Inside New Berlin

Here is more interesting stuff about Gerald Ford.

( Oh, you won’t find this information on Matt Thomas’s Right Side of New Berlin December 28 blog update or his Dec. 29 blog posting.)

Ford disagreed with Bush about invading Iraq.

Ford would have chosen different solution for Iraq
---That was the top-of-the page headline across page 14 of the December 28, 2006 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
Below it was Bob Woodward’s Washington Post news article.

According to Woodward, Ford said in a July 2004 interview that the Iraq war was not justified---that Ford “very strongly” disagreed with the current president’s justification for invading Iraq and said he would have pushed alternatives, such as sanctions, much more vigorously.

“If I had been president, on the basis of the facts as I saw them publicly, I don’t think I would have ordered the Iraq War”
--- former President Ford.

Woodward reports that in the tape-recorded interview, Ford was critical not only of Bush but also of Vice-President Dick Cheney, and then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

The article states: “The Ford interview--- and a subsequent lengthy conversation in 2005-- took place for a future book project, although he said his comments could be published at any time after his death.”

Two of my fellow NewBerlinNow bloggers have posted blogs about Gerald Ford.
One focused on Ford’s baldness. The other blogger wrote “Ford will be remembered as a moderate public servant who helped the nation survive the aftermath of the Watergate turmoil.”

Well, Ford will likely be remembered for some other things, too.
Such as:

*He was the only US President not elected. He had not been elected to either the Presidency or Vice-Presidency.

*He was appointed Vice-President after Spiro Agnew resigned due to corruption charges.

* He became President after Richard Nixon resigned to avoid impeachment over the Watergate scandal (coverup of the burglary of Democratic National Committee headquarters)

*A month after becoming President, Ford granted Nixon a “full, free and absolute pardon for any crime he may have committed in office”.

*Frugality: He vetoed many spending bills

I was watching TV, alone in my house.
Not a creature was stirring--- except for a mouse.
It was neither pet, nor welcome guest,
That little critter, which disturbed my rest.

After making a surprise appearance and dashing past my feet,
the mouse did a disappearing act. It took quite a while to find it.

Still, it was preferable to what one of my relatives, who lives in Florida, experienced. When he opened his garage door, he found a four-foot alligator inside!

The mouse hunt reminded me of another animal search, which was conducted at our home many years ago:
Our kids had been given two gerbils. They were told both gerbils were male, but that proved to be incorrect. Soon we had ten gerbils. One night all of the gerbils escaped from their cage. We were on our hands and knees searching for them when the doorbell rang.
At the front door, were two friends, who had come to collect us for a planned dinner date. We invited them in and explained our predicament. The look on their faces, as they observed the gerbils scampering about and my family’s efforts to retrieve them, was priceless.

Fortunately, that couple possesses a sense of humor. We tease each other about the gerbil incident, from time to time.

I hope this true tale amuses you, too.

Yikes! The New Berlin Ronald Reagan Elementary School’s price tag is a whopping $18.7 million.

That’s $3.5 million higher than the maximum set by the School Board two years ago. At the August 23, 2004 Board Meeting, Matt Weiss made the motion “to approve the construction of a new Ronald Reagan Elementary School at a cost not to exceed $15,200,000.”
It passed 6-1. (By the way, Weiss refused a board member's "friendly amendment" request to split the motion. Splitting the motion would have permitted the Board to vote on constructing a school-- and its cost or name as separate issues.)

Last year, at the March 7, 2005 Board Meeting, Weiss made the motion “ to approve the balance of funding for the new Ronald Reagan Elementary School project as originally projected in the July 19, 2004 Facility Study to a total of $17, 278, 457.”
It passed 5-2.

The latest $18.7 million cost figure, which was reported in the November 28, 2006 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel is correct, according to District Business Manager Anthony Goedheer.

The New Berlin School Board closed two neighborhood elementary schools, New Berlin Center and Prospect Hill---and merged them to form the gigantic Ronald Reagan School, the district’s largest elementary school.
Prospect Hill was the District's only Blue Ribbon-awarded elementary school.

How big is Reagan Elementary? 142,000 square feet, according to the December 1 CommunityNow newspaper. It certainly dwarfs nearby New Berlin Center, which will be razed to build an athletic field.

CommunityNow also reported that there are 619 students enrolled at Reagan. Superintendent James Benfield recently told the School Board that there are some empty classrooms at the school.

The immense Reagan School has such niceties as a large lobby, wooden ceiling décor, mosaic floor tile, media center, huge gym, etc. Hmmmm. Are those "needs" or "wants"? Someone should ask the School Board to explain, if it can, how each of the amenities improves a student’s academic performance and achievement. And if building a spiffy, expensive school to honor Ronald Reagan is more important than hiring experienced teachers or fully funding textbooks and supplies.

The Reagan Elementary School makes a BIG impression.
Big school. Big cost. Big debt.

The New Berlin School Board's monthly work session- board meeting has been scheduled for December 4 (tonight). The public meeting agenda has only one district issue: "Correction of November 13, 2006 meeting minutes". Apparently, there aren't any education-related issues of sufficient importance to the School Board to publicly discuss or debate at this time.

A closed board meeting (public not allowed) re: administrators benefit program immediately follows it.
Wouldn't you like to be a fly on the wall and hear that discussion?

About administrators benefits, did you know?........

In 2003, the School Board approved an amendment to the Administrator's benefit program proposed by ---you guessed it--- administration. It reduced the time requirement from 20 to 10 years, that adminstrators must work in the district to be eligible for early retirement benefits.

After I protested the ramifications of that board action, the Board/Administration publicly claimed there was no budgetary impact. However, when I made an Open Records request for a copy of any cost analysis or cost impact study, the district responded that none had been done.
No cost impact study or analysis? How fiscally irresponsible.

Interestingly, at the January 23, 2006 Board Meeting, the School Board unanimously denied the requests for early retirement made by the Director of Student Services, and the Poplar Creek Elementary principal. Both administrators are long-time employees of the district.

At the October 23, 2006 Board Meeting, the School Board unanimously hired Key Benefit Concepts, LLC to consult with the Board regarding administrators' benefits and compensation, including post-employment benefits. The proposed fee for the project, based on project scope: $12,400- $15,550.