Mike Simone

The Future of Charter Schools

2009-04-03T09:16:00.000-06:00

What is the future of the charter school movement in Colorado? Concerned parents who want a better education for their children are the driving force behind the formation and running of charter schools. However, who in fact controls these schools can be greatly compromised regardless of the current charter school laws in Colorado. If the local school board or teachers’ union is hostile to

A Few Excerpts From The Local Media

2008-07-21T20:54:00.001-06:00

The following is the first paragraph from an article written by Brad Jolly for the Your Hub section of the Rocky Mountain News:“One might be inclined to admire the tenacity of the St. Vrain School Board. Their unshakable belief that money will fix public schools allows them to plod ahead with their failurist funding model against the very teeth of a gale of overwhelming data demonstrating its

Fixing Our Schools

2008-07-06T14:49:00.004-06:00

The following is taken from the July 6, 2008 issue of Parade magazine.Former Labor Secretary, Congressman and Senator, William Brock, was interviewed concerning our public school system. He leads the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, created to report on the state of education in the US. Here are a few quotes from the article:--"In the last 25 years spending has risen 240%

Anonymous Cowards--Who Needs Some Cash

2008-06-23T12:06:00.009-06:00

While I was mayor those who disagreed with my opinions rarely offered to discuss their points of view. What developed was the proliferation of anonymous cowards, mostly posting lies and misinformation on Tri-Town.com. Then these cowards decided to invade my family's privacy by showing up at midnight and burning dog feces on my doorstep and ringing my doorbell late at night. When that didn't

Water Water Everywhere

2008-06-20T19:19:00.003-06:00

The Town of Firestone has been very generous over the past several years by donating millions of dollars in land and cash to help the school district, library district and fire district build new buildings in our town. These entities are all taxing districts, managing budgets into the hundreds of millions of dollars and with the ability to tax their residents. The Firestone Town Board helped

3 New Posts

2008-06-20T18:49:00.002-06:00

I added 3 new posts below. The first concerns the school district's tax increase proposal. The second is about "mayoral sacrifice". The third is a letter to the editor printed in this week's Farmer and Miner.

"The Call"

2008-06-20T18:29:00.001-06:00

I finally got “the call" I’ve heard others have gotten. This is "the call” the St. Vrain Valley School District has commissioned to gauge if there is a desire for the voters to approve an average of $270/year more in school property taxes. This increase is on top of the school property tax increase imposed by executive order by the governor last year (this was recently held unconstitutional but

Un "Inform(ed) Firestone"

2008-06-20T14:41:00.002-06:00

As a Firestone resident and member of the Planning Commission, I take the efforts of ‘Inform Firestone’ and the potential negative impact very seriously. They are providing propaganda but haven’t made efforts to seek answers to their stated questions, implying ‘Inform Firestone’ doesn’t really want to be informed. I had a conversation outside of King Soopers with the group’s leader, Dan Sanger,

"Bannergate"

2008-06-11T11:53:00.003-06:00

Update 6-12-08Within 24 hours of this post all banners and illegal signs in front of the Dairy Queen complex were removed--except the $5 banner by Quiznos. I couldn't get this kind of response when I was mayor.Once the new Firestone/SVVSD board was elected in April, the first order of business was to demand a banner, placed by another governmental agency--a public charter school, to be removed.

Changes

2008-04-21T15:51:00.011-06:00

April 30, 2008The Firestone Town Board, by a 3-2 vote, chose a replacement for Trustee Falcone, who recently moved out of town. There was no doubt in anyone's mind the new members were going to pick another staunch supporter of the St. Vrain Valley School Board (although I consider him to be level-headed and I have hope that he will be a board member who understands the grave responsibility he

Post Election E-Mails

2008-04-03T09:58:00.011-06:00

(This was a short note from someone and was greatly appreciated)Well thank you for all your service! We have a great little community here and we appreciate all your hard work as Mayor! (I withheld name)I was sorry to hear that the slate of candidates that you supported were defeated. The town will have to now live with Chad Auer and his cronies which include the Longmont City Council. I don't

Longmont's Annexation Scheme

2008-03-26T08:50:00.010-06:00

Firestone lets Longmont know 5 months ago it is considering changing its master plan. Longmont has a "retreat" in February when they know the TV cameras won't be present and reporters generally leave them alone and allow privacy. The Anti-LifeBridge newly elected City Council majority develops a scheme to stop the church at all costs.Firestone trods along, with everything being done by the book

Carbon Valley Chamber of Commerce Endoses Candidates

2008-03-25T14:29:00.007-06:00

The Carbon Valley Chamber of Commerce's Board of Directors (without other member's being notified) endorsed candidates for Firestone's municipal election. The Board of Directors is made up of only one Firestone resident (out of 8 members). "President For Life" Steve Burton endorsed a mayoral candidate well before the campaign began. So much for meeting the potential leaders of the community,

Firestone's New Name? East Longmont

2008-03-11T16:34:00.008-06:00

Below is the Times-Call main editorial for 3-11-08. I'll make comments in the body of the editorial and at the end. They are in italics. Want to see what a Longmont resident thinks about Firestone? Click the link below.http://denver.yourhub.com/Longmont/Stories/Business/New-Businesses/Story~439503.aspx Times-Call EditorialsPublish Date: 3/11/2008 On leadership and land grabs Firestone’s move to

Chronology of Issues Concerning the St. Vrain Valley School District

2008-02-23T22:27:00.006-07:00

The following are comments I have made concerning the Town of Firestone's dealings with the St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD)--with the earliest comments shown first.The following refers to the almost $14 million deficit the SVVSD still hasn't adequately explained to the public and the Town Board's request for the school board to resign:Hi Everyone,I would first like to clarify a headline

Charter School Myth vs. Fact

2008-02-23T22:25:00.005-07:00

p>Myth: Charter schools charge tuition or special fees. Fact: Charter schools are free, public schools of choice. There is no tuition fee to attend. Charter schools are public schools open to all students. The primary enrollment limitation at most public charter schools is space availability or enrollment caps and restrictions placed by local school districts. Myth: Charter schools take money

Charter School Funding Comments

2008-02-23T22:19:00.007-07:00

These are comments that were published in response to an editorial in the Daily Times-Call.:When will public charter school haters stop comparing apples to oranges? Public charter schools and traditional public schools receive roughly the same amount of money to run their schools--about $6500 per pupil. How much of the $6500 is used to pay for the traditional public school building? Not one penny

Longmont Daily Times-Call New Year's Resolutions

2008-02-23T22:04:00.004-07:00

Before I was involved in politics I considered myself knowledgeable about current events. I read the paper and watched the news daily. I would also hear people complain about “media bias”. I, like many others I suspect, believed there was such a bias but not to the extent these people were complaining. Well, after almost 6 years as an elected official, I realize how wrong I was.

2008-02-02T13:55:00.000-07:00

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