George,

Obviously a tremendous amount of very good work has been completed on the facilities project. I sense the momentum has been regained since the turmoil a short time ago on the operating cost projections versus targets. This topic remains a challenging part of both the Board and future public discussions. I believe everyone involved has the best interests of the district at heart, and is trying to do what they think is the right thing.

That said I believe this topic needs your direct leadership and must include Glenn and Orma together in reaching consensus on how to structure the discussion(and answer the BoE question). Orma has come a long way with her staff in using more optimistic assumptions in their projections. Glenn also is trying hard to keep this topic from derailing the momentum. The tension is interpolating between their views and articulating concrete plans or at least approaches to resolving the shortfall. Kathy indicated to me yesterday that she and others on the Board are looking very carefully at Orma's involvement and support for the financial plan.

This is a sensitive topic, but I believe one that can be handled well. That includes a plan within the administration on how to address the looming deficit. I think you need to personally lead the discussion and as 90% of our costs are in personnel it needs to include Gerry and Bob as well. With Bob being out of town next week it may me best to proceed with Gerry and Orma initially. I am not sure whether it is best to include Glenn initially in the internal discussion. He has on a number of occasions indicated he expects to administration to make their recommendation. However we get to a consensus, there must be a discussion with you, Glenn and Orma together so all are supporting the recommendations.

When we get everyone on the same page we are making great progress. The challenges have occurred during periods of urgency, when one of the players has not been directly involved. The Bond/SF discussion with Glenn yesterday got us back on track, as he heard the same information we have been working with and quickly reached the same conclusions. It is very difficult on these topics to summarize and/or debrief the material after the fact, or rework the conclusion once the missing party weighs in with their views.

Feel free to call me to discuss this, or if you need help in structuring the dialogue. my home number is 994-4695, my cell is 834-6150.

Jack

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