I started an article this week with the words “No members of the public attended the public hearing ...” Now I get that this particular public hearing was in the middle of the morning on a Monday — to be honest I wasn’t there myself; I had to listen to it later on a recording — but it has become a familiar refrain. One of our reporters was the only guest at a recent public meeting held by CCSD Superintendent Deron Stender about the PPEL vote.
Well, in the next few weeks there are going to be some public hearings that will affect you if you live in Union County. Probably other counties as well, but I have been tasked with following the goings on in this one. Next Tuesday, the city council will hold public forums where you can ask questions about the city budget, selling plots to Habitat for Humanity and the police department’s plan to ask for grant money to purchase a new vehicle.
That same day you can vote on the physical plant and equipment levy for either Creston or East Union Community School Districts, depending on where you live. This is money the schools count on, but they need your approval before they can get it. East Union’s buses are aging out faster than they can buy new ones — they are out on some pretty rough roads in some pretty harsh conditions, twice a day, five days a week picking up your children and delivering them safely to school and back home (kudos to all you bus drivers out there who get up and get out there before the crack of dawn even when it’s 10 below).
Can you imagine if one of those older buses breaks down with a load of children on one of those frigid days? That is the scenario Superintendent Ken Kasper is trying to avoid by asking you to vote for PPEL for the first time in East Union’s history.
The county budget public hearing has been set for 10 a.m. March 9. What’s that they say? “Put up or shut up.” If you don’t show up to ask your questions or share your concerns, you don’t get to complain about your taxes for the next year.
By the way, if you absolutely can’t make it to any of these meetings, both the city council members and county supervisors will talk to you anytime of the night or day — just kidding, I hear they don’t really appreciate those 1 a.m. phone calls they occasionally get — and share your concerns or comments for you during the public hearings. They accept emails too. The supervisors’ phone numbers and emails are on the county website. You can call city hall to get in touch with council members or the mayor.
Just remember, these guys and gals are real people who care enough to get involved in local politics, putting in their time for relatively little pay, so be nice to them even if you don’t agree with something their committee is doing.
There’s a repeat session 6 p.m. tonight at the CCHS auditorium for the Creston PPEL. Show your superintendent some love, TBH he’s actually pretty entertaining and good at making this complicated idea understandable.
Keeping up
“How am I supposed to keep up with all these meetings?” you ask. Well, you are in luck. Your friendly neighborhood newspaper people have been putting them on the local page — page 3 — for ages. Look in the “for the record” portion of the page for meetings and agendas. Dustin and Katie have started putting a nice bold header at the top to let you know when there is a public hearing.
P.S. Can we talk for a minute about showing up prepared? It’s great to ask questions when you don’t agree with something or don’t understand it. It’s good to offer comments in support of whatever is going on. But it’s kind of a waste of time to show up with budget questions when you haven’t looked at the budget. The city budget is available on its website and the county budget will be posted on its site soon. They are also available at city hall and the county courthouse respectively. I’ll make it easy for you to find the city one: https://tinyurl.com/2021crestonbudget.
Showing up matters. I know you can do it. You did it last year when you didn’t like the options for mayor and wanted a write-in candidate, and when you were against raising taxes to support too many bonds at once. — If you didn’t vote, and your candidate/bond didn’t win, see paragraph five above. If you did vote and still didn’t win, remember we live in a democracy, but at least you get to complain.
Do you need some more things to show up for? Jam the Gym is this Friday at the high school. Antics and entertainment and the big reveal of the TWIRP BIRP king are on the agenda. Have some fun and show your support for our students. There are fundraisers galore this weekend: St. Malachy, Spay-ghetti, a chili cook-off, even a spelling bee. Check out the Upcoming Events section of the paper (usually Monday and Friday or other days we have space and also available online at www.crestonnews.com) for more info on these and other events.
Show up. It matters.
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Let me know what matters to you at rsmith@crestonnews.com, 641-782-2141 ext. 6433, or write me a letter in c/o Creston News Advertiser, 503 W. Adams St., Creston, Iowa 50801.