Watch Your (Ballot) Language | Waxahachie ISD Edition

I have the bond ballot language that voters in Waxahachie ISD will see on Saturday, May 8. There are two propositions -- one for $22,750,000 - and one for $6 million. Both of these propositions have broad language. So broad that if the WISD school board wanted to make "campus renovations" mean "a luxury latte bar with valet parking," they could legally do so. If you think that's far-fetched, ask your WISD school board why they voted to switch a campus several years ago from what was on the ballot as a multi-grade campus to an 8th grade-only campus. They did this even after the voters approved the school proposition for a multi-grade campus (that vote was 6-1, with Mark Price dissenting.)

Really Quick Side Notes:

1. We still haven't forgotten about the whole WISD Mike Wright/German vacation that this athletic improvements guru took last fall have we? Wouldn't want a conflict-of-interest that WISD lawyers said was legit cloud a little bond election would we? Then again, we wouldn't want news of a Waxahachie High School coach-student sex relationship to break before graduation either, right?

2. Here's an entire list of .PDF images that show what those "athletic improvements" and "campus renovations" are. THOSE ARE SEPARATE FROM WHAT CAN ACTUALLY BE APPROVED ON MAY 8. Do not forget that. Please do not forget that important matter. Save, keep those lists, because if a mosque goes up inside the cafeteria at one of the "campuses" to be "renovated," you'll understand how it came about.

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Those who will remember my Midlothian "Watch Your (Ballot) Language" will see just how particular I am with lawyer-drafted words. Their words and our words are TOTALLY DIFFERENT WORDS. They mean TOTALLY DIFFERENT THINGS.

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[Read How I Helped Defeat the Midlothian ISD Bond W/Their Own Bond Ballot Language]

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Now read for yourselves what these bond propositions say explicitly, and note how the bond ballot language is so broad, that those words can mean anything.

PROPOSITION NO. 1
THE ISSUANCE OF $22,175,000 OF SCHOOL BUILDING BONDS FOR ATHLETIC FACILITIES AND LEVYING THE TAX IN PAYMENT THEREOF.

PROPOSITION NO. 2
THE ISSUANCE OF $5,945,000 OF SCHOOL BUILDING BONDS FOR CAMPUS RENOVATIONS AND LEVYING THE TAX IN PAYMENT THEREOF.

Look at "athletic facilities." What the hell are "athletic facilities?" Your glossy promotional fliers and your WISD bond propaganda give you a list of what they want to do with that money, but OF A VOTE OF A MAJORITY OF WISD SCHOOL BOARD TRUSTEES, those lists don't mean jack shit. Do you people not remember the last bond that passed? A 6-1 vote changed --- COMPLETELY --- a campus that voters had thought was going to be a multi-grade campus. The WISD board VOTED TO CHANGE IT.

[Read How I Helped Defeat the Midlothian ISD Bond W/Their Own Bond Ballot Language]

"Athletic facilities" could include anything a lawyer says is "legal" to do. Ask Midlothian ISD how they got a damn basketball arena. That sure as hell wasn't mass-promoted in the last bond election or two.

What about "campus renovations?" What in the world are "campus renovations?" Sure, you've been given a list and glossy promo items showing you what they plan to do with the money, but that doesn't mean jack shit.

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[Read How I Helped Defeat the Midlothian ISD Bond W/Their Own Bond Ballot Language]

In a horrible economy such as this, I don't see how the taxpayers can shoulder MORE AND MORE AND MORE DEBT. Those are what bonds are. DEBT. Those bonds are debt to be paid off by the Interest & Sinking (I&S) portion of the school tax rate. If you hear that your taxes will not go up to pay off this debt, THEY ARE LYING TO YOU. Debt payments always increase, either by inflation or other factors.

Plus, what bond market on Wall Street seriously gives one crap about Waxahachie ISD?

What? Wall Street? What do you mean, Joey?

Bonds are approved at the local level. They are SOLD in municipal bond markets on Wall Street or other exchanges, but usually on Wall Street. Investors "invest" in getting the schools built and receive sometimes-stable returns on their investments, paid for by DEBT PAYMENTS AT THE LOCAL LEVEL.

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[Read How I Helped Defeat the Midlothian ISD Bond W/Their Own Bond Ballot Language]

Does this not sound like the governmental version of a credit-default swap? You're bundling a bunch of debt and bonds together, packaging them as "governmental debt," or "campus renovations" or "athletic improvements" with a TAX TO PAY FOR IT (note that it doesn't say what RATE of a tax rate...WATCH THE KEY WORDS, SHEEPLE!), and then securitizing them.

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It's not a "credit-default swap" because this is governmental debt. Those bonds would never, ever, ever be used to hide, conceal things, oh no, not at all. Campus renovations can include anything they want. If WISD were to go bankrupt tomorrow with unemployment, riots, societal collapse, lack of property tax collections, those Wall Street boys would be calling in their friends in the Federal Government to rescue them and say, "hey, bail out the bond markets, WAXAHACHIE ISD JUST DEFAULTED."

[Read How I Helped Defeat the Midlothian ISD Bond W/Their Own Bond Ballot Language]

THIS is stuff you won't read in the Waxahachie Daily Light, and it sure as hell isn't stuff you'll read in WISD brochures or the pro-deception marketing campaigns that sold WISD voters a multi-grade campus in 2007 only to have a 6-1 school board vote change it to a single-grade campus.