POSITION ON LAST REFERENDUM??

WHAT WAS YOUR POSITION ON THE LAST REFERENDUM IN THE WEST BEND SCHOOL DISTRICT?



**KRIS BEAVER: I was in favor, but felt that the question should have been split into three parts.



CARL WILLIAM KNEPEL: I was in favor of it. At the time the district gave the appearance that the 119 million dollar option was the only one available. Knowing what we know now that there is no immediate growth issue effecting Barton, I would have not supported the last referendum if it were on the ballot now. But at the time when this fact was not made clear I did support it. This type of mistake will definitely be avoided if I am elected. The process of the last referendum should have been much more transparent to the public.



RANDY STARK: I was in favor of it. In question 2, I described what I believe is a decline in the attractivenesss of the West Bend School district to families with school age children. Despite a high academic delivery, I believe this decline is accelerating. At the center of this issue is decades of inattentiveness around facility upgrades and expansion. While the 2008 referendum was large, it proposed to resolve the 30-40 years of insensitivity to the needs of the district. While the 2009 referendum is smaller in dollar volume, it will leave some uncompleted capital improvements that will be necessary for the long term needs of the District. I am convinced that if we become increasingly overlooked as a district in which people prefer to live, the results will become very apparent. Our property values will be negatively impacted, crime and social issues will increase, and the willingness of businesses to locate in our area will diminish. I maintain that the value of our school district is the single largest determinant in the value of our community.



TIM STEPANSKI: I did not support the previous referendum for several reasons. The school district came to the taxpayer and asked for over $100 million - asking us to sacrifice, but did not offer any cuts on their part. Spending still took off. I also felt the school district did not offer any solutions to ensure that this wouldn't happen again, instead, it would have beeen a blank check written by the taxpayer not knowing when they would come back and ask for more. I believe that fiscal responsibility must be in the forefront of our thoughts and minds and the board did not display their willingness to practice that.