Digging Deeper

time spent: 30 minutes

Okay, Monday's tomorrow turned into today, but it's part of the honest assessment of allowing time for this project. I was busy at work and my brain hurt (again) by the end of the day, unwilling to process new thought.

Since February 9th is just around the corner, I'm going to have to hustle. The first thing I did today was go to the Seattle Public Schools site to access additional information about the 2010 levies:

http://www.seattleschools.org/area/levy-info/2010/levy_broch_2009.pdf

This provided a breakdown of the projects and schools affected. Fair enough. Sure, this is a biased position, a promise - but at least it is a documented promise that can be audited. I am not defending SPS, yet this project is already revealing for me how much 'weight' the authority of government has in the process of making decisions. I am compelled to trust them to a large degree. Hmm....

Unfortunately, the rebuttal team has no website or blog posted for me to get more information. They do have a contact name on the voter's guide (only the operations levy offers a telephone number), but I'm not of the mind to really engage at that level. This project is about trying to access unbiased fact.

I indicated on Monday's post that I interpret the opposing view to suggest that at least a portion of the projects listed are unnecessary and/or that, had SPS done a better job of maintenance and expense management in the first place, the amount proposed on the levy would be significantly reduced. So the position is somewhat punitive, but it could completely valid. Which brings me to the fork in the road.

I am sure someone or some group has spent a tremendous amount of time and effort researching exactly how the SPS budget has been managed. Without talking with these people directly, I will have to dig deep for the data. Ugh! At this moment, I am wishing the opposition group would have provided a link to a blog or website posting information that backs up their position, i.e. a spreadsheet that takes the last few levies and compares the (then) stated intent to the actual execution. In other words, I wish they would share the results of their legwork to back up their conclusion - and cited the source.

But...that's what this whole project is for. To evaluate the journey of an individual conducting independent research.

Even as I write this I can already appreciate the effort some people do take on behalf of the masses. It's certainly more work that I could do on my own - and this is just for 2 propositions!
This early endeavor validates the obvious reasons voter's rely on media and community circulation.

Tomorrow I will try to dig deeper or I may reach out to the number on the voter's pamphlet to see if I can get a jump start linking to the source.