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Dear Commissioner Seagren  & Governor Pawlenty , 

First of all, I would like to thank you for your time in listening to our Let Duluth Vote group today.  Unfortunately with some scheduling conflicts, I am not able to attend Wednesday's meeting.

Being one of the several thousand tax payers that signed the Let Duluth Vote petition, I do have some concerns in regard to the "Red Plan" that the Duluth School District #709 has recently been working on. 

I will bullet point some of my major concerns below:

• Not having the right to vote on a major construction plan that has a hefty price tag of $437 million dollars with interest added.
• Future precedent this will set for funding major projects not only in Duluth but throughout the State - historically these types of major bonding/construction plans have always gone before the voters but if we allow this to go through, it can be used again by companies such as Johnson Controls to push other projects through.
• Curriculum Planning, Transportation Costs, Parking Facilities for Denfeld HS & Ordean (new East HS) locations and City Infrastructure with Racial/Financial Segregation are all important issues that are impacted by this plan.
• Survey results - The school board is "hanging their hat" on the fact that the majority of Duluth wants the Red Plan based off the survey report which was compiled of only 300 people.   When I read through this survey it simply does not seem to me that even the 300 people thought the School Board is spending money efficiently, making solid financial decisions to the point of wanting to forfeit their right to vote on a 437 million dollar plan or that they have the additional money for tax dollars to fund this project.  I ask you to please read through the whole survey to form your own opinion but some of the survey report statistics that stuck out to me are:
•     1)  39% Surveyed "disagree" or "strongly disagree" with the statement that during the last couple of years the Duluth Public School District Administration and Board has spent money efficiently.
•     2) 46% Said they would rate the job performance of the Duluth Public School District Board either "only fair" or "poor".
•     3) 59% Said that they would rate the financial management of the Duluth Public Schools as "only fair" or "poor".
•     4) 91% Of the surveyed people stating that they were either "somewhat informed", "not too informed" or "not at all informed" of the issues. Then the survey went on with very leading information and questions after that point.
•     5) 82% Were either "somewhat familiar" or "not too familiar" with the discussions and reports to date.
•     6) Question #26 is very important.  The information preceding this question seems to me to be untrue, or at the very least, is extremely misleading.  This question is what Johnson Controls & the School Board has based the 71 % approval rating on. It states that in the past, the Duluth School District has held well-publicized public hearing to discuss plans and their costs, rather than holding referendum election.  It then went on to give a very vaguely worded and leading question to get their desired rating. To my knowledge we have never had a construction plan to the tune of $437 Million dollars go through without a referendum to vote on.
• 7) 44% Stated they "oppose" or "strongly oppose" the Duluth Public School District issuing bonds to finance the full cost of the new construction and renovation. After that question it asks one or two reasons for their decision and 34% of the people surveyed stated that their taxes are too high.
• 8) 49% Of the people surveyed on their household finances described their situation as either "being at the point where their monthly expenses have exceeded their income" or "they are meeting their monthly expenses but are putting aside little or no savings". This statement does show that many Duluth taxpayers simply can not afford this financial burden of this plan. 

We are just looking for the right to vote on this very expensive plan.  If the Red Plan does go to referendum, and the majority of the Duluth voters vote in favor of it, I would back the Red Plan 100% but it is a very serious situation when we as a democratic country lose our right to vote on such important issues such as our children's education and the vast amount of tax dollars it will take to fund such a plan.   

Thank you again for your time as it is greatly appreciated.

Beth Johnson