FAQ

If there is one good thing that came out of the High School Project fiasco, it created an awareness in local government that hasn't been there in a long time.  Residents are approaching me with questions like, "I have never taken an interest in our local government before this project and don't know the process." "What ward am I in?" Don't be embarrassed.  I didn't either.  I didn't even know who our commissioners and members of the school board were until a few years ago.  Yes, I always voted, but never really knew what ward I was in, just knew enough to go to Foster School to vote.  So for those of you who are like I was, here is a link to Mt. Lebanon's ward map.  To find your ward by street, Mt. Lebanon's website also has this Ward & District Locator.  The only way you can vote for me in the Primary election, is if you are a registered Republican and you live in Ward 3.  If you are a registered Democrat or Independent, you will be able to vote for me in November.  I have additional voter information on my website.  http://www.elainegillenward3.com/Elaine_Gillen_Ward3/Voter_information.html  While you are there, learn how to register to vote, if you haven't registered yet.  

I really should have paid more attention in my ninth grade Civics class!  Who knew?

What happened to us?

I just got my latest issue of mtl Magazine.  Who paid for the high school renovation insert?  Did I read somewhere that mtl is required to print so many School District inserts per year?  Either way, it was our tax dollars "at work."  After looking at the renderings, does anyone believe that the project is over the top? Does anyone believe that it will bankrupt the community?  Did the Municipality cave in to the pressure from the small group supporting the renovation?  Mt. Lebanon, after all, is rewriting the Zoning Ordinance to permit the SOS signs to stay up indefinitely.

Breaking News

For nearly a year, I have been actively involved in Concerned Citizens of Mt. Lebanon, a watchdog group aimed at monitoring the High School Renovation project and its ramifications in our community. As Lebo Citizens, our focus broadened to include both the School District and the Municipality. During this time, I have attended and recorded numerous School Board and Commission meetings, developed and maintained lebocitizens.com, started a related blog and asked many questions of our elected officials.

All of this work was done on a volunteer basis, but I recently came to the realization that I need to do more. Today, I did just that when I filed to run for the open Ward 3 seat on the Mt. Lebanon Commission. As a longtime resident and a Mt. Lebanon High School graduate, I know this community and will persevere to ensure its survival. 

You have my pledge to work as hard as an elected official, as I have as a volunteer. I hope I can count on your support and your vote.

Focused on our future,
 

Elaine Gillen 

www.elainegillenward3.com

Question: How many lawyers does it take to renovate a high school?

Answer:  Too many.  The latest law firm that is getting involved in the high school renovation is Babst, Calland, Clements and Zomnir.  They will be reviewing Volume 1 of the bid specifications for the high school renovation project at a price not to exceed (ex[c]eed) $3,500.  This third-party review was performed so that the School Board can take action on approving the bid documents on Monday, February 28.

"Degree of Motivation"

 The following letter to the editor comes from Richard Gideon, publisher/editor of American Vexillum^tm magazine - ISSN 1544-5984

Ms. Gillen: 

     A recent article published in Reason magazine sheds some interesting light on the issue of public spending for education.  The US spends more money per student than any other country in the world except Switzerland.  What we get for this money is mediocre science and math test scores, on a national basis.  The student-teacher ratio has fallen and teacher pay has increased dramatically, but compared to countries in the Far East, Scandinavia, and other places in the world, American kids are left in the dust.
     As a former post-secondary teacher (for 23 years), I had to deal with the products of the public schools.  Without exception, it was the "degree of motivation" that was a better indicator of an individual's success than the district from which he or she came (with the exception that kids from private schools, or home-schooled kids, were nearly always in the top of their classes); and this included kids from the "better" districts, such as Mt. Lebanon or Upper St. Clair. 
     In the end, quality education is a mix of teacher skill and viable raw material, not an impressive brick and mortar structure. 
     The Reason article may be viewed on-line here: http://reason.com/archives/2011/02/22/losing-the-brains-race.

Best Wishes,
Richard R. Gideon

When you can't have closed meetings, schedule conflicting meetings

This was in last week's Trib.   Mt. Lebanon officials won't agree to closed meetings

"It's a gray area, and I err on the side of caution," said Mt. Lebanon Solicitor Philip Weis, who advised the commissioners that the meetings would be better off open to the public.
"We'd rather give (the public) more than give less and be at fault," Miller said.
Posti, who took over as board president in December, said she wanted to schedule the meetings to foster more communication between the school district and the municipality.

Brumfield initially voted with commissioners DeIuliis and D. Raja for the closed meetings as long as they had some method for public review, such as published agendas. But after Weis reviewed the law, Brumfield said he changed his mind.

Commissioners, thanks for trying to be accomodating (Updated)

Traditionally, the Commission and the School Board would hold their meetings two Mondays a month.  Unfortunately, both would meet on the same evening once a month.  In 2011, our Commissioners moved their meetings to the second Tuesday and the fourth Monday, to avoid conflicting meetings.  Or so we thought.  This month, the School Board is having three Monday meetings, with the reconvened meeting conflicting with the Mt.Lebanon Adjourned Commission meeting scheduled for February 28.  The following email exchange pretty much sets the tone.

Mrs. Gillen,

No.

For the Board,

Josephine Posti
President
Mt. Lebanon School Board
412.667.1479
http://jposti.blogspot.com/

Mission: to provide the best education possible for each and every student



-----Original Message-----
From: egillen476@aol.com [mailto:egillen476@aol.com]
Sent: Sat 2/19/2011 5:10 PM
To: School Board Email list; commission@mtlebanon.org
Cc: Dr. Timothy Steinhauer; sfeller@mtlebanon.org; tkelley@mtlebanon.org
Subject: Reconvened meeting????

Ms. Posti,
I was just posting the agenda for Monday's School Board meeting on lebocitizens.com and noticed that there is a School Board reconvened meeting scheduled on February 28, 2011.  That conflicts with the Commission meeting.  They moved their meetings to Tuesday evenings to avoid conflicts with School Board meetings.  Would you be able to reschedule your reconvened meeting so that it does not conflict with the Commission meeting on February 28?
Elaine Gillen

Updated February 20, 2011 The agenda for tomorrow's meeting is here. Agenda for 2/21/11 meeting How can item 14 announce a reconvened meeting when number 15 on the agenda is Adjournment?  Robert's Rules of Order state when a meeting is adjourned, it is over.  Tomorrow's meeting is very important.  How can they announce a reconvened meeting when in fact, the regular meeting hasn't even occurred (convened)? This sounds unethical to me.

Right here, right now

I got an email from Borders Books this morning, that the sale starts today.  Everything must go.  No, this is not an advertisement for Borders Books.  This is just another indicator that our region is in trouble.  Borders filed for Chapter 11 bankrupcy reorganization on Wednsday.  I was hoping our School Board would have scaled back the high school renovation project.  Money is drying up.  When the bids come in, will we get the project we were promised at the cost listed on this campaign postcard? Vote for Dale, Alan & Dan  They were right.  The November 3rd Election certainly did affect our tax dollars!!

A delay?? Oh my!!!

We have no owner's rep, no owner's liaison, but we have an attorney to review the bid package??  Oh, come on, folks!!!

The Mt. Lebanon school board wants one more expert to weigh in on its high school renovation project before it goes out to bid, pushing the project back by a week.

Read more: Mt. Lebanon High School renovation proposal delayed - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_723207.html#ixzz1EFvFlBvv

Are you better off today than you were two years ago?

TWO YEARS AGO VS. TODAY

 

	January 2009	TODAY	% chg	Source
Avg. retail price/gallon gas in U.S.	$1.83	$3.104	69.6%	1
Crude oil, European Brent (barrel)	$43.48	$99.02	127.7%	2
Crude oil, West TX Inter. (barrel)	$38.74	$91.38	135.9%	2
Gold: London (per troy oz.)	$853.25	$1,369.50	60.5%	2
Corn, No.2 yellow, Central IL	$3.56	$6.33	78.1%	2
Soybeans, No. 1 yellow, IL	$9.66	$13.75	42.3%	2
Sugar, cane, raw, world, lb. fob	$13.37	$35.39	164.7%	2
Unemployment rate, non-farm, overall	7.6%	9.4%	23.7%	3
Unemployment rate, blacks	12.6%	15.8%	25.4%	3
Number of unemployed	11,616,000	14,485,000	24.7%	3
Number of fed. employees, ex. military (curr = 12/10 prelim)	2,779,000	2,840,000	2.2%	3
Real median household income (2008 v 2009)	$50,112	$49,777	-0.7%	4
Number of food stamp recipients (curr = 10/10)	31,983,716	43,200,878	35.1%	5
Number of unemployment benefit recipients (curr = 12/10)	7,526,598	9,193,838	22.2%	6
Number of long-term unemployed	2,600,000	6,400,000	146.2%	3
Poverty rate, individuals (2008 v 2009)	13.2%	14.3%	8.3%	4
People in poverty in U.S. (2008 v 2009)	39,800,000	43,600,000	9.5%	4
U.S. rank in Economic Freedom World Rankings	5	9	n/a	10
Present Situation Index (curr = 12/10)	29.9	23.5	-21.4%	11
Failed banks (curr = 2010 + 2011 to date)	140	164	17.1%	12
U.S. dollar versus Japanese yen exchange rate	89.76	82.03	-8.6%	2
U.S. money supply, M1, in billions (curr = 12/10 prelim)	1,575.1	1,865.7	18.4%	13
U.S. money supply, M2, in billions (curr = 12/10 prelim)	8,310.9	8,852.3	6.5%	13
National debt, in trillions	$10.627	$14.052	32.2%	14

In the last two years we have accumulated national debt at a rate more than 27 times as fast as during the rest of our entire nation's history.  Over 27 times as fast! 

Metaphorically, speaking, if you are driving in the right lane doing 65 MPH and a car rockets past you in the left lane 27 times faster . . . it would be doing 1,755 MPH! 

This is a disaster!

Sources:

(1) U.S. Energy Information Administration; (2) Wall Street Journal; (3) Bureau of Labor Statistics; (4) Census Bureau; (5) USDA; (6) U.S. Dept. of Labor; (7) FHFA; (8) Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller; (9) RealtyTrac; (10) Heritage Foundation and WSJ; (11) The Conference Board; (12) FDIC; (13) Federal Reserve; (14) U.S. Treasury

So Long, $5,100,000

Letter to the Editor:

Today, February 15, 2011, the School Board is paying $700,000 to holders of the High School Bonds.

So, why pay bondholders today? The bonds were issued too early and the School Board promised to pay today.

Wait, it gets worse! An additional $4,400,000 of tax-free interest is being paid to bondholders too.

Superintendent Allison used to say, “Do the math!”

 $700,000 + $4,400,000 equals $5,100,000 of squandered money because the bond was issued on October 21, 2009.

The next time you see a School Board Member, an Administrator, or a Finance Team Member thank them for saying:

“So long $5,100,000.”

That is enough money to buy 25 houses for $200,000 each.

John Ewing

Eligible for a free lunch?

It looks like there are more students eligible for a free or reduced-priced lunch that ever before in Mt. Lebanon, according to today's Trib.  

Eligibility for the free and reduced-price lunch program is tied directly to income levels. Students from a family of four are eligible for free lunches if their family's annual income is $29,055 or less; students from a family of four with a family income up to $40,900 are eligible for reduced-price lunches. 

In the Mt. Lebanon School District, eligibility rose from 6.1 [in 2006] to 8.8 percent [in 2010].  

If there are any eligible Lebo Citizens readers with kids in high school, make sure to talk with your child's guidance counselor.  SAT fees and many college application fees can be waived. If only the School Board and Commission majority would have taken off their Rose-colored glasses before approving the high school project.  

Read more: More students in Western Pennsylvania qualify for free, reduced-cost lunch - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_722661.html#ixzz1DtoS2sS3

Laugh of the Day

Mt. Lebanon School District has published their draft of the Bullying Policy on the District website for Monday's meeting, February 14, 2011.
  Bullying Policy

Background

The Mt. Lebanon School District’s goal is to establish a secure school climate, conducive to teaching and student learning that is free from threat, harassment, and any type of bullying behavior. One of the District's core values calls for each member of our learning community to demonstrate respect toward others.

Bullying includes, but is not limited to, physical intimidation or assault; extortion; oral or written threats; malicious teasing, putdowns, social isolation or name calling; threatening looks, gestures, or actions; cruel rumors; and false accusations, including any of the foregoing via electronic communications such as the internet, email, text messaging, or other methods. 

Mt. Lebanon School District has published their draft of their Unlawful Harassment Policy on the District website for Monday's meeting, February 14, 2011.
  Unlawful Harassment Policy

The District also condemns and prohibits any retaliatory behavior against any complainants, witnesses or persons who participate in the investigation of a report or complaint of harassment.

So why is this the Laugh of the Day?   Read my previous posts about the SOS signs and our School Board Directors.  Granted, waking up to an SOS sign outside my window was not on school property, but this is leading by example?  What?  You say it could be kids?  Just yesterday, I posted that there were no SOS signs on my street.  I complained about the signs on Wednesday.  Why wasn't it kids when complaints were filed in the Fall due to missing VOICE signs, if that even happened?  Why were adults suspected of removing the signs then, but now, it could just be kids?

The VOICE website has this as their headline:
The High School Renovation Project Is Finally a Done Deal!

If it is a done deal, then why are we still being bullied and harassed?

Dear Mt. Lebanon government

Lance: To Mt. Lebanon government. The board of commissioners this week gave final approval to a zoning change that paves the way for a more than $113 million high school renovation project. The project already has resulted in a 10 percent-plus increase in school taxes with more on the way. What will the school board and commissioners do when there's no more money to underwrite their follies?

Read more: Laurels & Lances - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/s_722305.html#ixzz1DfSghXG4

Sick of the SOS signs?

Here is the email that I sent to the Commissioners and School Board today.  I thought it would be interesting to share Josephine Posti's reply to my email.  


Mrs. Gillen,
While neither the District nor the municipality produced the signs, they're a form of expression similar to flying a flag, displaying a Steelers sign or writing a blog. You may want to check in with the folks who produced the signs to gain a better understanding of their intent.  While you may feel "the signs have no more pu(r)pose," I'm certain they'd be happy to talk to you about it.

Whether you decide to reach out to those affiliated with the group who produced the signs or reach out to a neighbor whose sign you consider an eyesore, I do hope that you take the opportunity to reach out, share your concerns constructively, listen to their point of view and engage in active dialogue.  Last night's vote was the result of years' worth of hard work by many people in Mt. Lebanon. Some have supported the project; some haven't but each, including you, played a role.  Regardless of where each of us stand on that spectrum we are all neighbors who share a very special community with a bright future.

For the Board,

Josephine Posti
President
Mt. Lebanon School Board
412.667.1479http://jposti.blogspot.com

Mission: to provide the best education possible for each and every student



-----Original Message-----
From: egillen476@aol.com [mailto:egillen476@aol.com]
Sent: Wed 2/9/2011 5:45 PM
To: School Board Email list; Dr. Timothy Steinhauer
Cc: commission@mtlebanon.org; sfeller@mtlebanon.org; tkelley@mtlebanon.org
Subject: VOICE website

Josephine Posti and Dan Miller,

As Ed Kubit told me back in October, since the signs are considered "political" in nature, they could stay up after the Planning Board meeting.  In their own words, "the High School Project is Finally a Done Deal."  The signs have no more pupose.  Last night, I asked Mrs. Rose if the signs could come down and her response was,  "Maybe they will, or maybe they won't."  What a fine attitude by our School Board Director.  The signs are an eye sore.  How much longer do we need to look at them?  At what point can the Municipality start citing these homes?

Elaine Gillen

From the VOICE website:
The High School Renovation Project Is Finally a Done Deal!
On Tuesday, February 8, the Mt. Lebanon Commission voted 3-2 in favor of final approval of the high school project.  Commissioners Matt Kluck and Dan Miller were the dissenting votes after their motion to table the vote failed.  The Commission voted unanimously on the conditional use to renovate and rebuild the school, the shared parking agreement and the development agreement.  The project should go out to bid in 30 days, and the hope is to break ground in May.  Thank you for your support to see this project through the approval phase!  Click on the button below to email your thanks to the Commission.


Their sign campaign was originally for the Planning Board meeting.  Here is the post from their site:

Yard Sign Campaign, Ceiling Collapse, Critical Planning Board Meeting <http://voiceofmtlebanon.org/content/yard-sign-campaign-ceiling-collapse-critical-planning-board-meeting>
Posted Wed, 09/22/2010 - 15:56 by Nancy Tashman
To All Supporters of the High School Renovation,
As you know, the Mt. Lebanon High School project is facing several hurdles in the coming months and opposition to the project is strong and far-reaching. To show our unified support, we are asking all supporters to place yard signs on their property: Save Our Schools, with a picture of a shovel and www.voiceofmtlebanon.org <http://voiceofmtlebanon.org/> . We believe a strong show of support will send a message to other residents that the Mt. Lebanon community is behind a quality education and building for our children.
Here's how you can help. Pick up a sign in one of two locations, 73 Roycroft Avenue (off Mt. Lebanon Blvd. near Foster School) and 450 Summit in Sunset Hills. Signs will be on the front porches between 5:00 PM Friday and 5:00 PM Sunday. Please sign your name on the clipboard and report how many you are taking. PLEASE PLANT ALL SIGNS ON MONDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 27th. (We need to get signs out prior to the planning board meeting scheduled for Tuesday night.) Also please ask your friends and neighbors to take a sign and spread the word. Another idea is to decorate your sign or yard with blue and gold ribbons to show support for the renovation and generate a buzz in the community.  We are still accepting donations for signs--there will be an envelope with the sign out sheet.....