In the aftermath of the recent school district levy failure, Superintendent Tammy Lacey took to the airwaves and newsprint to give the voters of Great Falls a good rap on the knuckles. Lacey’s condescending explanation of why the levy failed was way off-base and laid the blame on everything except for hers and the district’s…
Author: Philip M. Faccenda
Enough Is Enough Already
According to USA Today, February 26, 2018, the cost of raising a child from birth to age 17 is $233,610. You can see the breakdown in the header image for this article. What does that have to do with the Great Falls School District’s operational levy that will be decided next week? Well, it means…
Bloated
Do you think the Great Falls Public Schools District is bloated? Do you think there are too many highly paid administrators? If you answered yes to these two questions you are probably asking why, how did we get there, and why are they always crying that they need more money? A recent article by U.S….
E-City Beat Editor’s Candidate Endorsements
Many Great Falls property owners received their ballots today for the upcoming City Park District and the Great Falls Public School District levies. Following right behind Federal Tax Day and a little more than a month away from Montana Property Tax Day, it seems like every level of government wants more of our money. Sometimes…
Brother, Can You Spare ANOTHER Dime?
MONEY “Why is it that the further away you get from kids, the more money you make?” Spencer Campbell spends much of his days walking the halls of Elk Ridge Middle School, checking breezeways for kids playing hooky, redirecting foot traffic between classes and checking on substitute teachers. Campbell is one of two assistant principals…
The Whole Truth
Are we getting the whole truth about the $13.9 million in new levies that the Great Falls Public School District ($1.348 million) and the City of Great Falls ($12.6 million) wants us to approve? And if we, the taxpayers, don’t approve them will that cause the dire consequences listed in their distributed promotional materials? Okay…
$pring Is Here?
As most folks know, spring in Montana is unpredictable and we are now officially into spring by a couple of weeks. One aspect of spring in Great Falls that is almost always predictable is the annual Great Falls Public School District levy. The District rarely misses the opportunity come springtime to bemoan the shortage of…
Loser Out
In the midst of a conflicts of interest plague, Great Falls seems relegated to loser out status in the tournament of economic development in our state. Why has Great Falls lost population, manufacturing jobs and a brighter outlook for the future? Certainly, Great Falls Development Authority chief Brett Doney’s stated solution to the problem: “we…
Bad Carma
A meeting yesterday between the City’s Planning staff and GFPS representatives about the District’s plan to buy the Campfire property located at 1925 2nd Avenue South, demolish the historic building and build a pocket parking lot, produced some disappointing news. It could also be viewed as some good news if you feel the District’s plan…
Double Vision – Another Idea
In our previous posts addressing solutions for solving the parking shortage for GFHS, we have outlined the school district’s plan and our plan. Another Bad Decision What About The Zoning? Solutions Anyone? 7-0 Currently, GFHS has approximately 380 on-campus parking spots, which is by conservative measure about 300 short. In order to address the parking…