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Culver City News
December 20, 2007 Letters Lots of Questions What's wrong with Culver City that it's necessary for the parents of students to have to pass the hat so that their children have computers in their school? As a taxpayer and a parent I find this both alarming and infuriating. If it is necessary for parents to have to raise the money for a computer lab, then where are our tax dollars going? One speaker at the dedication ceremony for the new computer lab at Farragut Elementary School was quoted as saying that the computers will make a major difference in student achievement. I am sure that is totally true. So this issue is, what if the parents did not kick in to pay for a new computer lab? It follows that our children would be adversely affected in not only their computer skills, but with their education as a whole. On that same note, I find it infuriating that teachers do not have adequate supplies provided to them by the city, and must pass out a wish list to parents for needed supplies, or in the alternative, pay for them out of their own pockets. Perhaps it is time to ask a more probing question. That is, are our elected officials spending our tax dollars in an intelligent and responsible fashion? If so, why are our taxpaying parents required to fund the computer program at Farragut? How much money do we spend on consultants? Are those expenditures always needed? Are they fairly priced? Are executive salaries reasonable for the services provided, especially if outsourcing is required? Most importantly, does anybody audit and monitor such items as outsourcing and consultants? Does any department or person audit expenditures in general, and if not, why not? As taxpayers it is our money being spent, and not spent (computers), and we have a right to the answers to these questions. With the police looking the other way with respect to the skateboard park, supported by a majority of the City Council of Culver City, as well as the on-going indifference by this same council to animal-related problems, especially the brutal conditions at the Carson shelter (while rewarding the county with a 5-year contract), it is not an inspiring picture of government leadership in Culver City. Charles Aguado Culver City |
