The Dexter Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
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Business owners with kids have two reasons to support the bond
By Sean Dalton, Staff Writers
PUBLISHED: April 24, 2008
Some of Dexter's top business owners are squarely behind the upcoming $47.8 million bond proposal.
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The reason? Not only are they business owners, their children are students in Dexter Community Schools.
Residents will be asked to vote for the proposal which will address needed maintenance at some of the district's buildings, as well as updates to the district's decade-old technology and safety enhancements in and around the schools.
"The 2008 school bond needs to pass in order to maintain the excellent foundation of nationally recognized, award-winning schools," said Matt LaFontaine, owner of LaFontaine Chevrolet in Dexter and former president of the Dexter Area Chamber of Commerce.
"(It) not only attracts new families to our area, but keeps our local economy 'above the bar' for the families that have invested in this community over multiple generations."
He moved to the community 11 years ago and opened the LaFontaine dealership in 2004, during which the district was building the new high school and the community was experiencing a growth spurt of young families.
LaFontaine has three elementary- and middle school-aged children in the district.
"That was an important part of our decision to open the Chevy store, because once you have the schools as the foundation the rest of it takes care of itself," he said.
A major issue for LaFontaine is protecting the local market from the downturn of the larger economy on a statewide and national scale.
"It keeps us in this bubble in this economy where we are able to attract people here," LaFontaine explained.
"Young families with kids and schools are perhaps the most important aspect of that. It also keeps the families that have been here for generations (financially safe).
According to LaFontaine, the bond is just another in a series of investments in the community, both financial and emotional, that every resident of the village has already deposited.
In the case of the 2008 bond, it isn't even a tax increase, but simply maintaining the debt service that exists.
The current bond will expire in 2013 if the new proposal is voted down next month. The 8.5 mills will simply be extended for five years and expire in 2018.
LaFontaine said new technology in particular is something which Dexter students need in greater frequency and with up-to-date equipment.
"There are so many new learning tools that have come up since 1998," he said. "That will allow these kids to achieve a more fulfilling and challenging educational experience."
Technological skills and a high-quality education are important to employers in the area, LaFontaine said.
It's an important component to keeping residents in the community by building and maintaining a district with continued investment.When the schools are equipped to properly prepare the community's children, LaFontaine said, it in turn attracts businesses and results in the creation of successful homegrown businesses.
"We're building this great big facility out in Oakland County ... and we have three Dexter businesses that are contracting to do work (on it)," LaFontaine said.
"These were kids that went to the same school as my kids and they are very successful. As a parent, I look for that.
"As a business owner I look at places like Grand Rapids and Rockford, communities that are flourishing above and beyond the norm, because of investment in the schools."
LaFontaine also sees the value of the bond from safety and extracurricular angles.
"Safety is an issue for not only our students but the entire 'Dexter Family' that interacts daily with our school system," LaFontaine said.
For his own children, LaFontaine is interested in improving the student transportation system because of the large number of students whose parents take them to and from school.
"(The other) part of this bond would be the music and athletic programs, ... those are things that build future leaders and teach kids to work with other people," LaFontaine said.
"This is perhaps the most important life lesson you can teach people."
Cindy Glahn, a Realtor for Real Estate One, frames the issue in the context of the housing market, which on a national scale is in a severe decline due to the sub-prime mortgage crisis.
"It's one of the first couple questions that people ask pretty much across the board when I'm showing a house, even if they don't have kids." Glahn said.
"They know that strong schools equal stronger districts, which equals stronger property values."
Aside from being a Realtor, Glahn is a member of the Dexter Area Chamber of Commerce, the Think Dexter First campaign and the Athletic Boosters Club of Dexter.
She is also a parent of children in the district.
"I have a son that is a senior this year and a daughter that is an incoming freshman and a son that graduated in 2005, and they all have been going to school in Dexter since kindergarten."
She added, "I hope people will be able to look at this bond in its entirety and see the value."
She cited some of the strengths of the community as having a number of service clubs and extracurricular activities that, coupled with the relatively small size of the district, result in an unrivaled level of opportunity, attention and participation.
"If you're in a smaller district your kid might have more of an opportunity in that sense, but Dexter also has so many opportunities with clubs," Glahn said.
"There is something for everybody in Dexter, so for me it is the easiest sell in the world. It really is just a matter of updating and maintaining what we already have, like you would the roof on your house.'
Although it is too late to meet the April 7 deadline for voter registration with the Washtenaw County Clerk's office or Secretary of State branch offices, it's not too late to learn where to go with your Voter ID card and vote your mind.
"For years, people have voted for school elections at Wylie Pool," said Dexter Community Schools Superintendent Evelynn Shirk.
"This is no longer the case. They vote wherever they would vote for the president and governor."
There are 13 polling places within the district, listed here and at www.dexterbond2008.com.
Voters must visit a precinct within the township in which they live. If a voter isn't sure of which precinct they should vote in and can't find it on their documentation, a visit to the Scio, Webster, Dexter and Lima, Hamburg, Lodi, Northfield and Freedom township Web sites should yield that information.
The precincts are as follows:
Dexter Township residents in precincts 1 and 3 (Precinct 2 was eliminated due to consolidation) vote at Dexter Township Hall, 6880 Dexter-Pinckney Road.
Freedom Township residents are Precinct 1 and vote at Freedom Township Hall, at 11508 Pleasant Lake Road.
Lima residents are all Precinct 1 and vote at Lima Township Hall, 11452 Jackson Road.
Lodi Township residents are Precinct 2 and vote at the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds, Building A, 5055 Ann Arbor-Saline Road.
Northfield Township residents are Precinct 3 and vote on the second floor of the Public Safety Building, 8350 Main St. in Whitmore Lake.
Scio Township has numerous polling locations:
Precinct 1 voters go to the Dexter Senior Center at 7720 Ann Arbor St. in the village.
Precincts 2 and 3 voters go to Scio Township Hall, 827 N. Zeeb Road.
Precinct 4 voters go to Scio Community Church, 1292 N. Zeeb Road.
Precinct 5 goes to Scio Farms Clubhouse, 6655 Jackson Road.
Precinct 6 goes to the Scio Fire Hall, 1055 N. Zeeb Road.
Precinct 8 goes to the Washtenaw County Road Commission Office, 555 N. Zeeb Road, next door to the Scio Township Hall.
Webster voters in precincts 1, 2 and 3 must go to Webster Township Hall, 5665 Webster Church Road.
Hamburg Township residents from Precinct 4 vote at Hamburg Township Hall, 10405 Merrill Road in Livingston County.
An absentee ballot application is available online at the State of Michigan Web site http://sos.publius.org/help/absentee.asp. The deadline is 2 p.m. May 3 - generally the Saturday before the election, which in this case is May 6.
You can also obtain an application by contacting your local city or township clerk's office. Upon request, they will mail an application to you.
Absentee ballots must be completed and returned to the clerk no later than 8 p.m. the day of the election.
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