hard deadlines

Public service announcement, reposted from an email circulating today:

Please try to attend this evening’s meeting when Target submits their plans to build a 3-acre store on the corner of Union St. and West Main Rd. It is imperative that we pack the meeting room so that both the town of Portsmouth and Target realize that this is not a good idea for our town. Apparently BJ’s from Middletown is looking to relocate to Portsmouth to build a larger store and this sprawling needs to be nipped in the bud before we have another Middletown situation.

Preserve Portsmouth.org

(Their web site isn't live yet, but it says coming soon.)

Many people have asked, given my vocal commentary on local issues, whether I'm running for something. Well, I think today is the perfect day to make my intentions clear: I am running for President of Portsmouth Concerned Citizens, Inc.

Oh, sure, there are some formalities. I need to actually join the PCC. Get nominated somehow. And I'm sure the "good-old-boy" network will do their best to thwart the sanctity of the people's vote and try to keep me from diluting the ballot, but I intend to be victorious. I'm the right person for the job, and here's why:

I understand the rules of the new ballgame. With the Paiva Weed tax cap, the rhetoric of tax rebellion and Financial Town Meetings is moot. The PCC no longer needs an "expert practitioner of the tent meeting," but rather someone who understands the levers of economic growth, who can work with businesses and citizens alike, and who is willing to accept the sworn testimony of CPAs. Someone who does not see education as a "special interest group," but rather the only way our kids will be able to compete in a flat world.

I can spin better illusions. Sure, the former president could make big claims like, the HVAC system in the gym "was not properly integrated," or last year's school budget was not modified by the appropriate date, or the school committee and administration "are directly and intentionally subverting the principles of democratic government." But I am a professional science fiction writer. Compare any of those weak allegations with something like, "So-called 'Doctor' Susan Lusi is nothing more than an alien Lectroid from the Eighth Dimension, here on earth to fleece us of our tax dollars. The proposal to move administration to the Middle School is a cover story. They plan to use the old building as a nest where they will grow genetically identical pod-people to replace the Town Councilors and School Committee members. You want proof? Look at Karen Gleason. The truth is out there."

I don't have the albatross of the "Tent Meeting" and the stinging loss in Superior Court around my neck. The previous PCC administration, after all, cost the taxpayers $70K for the tent meeting and well over $100K in legal fees (not counting Trollboy Wigand), plus the opportunity costs of 6 months of Town Council and School Committee time. That more than offsets the amount they "saved" the taxpayers. And despite their best efforts, they were denied amicus status and the schools won the case. I mean, it's not like getting a blowjob from an intern, but it does affect electability.

I can cut costs and reduce cycle time by blogging myself. Since I would already know what patent nonsense I plan to spout at public meetings, I can actually lampoon my appearance before it happens. In fact, that being the case, I can just make fun of myself and skip the meeting entirely, saving everyone time and energy. Of course, I do have to come up with a clever nickname for myself. Something like Yawn McDope might do nicely.

For these and other reasons, I herby announce my candidacy, this first day of April, for President of the PCC. Democracy is decided by those who show up. Vote early, vote often.

The Portsmouth School Finance Subcommittee voted unanimously tonight to submit a preliminary budget for next year in the amount of $33,451,955. It will go to the full School Committee next week, and to the Town Council the week after. Getting the budget to this number, said Superintendent Lusi, was a team effort.

"Our first and foremost priority is teachers and students in the classroom," said Lusi, describing the rubric the team used to identify cuts. "Second, insuring a guaranteed and viable curriculum for every student. Third, effectively targeting district resources, and fourth, engaging parents and the community in achieving these results. The cuts may inconvenience adults, but not compromise teaching and learning."

While the proposed budget meets the 5.25% state cap and is technically balanced, some of the necessary cuts have not been finalized. Notwithstanding the committee's efforts, the bottom line on the expense side still comes out around 300K higher than the projected revenue.

But it was satisfactory to even Jamie Heaney, who said, "It is at the cap. We'll make the reductions in time." Give credit where it's due; he was a mensch tonight.

That didn't stop Lumpy Fussbudget of the late PCC from riding what has been his hobbled-horse issue of late, whether or not the loss of Medicaid revenue mandated by Judge Indeglia should count as an impact on the revenue side. But eventually, even he grudgingly voiced his admiration.

"Your committee worked hard," said Fitzmorris, "There are a lot of innovative ideas."

And there is out-of-box thinking in the budget. In addition to finding ways to cut 3.8 teaching FTEs, a mojor component is closing the Prudence Island school, but adjusting transportation to keep students in Portsmouth, avoiding the cost of tuition in Barrington. Savings: 75K.

The boldest proposal is to shift Grade 5 back to the elementary schools from the middle school. Pending final numbers on transportation, and the need to add some part-time clerical support, this should save another $74.6K.

With the space now available in PMS, Dr. Lusi's team suggested moving central admin there from the antiquated Middle Road location. The existing building, while charmingly antique, has seen better days. There was discussion of water in the basement when it rains, drafts in the second floor records area, and the need to constantly board up cracks to keep out birds. "It that something you do on your lunch hour?" Dick Carpender joked.

All told, with these big ticket items, plus reductions in clerical/support staff, and cuts to building maintenance, advertising, and supplies, Dr. Lusi's team identified $282K in savings.

Loudy had brought a hired gunslinger, Frank Texeira, a former superintendent and school committee member in MA. Texy lobbed a few questions, but if the Pretty Crispy Critters were paying him to find bodies under the crawl space, his spade work failed to deliver. Larry half-heartedly argued about whether the school committee had adjusted last year's budget in the time required by law, but you know what? As Dr. Lusi says, it's in the court record that they did. Not going to waste any more time arguing with the dead.

It has taken me a while to realize the source of a delicious odor wafting through Portsmouth: It is the rotting remains of the PCC, victim of the very forces they thought they controlled. Listening to the late PCC's President, Lassie Fandango, orate the dear departed's entry into the Charter Change Beauty Contest at the Council meeting Monday, it hit me: Paiva Weed makes their whole approach irrelevant.

The brilliance of Weed finally struck me like a diamond bullet: "In its fiscal year 2008, a city or town may levy a tax in an amount not more than five and one-quarter percent (5.25%) in excess of the total amount levied and certified by that city or town for its fiscal year 2007." The genius of that bill. By giving them what they thought they wanted, Weed cut all these soi disant tax rebels off at the knees.

The PCC won the battle but lost the war. By instigating a bruising Tent Meeting to gut the school budget and slash the town side, they built in a structural deficit, virtually guaranteeing that budgets will need to run right up to the cap forever.

Okay, you say, but they still have to stay under it. Right. But that cuts both ways: It also freezes tax rates. By doubling down, Pretty Crispy Carcass, Inc. gave away their hole card of tax relief. Because it's not just about tax increases, it's what people are paying right now that's driving them out of their homes.

The PCC rhetoric of cutting millions, slashing rates from 9% to 5%, defending the Charter, well, all that is off the table. Oh, sure, they'll still show up at meetings, fight every line item like wolverines on No-Doz, but they are the living dead.

The only path to tax relief now, as described by the Portsmouth Economic Development Committee in their December, 2006 report to the Council, is tax-positive growth. Since the total amount of the levy will be increasing by fixed amounts, the only way individual tax bills can decline is by spreading that over more taxpayers without incurring additional expenses. Remember the chart at left? You can click it for a bigger view.

Can Portsmouth grow in a way that positively impacts taxes without threatening the character of the town? Yes, it is possible — through analysis, planning, hard work, and tough choices. For these kinds of activities, the PCC is now irrelevant, and the new ruling acronyms will be EDC, PRA, and WSMP¹.

You can't get smart growth from a Tent.