And, what would be the other part of the collateral??? The new North Shelby School itself. The School Board, with little discussion so the public would not catch on, cut the James Love School property up into sections and split off the part that the new North Shelby School will be built upon. That will be the other part of the collateral for the $34 million loan for the new North Shelby School.
But even that is a farce. The new North Shelby School will be connected to the existing James Love School because of the phony exceptional educational opportunity that Supt. Fisher keeps talking about but never explains adequately. But, since the properties are connected on purpose at the time of the new North Shelby School construction as well as the loan application, guess what??? If there is a missed payment on the $34 million loan, these properties will go into foreclosure proceedings. Then it may be possible for the loan owner to foreclose on not only the new Health Department and the new North Shelby School, but also foreclose on the James Love School too. Of course us taxpayers will see a BIG tax increase before this happens. It is likely we will see a big tax increase anyway. The Commissioners have another “black hole” for money project that we will cover as soon as possible.
All this is truly a dumb deal. Even for the CCS school board and the Cleveland County commissioners. So, of course they didn’t want the public to know much about it.
That is why the Commissioners scheduled a public hearing on this for January 3, 2017. And what is so strange about that? you ask. Well, public hearings are supposed to have notice given at least 10 days before. Count ten days before. That would be December 24, 2016. Christmas Eve. Who reads the fine print in the legal section on the back of the Shelby Star on Christmas Eve. NOBODY!!! Get the message, this public hearing was clearly and cleverly scheduled by the commissioners so nobody would know about it and nobody would show up in opposition to this crazy loan. Now get this. The School Board (except Bully and his cronies) were only notified by email by Supt. Fisher on Saturday evening, December 31, 2016 (New Year’s Eve) of this public hearing on a loan application for the funding of the new North Shelby School. And who reads their emails on New Year’s Eve??? Got the message. Even the School Board was “officially” kept in the dark about this crazy financial arrangement for the funding for the new North Shelby School project.
I certainly did not read the Shelby Star fine print legal notices on Christmas Eve and CCS Supt. Fisher did not copy me on his emails to the CCS Board on New Year’s Eve. But I did get a copy of the Commissioner’s Agenda for the January 3, 2017 a few hours in advance of the public hearing and spread the word.
A number of people showed up at the public hearing on the $34 million loan to build the new North Shelby School project and spoke up loud and clear to the commissioners against such a crazy loan. Of course the commissioners had their minds made up in advance and didn’t pay the citizens any attention. Nothing new to that.
As far as those short sighted and narrow minded folks that think the CCS did well in getting the new North Shelby School project to this point, I would add that this school could have been built with exactly the same features and over $4 million cheaper if a location had been selected wisely. Everyone could be proud, except maybe Roger Holland. Spending $4 million more for correcting unacceptable dirt is more than unwise. It is flat out stupid.
Also, Scroll on back to previous article about this phony public hearing. This article is long enough for most people to get the idea. Not only Bully and his cronies should be voted off the school board this 2017 election, but the commissioners (all of them) should also be gotten rid of in upcoming elections.
I am only one of over 60,000 registered voters in Cleveland County. The rest of you are going to have to get informed and help with the work of getting rid of the wasteful and crooked elected officials in government: County, State and Federal. I am sure that I will do my part. I am not so sure about the rest of you registered voters. But rest assured, you as well as I. will be paying for a good government whether we get one or not.
