I had a friend challenge me to distribute this flyer throughout the Kettering precinct where I live. I said, “You know, I don’t want my neighbors to think I’m a kook — someone who wants to torpedo their local schools.”
But now I’m thinking, “Isn’t this really all about democracy?” I believe many Kettering voters would support a school renewal levy, even if they knew up front that there was a good chance, if their property value had zero growth in value, that over a five year period their property tax would nevertheless increase $36. Big whoop. This is not much of an increase. If I’m willing to continue to pay $300 for five more years, then needing to pay a little more would probably not change my mind.
But the problem is, people, when they vote “Yes” for this levy, will think they are voting for “ZERO Increase in Taxes,” not a probable small increase in taxes.
I would never consider going door to door trying to convince my neighbors to defeat a school levy. But I am considering going door to door in order to inspire my neighbors to think a little about their democracy.
If this levy fails on May 5, the district gets a do-over in November. The time between May and November could be a valuable time in Kettering to discuss the future of Kettering Schools.
So, I’m thinking about it. Thinking of rewriting that flyer and distributing it in my precinct. That would take a lot of effort. I would think of the purpose of such effort as conducting a sort of an experiment in grass root democracy. It would be interesting to compare the result of my precinct to the results in the other 63 precincts. I’m thinking about it.
