10 The Independent
September 26, 2013
opinions / yours and ours
Small price to pay for school repairs The list of needed repairs — and the accompanying price tag — is swelling for a district in which the average school is 50 years old. Littleton Public Schools needs money to pay for those repairs, and the district is asking voters to say yes to a bond issue on November’s ballot. We urge you to do so. LPS schools are among the finest in the state, boasting the Denver metro area’s highest on-time graduation rate at 90 percent. In the 2013 Transitional Colorado Assessment Program tests, the district’s students outscored state averages at the proficient and advanced levels in all grades and subjects by 10 to 20 percentage points. At the same time, the buildings in which LPS’ high-achieving students are being educated are not making the grade. That’s not a surprise for facilities that range from 32 to 93 years old. The state’s 15th-largest school district, with more than 15,000 students, is looking to raise $80 million to rectify
our view this. Yes, that money would come from taxpayers. But no, it would not come in the form of a tax increase. How’s that possible? The district has taken advantage of lower interest rates and refinanced its loans down to 2.9 percent from 5.2 percent. If the bond issue does not pass, that savings will be passed on to homeowners to a tune of about one dollar a month for every $100,000 of a home’s value. The owner of a $300,000 home, for example, could expect to save about $36 a year, perhaps to spend on an extra cup of coffee each month. If Ballot Question 3B does pass? Homeowners would simply not have that extra few dollars a month. But that money would be put to great use by helping to get school district buildings
up to par. No new facilities would be built. In short, the money would go toward “basic infrastructure in the schools,” LPS Superintendent Scott Murphy told us last week. Here’s just a partial look at what a yes vote would buy for schools throughout district: • Heating and ventilation systems would be upgraded. • Failing roofing would be replaced. • Inefficient lighting would be repaired or replaced, depending on the building. • Security and fire alarm systems would be improved to meet current codes and standards. • Power and electrical equipment upgrades would be completed. • Technology infrastructure would be enhanced. The bond issue is supported by business groups like the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce and the South Metro Denver Board of Realtors, as well
as by a litany of politicians, both Republicans and Democrats, from Arapahoe County. They know the value of excellent schools to a community, including to its property values. South Metro Chamber President John Brackney, himself an LPS product, says the main reason his organization supports the bond issue is because of the school district’s stellar reputation. We won’t ignore the fact that voters are also being asked to pass a nearly $1 billion measure that will appear on the ballot as Amendment 66. That is a statewide ballot issue that would raise income taxes. If it passes, money would be directed to Littleton Public Schools, but would not be used for the capital improvement projects the local bond issue targets. LPS has never lost a bond election. With the quality of the district’s infrastructure lagging so far behind that of its teachers and students, it be would be unfortunate if this were the first. Vote yes on Ballot Question 3B.
Owning Independent Do you want to go to Mars? is responsibility, honor question of the week
A Dutch organization, Mars One, has announced plans to establish a human settlement on Mars by 2023 and has received thousands of applications, even though it might be a one-way. Colorado Community Media asked visitors to the Outlets at Castle Rock if they would be interested in going.
“Probably. It’s something different. I’m a futuristic thinker … (But if it were a one-way trip) “it would depend on if they have a beach or a lake and if I could convince my family to go.” — Chase McCall, Castle Rock
“No. I’m a picky eater. I don’t think I could eat astronaut food. And I like to be outdoors.” — Brittany Dunn, Centennial
“Yes. That would be really cool. The Earth is getting overpopulated. It’s getting too polluted. I totally know my friends would go with me. They totally agree.” — Lauren M., Parker
“No. I’m in the military, I plan on doing that for a while. And I like to (be in) places that are established. And we’re outdoors people. I don’t know how you could be ‘outdoorsy’ there. I like all four seasons. And it’s a really big risk.” — Brian Bergeman, Aurora
City like hometown to newsman Houstoun Waring invited me to become a reporter for the Littleton Independent in 1961, two years after my graduation from the University of Colorado. I had never met him and had never been to Littleton. But Waring was America’s best-known small-town editor. My dad gave us directions. “Go south on Santa Fe Drive,” he said. “There’s an old flour mill at Santa Fe and Bowles. You can’t miss it.” We missed it. Fire had destroyed the historic Rough and Ready mill two years earlier. Still, we found the newspaper office on Main Street. Hous took Nina and me to lunch at Evelyn and King Hudson’s Country Kitchen restaurant. (The log building is now the heart of Hudson Gardens and Events Center.) We were charmed, both by the erudite editor and Littleton’s iconic Main Street. I joined the Independent’s reporting staff, and in a short time, Littleton felt like our hometown. Most Main Street shops were locally owned. You could find Rudy Lemcke’s meat market, a hometown bank, Veto’s shoe repair, and a grocery store with its original tin ceiling. One of the two drug stores boasted a real soda fountain, but the most popular spot for gossip was the
The common joke lately has been telling me how good I look for 125 years old. I take that as a compliment, as newspaper owners have always been closely linked to their publications — and owning the Littleton Independent is truly an honor. The paper got its start in 1888 when H.V. Bullock purchased a state-of-theart hand-cranked press and turned out 500 copies of the paper. They went to the 100 homes concentrated in downtown Littleton and the 400 farms surrounding it. Richard Little was the first subscriber. In 1888, the U.S. flag had 38 stars, electricity in Littleton was still five years away and the city was still two years from becoming a municipality. Why did Bullock do it? Because newspapers are a part of a healthy community. It was true then and it is still true today. The stories, whether read in print, on computers, tablets or mobile phones, are fundamentally the same types of stories that Bullock and his reporters wrote. They covered growth issues, education, marriages, deaths, births, government, sports, business and everyday people.
The Independent 9137 S. Ridgeline Blvd., Suite 210, Highlands Ranch, CO 80129
gerard healey President and Publisher ChrIS rOTar Editor SCOTT gIlBerT Assistant Editor jennIfer SmITh Community Editor erIn addenBrOOke Advertising Director audrey BrOOkS Business Manager SCOTT andrewS Creative Services Manager round table at Abe’s Café, where locals gathered each morning for coffee. Hous Waring also got news tips from passing friends while sweeping the sidewalk in front of the newspaper office each morning. Although Littleton’s population was only about 14,000, it was no longer the bucolic rural community that it had been a couple of decades earlier. Local industries such as Red Comet, Heckethorn Manufacturing, Coleman Motors, and others were well established. The Martin Co. and Marathon Oil had ratcheted up the transformation in 1956, announcing new facilities in the Littleton area. Nina, commuting to Greeley to finish Ray continues on Page 12
Sandra arellanO Circulation Director
We do the same today. Did Bullock know someone would be writing a column in the 125th anniversary edition? Of course not. But, I am sure he knew the responsibility that comes with being the owner of this newspaper. Ed Bemis knew it when he owned the majority of it from 1919 until 1966. Hous Waring knew it when he bought a minority interest in 1926. Garrett Ray and Vernon Bangert knew it when they owned it from 1966 until 1981. I knew it when my wife, Ann, and I first owned the paper from 1991 until 1997. And I know it now, as its current owner. In preparing for this column, I read Healey continues on Page 12
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