Letter: Your Vote Counts ‒ in the 2013 Election

The following letter to the editors comes to us from Richard Gideon. –Tom

If the past is prelude to the future, approximately 75% of registered Mt. Lebanon voters will go to the polls this coming election day, 6 November 2012. Presidential elections always seem to draw the biggest crowds, as a study of election data freely available on the Allegheny County web site will attest. "Your vote counts," we are told, and that phrase is pounded into us from elementary school and beyond. But in a recent article in REASON magazine entitled "Your Vote Doesn't Count," managing editor Katherine Mangu-Ward writes, "In a 2012 Economic Inquiry article, Columbia University political scientist Andrew Gelman, statistician Nate Silver, and University of California, Berkeley, economist Aaron Edlin use poll results from the 2008 election cycle to calculate that the chance of a randomly selected vote determining the outcome of a presidential election is about one in 60 million." Clearly, the odds of any one person's vote affecting the outcome of this year's presidential race is just north of zero.

But there is an election wherein each individual's vote is more important by several orders of magnitude; the 2013 so-called "off-year" elections. Up for grabs in Mt. Lebanon are the commission seats of Matt Kluck (Ward 2) and David Brumfield (Ward 4), and the Mt. Lebanon School Board "at large" positions currently held by Josephine Posti, Dale Ostergaard, Mary Birks, and Daniel Remely.

In many respects, these local elections are more important to the fiscal well-being of Mt. Lebanon residents than what may happen at the Federal level. Although one should not downplay the effects of Obamacare and other taxes that will begin to hit us in 2013, local property taxes, fees, and intrusions into individual liberty are often more pernicious at the local level because the people who exact such tribute are closer at hand, and sometimes more intimidating. But the history of off-year elections reveals a foolish consistency; that being a low turnout at the polls. In 2011, for example, 36.51% of eligible Mt. Lebanon residents bothered to vote. In 2010 that number increased to 57.4% due to a U.S. Senate race, and in 2009 ‒ another "off-year" ‒ it was 29.2%.

Although there has been no formal effort to discover the reason for this situation as it applies to Mt. Lebanon, it certainly is not an uncommon circumstance across the nation; a quick Internet search for "turnout in off-year elections" shows this to be a common complaint from sea to shining sea. Reasons given nationally vary from "not important" to "no choice" to "what's the use?". Locally in 2011 the "no choice" lament may have had some validity. Despite an eleventh hour bid by a handful of write-in candidates, Mt. Lebanon voters were given almost no choice in the school board election, as the majority of candidates cross-filed on both "major" party labels and ran on "platforms" virtually indistinguishable from one another. (It was suggested to me by a Blog poster that Mt. Lebanon residents who do not vote in off-year elections are satisfied with the candidates who are elected by those residents who do vote, and therefore don't feel that it is necessary to go to the polls! Not only is this totally illogical, but it assumes that the majority of Mt. Lebanon voters trust a small vanguard of people to make their decisions for them ‒ an insult to anyone with a mind.)

Mt. Lebanon residents should not "sit out" off year elections, as those who govern us locally set the fees for residency in "Club Lebo." In 2011 a local family with a median income of $75,000 and owning a house assessed at $225,200 paid 9.43% of its income for property taxes to the Mt. Lebanon School District and the Mt. Lebanon Municipality. This is on top of the 1.3% Earned Income Tax that is unevenly split between the Municipality and the District, and does not count County, State, and Federal taxes.

If local residents do in fact believe that they have little to choose from in the way of candidates then it is time to change that situation. What is wanting are viable, young, candidates for the Commission and the District who are completely independent of the two major political parties. Perhaps once we have a slate of actual choices the voters may come out of their heavily taxed homes to cast an intelligent vote during an "off-year" race. Mt. Lebanon residents deserve "choice" at all levels in their lives. If the same people run again and are reelected then so be it, but it should not be because there were no other options on the ballot.

There is a "perfect storm" of debt coming due in this country. Mt. Lebanon residents should not think that their little six square mile village will not be affected by it, thus leaving the people who comprise the local municipal and school district governments free to spend as they see fit. The Municipality and District are both in debt, and while they may be manageable debts now they aren't the only bills being laid at the feet of the local taxpayer. It would be refreshing to see some local candidates in 2013 who understand this basic premise.

P-G: A Walk Will Reveal Much

The following is a letter to the editor written by Mt. Lebanon resident Joann Doran to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

For those who think that Mt. Lebanon is not changing, all they have to do is get out of their cars, remove their blinders and take a walk. Crumbling sidewalks, litter strewn areas, dog droppings left for others to clean up, slum landlords who allow their rentals to disintegrate and residents who no longer take pride in the appearance of their property are problems creeping into this once pristine community.

Read the full article:

• www.post-gazette.com/pg/11293/1183288-55.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Letter: When will we take responsibility for rebuilding Mt. Lebanon?

The following is a letter to the editors of Blog-Lebo. It comes from reader, commenter, and frequent letter-writer John Kendrick. —Tom

To the Community of Mt Lebanon,

As I read the threads on this Blog I have asked myself, “At what point will our generation assume responsibility and begin the hard work that is needed to rebuild what was once a great community?” We were given a great treasure from our predecessors, but our generation has not maintained this gift, and all that I have heard is a recurring theme of provisions and entitlements. Who is going to pay for this list of endless demands? Who is going to pay to maintain the resources that we already have? Who is going to repair our streets, our sidewalks, and our dysfunctional school system?

I hope that all of you will consider these questions, because our future, and the future of your children will be determined by the decisions that we are making today.

Sincerely,
John David Kendrick
Mt. Lebanon, PA

Letter: Posti Didn't Plagiarize

The following letter to the editors of Blog-Lebo comes from reader and frequent commenter David Brown. –Tom

The people who are fomenting the moral panic du jour and condemning Ms. Posti for supposed plagiarism are engaging in a form of deceit that I call context switching. Context switching occurs when someone discusses the morality of an action or truth of a statement in one context and continues discussing it in the same manner while silently changing the context and hoping no one will notice.

Plagiarism is obviously an egregious offense in the contexts of academia and journalism. In those contexts, the reader has an expectation of originality, and is justifiably outraged when that trust turns out to have been misplaced. In business, technical writing, and many other contexts, not so much -- the expectation of originality is much diminished if not entirely absent. In those contexts, there is much to be gained by both the writer and the reader by repeating passages verbatim. The emphasis is on communicating ideas clearly and accurately and not on the writer. In those contexts, gratuitously adding variations to the wording out of a misguided sense of integrity just invites confusion and wastes the reader's time as they parse back and forth to see if the meaning is the same. Ms. Posti's critics are judging her by academic and journalistic standards when those contexts are only at most tangentially related to the context in which she wrote.

I view Ms. Posti's role on the school board as a business position. It's true that this is the business of schooling, but she is not a student, not a teacher, and not a researcher. Therefore, the context in which I read her writings is business communication. In that context, I care not a whit if she copied portions of her communication from other sources. She would not have used them if they did not reflect her views. So, in reading her writing, my expectation is upheld that what I am reading is her opinion. That's all I really care about. I don't view it as academic plagiarism at all.

Ms. Posti's critics also take great pains to point out that in her day job she is in public relations and deals with journalists on a regular basis. So what? First, her day job has nothing to do with our schools or her school blog. Second, I never had an expectation of originality when reading a press release. So, the relation of this issue to journalistic ethics is tenuous at best, and all the people a-hootin' an' a-hollerin' as if this is a direct hit on her integrity merely betray their inability to make subtle but very important distinctions.

Furthermore, on a limited scanning of the sources that were copied, I get the distinct impression that they were created specifically to share the information therein. They seem to have been placed on the web by advocates of certain positions as talking points for the very purpose of furthering those positions. I don't think those organizations would feel victimized at all, but rather gratified that their work is being put to the use they intended.

People would also do well to remember that Ms. Posti's blog is a voluntary action over and above her duties as a school board member. Anything she puts up there is a gift to all of us. It is a positive action for transparency. Yes, sources should have been cited, and yes, some of it was clearly copied en masse, so a "tut tut" is in order:

Tut, tut, Ms. Posti!

But that's all you'll get from me.

I would be willing to bet that Ms. Posti has less free time than anyone I know, and I for one am glad that she got the information out quickly so she could spend more time on all her other duties of a board member, professional, wife, and mother. I don't think she was trying to take credit for authorship. I think she was just trying to do her best to channel some important information she felt we needed to know and try not to have to stay up all night.

David Brown

Letter: Re-thinking the McNeilly property

The following is a letter to the editors of Blog-Lebo. It comes from Richard Gideon. —Tom

Gentlemen:

Over the past several days I have had a spirited exchange of E-mail messages with four of the five members of the Mt. Lebanon Commission concerning the municipality's role in providing entertainment to its residents in general, and McNeilly Park in particular. The majority of these conversations have been with Mr. Miller, who has provided me with some interesting background on the McNeilly property. While I don't agree with Mr. Miller on all subjects, he has been a real gentleman and I am happy to say so publicly.

I would like to address two points that keep coming up from various members of the Commission: 1)parks (and other “facilities”) attract new, younger residents into Mt. Lebanon, and 2)parks increase property values.

As to the first point Commissioner VanKirk writes, “In order to stay a viable community, we have to have the facilities that attract young families. These families, who buy homes, pay taxes, and use local businesses are the future of Mt. Lebanon.” There is certainly some truth to this, but why is it necessary for the municipality to own “the facilities that attract young families?” I adduce the town of Sandy Springs, Georgia, which since 2005 has managed to outsource and privatize almost everything except police and fire service. (Believe it or not, Chicago has privatized some of its ROADS.) In this current economic climate how many young families are flocking to Mt. Lebanon because of our parks and recreation facilities? Is there a study available to prove this? Of course, McNeilly Park is a strange situation, given that it cannot be sold and was acquired without an access road. Which leads me to discuss the more interesting second point.

“McNeilly Park...will increase property values.”

Who benefits from increased property values? This is not as strange a question as it might seem. The first and most immediate beneficiaries are Mt. Lebanon and the Mt. Lebanon School District. It is in the special interest of those who derive income from local taxes to keep property values as high as possible – higher property values mean higher taxes; higher taxes translate into more money for teachers and municipal employees at contract renewal time. It also means more money for infrastructure repairs and upgrades. The second beneficiaries are property owners – with some very strict qualifications. It needs to be pointed out that an increase in property value is not immediately accessible to the property owner! You only access the “equity” in a home if you a)take a loan out for it (go into debt), or b)sell it. But does the McNeilly property necessarily mean increased property values? The answer is alluded to, ironically enough, in a National Parks Service white paper entitled “Economic Impacts of Protecting Rivers, Trails, and Greenway Corridors.” On page 15 NPS states the following (I retained government spelling): “The effect on property values of a location near a park or open space has been the subject of several studies. Statistical analyses have been a common method of attempting to measure this effect. These analyses attempt to isolate the effect of open space from other variables which can affect property values, such as age, square footage, and condition of homes. Isolating the effect of open space can be difficult and results have been varied. Nevertheless, many studies have revealed increases in property values in instances where the property is located near or adjacent to open spaces. Most studies have addressed traditional parks or greenbelts (large open space areas), though a few studies are available for greenways.” Then on page 4 we have the following: “The effects of proximity to open space may not be as simply quantified as in the above studies. Many studies (Brown and Connelly; Colwell, 1986) have found the potential for an increase in property value depends upon the characteristics of the open space and the orientation of surrounding properties. Property value increases are likely to be highest near those greenways which: 1) highlight open space rather than highly developed facilities; 2) have limited vehicular access, but some recreational access; 3) have effective maintenance and security.”

The bottom line, according to the National Parks Service, is that homeowners living withing 3200 feet of a park with quiet, open spaces, walking trails, benches, and maybe a bike path are more likely to experience increase property values. Conversely, property owners living within 3200 feet of a “nuisance” park – described as a highly developed property – could expect a decrease in the value of their properties, with the amount of decrease assuaged by distance from the park.

As one might expect, the National Parks Service is a huge supporter of parks and is a cheerleader for parks as a means of increasing property values. But, to their credit, they do note that not all parks are good things; and they say so.

Baseball fields and concession stands aside, perhaps Mt. Lebanon should re-think how best to use the McNeilly property.

Richard Gideon

Letter: Incumbent school directors should resign

Steve Diaz wrote the following letter to editors of Blog-Lebo. —Ed.

To the Editor:

Re: High School Renovation and the Election

The results of the election this week confirm that despite the continuing use of nasty personal attacks and gang mentality by the incumbents, an open, honest evaluation of the high school renovation fiasco necessarily reveals a sloppy, inadequate, and prejudged rush through a complex project with no regard for the facts or legitimate public concerns. How embarrassing for the “officially” endorsed Republican candidates that an outsider, James Cannon, outpolled all of them, and the Democrat cross-filers as well. He beat all comers, incumbent and newbies, by a significant statistical margin. In the general election he has every opportunity to garner the top final vote, which should, by any fair and reasonable measure, make him the next president of the Mt. Lebanon school board.

The article in the Post-Gazette today underscores why James Cannon is so popular. First, the incumbent “officially endorsed” candidates are scrambling to do a complete volte-face. Mr. Kubit and Mr. Remely are quoted to the effect that many of the project elements as to which they articulated absolute support and commitment, such as renovations for the high school theatre and LEEDS certification, now are stated by these board members to be either not as economically viable or productive as they previously claimed without doubt (see the infamous flyer mailed to us by them at our own tax-paid expense). In fact, if they addressed such matters as seats and sound system in the theatre and other items of deferred maintenance (such as wiring or wireless upgrades and disability access), they would not need to spend anywhere near the scope of their planned project budget.

Second, they omit to mention how throughout the Act 34 public hearing process, these two, and indeed all of the incumbent school board members (save Mr. Fraasch, whom they bullied unmercifully), opposed and ridiculed ANY criticism of the plan that produced the calamitous bid results. Specifically, Mr. Kubit, Ms. Capucci and all the then incumbents who now seek re-election, loudly and consistently accused those who raised similar and other points of concern of “being against the children” and “not understanding” the needs they “had” to address. Who doesn’t seem to understand now?

Third, in an unbelievable exercise of hubris, the school board members yet seek to salvage as much of their discredited approach to school maintenance as possible (see the Post-Gazette this morning). Even now, after the petition of “The 4,000,” after the disastrous bidding, and after a primary election in which an outsider opposed to the program out-polled all the incumbents he opposed on the ballot, the board persists as if only some cutting and trimming will salvage their ill-conceived, vain, and wasteful project. We are supposed to accept that the “irreducible minimum renovation” can now somehow be reformed by the same clueless gang-that-couldn’t-shoot-straight in the first place. Pardon my candor, but I find it unlikely to be so.

Moreover, the school board persists in planning a high school renovation in a vacuum, pretending we do not also have a major, as yet unquantified, teacher pension funding obligation that will likely easily compete with or exceed the proposed cost of the White Elephant project the school board will not give up. The school board has given no accounting of how we will pay for both their grandiose spending on unnecessarily monumental building schemes and for the promised labor benefits we offered to secure the best teaching faculty possible. This from a school board that had done nothing to support the scholastic program even as our academic performance and standing has continuously and seriously deteriorated.

Finally, I object to the lack of accountability and responsibility. Why do none of the incumbents apologize to the opponents they savaged during prior public debate as they now proceed to incorporate many of the very suggestions the opposition offered before the project was finalized? Why do the incumbents, who were so strident in their “leadership” before, not accept any personal fault for the decisions they themselves made? It’s all well and good to blame the consultants, but who hired them and who took their advice while refusing to consider any criticism? The incumbent members of the school board had a clear field and made the policy choices that followed their own judgment, in the face of strong community opposition. Why does the school board fail to meet the No.1 priority of arresting and turning around our slipping academic program and why do they fail to accept any responsibility for it ? They don’t even talk about the academic record, let alone campaign on it. Now that the numbers are in, it is time for the same power brokers who want to lord it over this community by raising our taxes to unsustainable levels, to take “credit” for what they have “achieved.”

It is not good enough for failed decision makers to just posture a cosmetic change of direction. They must admit their failures and take responsibility for them. The members of the school board need to be adult enough to accept the failure of their policy and of their policy making process. It is time to step aside and let new leadership clean up. Not only those incumbents on the ballot, but the entire incumbent school board should resign to demonstrate good faith in their promise to look after the best interests of this community. As things stand now, no one has gained anything under the guidance of this school board; the only responsible course of action for them now is to go, not to sit tight and make new promises they can’t keep (or if they do “keep” them by whatever means, only spend us into oblivion when the bill comes due on the teacher pension fund).

Respectfully,

Steve Diaz
Mt. Lebanon

Letter: School-board candidate James Edmund Cannon on recent events

The following is a letter to the editors from school-board candidate James Edmund Cannon. —Ed.

I recently became aware of an email with attachments circulating in our community regarding my school board campaign. They level accusations and impugn my integrity. Here are the facts:

On May 5th, my treasurer, Charlotte Stephenson, sat at the desk of the Allegheny County Elections Division and completed an expense report, as required by law. She asked if there were any other forms to complete and was told no. The following Wednesday, May 11, I received in the mail a letter from the County stating I was late filing my expense report and would be fined $20.00 a day. I obtained a blank copy of said form, left work, signed the form and had it notarized, then personally handed it to the clerk in the Elections office along with a check for $80.00. If one were to actually examine the publicly available information, one would note I still have not reimbursed myself to the tune of $329.56.

Having never run for office, I was not aware of the requirement to fill out a separate but duplicate copy of the expense report. And once it was brought to my attention, I corrected it. In the end, I take full responsibility. It was what we in the real world call an innocent mistake. It hardly rises to the level of a scandal. Yet some in our community seek to use this as political fodder two days before an election. It is silly, desperate, and far below the standards I expect from sitting elected board members.

Recent letters written by Lisa Borelli Dorn and Mary Birks, Board Director, and being circulated by Mary Birks, include the following statements:

It leaves the voter in the uncomfortable position of having to wonder who is backing this candidate and what is their agenda? … Cannon’s yard signs claim transparency, integrity and fiscal responsibility. Unfortunately, by either failing to know what was required or perhaps ignoring it for whatever reason, this candidate falls short on those hallmarks. As a veteran, James Cannon deserves our respect, but on May 17, he does not deserve our vote. [From letter by Lisa Borrelli Dorn]

And Mary Birks, sitting board member, is openly rallying for other candidates? For example, in Mary’s own words, she states

Only 5 candidates made certain to have all of their campaign forms completed on time and correctly, as well as turning in their individual candidate finance forms, as required by law: Cappucci, Cooper, Lebowitz, Kubit and Goldman.

And

Only 5 candidates value a representative government system, and expect to be held to a standard set forth by its citizenry: Cappucci, Cooper, Lebowitz, Kubit and Goldman.

It’s sickening and epitomizes the unethical sheen of modern day politics. I am profoundly disappointed with the behavior of a sitting school board director, and her actions are telling. They are also reflective of all that is wrong with the current board. The lack of integrity and honesty on the part of Mrs. Birks, and the other board members who are as complicit by remaining silent, only underscore the reasons behind my campaign. Our system is broken and I want to start fixing it. We have a sitting board member sending email from her personal e-mail account in an attempt to damage someone else's campaign.

I've seen firsthand the result on a society of tiny, petty individuals with only a minuscule dose of power operating unchecked and unaccountable. Dictators and despots throughout the world capitalize on apathy and fear. Well, I possess neither. I want to do what’s right for our community. This missive illustrates my desire to do so. And this, friends, is what transparency is all about.

Our current board does not want a dissenting voice, a different opinion or even input from the community – the very community supplying the money for the school district’s budget. That’s clear based on the email from Mrs. Birks. It’s akin to putting your paycheck in a bank only to be told a week later by the teller that you’re buying a new boat whether you want one or not.

I won’t spend much time or energy pointing out she tried the same thing with previous candidates only to be shrugged off. But this entire issue should have a chilling effect on voters since we have school board members who actually feel emboldened enough to act this way with no fear of repercussion.

The bigger issue is, as I’ve pointed out during my campaign, the Board’s priorities. Obviously the current directors are solely focused on the renovation. Again, that’s disappointing. The focus should be on academics. I’ve said as much and intend to make that my number-one goal should I be elected.

I look at the board as a volunteer position, one designed to help the community and a position free from partisanship. Unfortunately, objectivity and the focus on children has been relegated to the back burner in favor of pursuing an ever-ambitious and costly high school construction project. I see the current Board’s attitude as dismissive and destructive and hope that my presence on the Board will start to turn that attitude around to be more accepting of dissenting voices.

I am running a campaign based on transparency and am showing that here today by admitting that my campaign made a mistake. This type of humility is sadly missing from the current board.

On May 17th our community will decide whether we want to be bullied and cower in fear or take back control from an out-of-control local entity and reestablish open, representative government. I have faith that my fellow Mt. Lebanon residents will choose correctly.

Thank you for your attention.

James Edmund Cannon
Candidate for Mt. Lebanon School Board

Attachments

• Birks’s Election day letter.doc
• Dorn Letter to the editor.doc

Letter: Thank you for allowing me to be heard

The following letter comes from reader and frequent commenter John Kendrick. —Ed.

To the editors of Blog-Lebo:

Newly formed communication channels have radically changed the political landscape. Whether we are watching changes at the national level or even in our small community, we have seen a profound change in political communications as the Internet assimilates into our lives.

In Mt. Lebanon, we have three channels that target community news: (1) MtL, a municipal publication; (2) your website [Blog-Lebo] that publishes public opinion; and (3) another website that promotes an alternative interpretation of community events. My purpose in writing to you is to thank you publicly for permitting me to express my views on your website. Whether or not you agreed with my views, you let me be heard.

Not every channel of communication in our community permits a free and open exchange of ideas. Sadly, while you have openly embraced a policy not to censor, others openly censor – even if the reason is capricious.

The question in my mind is, “If my views are censored, how many others are not being heard?” Which leads to the next question, “How credible is the information provided from a channel that censors?”

Again, I want to publicly thank Tom Moertel and Joe Polk for never censoring a single post that I submitted. I know when I read the information on this site that those who chose to express their opinions are given that opportunity. The fact that everyone can be heard makes me feel that the information that I read on this site is credible.

This is something that everyone needs to think about very carefully as they make a decision about how our community will be governed in the years ahead. Do we want transparency and an open exchange or ideas, or do we want to select candidates who stifle free speech?

Sincerely,
John David Kendrick
Mt. Lebanon, PA

Letter: Have We Been Hijacked?

The following letter to the editor was submitted by Robert Gardener:

Dear Neighbors,

Election time is here again. Included on your ballot this year will be five openings for new School Board members and 3 openings for Commissioners.

Early this year I reached out to residents who I believed would make strong candidates. Far too often potential candidates said they were interested, but they were not willing to risk the ridicule that came with public office. They were not willing to have their spouses, their coworkers, and their children hear their intelligence, ability, and (worst of all) their integrity being questioned with the vehemence we have seen over the past year. They were willing to work hard and undergo public scrutiny, but they were not willing to have their character assaulted.

The reaction of these potential candidates leads me to these questions: Are the best possible candidates heeding the call to public service, or is the field stunted by the super-charged rhetoric that we’ve now come to expect? Are the few residents that often drive this rhetoric making Mt Lebanon a better place to live? Or are they hijacking the discussion and in doing so, suppressing the wider view the community could be offered if the field of candidates was broader? I believe the latter.

A fresh example of this hijacking came to light this week. Elaine Gillen, candidate for Commissioner in Ward 3, has served her potential General Election opponent, Kristen Linfante, with legal papers challenging the authenticity of the signatures on Ms Linfante’s nominating petition…including a challenge to the signatures of Ms Linfante’s CAMPAIGN MANAGER and her HUSBAND. Obviously, this is a calculated attempt by one candidate to distract another candidate. It is a cynical attempt to keep a candidate from having the time and resources (Ms Linfante will have to pay a lawyer to represent her in court against this frivolous charge) to reach out to voters…to reach out to us. (Full disclosure: I am a supporter of Kristen Linfante).

This is by no means a call to limit Free Speech. It is, instead, a call to Speak Up. A call for the community to reject the nay-saying negativity of a few residents with the same vehemence with which they have foisted it upon us. Go to a meeting. Write to a blog. Write a letter. Demand that our candidates offer positions on issues so that we know what they stand for, not just what they are against. Most importantly…VOTE.

Sincerely

Rob Gardner

Letter: To Pay for Government Spending, Mt. Lebanon Should Boost Real Estate Values

In the following letter to Blog-Lebo, reader and frequent commenter John Kendrick offers an interesting analysis of Mt. Lebanon real estate. He argues that Mt. Lebanon ought to raise the value of its homes if it is to pay for its government’s spending habits:

To the Editors of Blog-Lebo:

Below are a histogram and descriptive statistics of all residential assessed property values in Mt. Lebanon. The data was generated on January 4, 2010. I would like to leave the interpretation of the data to the readers, but I would like to point out that:

1. The statistical distribution is not normally distributed (i.e., does not follow a normal curve);
   
2. We are 95% certain that the true mean of the population is between $164,021 and $167,283;
   
3. We are 95% certain that the true median of the population is between $144,500 and $147,000.
   

My personal opinion is that our community cannot absorb the tax burden to pay for the looming school district and municipal expenditures. Therefore, we will need to enact economic development policies that will increase property values. I would like to know what the community would like to suggest, and I will offer two ideas of my own. My suggestion is that we think of a ways to increase the value of Mt Lebanon real estate. These are my two ideas:

Idea 1: The School District and the Municipality enact policies and programs to move the properties that have an assessed value in the first quartile of the distribution to the fourth quartile of the distribution. One approach would be to initiate a program that would do the following:

When any person voluntarily sells a home with an assessed value less than $115,000 and the buyer agrees to tear-down the home and replace that home with a new home, then the school district will abate the property tax for 5 years. This program would be open to 50 homes per year for 5 years. In the end we would have replaced 250 homes in the first quartile with an assessed value under $115,000 with 250 homes having an assessed value over $199,600. In principle, the tax revenue from each home site would double.

Idea 2: The School District would abate the school district real estate tax for any residential homeowner over the age of 59-1/2 years. This should impact about one-third of the homes in Mt Lebanon. For many years our community has experienced “The Process” where people relocate to our community to educate their kids, and then the move upon graduation to avert the high school-district taxes. There are several aspects of this idea that appeal to me, but one is that I would expect the number of homes “coming to the market” every year to decline since the motivation to avert high taxes would disappear as the homeowners age. Basic supply and demand suggests that as the supply is curtailed then the price of the available property should increase.

Do either of these ideas appeal to the community? Would anyone else like to suggest any alternative approaches?

Sincerely,
John Kendrick

Letter: School District Lax on Safety and Honesty

Reader Pam Scott, who has been a member of both the Educational Specifications Committee and Design Advisory Committee for the high-school renovation, writes with the following letter:

Dear Blog-Lebo Editors:

Saturday afternoon I wrote a letter to the Municipal Commissioners urging them to vote “No” on the Shared Parking Agreement with the School District. The reason I asked them to vote “No” is because the District has too often shown itself to be dishonest and/or inept when it comes to managing its facilities.

The School District should change its way of thinking and just come clean with the community about the true state of the high school buildings.

Why should the Commission, parents, students, staff, or residents trust a District to properly manage such a large project when the District does the following?

1. Goes out of their way to discredit and misrepresent their relationship with Dirk Taylor. Anyone reading the papers or watching the Board meetings will be familiar with this incident.

2. Misrepresents the amount of asbestos in their buildings. For example, much talk has been made of the sprayed-on asbestos in Building C, but no mention of the same sprayed-on asbestos in Building F (see results for Sample F-07-01: “Tan, Fireproofing, Homogeneous: 4% Chrysotile [asbestos]” on page 34 of the RTK-requested document “Report of Bulk Sample Analysis for Asbestos”).

3. Cuts corners with asbestos regulations. For example, after a bucket overflowed, causing ceiling tiles to collapse into the student activities director’s office in September, the District substituted their own hodge-podge air clearance testing instead of the required-by-law air clearance testing for this asbestos-release episode. (See see SE Technologies’ log on page 4 of MTLSD RTK Request #2010-84.) This is dishonest and/or inept. (Under the asbestos-in-schools regulations (AHERA) that have been in place since the 1980s, a major fiber-release episode consists of the falling or dislodging of more than three square or linear feet of friable asbestos-containing material. If these episodes are less than 160 square feet or 260 linear feet or less, air clearance for these episodes may be done using the PCM method instead of TEM, but five samples are required to be properly collected and analyzed; the District merely collected and analyzed two.)

4. Makes up their own standards. The District claims to have followed the appropriate protocol with respect to radon in the high school while substituting their own hodge-podge testing instead of standard accepted protocol. The lab report they received for their “long-term test” is clearly marked “Delay between end of testing period & return to the lab may increase reported radon concentration. Consider retesting. Your Alpha Track results are valid but do not meet the EPA protocol for long term testing of 91 to 365 days.” For the District to then go out and tell staff, students. and the community that they have “followed the appropriate protocol” is dishonest and/or inept. (See the AccuStar Labs report on page 3 of MTLSD RTK Request #2010-79.) Similarly, the District regularly substituted “Modified AHERA” for genuine AHERA air clearance testing during the elementary school renovations. (See the asbestos reports which AHERA requires to be available for viewing during regular office hours at each school as well as the District’s administrative offices.)

Sincerely,
Pam Scott,
Member, High School Educational Specifications Design Committee
Member, High School Design Advisory Committee

Letter: Scott Park

The following letter to the editor was submitted by John David Kendrick:

As many of us are aware, our municipality purchased land from Scott Township that was intended to become a new Mt Lebanon park. Unfortunately, for various reasons, our land appears to be unusable for the intended purpose; and potentially worthless.

Therefore, I would like to propose that the municipality consider either one or both of these options for site development:

Option 1. The municipality enter into a long term land lease with a cellular service provider who would install, maintain, and operate a cellular radio tower and base station. In exchange, Mt Lebanon would receive an initial lump sum payment and annual lease revenue.

Most Mt Lebanon residents would not be impacted by this tower, the facility could be operated without personnel on-site, and the community would gain a valuable revenue stream. This idea worked well for Upper St Clair.

Option 2. If Mt Lebanon owns the mineral rights and there is natural gas in the shale, we should lease part of the land for drilling.

The revenue would be spent in the following order:

1. Maintenance and repair of municipal streets and sidewalks as prioritized by DPW.
2. The reduction of long-term municipal debt.
3. Investment into activities and programs that would provide improved operational efficiencies in our municipal government to ensure sustainable high quality services with a minimal impact on our taxpayers.

I would like to hear any constructive criticism or suggestions relating to this idea.

Thank you,
John Kendrick

Letter: Our Community Faces Formidable Challenges

The following letter to the editors was submitted by John David Kendrick and John Ewing:

Our community faces formidable challenges. The question is not if we need to act, but what course of action we must take. Therefore, we must continuously challenge ourselves to think of innovative ways to equitably fund both our school district and municipal government.

Many of our residents realize the tremendous role that philanthropy presents. If our community makes an investment, like the building of a new school, and uses a tax increase to finance the purchase, the tax increase has a detrimental impact on household cash flows and lowers the values of all property that is impacted by the tax increase. Alternatively, if the community makes the same purchase by seeking contributions from residents, school alumni, corporations, and foundations then the same investment is possible without raising taxes.

Mt. Lebanon has demonstrated that charitable contributions are an excellent funding alternative to tax increases. The Mt Lebanon Public Library and the Municipal Public Safety Building are both excellent examples of how private contributions helped our community to gain valuable assets with only positive impacts on our property values. We have often wondered, "Would the community have resisted the construction of the new high school project if the funding for the project came entirely from private contributions?"

The basic tools are already available to the school board to encourage voluntary contributions from alumni and other folks. We have a Directory of Alumni with contact information, we know where residents and parents live and who in the community is interested in philanthropy.

Yearbooks are available to show alumni interests during their student years. If turf is a need we can solicit those who played sports on the turf on a regular basis; if we need a swimming pool we could solicit past swimmers for donations and so forth for other sports, fine arts and club activities.

In addition we could upgrade our website to show schematic and design drawings of projects that need to be financed. The website could be expanded to include email communication among those who are supporting the school. Many colleges already have this feature so the implementation could be easily duplicated in Mt Lebanon.

After email addresses are available the Internet could be used to communicate with friends of the school. Our Athletic Director could write a weekly email to alumni and friends about the success of our athletic teams and the Superintendent could write a Message to Friends two or three times a year about the plans and successes of our District.

Professional fundraisers could be employed to solicit larger gifts and our Solicitor’s law firm could provide some basic legal advice to donors about planned giving, gifts of stocks, and bequests from estates.

The Board needs to authorize startup funds; fortunately we have the funds balance to accomplish these tasks.

So my thought is, "How can we institutionalize philanthropy to fund our municipal government and our school district?" Again, these are not a new concepts, but ones that have worked very well for US colleges and universities. Unfortunately, we have not thought about institutionalizing this process in our municipal government and our school district.

Sincerely,

John David Kendrick and John Ewing

Letter: Getting the facts straight about tomorrow's town hall

Recently on Blog-Lebo, we posted about a town-hall meeting scheduled for Saturday, 28 August, 2010 (tomorrow). We also posted about Kristen Linfante's letter questioning that meeting. Now Charlotte Stephenson, one of the meeting's organizers, writes in to rebut some claims being made about the meeting in an ongoing email campaign. —Tom


Getting the facts straight about tomorrow's town hall

To all folks who are participating in the circulation of the following e-mail, please do the right thing and circulate a correction. In what follows, I present quotations from the original e-mail followed by my corrections in italics. —Charlotte Stephenson

Hello friends,

I'm not sure if you are aware of what is going on in our community, but contrary to popular belief, there are many road blocks being put up to prevent our school renovation from moving forward.

The roadblocks are of the school district’s own doing since the project design does not comply with our municipal law.

This is a critical time for our community. Those in favor of the high school renovation project need to pull together to show their support before it is too late. We cannot afford to let another ten years go by while our school continues to fall apart and our neighbors continue to move south. Tomorrow there is a "town hall" meeting scheduled at the municipal building. I put town hall in quotes because this meeting has been offered as an invitation only event to those apparently opposed to the current plan.

This meeting is not about the high school project and the invitees are not against the current high school project. In fact, some attendees are proponents of the current project. Anyone can have a meeting and invite whomever they want, unless they violate Sunshine Law and that is not happening here.

Please see this week's Almanac editorial for details.
http://www.thealmanac.net/ALM/Story/08-25-2010-letter-Mt--Lebanon-Linfante

Please read the Post-Gazette article rather than the suggested opinion piece.

A group of concerned residents of Mt. Lebanon are joining together to get the message out that we are not going to tolerate backhanded strategies to promote propaganda in our community.

This is a private meeting intended to provide a forum for discussion about our local economy.

If you are in favor of moving forward with the school renovation project, please gather at the municipal building tomorrow at 9 AM. Even if you are not sure where you stand on the renovation project, please help us get the message across that public meetings,

This is a private, not public, meeting.

with public officials,

Most are not public officials and those who are, are not officially representing their correlating agencies.

held in a closed door venue

True, the meeting room does indeed have a door.

will not be tolerated in this community.

Please refer to our first amendment right to assemble and discuss issues which are of importance to us. The right to freedom of association is recognized as a human right, a political freedom, and a civil liberty. I would hope this right is not only tolerated, but supported!

We need as many people, of all ages, to rally in support of this cause. Please help us get the word out to as many neighbors and friends as possible!

If you are going to encourage a protest, give people the facts so they can decide if protesting our first amendment rights is really what they want to protest against. The rumor mill is in full gear and participants may end up feeling embarrassed for raising a fuss about something that does not exist.

The meeting is scheduled for 9:30 but we are meeting at 9:00 to make sure that we go over proper conduct for our gathering. Bring signs saying, "Save our School" or "Dig Now" or "Whose town is it?" or "Don't be Fooled, Build our School". Kids are encouraged to come.

Please, teach your children well and do not encourage them to be manipulated by uninformed adults and fictional causes.

Charlotte Stephenson
Mt. Lebanon

Letter: Senate Bill Would Require “Super Majority” Vote to Raise School Property Taxes

In this letter to the editors of Blog-Lebo, Sue Dixon writes about a Pennsylvania Senate bill that would require school boards to make a two-thirds majority vote before raising property taxes. —Tom


Senate Bill Would Require “Super Majority” Vote to Raise School Property Taxes

Dear Editors,

I spoke to Senator Rafferty's office today and they said this bill was sent from the Education Committee to the Appropriations committee on June 29th, 2010. Since legislators are on recess until September 20th at 1:00 p.m., nothing is happening with this bill until they return. I have found that legislators are very easy to work with and you can make changes in how your government is run through legislation. If this bill doesn't move forward before the end of November it will be unable to move forward because this will be the end of the legislation cycle for this year.

Senator Rafferty's office said that a few school board members (Senator Rafferty’s office did not say which school district the school board members were from and they could be from anywhere in the state) have contacted them saying this bill would hold their budgets hostage and they wouldn’t be able to pass budgets.

Everyone in this state should be contacting their legislator and the Senators on the Appropriations Committee to share their opinions regarding Senate Bill 553 moving forward. I have provided the Press Release, the Bill in its entirety, and the contact information for all of the Senators on the Appropriations Committee.

Sue Dixon
Mt. Lebanon

---

For Immediate Release on June 8, 2010

Senate Education Committee Approves Rafferty Measure (Senate Bill 553) Requiring Super Majority Vote to Raise School Property Taxes

The Senate Education Committee today approved legislation sponsored by Sen. John Rafferty (R-Montgomery) that would require a "super majority" vote for school boards to raise taxes.

Senate Bill 553 would amend the Public School Code to require all millage property tax increases to be approved by a two-thirds majority vote by the members elected to the board of school directors.

"Taxpayers are rightfully concerned that property taxes continue to increase, as does school spending," Rafferty said. "Many tax increases are being passed by a single vote. I believe there should be a compelling need and strong support by the board before property taxes go up."

Rafferty said his legislation would provide greater taxpayer protections and ensure that school boards of directors first seek to control spending before raising taxes.

"Taxpayers have repeatedly told us that they want a stronger say in taxing decisions," he said. "My bill will provide an added protection against tax increases because it will raise the bar when it comes to voting for an increase."

"This is an important move to rein in property tax increase and control spending," Rafferty added.

---

The exact wording of this bill follows:

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL No. 553
Session of 2009

INTRODUCED BY RAFFERTY, FERLO, BROWNE, WASHINGTON, EARLL, WAUGH, WONDERLING AND BOSCOLA, MARCH 5, 2009

REFERRED TO EDUCATION, MARCH 5, 2009 - REREFERRED TO THE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE, JUNE 29 2010

AN ACT

Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An act relating to the public school system, including certain provisions applicable as well to private and parochial schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the laws relating thereto," in school finances, providing for millage rate increase. The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1. The act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, is amended by adding a section to read:

Section 602.1. Millage Rate Increase.--The millage rate of tax in effect in each school district on the effective date of this section shall not be increased in any succeeding year unless approved by a two-thirds majority vote by members elected to the board of school directors.

Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.

---

APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

Officers
Corman, Jake , Chair
Tomlinson, Robert M., Vice Chair
Costa, Jay , Minority Chair
Stack, Michael J., Minority Vice Chair
Pileggi, Dominic, ex-officio
Mellow, Robert J., ex-officio
Scarnati, Joseph B., III, ex-officio

Majority
Argall, David G.
Baker, Lisa
Browne, Patrick M.
Brubaker, Mike
Gordner, John R.
Greenleaf, Stewart J.
Pippy, John
Rafferty, John C., Jr.
Smucker, Lloyd K.
Vance, Patricia H.
Waugh, Michael L.
White, Mary Jo

Minority
Boscola, Lisa M.
Farnese, Jr., Lawrence M.
Logan, Sean
Musto, Raphael J.
Stout, J. Barry
Tartaglione, Christine M.
Wozniak, John N.

Letter: School District Website Reflects Poorly on the District and the Community

In this letter to the editors of Blog-Lebo, Elaine Gillen, who runs the website lebocitizens.com, argues that our school district is neglecting its online presence, for all to see. —Tom

School District Website Reflects Poorly on the District and the Community

For several months now, I have been asking the School District to update its website. At a June 14, 2010 school board meeting, I pointed out the deficiencies on the sadly neglected School District’s Balanced Scorecard, the District’s five-year strategic plan. It has yet to be updated.

Starting with Dr. Timothy Steinhauer’s “Welcome to the Superintendent’s Website,” which is embarrassingly labeled “Welcome to Superintendent John Allison's Web Pages,” Dr. Steinhauer encourages us to take a look at the website. The goal, we are told, “is to provide visitors with useful, up-to-date information about our District.” He further suggests to visit his blog and read his latest board report. That would be December 2009.

The School Board President’s reports are a little more up to date. The last report posted had been February 15, 2010 – until I had requested an update. Now there is one from July 19, 2010.

Hang on folks, because it gets better. On the District’s home page, there have been numerous spelling errors. The latest one prompted an enlightening email exchange. When I first received Dr. Steinhauer’s response (click the “email exchange” link in the previous sentence to read it), I thought it was odd that he used the word, “Monitor.” I am being encouraged to visit it in his welcome letter, but when I check for information, I am monitoring it?

My second thought was how the District does not have spell check built in their website software. Shouldn’t we have software with spell check? Then it dawned on me. The School District doesn’t need spell check since they have taught generations of children how to spell. Yet, we get an explanation as to why there are spelling errors from time to time. As one resident said at a recent school board meeting, “I don’t want an explanation” as to why it is happening.

The School District website is available for the world to see. What an embarrassment to our community. It is a reflection of who we are. From time to time, it contains spelling errors and is in desperate need of updating. Why are we getting excuses? Why must we lower our expectations of the School District? We get out-of-date websites, lower test scores, plans that don’t meet zoning requirements, and higher taxes. And explanations.

Elaine Gillen
Mt. Lebanon

Letter: Road Signs Say the Unexpected

In this edition of Blog-Lebo Letters to the Editors, reader and frequent commenter David Brown demonstrates two things: first, that letters to the editors need not be entirely serious; and, second, that by slightly altering the context in which everyday things are interpreted, you can give them new meanings and make them say unexpected (and entertaining) things. —Tom


Road Signs Say the Unexpected

There was a sign on Scott Road in June saying road work would begin on July 7th but nothing has happened yet, giving new meaning to this sign at the entrance to Sunset Hills:



Maybe they are following the imperative on this protest sign at the other end of Scott at Washington Road:




David Brown

Letter: High School Project needs fewer contradictions, more compromise and responsibility

In the continuing evolution of Blog-Lebo Letters to the Editors, I am going to start posting selected letters individually. That way, each letter will have its own area for comments. Also, the blog's home page now offers instructions for sending a letter to the editors; they're located in the sidebar, right under the comments policy. For reference, I'll reprint them here:

If you've got something to say that doesn't belong in a comment, write a letter and email it to the editors (Joe and Tom). Use the subject "Letter to the editors." We'll select the best and post them at regular intervals. To be selected, a letter should be well written and say something new; it should be insightful, informative, or entertaining, not inflammatory. In short, it should be worth reading.

And now, on to a new letter! –Tom


The High School Project needs fewer contradictions, more compromise and responsibility

Where do I begin? It's hard to put the pen to the paper with so many thoughts running through my head. After all that has been said and done, the high school project design is now potentially being modified as indicated through the architect's recent request for the identification of delete alternates (the potential elimination of features). Now this, in spite of the many times I have heard that the current project simply must move forward as is. The question is why this new development? From anticipated opportunistic bidding environments to necessary features in the "21st century learning environment" contradiction after contradiction has surfaced and it is enough to make one's head spin.

In response to concerns being raised about the high cost of the high school renovation project back in February, one board director voted against the approval of the "spend up to $113.3 million" limit after suggesting the project should be conducted using a phased approach. The idea was to make initial improvements to the high school and, as economic conditions improved or a more certain economic climate emerged, move ahead with other projects accordingly. "It can't be done that way!" was the resounding response. Now, that very option is being put on the table as of the July 12th School Board meeting. Sworn testimony by school district representatives on March 11, 2010 as part of a variance request process, stated that (page 129/315 lines 2-8) "this was the best design to meet the needs of our students and the community" and (page 130/315 lines 1-2) "this ultimately ended up being the best design for our building". The statements were made in an effort to gain needed zoning variances. So, what has changed? If that was the best design, then what does the less than best design represent?

When I raised my concern about the high project cost many months ago, I was told by a school board director that the project would probably come in somewhere around $90 Million. I didn't believe it then based on a few assumptions; one being there would most likely be cost overruns like those which occurred during the elementary school renovation projects. I began circulating a petition in late February requesting a $75 Million cap on the high school project in an effort to prove to our board that there was little community support for their high cost plan. Weeks later when the support for the petition could no longer be denied, the same director presented "what $75 Million won't buy" at a school board meeting, a slap in the faces of some 3,800 residents who signed the petition. Along with stating what reasonable spending wouldn't buy was the minimization of project costs to the taxpayers – a mere $18 per month. The recent whopping 10.5% tax increase which only supports the initial $75 million bond issue raised my school district taxes $68.58 per month or $823.04 annually. That's more than the cost of the extra refrigerator running in my basement, a frequently employed analogy.

There has to be a solution that we can all live with and it is unfortunate the divisiveness the situation has caused over time. The way things are going folks in any of the camps are not going to be happy with the outcome, especially with the new approach of "what $113.3 Million won't buy either". The Mt. Lebanon Board of School Directors, also members of this community, owes it to everyone to find a solution which demonstrates compromise, fiscal responsibility and respect for our municipal law.

Charlotte Stephenson

New: Letters to the Editors!

I have always thought of Blog-Lebo as an electronic, home-town newspaper. One thing our newspaper has lacked, however, is a regular space for letters to the editors. No longer. Today, I am delighted to introduce Blog-Lebo Letters to the Editors!

Here's how it works. If you've got something to say that doesn't belong in a comment, write up a well-argued letter and email it to Joe and me. Use the subject "Letter to the editors." We'll collect the best and post them at regular intervals.

Not every letter will get posted. We'll pick and choose, just like any other newspaper would. To be selected, a letter should be well written and say something new; it should be insightful, informative, or entertaining, not inflammatory. In short, it should be worth reading.

If we pick your letter, we'll make up a title for it and publish it in the next Letters to the Editors post. We'll do the posts weekly or bi-weekly, depending on the volume of letters we receive.

And that's Blog-Lebo Letters to the Editors.

To get things started, we offer the following letter that we received yesterday.


Presentation offers glimpse into the “one-sided” thinking behind the high-school plan

On May 6, 2010, school board member Elaine Cappucci and Thomas Celli, architect made a joint presentation on “21stCentury School Design Promoting Entrepreneurial Education” at the Pennsylvania School Board Association School Design and Construction Conference in Lancaster. You can review the content of their presentation here:

http://www.psba.org/workshops/school-construction-conference/learning-journal-online/21st-Century-School-Design-Entrepreneurial-Education.pdf

The presentation, intended to advance the notion that architectural design is shaping the 21st learning environment, gave me insight relative to the current high school renovation design because the Mt. Lebanon High School design is included as a solution to the presented learning theories. As an opponent of the high cost $113 million renovation, I finally have a glimpse of the reasoning behind the renovation plan’s design features.

Having taught dry information technology courses at the college level for eleven years, I would never promote myself as an “educator”, but when I see charts like “Right Brainers Will Rule the Future” on page 5 I run the other way. The picture shows uninteresting robot-like workers in their prison-like cubicles in contrast to the colorful creative world of the glorious right brainers. (Notice some of the left brainers escaping to right brain.) What in the world will happen to our Mt. Lebanon graduates when they step into the realm of the left brained working life or the order-taking number crunching masses? Oh dear, the bubble is about to grow even larger! My students may have eventually unleashed their entrepreneurial vision, but without grinding through the uninteresting mechanics of how to first turn on the computer and develop proficiency in utilizing software application tools, they could have not reached the level of technological exploitation necessary to drive new solutions.

So, what are we trying to accomplish with the new high school and is there enough balance in supporting both necessary traditional education with creativity? Why are many of the pictures included in the presentation from higher educational institutions? Are we not to prepare our students with a strong foundation which can be built upon as they pursue further education where the path to learning explodes into infinite possibilities? I may not be able to espouse all the psychological theories of learning, including Howard Gardner’s theories in “Five Minds for the Future” on page 4, but I do know that we need to adequately prepare the next generation to meet the challenges of our world. Perhaps the right brain has been working overtime here considering the design is not in compliance with our real Lebo world municipal regulations on various levels. Perhaps one of those nerds on the left side would have caught the errors while performing the mundane task of comparing the design with our current zoning regulations.

Consider reading the following essay for another perspective on education:

http://www.aft.org/pdfs/americaneducator/spring2010/Senechal.pdf

Charlotte Stephenson
Mt. Lebanon

A Student's View On School Project

NOTE: The following is a letter to the editor written by Steve Metz, a junior at Mt. Lebanon High School

The debate over the Mt. Lebanon High School renovation project has raged for several months, and the entire project has been in existence for several years, but not once has anyone ever asked my opinion.

As a student at Mt. Lebanon High School, I am offended. The school board's opinion that facilities at the school are detrimental to our learning reveal the elitist opinion of the school board attempting to tell me and other students the best environment for us to learn in without even asking our opinions.

There are obvious concerns about the asbestos in the building, but these concerns have existed for more than a decade. Why didn't the school board ameliorate this situation when it first arose? Instead, they let students and teachers be exposed to asbestos on a daily basis while they debate the importance of a several million dollar skywalk.

Is the building cold sometimes? Sure, but unlike certain members of the community, I am willing to make sacrifices so taxes don't have to increase.

Even though the school board hasn't asked my opinion, here it is: I'll put my jacket on if you get the asbestos out of the building without spending $135 million and raising taxes.

Stop advocating the importance of a several million dollar skywalk while surrounding communities can barely afford computers.

Read more: www.post-gazette.com/pg/10084/1045413-55.stm