Trejbal: A cowardly vote undertaken in a cowardly manner
Five cowardly supervisors hold a surprise vote
Christian Trejbal
Trejbal is a Roanoke Times editorial writer based in the New River Valley.
On a 5-2 vote last week, the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors told Blacksburg to go to hell. The county will repair the town’s broken high school, but it will not replace it.
That vote received considerable attention, but it was not the most telling action of the evening.
On another vote a few minutes before, the board’s five men — Gary Creed, Doug Marrs, Bill Brown, John Muffo and James Politis — told citizens to go to hell. They executed a parliamentary pirouette that blocked discussion and rushed their despicable measure to passage.
The quintet made the wrong decision, but it was their decision to make. They weighed tax increases against the public good and chose the coward’s route. So be it.
September 19, 2010 - 7:29 PM
You said, “the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors told Blacksburg to go to hell. The county will repair the town’s broken high school, but it will not replace it.”
Please stop perpetuating the fallacy that this is a town vs. county issue. Yes, the supervisors told the town to “go to hell,” but they also told a large group of county residents the same thing. It isn’t the “town’s broken high school” it is Montgomery County’s broken high school that just happens to be located in the town limits. The attendance zone includes students from Prices Fork, McCoy, Brush Mountain, out Mt. Tabor Rd., and down to Lusters Gate and the rest of the Ellett Valley.
There is a lot of anger and frustration over this whole thing, going back to February when it happened and it was treated as less than a crisis. The frustration has grown as residents of the north end of the county have had to listen to “Blacksburg always gets what it wants,” “wait your turn,” and other comments. The lack of information about exactly what Superintendent Blackburn’s “Plan B” (repair) means as far as new gym/no gym, what the extended lifespan of the repaired school is expected to be, and if anything else will be taken care of (such as mold) is also wearing on parents. The sneaky vote hasn’t helped matters, and it has further eroded what little remaining confidence there might have been in the administration, school board, and supervisors.
This opinion or should I say, haughty editorial by Christian has my blood boiling. The rules for any contributions to this forum encourage open dialoge with out insults and name calling. And what does this so call writer do? ( I use the name writer very lightly) I find him to be outright despicable. Maybe the Roanoke Times should tell him to go to hell. Oh, are we not allowed to say that, but he can. Furthermore, some one better educate Christian, I had plenty of input to the MCBS on my concerns about the Great Blacksburg School, and didn’t have to use the New River Current to do it. So glad I don’t have to spend my money to get garbage like this delivered to my home.
While I can agree that the public should have been notified that the vote was going to take place, I don’t think a protracted debate would have changed the decision that was made. It seems that a segment of the constituents had determined that a new school was what they wanted and no other decision would have been acceptable. Either way the facts can be manipulated to fit the needs of either argument. If you say the decision was made without enough information then the same can be said if it went the other way.
When you take into account the results or lack thereof, of the Middle School debate it’s not hard to understand why the Commissioners took the action they did. A protracted debate or inaction is in the end a direction we didn’t need repeated.
I have little doubt that this school once repaired will be one of the safest on the East Coast.
Wow, Jean, why don’t you tell us what you really think?
Excellent editorial piece, Christian. Cowardly was the only word to use. I’d also add ‘irresponsible,’ as well, since they handed over a blank check with absolutely know idea how much it ultimately will be written for.
One needs to look no further than the editorial to understand why the vote was taken without further ado. After all, the “experts” have been ranting and criticizing since Feb. in their attempt to replace the school. Small wonder the BOS didn’t want to hear the insults and pettiness one more time. The latest is the price of the repairs not being a fixed price, and some have even questioned the amount of liability insurance carried by the firms involved in the repairs. Welcome to reality folks, there are no guarantees in life and the costs may rise, but they pale in comparison to the cost of a new school. Repairing the building is the prudent move (do we want another unusable structure), and will allow the students to attend their own schools sooner. All of this hooplah seems to have forgotten the students, remember them, the ones riding school buses to and from Christiansburg daily.
Hurrah to you Christian for supporting the children in Montgomery County…something the BOS is clearly not inclined to do.
Whether the recent vote was a good decision remains to be seen. But what IS clear is that the vote was premature. As I told one of the ‘gang of 5′after the vote: without a FINAL engineering report no one can know whether the building is repairable or what it will cost to do so. Less than 1/2 of the building has been inspected and nearly 1/2 of that bit has been found to be in need of repair or replacement. I’m told that the engineer leading the tour said that the building was easily repairable. REALLY? This can be stated as fact after looking at less than 1/2 the building? Did the crystal ball say so? Anyone who gave the supervisors a rosy forecast during their recent tour of BHS was irresponsible given the amount of the building yet to be evaluated and the BOS compounded the error by voting without waiting for all of the necessary information. Or did the gang of 5 only hear what they wanted to hear?
Yes, a decision needs to be made in a timely fashion but a decision CANNOT be made without a COMPLETED report from the structural engineers hired to inspect the building. Period. Whether you fear an increase in taxes, or think Blacksburg is spoiled, or support building high schools in Auburn and Blacksburg should not matter when considering whether the BOS acted prematurely. The BOS may well have more information on the topic than has been released to the public but, without a completed engineering report, they do not have nearly enough information to support their vote to repair BHS. Voting before all of the information is available is unacceptable and reason enough to vote the 5 out as soon as possible. What other decisions have they or will they make without all of the facts?
The supervisor I spoke with stated that he got 300 emails the day after the vote running 75% in support of his reprehensible action. Clearly, more people need to write to the board and let them know a mistake was made. Don’t wait until elections to send a message at the voting booth. It may be too late by then.
Fernando, I haven’t even begun to tell what I feel about this coward of a writer and what his opinion means to me. Wonder where he lives? Does he pay taxes in Montgomery County? Does he really care about the children and where they go to school? It seems to me, he wrote an article about BUILD NEW SCHOOLS, RAISE TAXES! He’s just whining because no one listened to his opinion prior to voting. I am writing the 5 members who voted NO and giving them all the prase I can for a GREAT JOB. I agree with Blue John.
You go Jean. If you read these pages mush though, you’ll get used to the hypocrisy and double standards of the RTEB. I’ve said in other threads, and I’ll say it again, BRAVO to the five members of the BOS who were courageous enough to make the financially responsible decision despite knowing that they would be ruthlessly assailed by the those who always react like spoiled children when they don’t get their way. Board member Perkins represented these folks well with her petulant tirade. I’m still waitng though for her to follow through with her threatened resignation.
The simple fact is, the BOS made the right choice. Every other local government department has been told that times are tough and they need to tighten their belts. Positions have been cut, raises have been frozen and budgets slashed across the board. Now, when faced with a massive unexpected expense and a choice between using money already in hand to effect repairs or borrowing an enormous sum of money and throwing the existing school replacement plan out the window in favor fast-tracking the simultaneous construction of multiple schools at the expense a huge tax increase, the grossly irresponsible school board chose the latter. So instead of tightening their own belt, they want to go on a spending spree and ask the tax payers to squeeze even more blood out of the turnip. Sorry Christian, you can resort to your normal tactic and call all the names you like when things don’t go your way, but they lost me when Wat Hopkins said he wouldn’t vote for it unless they included raises. Talk about capitalizing on tragedy.
The County has the money to repair BHS from a previous bond and the projected insurance money. To borrow almost nine times that amount just to fast-track a plan that is already in place (and maybe include some more raises and bonuses) would have been asinine.
Question to Jean and Blue John. Do you have children that would have to be in that building? I do and mine will not go there. I am not alone in that. There are teachers who will not go as well as students. Guess what..you think this fiasco was not considered by microsoft. You think that other businesses will not look at schools and their boards to see what kind of neighborhood they will be moving into. Jean you want to know the writers address. Why? Shoot him, Beat him up…what. You are just what we need to make other companies not come here. I know that when the dust settles our Board of Supervisors will have to change their minds about this as the repairs will amount to a rebuild anyway. They have no guts as shown by How they voted this issue.
In researching the history of the Blacksburg High School this morning you all might find it interesting to read the history of this school. It was another Board of Supervisors who dealt with a defective school in the 1970s. Funny this problem continues today. Just read the history of this school and what that history might look like in 20-30 years after the current BOS made their ill-fated decision last week.
From Blacksburg town history (Newman Library):
“In 1962 an addition to BHS was completed, but five years later, the school board started proceedings to acquire a tract of 29.497 acres on Patrick Henry Drive in Blacksburg for a new high school building. Construction on the new high school began in January 1971. When the high school was moved to this site in 1974, the Main Street facilities were converted to the Blacksburg Middle School. The new high school building, which boasted over five acres of floor space on three levels, included a 1,189-seat auditorium and a 2,000-seat gymnasium.
But a leaking roof plagued the new school, and the Montgomery County School Board filed three lawsuits, ultimately seeking a total of $1.625 million in damages. Meanwhile, the board accepted a bid of $199,400-plus another $10,833 to install a new roof joint to deflect water-to reconstruct about 70 percent of the roof. But before the work commenced, leaks damaged the school’s electrical system, forcing officials to close the school for safety reasons.
Teachers and administrators for the high school and the middle school developed a plan to shuttle 2,100 students to five sites in Blacksburg and Christiansburg and between classrooms in the high school and middle school. Some 300 sixth graders were moved into two Blacksburg churches, and eighty BHS students were transported to Christiansburg for vocational classes. Up to 400 students were transported to and from the middle school for each class period. Officials operated the emergency plan for about two weeks, when roof repairs allowed them to move two-thirds of the students back into the high school.
In 1978 the school board agreed to an out-of-court, cash settlement of more than $371,000 in its case against the architectural, contracting, supply, and insurance firms involved in the construction of the roof. But the leaks had cost the board over $560,000 in repairs, labor, materials, and other expenses.”
Let’s hope that in 20-30 years we aren’t reading the rest of the story like this…
February 15, 2010: A major catastrophe was narrowly averted when the Blacksburg High School gymnasium collapsed within hours of the school being occupied for an athletic practice. Just a few days earlier the building was filled with people attending a basketball game. A lack of ongoing building maintenance – a trend in Montgomery County schools due to the short-sightedness of county leaders – contributed to the disaster. According to early reports, engineers inspected the rest of the school and early signs looked good to reoccupy the building.
August 2010: Blacksburg HS remained closed throughout the 2010-11 school year with students attending school in nearby Christiansburg and at the new Blacksburg Middle School. Students continued to be diverted to these locations for several years as the high school was repaired.
September 2010: The Montgomery Board of Supervisors in what appeared to be a conspired vote by 5 of 7 members voted to repair the old high school rather than build a new one. That in spite of the protests of two members who recommended to wait until engineering reports were finalized and the total costs and availability of resources were known. The vote was opposed by the majority of voters and in November 2011 several of those supervisors were replaced by candidates who ran a campaign that appealed to the welfare of the community at large and the children who have put up with years of poor facilities.
September 2012: The Blacksburg High School was opened once again to students after a long drawn out period of repair and cost overruns. Although engineers estimated that the costs of repair would be under $15 million, the contractor continued to find new deficiencies with the building structure and the foundation that delayed the project and drove the cost up. The total cost of repairing the building exceeded $32 million dollars forcing the Board of Supervisors to pass a tax increase to pay for the repairs and delay plans to build two new schools in the Riner area.
September 2013: Work was completed throughout the summer to fix a series of problems at the Blacksburg HS. Cost of these changes exceeded $5 million dollars. Additional costs followed over the next few years. By the spring of 2016 costs exceeded $15 million to maintain the school and perform necessary renovations of deteriorating facilities.
December 2017 – After multiple incidents where potential employers canceled plans to locate in Montgomery County due to a lack of support for the schools, and continued citizen protests at the continuing deterioration of the local schools, the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors approved a plan by the school board to build a new Blacksburg High School on land along Price’s Fork Road at a cost of $85 million. The BOS also finally approved funding of a new Auburn HS and a renovated middle school. An original plan proposed in 2010 would have cost $124 million. But with the improved economy costs have been driven up significantly. The cost of building these facilities exceeded $200 million. Many citizens of Montgomery County were upset at the Board for passing another major tax increase within the last three years. Unfortunately, it was the Board who made the mistake in 2010 to not take advantage of a sluggish economy and build these schools then.
September 2020: The new Blacksburg HS, Auburn HS and MS were opened to students this fall after years of planning and construction.
Whether you live in Blacksburg or another part of Montgomery County (as obviously Jeff, Jean, Blue John and Chuck must), the bottom line is that know one really knows at this point the extent of repairs needed at BHS. Let’s pretend for a moment this crisis happened in your community. Wouldn’t you expect the BOS to act responsibly for the good of your children? Wouldn’t you be appalled by a premature sneaky vote? or maybe the possibility of higher taxes blinds many to the needs of others.
Mike~ From a reliable source, there are building plans that were being researched of already existing schools which would have drastically lowered the estimated $124 million. Really is ashame the process was cut short by the 5 Board of Supervisors.
The writer has it right. There was no reason they should not have waited to hear everything before making a decision. If you watch the video, clearly Joe Muffo is tired of doing his job and Bill Brown still doesnt know if he made the right decision. They might have made a legal vote but it was cowardly and they did not do the right thing!
@10,
I have nieces and a nephew that will be attending the school. I have no doubt the school situation had nothing to do with Microsoft’s decision. Years ago, Coors located elsewhere due to geologic concerns.
@12,
I have lived in Blacksburg for sixty years, and have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, and my own children who attended school here. I will have grandchildren attending these schools, can you say the same? There was nothing sneaky about the vote. Didn’t you folks realize the implications of the physical inspection by the BOS. There is nothing in the engineer’s report indicating the building is unusable, and waiting for more test results is a copout. Fix the building and get on with the program. Don’t you realize the quality of the instruction is what’s important? Tech is using the buildings where I went to elementary school for classrooms today. Read the engineer’s reports, if you understand them, the decision to rebuild is clear.
It’s interesting that many want more facts before a vote when they were calling for a new school before the current information was available. The Roanoke Times and the Montgomery County School Board were among the loudest advocates. Now that it hasn’t gone their way we need more information. If we don’t get our way we throw a TANTRUM. You can’t have it both ways. I don’t see any mention of the fact that the County has other responsibilities besides schools. I don’t see any mention of the fact that the Montgomery County School Teachers are among the lowest paid in the area.
What have new schools accomplished in Roanoke? How many new schools have been built in Salem or Radford? Did Microsoft consider this area and change their mind because of the schools? I think we all know the answers to these questions.
We are talking about REAL money. It was said “We are doomed to fail if we let the money drive our decision”. DID ANYONE HEAR IT? We all must live within a budget and no we don’t want our tax base to match Roanoke’s.
Yes, I will write the gang of 5 to let them know they were right.
I think Mike has it right, but it will probably drag out to 2030 at least. The cost, even adjusted for inflation, will be two or three times higher at least than if it were built now.
I attended the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors meeting on August 23, 2010.I received a twelve page report on the county’s financial situation at this time and the impact of using what was/is called option 4 in the report,would have on the county in the future. Option 4 is borrowing 124 million dollars for the two new schools and renovatiog one. I took notes during the meeting on the report and opinions from Cortney Rogers of Davenport and Company LLC
Mr. Rogers has been the financial advisor for some time. I did not get the feeling that things were as good for the county financially as I heard on the news later that night and read in the days after the meeting.
Our debt is high, if option 4 were to be implemented Montgomery County would be servicing the second highest debt in Virginia. The first highest being a county in northern, Virginia.
I believe, if a person had been at the meeting and heard about our debt, and had access to the report, they would see why the board of supervisous voted as they did.
Excellent Post Ms.Nelson. Many times we do not get the “whole” story from reporting sources.
10. Bill: Why? Shoot him, Beat him up…what
Actually, I never thought of that. Those are you words not mine.
If in fact Christian DOES live in the County, he can voice his opinion. If he DOES have children that would attend BHS, he has his opinion.
One thing he also has, is a source to report and give his opinion with little or no censorship.
I totally agree with Emily, Blue John and Chuck. Great Post also.
Christians opinion displays to the students in our schools, that if you don’t like something I do or say, you berate people, insult people, and use name calling to get your message across.
Tantrums are not needed by the Editoral Staff or the Board of Supervisor’s Chair.
Some people seem to think it’s ok to “pull a fast one” and everyone is suppose to sit-back and act like nothing happened. Well, in this case everyone has the right to call it like they see it. Keep up the good work Christian and Supervisor Perkins.
Watch out residents of Montgomery County. A very “small” group in BLACKSBURG has started a propaganda campaign by passing via emails a very one sided survey. Only to the believers that ONLY live in Blacksburg and want ALL County residents to pay for their “Palace.” I’ve talked to at least 20 people that have never heard of THIS survery.
They have gone as far as getting Virginia Tech involved. More threats that busineses will leave,if they don’t get their way. Virginia Tech on one side says” They would lose GREAT employees if they didn’t have a Palace in Blacksburg. Well, Virginia Tech, why don’t you produce good grads that can fill positions here?
Furthermore, Mr. Garnett-Deakin reports he may take his business and leave with all 30 employees. He also stated that a Business owner of 300 thinks that he can’t get employees for his company because we have no qualified residents in Montgomery County. After much research, this gentleman with 300 employees, does not OWN the company, and it is located in the CITY of RADFORD. Do they only hire residents of Blacksburg?
Please DO not believe all these threats. Write the FABULOUS FIVE Board Members and tell them to not fall for this propaganda which only includes their survey.
Well said Jean. Hopefully the Board will understand that just because there will be a loud few paraded through their path, the majority of Montgomery County are thankful for their decision. Well done to the 5 Board members who dared to pull back the MCPS reigns. Already a disproportionate amount of our tax dollars go to the school system compared to surrounding jurisdictions. Fancy buildings do not teach children…
Well said Jean. Am thankful for the Boards decision. It is not easy to tighten the purse strings of the school board; however, already a disproportionate amount of our tax dollars go into the school system compared to surrounding counties. Thanks to the 5 for a job well done!
“Repairs to Blacksburg High School could top $25 million
Engineers told the school board that renovating the building could cost more than half the price of a new school”
By Katelyn Polantz
http://www.roanoke.com/news/nrv/wb/261552
Jean, Brian and Jim, the Blacksburg community is asking for a healthy and safe facility for their children to attend school. Did any of you attend the meetings on Thursday night or Monday night? Do you have children attending a Montgomery County School? It’s really sad that some individuals feel OK while making accusations and comments when they don’t know all the facts.
Tina, I was at the meeting and KNOW all the facts. Aren’tyou making gratutious assertions? My daughter DID attend Blacksburg High School and the now Doctor is doing just fine.
Lets say for the sake of arguement. You have a 200,000 house. It needs a few repairs and you would have to invest 50,000. But what the heck, just go out and get the 550,000 house that is brand new. Does this mean you are spending your money wisely? Is it in your budget? Can you pay for it?
Replacing a building that is repairable is wasteing MY money. The wasteful spending has to STOP!
Do you think I post on this forum without THE FACTS?
Did you see where I researched a company in Radord that was trying to misled the public? I do my homework.
Furthermore, I AM from BLACKSBURG, born and raised here, so saying the Blacksburg Community wants this is just wrong! Tina, do not speak for me, I can do that myself. With more research, there are only a very few that want the new school. My elementary school is still being used by Virginia Tech.
Brian and Jim great comments also.
EDIT: Sorry, I know it’s RADFORD. My fingers move faster than my brain.
Yeh Tina, been in Blacksburg since I was born in ’72…and I do have school age children in Bburg. Would rather pay half for a rennovation than full price for new. New doesn’t mean safer, the repairs will make the building safe…wish you the best!
Just read all the propaganda letters in todays current. Did everyone notice the RICH in Blacksburg speaking for the not so rich. Jane Aronson, a member of “Burgs.” Doug Garnett-Deakin,owns a company. Georgia Falkinham, developer. Ron Flanary, who sold his share of Aspen Moton Tech. about 10 years ago and got millions. (Which both companies he mentions is located in the Radford. This company use to be in Blackburg, taxes were to high so they moved.
Also, these groups think that protesting is the way to go. Okay, students, see how your parents handle things when they don’t get their way. Carry signs, picket peoples homes. Call them names.
Do we really need these type of residents in our small little “Mayberry.”
(Melissa Smith)
But read what a former School Superintentent has to say. Guess these rich groupies know more than he does.
The Board cannot cave into their whims. This is the same group that composed a survey just among themselves, then got together and got on a letter campaign to the New River Current.
Please take your businesses and children and move out of my hometown. But then again, why don’t you just ban together and build your own school. You don’t have to worry about taxes or if the County can afford it. Build and pay for it yourself!
Wow sounds like a Christianburg Town council vote on budget matters. (Step raise freeze)