Newspaper or Toilet Paper - The Times-Sentinel

This week readers of the Zionsville Times-Sentinel were subjected to a variety of slanted, misleading and biased stories, obviously edited by an employee there who has a vested interest in how these stories were presented to unsuspecting subscribers.

The headline story by Matt Weeney swallowed lock, stock and bagels the pap that the Zionsville Community School svengali Scott Robison has been dumping on taxpayers for years. ''Little Johnnie and Susie are going to lose their teachers if taxpayers don't give us more money.''

The second big story Weeney dribbled out was that the Zionsville Town Council endorsed the controversial school referendum. Is it any wonder the council puppets rolled over? Who dumped gadzillons of cash into their campaigns? None other than Jim Longest, a member of the Zionsville school board.

And just who does Longest represent? The taxpayers of Zionsville who cough-up almost 70% of their taxes to fund Robison's fiefdom, or Longest's company, Beam Longest & Neff, which has the town's contract for engineering services?

But, the most outlandish piece of ''reporting'' was Weeney's other front page story: REI Apartments aid Town, ZCS budgets.'' What is in the water Weeney has been drinking?

As one source wrote Zionsville Confidential:

''I think I am in a bad Alice in Wonderland dream where people can say or do anything they want and it is deemed to be true and people take any story and twist the reality out to some mutant-alter-nightmare. Hard to stomach the actual articles that don't tell the whole truth - hard to believe that the people who write them believe what they are saying, let alone the readers."

''How can anyone believe that an apartment complex, no matter the circumstances and numbers presented can be good for a school system?'' Hey, more students, more state aid, bigger schools, bigger budgets that Robison can manipulate.

Don't forget that Weeney's boss is Andrea Cline, whose spouse is an officer in MIBOR - the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors as public affairs director and also treasurer of MIBOR's political action committee.

And, in case you missed it, MIBOR made significant contributions to members of the current town council in the last election. And, MIBOR never met an apartment they didn't love, and which financing institutions love to bankroll.

It's time that Zionsville residents, tired of being subjected to one-sided and slanted writing by the Times-Sentinel send a letter of concerns to the paper's parent corporation, Community Newspapers Inc. Phone: 334-293-5800 Or online inquirey form.

Thank goodness there is a new news outlet in town. For now, the Times-Sentinel is only giving Charmin a run for its money.

ZCS Stock Tip for Granny - Chow Down

Pssst...hey buddy, I gotta stock tip for ya.

Want to know how the proposed Zionsville referendum will affect the stock market if it passes?

Bow wow. My money is on dog food. Huh? Dog what?

Over the past few weeks, referendum cheerleaders have been whooping it up - ZCS-Yes shirts popping up all over town, ZCS-Yes logos on school newsletters/website, school board-member sponsored email chains flying about why the town needs it, and little Johnny is telling Mommy why he'll be devastated when Mrs. Jones his favorite teacher has to leave. It's exhausting.

And, more serial disingenuousness - that science and art classes will be cut - all contrary to state law that requires it.

The cheerleader-set even has told citizens exactly how little the referendum will cost - only $480 per year on a $300,000 assessed home once all deductions are taken. (There is a handy referendum tax calculator by the way.)

But here's the rub - the taxpayer's "cost" is after all deductions are taken. That's implying everyone gets them. The main ones are the homestead deduction, and the mortgage deduction.

If you rent, you don't get a deduction and your landlord will pass the cost on to you. If you don't have a mortgage, you don't get the deduction either.

According to the census bureau, fully 19.4% of Zionsville's citizens don't have a mortgage. And 18.4% of our citizens are over age 55 - they are retired and likely don't have children in the schools. In all honesty, a large portion of our population will pay more than what is advertised by the cheerleaders. Don't forget, these residents are largely on a fixed income.

So, gird your loins Granny: Thanks for living here all your life, for your efforts making our community so wonderful, for volunteering in the schools when Susie was little, and pioneering some of the programs.

But, now your toast. Make way for the big spenders. We need bigger cooler things than what got you by in your day, and they are going to get more expensive. Sorry your barely making it now and you can't afford to live here anymore. So hey, here's a thought...maybe you could cut back on your grocery bills by eating dog food. It's pretty healthy stuff. Folks did it during the Depression. Come on, it's for the kiddies.

Dog food futures are sure to go up. Woof.

PS. Remember what Josephine told the French - let them eat dog food.

Conspiracy (Or not) 101

Like conspiracies?

Try these on for size, and don't get lost if you're under 40.

Q - Was Secretary of War Edwin Stanton involved in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln?

A - Nope, Ed missed the play.

Q - Did President Franklin D. Roosevelt know about the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor prior to the start of America's involvement in WWII on December 7, 1941?

A - Doubtful, but a sure bet is Scott Robison will start World War III to save his referendum's _ _ _ .

Q - Was Castro involved in the assassination of President John Kennedy?

A - Ask Jimmy Hoffa.

If you are under 40 you are excused for failure to score 66%.

But now consider this closer to home as your tax heinies will be in the sling, and you'd like a little conspiracy. Zionsville is good fodder for its own convoluted plots.

Did you know there may be an insidious connection between the Zionsville Times-Sentinel with the current referendum of the Zionsville Community Schools?

Follow this: The local Zionsville paper is owned by Community Newspapers Holdings Inc., now based in Montgomery, Alabama, a privately-owned company formerly based in Birmingham, Alabama.

It was started by Alabama ex-teachers, and financed by the Retirement Systems of Alabama, the administrator of the pension fund for Alabama teachers. Duh? Zionsville's paper is owned by teachers?

Take a gander at the coverage of the Zionsville school's money grab in the Zionsville Times-Sentinel. Ask yourself, could there be a connection between hard facts about the November referendum and saving the teachers' heinies? No matter how good the Times' editor and reporter is, the boss is the boss. Call it professional courtesy between school groups.

Could the Zionsville Times-Sentinel be shying away from in-depth hard news reporting on what the referendum means to Zionsville, in favor of more "happy" news? You know, fun news about a well-meaning Political Action Committee ZCS-Yes!PAC. The ZCSYes! PAC was formed to educate Zionsville's citizens that the referendum must pass "so that we can continue operating in the manner that our schools are used to,” ZCS-Yes Treasurer Ellen Niksch said. Yeah, fun happy stuff.

Doesn't the town deserve to know that the school Superintendent went to a conference last year on "how to pass a referendum" on the taxpayer's dime? Does that show he went into the referendum process with an open mind? Do you think at the fancy conference they said to start a political action committee? Or to use kids to prey on their parent's guilt?

Won't the town's taxpayers be able to make a better decision on the referendum if all of ZCS's spending picadillos are known? Like the fleet of corporate cars, or the hiring of an outside energy firm to tell ZCS how to turn off the lights?

Score 100% if you agree with Zionsville Confidential.

Going For Broke

How's this for big kahunas.

The Mulberry Street Gang is betting on the come the referendum is a done deal.

So, confident is the Zionsville School Corp. that the referendum tax will pass in November that $5.8 million of the first year's proceeds from the tax was included in the 2011 budget, which the Zionsville school board has on its agenda again at Monday night's meeting (8-23)! Page 8 in the budget shows a line item for "referendum fund" with $5.84 million in it. ZCS apparently feels like they are playing with the house's money because, "The Referendum Fund, if the operating referendum is approved, will also be included in future years." (page 10.) Isn't it grand to play with O.P.M.?

But, perhaps the Robison administration should make some side bets, just as insurance.

It must be in the cards that the referendum will be protested. The 2011 budget is being challenged by a group of local residents, with more than the required number of signatures.

A devoted and die-hard group of anti-tax folks has formed a committee - Zionsville Taxpayers for Responsible Education - to do battle with the Zionsville Community Schools PAC, ZCS Yes. The ZTRE is currently soliciting contributions through a post office box - Zionsville Taxpayers for Responsible Education, P.O. Box 93, Zionsville 46077.

And, from the sounds of the cash register, the money is rolling in - and the group is only two weeks old. But with $5.8 million a year on the table, expect Robison to scramble for his trump card.

David Drexel's money is on the underdog.

Let Them Eat Pizza

When Marie Antoinette told the French people, "Let them eat cake,'' the Revolution began.

But not so in apathetic Zionsville.

When asked how much the $42 million November referendum tax will cost Zionsville taxpayers, the school superintendent Scott Robison quipped:

"About the same price as a piece of pizza a day.''

At $5,850,000 a year for 7 years, make mine double sausage, double cheese please.

Where is the public outcry that will cost Zionsville property owners millions to pay off the School Board's humongous boondoggle of a new sports complex, new football stadium? All that and a multi-million dollar school sitting vacant.

The famous line from the school's financial guru Mike Shafer was that the empty school is being held in "strategic reserve.''

Are we in Kansas yet Toto?

And if residential property owners are not concerned yet, Main Street should be doubly worried because it will shoulder the greater weight of the referendum tax than a residential property of equal value.

Commercial properties, unlike residential ones, are not eligible for deductions for mortgages and homestead exemptions which add up, meaning that Zionsville businesses will have to cough-up almost three times that of the residential properties.

In a letter to the editor in this week's Zionsville Times-Sentinel, Peter Heles of Zionsville writes:
``There are approximately 50 parcels of commercial real estate on Main Street. The average gross assessed value of these properties is $485,000 based on the March 1, 2009 assessment. That means, on average, a commercial property owner on Main Street will pay an additional $10,015 for the seven year referendum tax.''

Heles is worried, as all Zionsville should be, that as hard as shopkeepers are trying to survive in the economic downturn, and in addition to increases in property taxes owing to the reassessments of the past few years, this new tax could cause some to shut their doors.

Pass the pizza.

Slick Ads, Slick Talk...Higher Taxes

Remember 2007 when an upstart quartet ran for the Zionsville Town Council?

Remember those slick mailers that arrived in your mailboxes promising change?

Under that mantra, Matt Price, Michelle Barrett, Tim Haak and Mark Plassman promised `"our property taxes will go down.''

One of Price's mailings stated, `"Zionsville taxpayers don't have a say in many of the decisions that affect our school district - and our tax bill. On the council, Matt will take a proactive approach to controlling growth, giving us a voice in the decisions that affect our schools and our wallets.'' That sentiment was also echoed in the Times Sentinel's Candidate questionnaire.

Well folks, 60-80 percent of your Zionsville tax bill goes to the Zionsville Community School district. (Check out your property taxes here.)

And yes, the Town Council has no control over school spending.

But, with a referendum looming in November for the school district to increase taxes 29.5 cents on each $100 of assessed value, where is the Town Council? Not a peep, nary a discouraging word, na da about what could be a whopping extra $1,000 in taxes on a home valued at $300,000.

One would think that the Price administration would take a stand on the referendum if it were really concerned about taxes as they appeared to be in 2007. Could it be that the schools are fodder for the development industry, which dumped thousands of dollars into the campaigns of Price et al? Don't bite the hand that fed us. After all, there are empty schools to fill up.

It's a given that good schools attract people. Zionsville's schools are among the best in the state, so folks with children keep coming, new homes and multi-family housing go up, and who bears the burden? Look in the mirror.

And, where is the Price administration as Zionsville's school debt approaches $240 million? His council is focusing on major issues - $50,000 for a new town logo; $30,000 for a new town website; $20,000 for an annual report, and it goes on and on. And, don't forget the weeds on Main Street.

One would think that the more affluent Zionsville residents have money trees in those spacious well-groomed yards. There seems of be an apathy about the referendum, except for those backing the school referendum - the school administration's controlled lackies and its well-oiled propaganda machine.

Don't say that Zionsville Confidential didn't sound the warning bell when the tax bill rolls around and you wonder where the money went.