By Heather Jensen Weekend Anchor/Reporter
New 3 On Your Side
Columbus representatives from the city government, school board, and chamber of commerce gave state delegates their "wish lists" for the upcoming 2008 legislative session Tuesday at the Columbus Trade Center.New 3 On Your Side
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Stumble It!Most agenda items ask for continued capital funding and more money for expected BRAC growth.
The legislative session begins January 14th.
But before going to bat for local leaders and their "wish lists,” Senator Seth Harp (R-29th District) wanted to have his say on how the local school board is spending its money.
Harp feels there are many questions to be answered for Columbus, and more specifically the Muscogee County School Board. And the biggest question is one of trust when using tax dollars.
“They need to re-examine their priorities,” Harp said.
The Senator is referring to the old Sears building.
The facility (and what to do with it) has been a hot topic for years for the Muscogee County School Board. Board members labored over the decision to demolish the old building and rebuild a new one to accommodate a new school administrative building. They voted in favor of demolition two months ago. The cost of the total project (rebuilding included) is close to $30 million.
Senator Harp scolded the board for that decision during Tuesday’s luncheon, because of the current need for more classrooms and more books.
Questions of trust and money go beyond Harp and his constituents. The new administrative building and its price tag is generating questions on the state and federal level as well. Senator Harp is on the Mission Growth Committee, which includes representatives from six states that will be impacted by BRAC. He admitted the board's decision to rebuild on the Sears site at such a hefty price could cost the city more money in the coming years.
“When I go to those meetings and they ask me questions like 'You're really building a 27-million dollar administrative building? Why do you need help from us?' That’s the sort of thing that throws cold water on it and that's why I gotta ask the questions,” Harp said.
According to Senator Harp, when the 2003 SPLOST was approved for the library and the adjoining property, less than $15 million was allotted for construction of an administrative building.
The current $27-million building plans were approved by school board members on a vote of five-to-four on October 15 of this year.
“You don’t build a 27-million-dollar building when the voters have given you 12 and a half million dollars,” Harp said.
A written statement from the Muscogee County School District does not address the amount of money being spent on the administrative building. However, it does reiterate the need for the facility.
The statement reads:
“We have employees working in deplorable conditions throughout the county, and the district is moving forward in the construction process of the new administration building to address that problem and consolidate our administrative offices which are presently throughout four different sites in the county.” –Valerie Fuller, Director of Communications, Muscogee County School District
In a separate interview, School Board Member John Wells gave us his thoughts on Senator Harp’s comments.
"As far as I’m concerned and what I’ve heard from other board members involved, it don't change our opinion about the direction that we're going,” he said. “And we've just got a person who gave us personal opinion."
Wells attended Tuesday’s legislative luncheon, and is a proponent of building the new administrative building on the old Sears site.
Board member Cathy Williams, who voted against the administration building plans, said Senator Harp's remarks just show his frustration, and the importance of public opinion and how it affects other bodies. She also attended the luncheon.
When asked if the school board could fix the problems, Senator Harp responded, “If they choose it. If they don’t, the voters will fix it for them.”
