Editor’s Note: The amount of the proposed tax and the number of volunteers working to support the bond have been corrected. Also, a website for viewing school district plans has been added.
CHIMACUM — The supporters of a Chimacum School District $29.1 million construction bond, which is on the Tuesday ballot, are confident they have campaigned vigorously enough to ensure its passage on the third try, despite opposition.
“I think the campaign is going pretty well,” said district Superintendent Rick Thompson.
“We have a lot of energy and volunteerism and commitment from people who are trying to demonstrate to their neighbors and friends that we have a need and intend to fill it.”
Opposition
Unlike the past two attempts to pass a school construction bond, vocal opposition to the measure has emerged.
Lifetime Chimacum resident Ron Riggle posted a sign on his RV repair business on Beaver Valley Road advocating people to vote no on the measure along with his phone number and a message to “ask me why.”
Riggle said at least one person calls a day, many of them undecided voters or people who want to hear the other side.
“When I put the sign up [before the last vote] no one was speaking out about the project,” he said.
“But they ended up losing by 100 votes.”
Riggle said the measure is unspecific and was assembled without proper community input, saying last summer’s survey was a multiple choice exercise that didn’t allow different options.
“We have no long-range plan for the district,” he said.
“Superintendents come and go every three years. Our School Board members change and the locals have no input whatsoever,” he added.
The measure proposes a property tax levy rate of $1.21 per $1,000 assessed property value. It would be expected to be required for 20 years to finance the bond.
Approval of the bond measure would mean that the annual property tax for a $150,000 property would increase by $189, district officials have said.
As of Thursday afternoon, the Jefferson County Auditor had received 4,277 votes from 8,981 mailed, reflecting a voter turnout of 47.62 percent.
Ballots must be hand-delivered to drop boxes or postmarked by 8 p.m. Tuesday to be counted.
Primary School
The measure seeks to construct an addition to Chimacum Creek Primary School, making it into a full-fledged elementary school housing preschool through fifth grade, along with some needed capital improvements.
The current elementary school, a 1948 building in disrepair, is to be demolished, something Riggle opposes.
“It makes no sense “to tear down a perfectly good brick building and build a wooden one in another location,” he said.
Riggle said that the project lacks specific planning, that costs per square-foot are inflated, and expressed uncertainty about the disposition of unspent funds.
“The traffic is already terrible at Chimacum Creek [primary school]” he said.
“They have made no plans to fix this and it will get worse with a new building.”
Both Thompson and advocate Eric Jorgenson said that such details will be worked out at a later date, and that a traffic study will be part of the planning process.
Details to be determined
“There are a lot of details that need to be determined,” Jorgensen said.
“If the project comes in under budget, we will need to sell fewer bonds and the funds will not be assessed from the taxpayers.”
The district’s plans can be found at http://tinyurl.com/PDN-chimacumbond.
As a bond issue the measure requires a supermajority of 60 percent.
Attempts to pass a bond measure with 60 percent approval have failed twice.
A $34.8 million proposal failed in February 2015 with a slim majority of with 2,033 votes, or 50.88 percent, in favor and 1,963 votes, or 49.12 percent, opposed.
On Feb. 6, a proposal for a $29.1 million bond measure gained support from 2,749 voters, or 58.04 percent, and was opposed by 1,987 voters, or 41.96 percent — about 100 votes short of what it needed for the 60 percent-plus-one vote needed for approval.
The second attempt omitted athletic facilities and other improvements that district officials, after months of study, felt the public did not want.
The board decided to run the measure again on Tuesday, rather than waiting for another opportunity later in the year.
The proposal is itself unchanged.
A committee, Chimacum For Kids, was assembled to campaign vigorously for the measure, register new voters and step up campaign activities such as doorbelling.
About 130 people joined in the effort.
Thompson and Jorgensen are optimistic about the vote.
“We are looking for a relatively small change in the vote totals and have generated a high amount of activity,” Jorgensen said.
“A lot of people weren’t active last time because they were sure it would pass, when it was defeated they got involved.”
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
