The results of the April 4 election are a clear mandate to the District 200 high school board to make a decision about the building program and just do it already. Whether that is because the voters generally are happy with the currently favored plan or are sick and tired of the whole thing is beside the point. The candidate most in favor of giving the voters the right of final approval via referendum finished dead last by a mile.
The D200 board does not and cannot balance the competing funding needs of the high school and all other civic needs. Their mandate extends only to the high school. Due to the fractionalization of local governments into fiefdoms, the only person who can balance the competing needs and wants of the various fiefdoms is you, the voter. You have just surrendered that control.
Sooner or later, you may experience voter regret if funding for bicycle and pedestrian safety, crime, policing, equity, street repairs, K-8 education or any number of concerns important to you gets short-changed because of the fortune consumed by the high school capital program. You will have only your vote, or failure to vote, in the board election to blame.
Bob Stigger
Oak Park