NO    

I have tried to be very conscientious about spending, and have voted “No” on spending more than any other current township board member, and more than the habitual “Yes” voters combined. Patty Senneker runs a close second on the number of “No” votes on spending. My thinking is that government should follow the Golden Rule (Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.) My belief is that citizens would rather have lower taxes, and have their tax dollars spent as wisely and effectively as possible. In the past several years, I have voted no on the following major items.

Burning down the house at 1855 142nd Ave.   NO. We could have rented it out until we formed a long term plan for parks, we could have turned it into an educational farm run for profit, under contract, by a private organization without a big investment of tax dollars. Also, we could have sold the house and two barns for $140,000; instead we spent nearly $10,000 to demolish them. $150,000 to keep two acres for the park means $75,000 per acre

New Plow Truck $33,000  NO We could have bought a used one for a fraction of the price. It is rarely driven more than 6 miles from the garage and we don’t need new for that. When you consider long-term dollars-per-mile, just look around at what lower income people drive — used. I looked at a collection of plow trucks and brought the info to the board.

New Skid-Steer Tractor 30,000 NO There is no clear history of even needing a skid-steer tractor. But if we did need to buy one we could have bought a used one for a small fraction of the cost. Again, I looked at a variety of tractors and brought in a list of tractors at a fraction of the price.

New Lawnmower $11,000 NO The previous lawnmower was working well and it is doubtful that we even needed to replace it. The current supervisor said it smoked when you start it and it had a knock in the engine. Well most engines with a manual choke do blow black smoke at first, and no I didn’t hear a knock, not even after several weeks. and no I don’t think we needed the expensive grass-catcher or the expensive counterweights to balance out the grass catcher. I looked at a variety of mowers and brought in a list of tractors at a fraction of the price; one of them was a demonstrator with one hours use on the meter.

Sale of Land 18 acres at 18th Street and 142nd Ave $40,000 (loss) The real mistake was made when this land was purchased about 12 years ago for $126,000. The new Board voted to split the property and offer each parcel for $60,000. Instead we sold it all for $85,000 with a 3 year agreement for the yard-waste/leaf-drop area. I had wanted to keep the east half of the land and used it permanently for a yard-waste/leaf-drop The math says we sold 9 acres that could have lasted indefinitely for $25,000. Also, we could have split that east half again later and sold off the south part for $45,000, and had a  permanent yard-waste/leaf-drop area for $20,000. ($126 minus 60,000, minus 45,000 => $21,000) Now, after the deal is made, we will probably be looking for land for a yard-waste/leaf-drop area next year.