The resounding voter rejection this week of the ABQ Public Schools property tax increase brought in the reader reaction, many of whom disagreed with our assessment of the outcome.

That reasoning including the size of the tax hike--one of the largest--if not the largest--ever requested by APS, the needlessly confusing three question ballot that faced voters, the lack of a positive campaign in favor of the taxes and the public's view that APS has not been fiscally prudent. But, as we said, not all agreed.

Foremost among them is the man largely responsible for mapping out the needs of APS that voters on Tuesday decided against funding--Kizito Wijenje, executive director of the APS Capital Master Plan. While we've seen things from the same perspective in years past, this time we parted ways. Here's his rebuttal to our take:

Joe, last time I checked, basic public facility maintenance, replacement of 60 year old school buildings, providing basic classroom equipment such as furniture, technology, and yes, musical instruments is not only prudent but fiscally responsible. Fixing leaking roofs and ensuring that children and teachers are as secure as possible from mass shootings is not prudent, it is necessary.

APS did ask for a ‘moon-shot" just the bare necessities, and unlike other metro municipalities we did it transparently and before the fact (remember ART).  Call us naïve when we carry out exhaustive technical analyses and present options both to our board and the taxpayer to truly decide the important questions of public investment in civic facilities, that’s just how we roll. We first don’t come up with a dollar amount and then back end it with the ‘how’ and the ‘when.’

We as a community cannot constantly wring our hands lamenting on how we are last in everything or how bad our education system is yet when given the chance to truly make a committed difference, we choose to blind ourselves to facts and instead listen to armchair pundits and faux think tanks like the Rio Grande Foundation.

Elections have consequences, we reap what we sow, and I assure you, there will be pain, in lost jobs, lost workforce and sadly the suffering of children especially in the neediest of neighborhoods. It took 8 years for the majority to figure out PARC testing was a scam and trickle-down-austerity by state government is a road to ruin.

The only hole is the one our community has dug itself in with this election result. Let’s hope it does not take eight years to figure out some simple truths, there is no Santa Claus, we have to pay for what we want in education, health care and public safety. These are our children, our teachers, and our educational facilities, APS is us.

BLAME IT ON BERRY

Reader Ken Tabish also disagreed with out analysis:

Joe, I have to take exception to your phrase that the APS voters are “tax tired.” May I remind you of the last eight years of the conservative Berry and Martinez administrations, coupled with a recession saw no new taxes or investment in the city or state? It was their mantra of no new taxes that carried the day.

Voters were sold a bill of goods from the Martinez administration and her Public Education Department that APS was not being accountable, a spending beast, top heavy with administration, and beat up the district and its teachers. Clearly, the Educational climate put forth by Martinez was adversarial toward APS and teachers in general and the populous bought it.

There is and has been a general atmosphere of don’t tax throughout the state and the nation (except locally for Mayor Keller’s recent increase of the GRT for public safety). Many of the voters cannot see beyond their own wallet. All the no voters could see was their own property tax bill and not their neighborhood school falling apart. People hear the word tax and they lose sight of the need for investment in our city and communities.

A yes vote for the APS Bond/Mill levy was a vote for our economy, local jobs at all levels of the construction pyramid, enhanced community/neighborhood values with quality, safe and clean school buildings and classrooms. A quality education and sound school district is a foundation for economic growth. Improving the learning environment is so critical in improving the educational process. The no voters did not win; the Albuquerque community lost along with our children, their parents, the neighborhoods in which they reside and the educators who work to educate them,

Well said, gentlemen. It wasn't easy disagreeing with you but that's the way we saw it. Now it's time to move forward and find a way to bridge our disagreement and continue to support the thousands of APS employees and students who deserve the best education system possible.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2019