Now what?
That's the question officials with Avon Local Schools face after a $32 million bond issue to build a new lost by 141 votes Tuesday night.
Issue 11 -- a $32 million, 2.25 mill, 32-year bond issue to build the new middle school -- got 2,816 in favor but 2,957 against.
The vote is unofficial.
Early absentee voting was harsh on the bond issue. It trailed by an almost 60-40 percent margin early Tuesday night. But as the night went on, the gap narrowed to less than 35 votes at one point, giving supporters gathered in the middle school library hope.
That hope was dashed around 11 p.m.
"We still have a challenge," school board president Kevin Romanchok said. "The kids are still coming, the need has not disappeared and we still have to address it."
Short-term solutions at the middle school will include taking common space such as the library to use for classrooms, Romanchok said. Other possibilities include trailers for temporary classrooms.
And in the long term?
"Even if we don't build new, we'll still have to ask for money," he said. "Not just for additions here but for over at Heritage ( and )."
Issue 11 narrowly failed in the November ballot. It would have cost homeowners an additional $38.29 per year for every $100,000 in home valuation.
Issue 12, the combination of two renewal levies, passed by a wide margin, 3,326 in favor to 2,471 against.
Issue 12 combined two operating levies set to expire. It would be for $2.5 million at 3.21 mills. As this is a renewal levy, there will be no increase in cost to Avon homeowners.
Passage of Issue 12 was a huge relief for the school board.
"That gives us some stability," said school board member Scott Radcliffe.
The combining of levies is part of a long-range plan by the to reduce the number of levies and thus how often school levies are up for a vote.
The next levy renewal is scheduled for 2016.
Issue 11
32-year, $32 million bond issue to build a new Avon Middle School
13 of 13 precincts reporting
Results are unofficial
Votes Percentage of vote Yes 2,816 48.78 No 2,957 51.22Issue 12
10-year, $2.5 million combination of two renewal operating levies
13 of 13 precincts reporting
Results are unofficial
Votes Percentage of vote Yes 3,326 57.37 No 2,471 42.63
So, let's try again - and get out and vote FOR!
Heather Mahoney
I personally read Avon Avenues and respect when there is a levy on the ballot, to research it, and decide if I am going to vote - which I always do. But others throw Avon Avenues away. Maybe some new branding there to catch the eyes of people opening their mail? Not sure. There are several issues that others have stated in this article, one is not being registered to vote. I think people are scared of jury duty, and that is one reason they do not register. Others don't realize that they can just grab an issues only ballet. Second, people want their voices heard and saying "no" is a way. They might not be saying "no" to schools but "no" to anything government and taxes. They don't take time to read Avon Avenues and the issues. Third, people have biases from growing up in various school systems and think all systems are like that, which is the case of my friend. They think more $ are coming in for the large homes being built, so that is why we should have enough money, which is obviously not true. I'm guessing a whole marketing audit has to happen. It is obvious that everyone who worked so hard to promote the levy has done a GREAT JOB! To me, it would seem all the efforts that have already been done should have worked. I guess it is time to step up with even more volunteers to help.
It has always surprised me the amount of young parents who are not registered to vote. Possible Jury duty is not a good enough reason. Many of those "young" parents came to Avon for the schools. How do they think the schools are going to survive? I'm not sure what more can be done to get the word out. Public forums were conducted, if someone felt that strongly and didn't understand something, they should have attended. The board cannot go out and personally knock on every door in Avon and personally sit down with each person to discuss issues in Avon. They also send email blasts to parents and others who sign up for the district's email system. If just HALF of the parents WITH children in the district would vote "yes", levies would not fail, but our parents are not supporting the cause. That's the big problem.
I didn't vote "no".. I support all levies particularly school, fire, police, parks & libraries. I am the electoral personification of the "tax & spend liberal"; but I want the crooks to pay and I want my multiple IRS CID rewards. 37.5% of something is better than 100% of nothing.. I'm willing to share and have Elyria Patrolman Stumph to award Avon a larger share of the pie for exposing this. "THE CHILDREN ARE OUR FUTURE" ARGUMENT I think it was Whitney Houston who sang about how she believed "the children were our future..teach them well and let them lead the way"... But I could be worng... Maybe it was the Ancient Greeks and not Whitney Houston who sang that song. ...and it was Solon who stated that.. i just repeated it... ...and its true AS EVIDENCED BY a large enough subset of the electorate who chose to vote voting no.
Stand up to these people who are enriching themselves Kathy while having drivers enter neighborhoods under the "color of legitimacy" with no background checks and uninsured vehicles. The Manager of the North Ridgevill East of Chicago Pizza videotaped himself having sex with a 16-year old employee in the cooler. NEWSChannel 5 (WEWS-TV) later reported that instead of FIRING the manager, the OWNER sent him to manage the Macedonia, OH East of Chicago. There's going to be another rape and another murder because these home cotractors want to save money... and your Avon City Council is willing to play Russian Roulette with your lives... You can say "SHAME ON ME" all you want... but it's SHAME ON THEM for them doing something worse RIGHT NOW... ..and I doubt that you'll be saying SHAME ON YOU to your City Council or the Pizza Places or the Newspapers ...you're SHAME ON ME argument is therefore annihilated, in toto. HOWEVER KATHY, If you remember If you don't do that then don't ask the Mayor's Court traffic violator or taxpaying resident to come to your kids aid in the school systems time of need
I’m glad the entire posts were deleted instead of just the offending portions per the AP terms of service.I mean, just where else are these topics being raised to light. And the sourcing was from ABC News. If one could only delete the entire posts, then the issuesI therefore feel quite safe & quite at home here. The Patch producedfigures showing what each levy initiative would add to the tax cost of $100,000 in home worth. Good data. Now let us know what passage of all the levies in Avon would have added to the tax price of every $100,000 in home worth. Are schools more important than fire service? Are schools more important than meals on wheels for seniors? Are schools more important than parks? Are schools an investment in our future as was either stated or could be readily implied from the thread’s comments? If these kids end up becoming like a couple of the parents who posted on these threads, is that such a good investment?
You are basically using your children as human shields to innoculate yourselves from any contray arguments. Don’t punish the children. The children are our future leaders. Future leaders like who? Like you parents? Like the Journalistic leader of The Patch? Like our current City Council who wanted to assess a targeted tax to the residents near the new I-90 Route 2 interchange and who backed off because that subset of victims was large enough to cause a stink. Peter said you can’t fight City Hall. There were too many people who were targeted with this tax to where they could seizze control of one city council seat and cause a stink.
Do you parents care about the Ohio Supreme Court finally giving up after 22 years when they constantly ruled that property tax funding of Ohio’s schools was unconstitutional? No. None of these people care and what Peter was saying was that as soon as you get your school building that your going to drop into your living room easy chairs and say the heck with everybody else. No. Children who end up like you all are not a worthwhile investment. Maybe try the approach that the Avon Schools will produce children who won’t be like their parents and won’t be like their City Council or School Board members and see if the levy votes start pouring in.
The ABC News 20/20 link http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=123884&page=1 is getting me to wonder about the people who have entered my homes to clean my carpets in the past. Seeing as how two murders and three rapes were mentioned and how the Oakland Prosecutor called criminal background checks a nobrainer, I can guess exactly how the Avon City Council will react. They’ll do nothing and allow the businesses to play risk with your lives.
It is such a popular blog in both Lorain City Hall and Elyria City Hall that the IT administrator for Lorain at a former Mayor's instructions blocked access to the site from workers during their lunch hour. It's quite heady stuff that goes on over there but no one comes even close to pushing the envelope as Peter did or does. Currently they're discussing how a Plain Dealer reporter secretly provided information on the identity of one of his sources that the Lorain Police Department and Sheriff used to obtain a warrant for Joseph Montelon. Sources within City Hall are chiming in semianonymously
A number of blog participants jumped all over the conduct of a Briton and Peter, while not supporting the Briton's conduct, proposed a counteraction where the American patriots on that site could bravely & publicly support 34 US Sailors murdered by their own US Government nearly 45 years ago.Peter's sourcing?The Director of the CIA himself at the time of the murders of US Sailors,and the directors of the NSA as quoted in a major North American Newspaper from a US Navy town San Diego Union Tribune.
But remember, these are journalist retired who were now acting fearfully Journalistically, they knew the difference between killing a story and spiking a story that has already leaked out. Journalistically, they also were aware of the propaganda trick of supplanting a story with a different news event. So did Peter. Then Peter went after the Morning Journal & Chronicle Telegram managers in front of reporters and City Hall staff that they all knew so well with the same commercial insurance crimes he mentioned here. Complete silence from the managing editors of both newspapers who only had to calll down to their circulation mangers to confirm the truth of what Peter was saying.
Is The Patch going to do a story on the criminal backgorunds of contractors who have been employed by people who come on school property? Then the meat of Peter’s postings should have remained untouched. The terms of service should be employed as a rationale to govern conduct not used as an excuse to delete what may be the only game in town in terms of information that every elementary school parent would want to know.
Peter had too may good ideas about how the City Council members in Lorain could show their patriotism and how the reporters could uniquely demonstrate their journalistic ethics. Tongue in cheek but valid nonehteless