to help shape and form and have some part in where
this county is going, and I cannot remember a single board of commissioners did not in some way,
shape, or form, ask for consolidation of school districts. Not because of the educational advan-
tages. I really have no way to speak to that, and I don't believe any commissioner does. Our
expertise should be in the realm of economics, tax levies, and what's best for the county as a
whole. And that's the only decision I see that we can make. If there are fallacies in the plan, it
certainly will show up at a fairly early date. And at that point it would behoove the board of
education to take such steps as necessary to make the plan work. I do believe, and I am sincerely
convinced, that it is in the best interest of the taxpayer to build school buildings where they
should be built instead of where the boundary lines happen to be. So I just wanted to make the way,
my position and the way I'm reading the resolution, that it is a living, breathing document, and it
is subject to change. And where we speak to accountability I would like to see at some point during
the year that the school board report to the board of commissioners on a yearly basis and give a
public report of how the plan is doing, what the problems are, what the justification is, and
whether or not the school building that's in the plan that is supposed to be built in Year X4 of the
plan is still needed, or whether or not a housing development has all of a sudden sprung up with 500
new homes in a different part of the county, and the building has to be changed, or the location has
to be changed. And I think that as good stewards of the tax funds for the county, it really should
be our business to make sure that is done. So I would suggest as one form of developing
accountability, not necessarily just for the school board, but for the county as a whole, and to let
the citizens know what is happening, that somehow that be made a part and parcel of what we are
doing. That is, a report be made so that it can be made public to the citizens.
SLOAN: Thank you.
MURDOCK: Mr. Bryan, when would you suggest that that be made to the commissioners? Say by
June 1st? July 1st? Set a certain date for it? _
BRYAN: I certainly think it should be made before the budget is considered, before the schools
come in to apply for the current and capital expense needs.
MURDOCK: By January 1, possibly?
BRYAN: Yes. Whatever date would suit the commissioners to fit within that framework.
SLOAN: Further discussion?
STEWART: Mr. Chairman, will we be given an opportunity to make a statement following the vote,
or would you prefer we make any statements we have relevant to this vote prior to the vote?
SLOAN: For my part, I don't really care. I would like to, before we get in real deep, I would
like to get a motion on the floor.
BRYAN: I MOVE THE RESOLUTION.
SLOAN: Thank you, Mr. Bryan. Mrs. Stewart, if you want to go ahead, now is as good a time as
any.
STEWART: The merger resolution is, I think, quite eloquent in its wording and it addresses
many areas which I support, such as better education, more equal funding and better facilities for
all of our children. I have read this document, the resolution document, many times, and have also
the merger plan, studied both oft
carefully, debated them quite often, as you understand. Both
the merger resolution and the merger plan have points in them that I can and do support
wholeheartedly, but I want to state most emphatically the reason that I cannot vote for the resolu-
tion adopting the plan for merger is the fact it does not call for a referendum or for a vote of the
people, which I think is very necessary.
SLOAN: Further comments?
MURDOCK: Yes, I have one. I have heard quite a bit about, even many of the letters that I
received, "Don't raise my taxes." And I see some of you shaking your head in agreement. Sometimes
we get messages in mysterious ways. And I want it understood, I had made up my mind before I left
my house to come up here. But as I started out my drive, some senior citizens drove in. And they
said, "Go vote for it, we don't mind paying the taxes."
HEDRICK: I guess I don't necessarily look at it as any different taxation, merged or not
merged. Within the confines of this county boundary, we have, ever how many school children we have
in there, they are our school children. We educate them; we don't educate them. The other existing
school systems add supplements to them as they see fit and necessary, and if the merger, in fact,
takes place, as I see it, the question becomes, will there be any additional funds to raise the
county's funding portion up to the city's, or will, in fact, the city's funding, by virtue being
merged into a larger mass of children, perhaps, be reduced somewhat. I think the latter is more
appropriate. I don't think it will be reduced down to the level that the county presently funds
only the county school student, but I don't think it's going to result in necessarily the amount of
money being raised on the county student to be equal to the city student. And I don't believe that
there are many capital expenditures in this plan that would be unlikely to reach us if we didn't
merge. That is to say, I think still the schools probably need remodeling, renovating. I think
probably we need to air condition the buildings that are going to be air conditioned in the plan. So
it comes back down, as Mr. Bryan pointed out, to what is the commissioners' role in assessing the
plan that.asI thinktyouteloquent y hit think
on theeheadwwhentyoufstatednthat the boards of education need