Our opinion: Failure should not be an option on bond
Sunday, November 9, 2008 12:30 AM PST
No doubt the supporters of the latest Ontario School Bond effort are probably dejected after the measure failed by a narrow vote Tuesday.
A certain amount of regret is normal, but it is already time to look to the future and prepare to place a bond measure before voters again next spring.
To an extent, there exists a certain amount of uncertainty regarding why this latest bond measure failed.
After all, this time bond supporters utilized a board of local residents to develop a viable plan, and then a large amount of time was spent to gain public input regarding the best plan. In short, this time supporters of the school bond did exactly what they should have done to involve and educate the public on this important issue. And yet it failed.
The vote tally showed the loss was a narrow one, but there is no escaping the fact that outside factors — such as the state of the economy — surely played a large role in the failure of the bond.
Still, supporters should be heartened by the fact the bond failed narrowly this time. Voters by a large margin scuttled the previous bond attempt.
Now, though, those who worked so hard for this latest school bond measure must reevaluate, seek more input from the community and then find a way to get the bond back on the ballot for the next election.
That may seem like a tall order, and, in a way, it is. Still, showing the surrender flag now would be a mistake. The infrastructure problems the Ontario School District faces are not going to go away. They exist and are only going to grow worse.
This time the bond measure failed by such a narrow margin that to walk away from the entire effort would be a mistake.
Those in support of the bond measure must find out why this time — after doing exactly what the public demanded regarding the overall plan — it failed.
The plan was the right one. Perhaps the timing was not. At any rate, it’s time to get started on the process to bring the measure before voters again.
The sooner the better.
