It’s really crazy when the top administrative officials in a public school district moan and groan about how little money they’re paid. It’s almost as bad as watching the highest paid public school district superintendent in the State of Arizona nickel and dime taxpayers in order to make her personal life more comfortable. To show how bad things have become: When was the last time you heard ANY top level administrator talking about how their decisions and recommendations are based on the best interests of students?
What you usually hear is “We Need More Money.” When asked directly, “How much money is enough?” you hear crickets. We saw a new version of crocodile tears from a parent’s description of a conversation with Dr. Alexander Nardone, the Chief of Staff of Gilbert Public Schools, a dude who rode Christina 7-0 Kishimoto’s skirt tails into the district for a *one year only* position:
I mentioned to Dr. Nardone that some people were upset that the district administrators were also getting that 1.6% increase on top of their high salaries. He then told me that he took a $50K pay cut to come work here with Dr. Kishimoto and that his wife gave up her thriving social work practice to move (and she doesn’t have the licensing to work here). He also said that the money for the 1.6% increase came from the state for inflation funds and they thought it would only be fair to give it to all staff equally instead of picking and choosing who received it. Only Dr. Kishimoto will not receive that increase since she is on a different salary plan with a unique contract. I appreciated that he shared that with me.
You’ve got to wonder why this dude relocated from Connecticut to Arizona for a one-year gig. We’re waiting to see if he actually vacates his one-year position at the end of June 2015, like he is supposed to do. Maybe all that was just a cover story for the public, since there is a lot of complaining about the bloat of administrators making six-figure incomes (courtesy of taxpayers, few of whom make anything near that salary).
Board member Jill Humpherys routinely defends the highest paid public school administration in the State of Arizona. During her speech at the *Listening Tour* of Arizona Superintendent of Education Diane Douglas, Good Old Jill Humpherys stated that GPS Superintendent Christina Kishimoto was being paid appropriately. The people in the room laughed out loud. The only surprise that day was that Jill Humpherys didn’t start crying … again.
The Gilbert Public Schools superintendency and cabinet are mostly out-of-towners who act like carpetbaggers and the few *home-grown leaders* are simply scalawags who prey on their former peers. We’ve noticed the top dogs in GPS using the term *peers* lately — it seems intended to force you, the hearer of the word, to acknowledge the rarified world inhabited by the speaker of the word. It must really, really pain Superintendent Christina Kishimoto to have to acknowledge that she has *peers,* but that’s a subject for another day.
Let’s talk about something the Book of Ecclesiastes got right: “What has been will be again. What has been done will be done again. There is nothing new under the sun.” We’re seeing plenty in Gilbert Public Schools in the run-up to the November 2015 election about a 10% override and a $98 Million bond. Since GPS CFO Jeff Gadd also fills a one-year only position (not counting all the months he got paid as a consultant before he got himself hired as CFO), he’s one of those carpetbaggers who thinks that because he doesn’t know GPS history, he figures voters are equally dumb stupid uninformed. That’s not the case, but folks like Superintendent Christina Kishimoto and her sidekick Alex Nardone don’t realize it.
At a recent work study session, Good Old Jeff Gadd had a PowerPoint slide showing how the extra $3.6 Million he magically found will be used to suppress the tax rate. It’s a ruse to make voters feel happy about the lower tax rate right before the election, of course. Back in 2012, the Arizona Tax Watchdog described a 40% jump in property taxes in the GPS district:
Various factors have caused the tax rate in the Gilbert Public Schools district to jump 40 percent this year, the highest increase in at least 30 years. Gilbert officials estimated the $2 tax increase per $100 of a home’s assessed value in July, when the governing board adopted the $305.87 million budget for this school year. The new budget includes a 2 percent pay increase for all employees, except the superintendent, for this school year only.
Last year’s tax rate was lower than normal because it was driven down by a significant cash balance in the district’s budget that totaled about $24.6 million. The cash balance drives down the property-tax levy, McCarthy said, adding, “When you do that, the next year’s calculation is predictably higher.”
Jeff Gadd actually said in public, “What we want to do with this new money that we’ve found is use it to reduce the tax rate before the election.” That is done by pretending to give the $3.6 Million back to voters instead of spending it before November 2015. That’s exactly what Budget C was under Dave Allison.
Apparently, Jeff Gadd doesn’t know that the original Good Old Boys already educated Gilbert voters about how a couple of million dollars can reduce the tax rate just before an election. It’s not something that “Robin Hood in Reverse” Dave Allison and his Merry Men intended to teach taxpayers, but people learned anyway. Back in 2013, there was an infamous “Budget C” that would lower the tax rate temporarily, at least until after the election. OMG, what a mutiny erupted from GEA and other Screaming Meemies! They even got an online petition going about Budget C. The 2013 override failed. (So did the 2012 override, but who’s counting?)
The GPS administration is now doing the same thing as the infamous Budget C: in other words, they learned you don’t raise taxes just before an election if you want an override and bond to pass. Seriously, by sequestering the magically discovered $3.6 Million, saying it’s needed for budget mitigation strategies NEXT YEAR, the tax rate is artificially suppressed for a short time. That, GPS employees, is why you will not see salary equity again this year. GPS, under the *leadership* of Superintendent Christina 7-0 Kishimoto and CFO Jeff Gadd, will spend that $3.6 Million as soon as the election is over, which will again raise the tax base. Taxpayers will see a large increase in their property taxes whether or not the override and bond pass.
Don’t believe for a minute all the pablum you’ll be hearing about “It’s only a cup of coffee” and similar spending comparisons. When your tax rates go up, it takes something like the Great Recession to bring any relief. Don’t buy into Jeff Gadd’s arguments that your taxes are going up because the economy is improving and the value of your house is increasing. The best we can all do is hope that Gadd dude rides off into the sunset at the end of June 2015. What are the odds Superintendent Christina 7-0 Kishimoto will ask him to stay on as a consultant until after the override election is over?
You do remember that Good Old Dave actually took money out of GPS employees’ pockets following the 2012 override failure, don’t you? There is nothing new under the sun.