Apologies

Posted on April 1, 2015 by seektruth

We extend our apologies to those who have found that some of our flyers have not remained on their targeted driveways. There have been a few complaints misdirected to the GRO candidates who were not responsible for this effort.

Unlike the referendum literature drop, this time we used fold-and-close sandwich bags, as they were less expensive–a plus for this wholly volunteer effort, with no fundraising. Fortunately, most people appear to have gotten their flyers without a problem. Continue reading →

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Vote GRO Tuesday, April 7

Posted on March 23, 2015 by seektruth

Tuesday, April 7, voters in Batavia Public School District 101 will have the chance to elect 3 new members of a 7 member Board of Education. While 3 is not a majority, much can be gained from having board members who will ask questions of the administration, dialogue with the community, and seek educational excellence while lowering taxes.

Batavians for Responsible Government endorses the 3 members of GRO Batavia:  Gabriel (Bill), Rechenmacher (Ron), and Olache (Michelle) for school board. Please visit their website at GRObatavia.org for their biographies, platform, and more. Continue reading →

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Batavia to Join Aurora STEM School?

Posted on February 20, 2015 by seektruth

Update:  On February 24, the Aurora STEM school partnership was approved 4-2, with Hodge and Gaspar voting against it.

The Batavia school board is considering becoming a partner in the Aurora STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) school. 50 students in grades 3-8 would be sent there, selected by lottery from students who meet their criteria that they have not made public. They would spend their elementary and middle school years there, then go back to Batavia High School in 9th grade. In addition to the students, BPS101 would send 2 teachers for 2-4 years each. We would continue to pay their salaries, with yearly increases, while they earn credits toward advanced degrees so they would get paid even more when they return to Batavia (or go elsewhere now that they have better credentials). Batavia taxpayers would pay for the teachers they send, transportation to and from the Aurora school, plus tuition for the students. Continue reading →

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No End in Sight for School Tax Levy Increases

Posted on February 8, 2015 by seektruth

Saturday, 2/7/15, there was a budget workshop for the Batavia School Board.  Assistant Superintendent of Finance Dr. Kris Monn laid out budget projections through Fiscal Year 2018. Click here for the documents presented at the meeting. (You won’t find them posted on the district’s website.)

Highlights:

  • The tax levy is projected to increase every year
  • Spending increases every year
  • Enrollment drops every year
  • A budget deficit of $1.13 million is projected for Fiscal Year 2018 (down from a surplus of $1.66 million in 2015)
  • There is a huge jump in benefits cost each year

Continue reading →

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Aldermen Serving the People

Posted on February 8, 2015 by seektruth

The outcome of the Houston St. Streetscape project has been encouraging. The aldermen rejected the latest proposal by Altamanu (the designers of River St., including the arch) in favor of the design that they had approved in October, with the modification of adding islands for trees in the median strip that divides the walking and bike paths.

Aldermen Susan Stark and Marty Callahan at the January 27 COW (Committee of the Whole) meeting corrected Bill McGrath and Staff’s assertions that the Council had not approved a design plan for Houston St.  Susan Stark opened the discussion, saying she remembered approving a plan, and Marty Callahan proceeded to read from the October minutes, including the roll call vote, that approved “Option 1”, a reasonable design with separate paths for bikes and pedestrians, separated by a concrete strip and lampposts. Further discussion led to an agreement to add sensible islands in the concrete strip in which to put trees. But no blue swooshes on the sidewalk or a confusing mingling of bikes and pedestrians with obstacles in everyone’s way.

Thank you, City Council.

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Houston St. Streetscape Stirs Controversy

Posted on January 22, 2015 by seektruth

A Daily Herald article (1/20/15) begins, “What was supposed to be a discussion of a design for a path along Batavia’s Houston Street near Depot Pond on Tuesday turned into a quarrel over whether a design firm was trying to push something on the city.”

The quote in the 1/20/15 Kane County Chronicle article sums it up: “It’s not what the council asked to be done,” 4th Ward Alderman Susan Stark said. “We didn’t ask for new concept drawings. We didn’t ask for a total redesign.”

What started as a decision by the Batavia City Council to allow the architectural/design firm Altamanu (the one that designed River St.) to tweak the approved plan for Houston St., suddenly morphed into a brand new concept with psychedelic blue swirls in the pavement and no price tag (they have to pass it to know how much it would cost). Continue reading →

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What BRG is Not

Posted on December 22, 2014 by seektruth

There seem to be some who have come to regard Batavians for Responsible Government as “that group that opposes taxes”. We at BRG would like to set the record straight.

Our group is not “Batavians Against Taxes”, but “Batavians for Responsible Government“. What is “responsible government”? Perhaps a good way to sum it up from our perspective is to borrow the words of Abraham Lincoln: “government of the people, by the people, and for the people”. Continue reading →

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School Board Didn’t Get Message, Taxes to be Increased

Posted on November 16, 2014 by seektruth

The Batavia School Board didn’t understand the message behind the overwhelming NO vote on the referendum. On Thursday, Nov. 13, the Finance Committee passed to the full board, for discussion and approval, a levy that increases taxes to the maximum amount allowed by law, limited only by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) of an estimated 1.5% this year. By their calculations, that would increase the property taxes on the average home ($244,000) by $38.

At the meeting, board member Gregg Hodge noted that last year while they promised the average home would see their taxes go down $28, his went UP by $300. Continue reading →

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School District Referendum Fails

Posted on November 10, 2014 by seektruth

The Batavia School District’s $15 million referendum lost by a wide margin, with 73.5% of voters voting “No”, according to the unofficial tally cited by the Chicago Tribune, Nov. 5, 2014. That amounts to 8,551 residents of the district rejecting the plan put forth by the school board.

Why did it fail? From the Tribune article: Continue reading →

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A Scary Story for Halloween

Posted on November 3, 2014 by seektruth

From a series received via email:

I am still in the Halloween spirit so I am going to tell you a scary story about a town called Oswego.

In 2006, Oswego was one of the fastest growing school districts in the state.  They assumed their growth rate would continue and planned to build 14 schools between 2008 and 2013.  Their Assistant Superintendent of Finance assured taxpayers that, if they approved a $450,000,000 referendum, their tax rate would not increase.  Why $450,000,000?  According to the Assistant Superintendent of Finance, it was the “maximum range”.  Remember, this is a scary story.  We don’t question why the babysitter stays in the house with the killer so we won’t question why taxpayers would vote for such nonsense!  Actually, they believed their Finance Superintendent when he told them that growth in local property values and some debt restructuring would make a tax increase unnecessary. Continue reading →

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