Hestia has ornaments that you can purchase that are really nice that picture the school - so sad to see it go - lots of memories there - but it did need to be repaired - so in the long run it's a good thing........

The question to ask is: “How was this school allowed to get so run down and “beyond repair?”

It is ironic that our school leaders show us pictures of a decrepit building as proof that we need a new school when it is these same people to whom we entrust the maintenance of these buildings.

You can’t make this up. The School Committee shows you pictures of how bad of a job they are doing in keeping up the school buildings on purpose.

Yet in Marblehead these self incriminating pictures of incompetence are ignored and the leaders are rewarded with more money for new buildings which they will only let fall apart over time all over again.

Just look at Abbot Hall or any of the buildings at Harvard. This is about lack of maintenance not age.

Let your home get run down like the SC does to the schools and the bank would step in and evict you for not protecting their asset. The SC is supposed to protect our assets but they spend the money elsewhere, because they can.

I just want the town to tell us the truth, and spend money wisely.

For example did you know that the town received more in state aid than anticipated and that there was some $300K left over in the snow removal account? This is one time money – a windfall if you will after we passed a budget that funded everything the town wanted.

The sum total of the snow and extra state aid is just about what was needed to fix the town hall. So why doesn't the town pay for the repairs with this money instead of using an override?

Answer: because our leaders believe they can convince you they need an override and then spend this money elsewhere; say on salaries and benefits.

You would never even know about this extra money if not for the Marblehead Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility.

The Selectmen won't tell you and the FINCOM certainly will not.

Also who would have surfaced the $5 million that was wasted on the Village school?

All I want is truthful leaders and wise spending.

Jack is right. Unlike in the private sector where businesses set aside funds each year to maintain capital investments, like buildings, our town does not do that. Jack brings a good perspective to this from years of watching the town fail to take care of its infrastructure. And while many would like to blame this on Prop 2-1/2, the reality is that it was this way before that came along. There are many in town, many, who fed money to the town coffers for years with the understanding that if we give them money and nice school buildings, they will maintain them. But then they weren't maintained. You might wonder where all the opposition comes from when there's a Prop. 2-1/2 override? That's where. Burn me once, shame on you. Burn me twice, shame on me. The schools do what they can with the resources they get. Next in line will be the Gerry School. A gut job can fix that building, but the beautiful people are going to want something shiny and new. They'll probably get it and then, like a little child with a goldfish, will forget about taking care of it. Back to square one.