With SPLOST, the Fayette County Board of Education is looking to hit the lottery. And they are using $20,000 (the cost of opening the polling places and counting the votes) of county funds to finance their gamble.

The $91 million they would net has nothing to do with needs. That amount is merely how much tax they project to collect. They have simply taken this amount and manufactured ways to spend it. This is totally unacceptable.

If the board wants to itemize the cost of construction and put only that amount on a bond measure, I will vote for it under one condition. Each board member must resign if those projects do not come in on time and on budget. The school board legacy of finger-pointing must end. Poor planning and management ran the last bond ($58 million) $15 million over what we were promised. That fiasco is why we are now in such financial straits.

Amazingly, [board member] Woody Shelnutt is sounding responsible. Perhaps he has become sensitive to whose money he is spending. If he keeps this up, he might even get my vote in the next election. Who would have thought that possible?

Bill Webster
Peachtree City

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