A Kinder, Gentler Bentonville Column

I’ll try to be nicer to the Bentonville School Board. After all, the election put some new members in.

They deserve a shot.

I resolved to be more pleasant, at least for now, after reading the results of a new survey in the paper.

The Bentonville School District survey asked voters why they fl ushed the district’s request for a new millage in June. My first reaction to the results was to say “Well, duh” out loud in the newsroom.

This might be somewhat too coarse for a column, I thought.

The top reason people who voted against the millage gave was cost of the project it would pay for. Next was impact on property taxes. Third was the inclusion of athletic facilities. Fourth was the current economic climate.

Note all of the top reasons people voted against the millage relate directly to cost. Athletic facilities, for instance, made up 18 cents of every dollar of the millage proposal. Keeping just one high school - a goal the school board wasted months and much precious public good will trying to achieve - came in at a very distant fi fth.

The people who voted for the millage gave an equally unsurprising but forceful set of priorities.

First was overcrowding, the reason the millage was sought in the fi rst place.

Second was to get two high schools instead ofone. Third was to update the technology available to the students. Favor for the expensive athletic facilities was far down the list at No. 6.

Before the June election, the board tried to get the public behind a ninthgrade center in spite of clear public support for two high schools.

Reluctantly bowing to voter will and putting a second high school on the ballot was necessary.

Loading up that second high school proposal with athletic expense was a mistake. None of this is news to anybody. The question is: Now what?

There’s a real possibility the board will go for the lowest-cost option and people will vote for it because the overcrowding is getting desperate. So, after all this, the tax-paying patrons of the school district and the parents of its students could wind up voting on the option they never wanted: Keeping one big high school and approving a ninth-grade center, or some variant of it.

I don’t think that will fly. My problem is I’m not filled with confi dence that anything could fly at this point.

The Bentonville SchoolBoard is in a tough spot, having used up and frustrated a lot of support.

The fact this spot is largely the previous board’s fault doesn’t make things any easier. Here are two pieces of free advice.

First, if the patrons fi gure out what they want and tell you again, listen this time. Second, I’m sure the administration is a skilled and professional group of folks. Even so, their record of anticipating and responding to the desire of the patrons is awful.

They led the board into this pit. Take whatever the administration recommends with a grain of salt.

!!!

On a diff erent topic, covering politics is just weird this year. No issue is as dead as the presidential race in this state. President Barack Obama isn’t going to get our six Electoral College votes under any reasonable set of circumstances. The president’s campaign manager told our state Democratic Party chairman that about six weeks ago.

So I should just ignore the race, right? Well, I can’t. I can’t because the president will lead the ticket. That will hurt Democrats throughout Arkansas.

The Democratic strategy of trying to tie on to popular Gov. Mike Beebe is the best option left. I don’t think it will work, though.

Voters overwhelmingly elected Beebe in 2010. That same year, Republican unknowns swept highly qualifi ed Democrats instate constitutional oft ce races. No better proof of a complete lack of linkage between Beebe and the rest of the ticket exists.

Now there’s a new wrinkle. Republican challenger Mitt Romney can’t seem to go a week without blundering.

Blame it on biased media coverage if you want.

When conservativecolumnist Peggy Noonan calls your campaign a “rolling calamity” in the Wall Street Journal, bias in the rest of the media clearly isn’t your real problem.

Will frustrated anti-Obama voters take out their anger on local Democrats? Again, look at the last election. Frustrated voters did exactly that ina year when the president wasn’t even on the ballot.

I expect more of the same this year.

Politics are weird.

It would help local Democrats if Romney’s nationwide prospects improved, by my logic.

DOUG THOMPSON IS A POLITICAL REPORTER AND COLUMNIST FOR NWA MEDIA.