Years ago, a former neighbor boy, Ray, from Minneapolis came to visit us in Evansville. He had just turned 22. We took a break one night to head on over to the Coach House for a brew, mano a mano. As we settled in at the bar, the bartender came over to take our order. At first Ray seemed a little startled. The bartender was a white haired little old grandmother type. She said: "Whatal it be, sonny?" He replied with an exotic German type of brew label. Once the name came out of his lips, the whole bar quieted.
Then she smiled slightly and said: "Sonny, in these here parts we just have Bud or Miller lite. Whatal it be?"
"O.K., " he said, "I'll take a Miller lite."
Over the years I have remembered that moment. The reason.---- In Evansville, not in the uptown regions of Metro USA, we can have all ages of our citizens in all areas of our community life. Seniors play a huge role here. As volunteers. In Non-profits. In schools. This has been the case for the past 100 years.
Recently in a school buildings and grounds meeting, an official was heard to comment, and you can hear this on the movie on this blog: "There will be some recycling of Housing stock." Those are only eight words. They are dynamite words for seniors. And they mean an earthquake for our community. Here is WHY.
If you are a senior and in your home how much revenue do you provide to your school district? $800? O.K. Let's just say that for example purposes, a young family could buy your home from you and have two kids of school age, 7 and 9. How much money would that family provide to the school district in terms of per pupil state aid? $16,000.
When one considers why an organization that does not foresee a necessity for additional building for 10 years would desire to build schools totaling 44 million dollars in today's dollars, or 100 million dollars in 2017 dollars---the question is what is the motivation for leading with DEBT first. What is the motivation? The debt will translate into higher taxes and the Seniors will be forced to sell their homes. Period.
Behind the "slick" recycling the housing stock phrasing is a very lethal weapon against seniors. Rather than grow by adding quality homes, it sees "recycling" as a strategy.
This is one case where "recycling" is not a "Green" or human friendly process. This is a warning for all seniors. Poor school planning can be hazardous to your health. Beware.
This morning we celebrate in Evansville the groundbreaking for the new biodiesel plant. All the politicos will be there. This is the healthy growth that we need in Evansville that can bring good jobs.........It is good GREEN. Recycling the soy to make fuel to make us fuel independent. It is the opposite of recycling the housing stock. Make a note of it.
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