The Vote

After the theatrics of Thursday night, who would have believed it? On Monday night, the vote to move forward on the high school, despite the increased costs, was a resoundingly unanimous 7-0 vote. Even Alderman Michael Marchese, a long time opponent of the high school being built on the Terraces, voted in favor of the additional appropriation, acknowledging that the 57 million dollars in state reimbursements was difficult to turn down, regardless of his feelings about the location of the school.

This is not to suggest that the Aldermen gave the mayor a “speedy pass" -- nor that they should have. Numerous questions were asked of the mayor, and Alderman Van Campen expressed his concern that raising the bond authorization to $82 million would be giving the administration a credit card to spend to the limit. Katherine Craven, the Executive Director of the School Building Authority quickly put those fears to rest, explaining that the amount borrowed will be reduced by the amount provided by the state, which in this case is $57 million, leaving about $24.5 million to be financed. When the Aldermen questioned whether the city could actually afford to build the high school, while at the same time undertake other capital projects, the mayor conceded that the budgets will be tight, but that capital planning for future projects were was already in place.

The meeting Monday evening was also not without its grandstanding, but the resounding message was this -- it was time for the City Council and the Administration to work together to see the building of a new high school become a reality. For too long it's been about wounded egos -- who didn't invite whom to the dance -- but in the end it was good to see political adversaries come together for the betterment of the community and the future of our children.

The groundbreaking ceremony is expected to be held some time next week.