Open Mike Night at the Defeasement

According to peter's comments, the bond is defeased by a vote of 6-3. Please let us all in on what happened tonight.

Also, a look into how Emperor William Hellmann CPA and financial planner works with Reba Dunford.



ADDED: The BCCT had a short to-the-point factual article on the meeting.

ADDED: The Hellmann Report is now available at the MSD website

Defeasement, Part III

Like all good trilogies, the third part marks the end. Tonight, the school board will defease the bond. I expect that they will not exercise their prerogative of review and simply follow through on this, thereby fulfilling a campaign promise. It's OK if you believe that's the right thing to do. I not sure if it is right or wrong just yet. I have not seen enough review on the subject to be sure.

ADDITION: The BCCT writes about this today. Also, if you want to speak before the Emperor and Hellman's Heroes, you need to be one of the first fifteen lucky participants.

The Federal Reserve will probably be cutting the interest rates another quarter to half percent today following last week's emergency rate cut of three quarter percent. This defeasement is getting really expensive. I'd like to see the due diligence that the board performed on this defeasement, but I do not expect them to share it with the public, if they did it at all.

We're handing back $24 million dollars and keeping around $6 million, (UPDATE Jan 30, defease 23 and keep 7) according to the latest estimates. The problem is that the 2005 feasibility study suggested that renovating the high school alone was at least $13 million. Where is this extra tax money coming from when it's needed? And it will be needed.

The board is acting recklessly. They are rushing toward this in secrecy without thinking through the intended consequences, let alone the unintended ones.

Even if you generally support the new board...even if you voted against the school...even if you think (or know) that your taxes are too high...step back for a moment and think about the process. This is a one shot deal. There is no going back. Do you believe that the board has done their homework for this assignment? I do not. They need to table this resolution and consult with the money people and the public to ensure that it's done right.

Angry Al and the N-Word

The BCCT editorialises today on Angry Al.

Zero Tolerance

If Morrisville school board member Al Radosti used the N-word, as has been alleged, or if he threatened other board members, which has been alleged, he should resign.

There is no acceptable excuse and there should be no second chances given for that sort of despicable behavior. It simply cannot be tolerated from any public official. Period.

The question is: Did it happen?

As far as the N-word goes, Radosti denied it when our reporter spoke to him the day after the charge was made at a school board meeting. (Radosti did not respond during the meeting.)

The allegation came from Bucks County NAACP President John Jordan, a former Morrisville school board member. Jordan said the remark was made in front of other school board members, including former board President Sandy Gibson.

Gibson later confirmed she heard Radosti make racist statements in the past. So did former board member Johanny Manning, who said the comments she heard Radosti make were in reference to educating minorities.

School board member Joseph Kemp said he was told of Radosti using the N-word after joining the board but did not hear it said.

With regard to the alleged threats, Gibson said Radosti threatened her on Oct. 3 at an executive session of the board, meaning it was a closed-door meeting. This isn't new news. Gibson and Manning talked about the incident at a subsequent board meeting. What's new is the pair said a call was placed to 911. Police responded but the borough police chief told our reporter an incident report was not immediately available.

Kemp also said Radosti threatened him at the Oct. 3 meeting during a heated discussion about a controversial and now-defunct plan to build a new $30 million K-12 school. Kemp said Radosti wanted to fist fight.

While Gibson did not talk to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission about the alleged racist remark, as Jordan suggested, she did submit to district court a private complaint about the Oct. 3 threats. She said she has called the DA's office “repeatedly for three months” without response.

We urge the newly named district attorney to give this matter her immediate attention. If a crime was committed by a school board member, citizens have a right to know. Likewise, if it's all been overblown, Radosti deserves to have his name cleared.

In the matter of the alleged racial slurs, this appears to be an issue for the Human Relations Commission. We urge those who say they heard the remarks to back up their words with action.