O’REILLY FED UP WITH FUNDING WOES

As the Legislature heads in to its next-to-last week of the session today — in theory — some of the things that won’t get passed are coming to the surface and so is the anger from supporters.

Polk County School Board member Frank O’Reilly said he is angry with House Speaker Tom Feeney and isn’t going to take it anymore because of school money bills the speaker killed.

O’Reilly, who switched to the Republican party two years ago because of the Clinton-Lewinsky affair, met with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Janet Reno when she toured schools last week.

He plans to meet with Republican Gov. Jeb Bush and Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan, as well as all other candidates for governor.

He is upset over what he says is the speaker’s refusal to give schools enough money or a way for local school boards to raise it.

“Last year, the governor put allowances in the growth management bill for school boards to raise money for school construction. It passed the Senate. Then Feeney defeated it in the House,” O’Reilly said.

“This year we tried to get a half cent sales tax for building construction on a super vote of a school board. Feeney says, ‘No new taxes.’ I am saying you don ‘t need to take the blame, let us take the blame,” O’Reilly said.

But the revelation that Feeney hired a woman without a college degree and with little experience as an executive assistant at $ 55,000 a year really set O ‘Reilly off.

“I am not knocking the woman who is answering phones and raising money for him,” O’Reilly said. “But if she is working at $ 55,000 at age 27 without a degree, what are my teachers worth? Those with master’s degrees and years of experience whose salaries are $ 20,000 less. Don’t forget, this woman is paid with tax money, too.”

O’Reilly said he is going to work for greater autonomy for school boards to raise and spend money necessary to improve education, noting that Florida ranks 47th among the 50 states in both reading skills and teacher pay.

“Republicans say all the time — and I am one of them — that we should let the local citizens decide and get state government out of local affairs,” he said. “Now, I am not a dummy. I am a CPA. And my colleagues on the board are equally qualified.

“(Feeney) ought to be absolutely ashamed of what he is doing to education in this state,” O’Reilly said. “Here is a man who is getting a congressional seat designed for him so he can go off to Washington and he hasn’t even led here.”

FIDDLING WITH THE POLL

Professional pollsters spend their entire careers meticulously protecting the integrity of their polls.

They check to see if the wording of their questions is neutral so as not to prompt a particular answer.

They check the order of the questions so that a previous question will not influence an answer on following questions. They check many variables to get a scientific and true answer about what the group they are interviewing really thinks about a subject.

Most importantly, they work to ensure that it is a truly random sample so that the opinion of anyone within the group is likely to be sampled.

Unfortunately, some people who use polls may not be that careful.

The Ledger received a copy of a poll that the Florida Chamber of Commerce has sent to its members on the proposed high-speed rail.

Read the questions and you can tell now that the results almost certainly will come out against high speed rail.

Some questions appear to be aiming the person to one conclusion, opposition to the bullet train, by feeding debatable information into questions without explaining both sides.

Before the questioning is even begun, the person taking the survey is told the cost from Tampa to Orlando could be $ 6 billion. There is no mention that High Speed Rail Authority members have said the bulk of the money must be paid by the private contractor that will be selected to build and run the system or that it will not be built.

The questions:

Would you favor a tax increase in order to finance the bullet train?

Would you support the elimination of certain sales tax exemptions in order to raise revenue to build the bullet train?

Should Florida be given the opportunity to repeal the amendment obligating the state to build a bullet train?

If so, how would you vote?

From the list below rank the issues you think the state’s budget should place the most emphasis on:

Education

Bullet Train

Health Care

Environmental

Work Force and Development

Highway, Road and Bridge Construction and Maintenance

If the Florida High Speed Rail Authority is unable to secure commitments from the private sector to help pay for the high speed rail project, would you support state funding of approximately $ 25 billion to finish the system?

If the Authority secures private sector funding to complete the bullet train, would you support state funding of $ 75 million a year to maintain the high-speed system.

People respond to questions based on the information available to them. Control that information in a certain manner, and you control what the answer will be.

Here is a question for you guys: Do you favor the continuing use of billions of dollars of tax money to build more and more roads so businesses can put more and more trucks on the highway and cram the spaces between with single-occupant cars so that the traffic is bumper to bumper?

POLITICAL CALENDAR

The East Polk County Republican Men’s Club will meet at noon today at Quincy ‘s Steak House, 2020 Eighth St. N.W. at U.S. 17 in Winter Haven.

Guest speaker for the luncheon program will be Sam Cardinale, executive director for State Attorney Jerry Hill’s office.

For more information, call Dan Swing at 863-965-0682.

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The Polk County Democratic Executive Committee will meet at 7 tonight in the fourth floor conference room of the County Administration Building, 330 Church St., Bartow.

The speaker will be the Rev. Tom Presley of Bartow, Democratic candidate for Polk County Commission, District 2.

For more information, contact Sharon Becker, chairperson, at 863-676-3764.

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The Women’s Republican Club of Winter Haven will meet at 11 a.m. Thursday at Lake Region Yacht & Country Club, 4200 Country Club Road S.

Joyce Malone, Orlando, Central Florida director for the Citizens for a Sound Economy, will be the guest speaker. Malone, who has been active in many Republican campaigns in Florida, including House Speaker Tom Feeney’s election, will discuss the 2002 Legislative session.

Cost for the luncheon is $ 12, including tax and gratuity. Reservations must be made by the end of the day today by calling Barbara Guthrie, 863-324-1356. Cancellations must be made by 5 p.m. Tuesday to avoid being charged for the luncheon.

Bill Rufty is The Ledger’s political reporter. He can be reached at bill.rufty@theledger.com or 863-802-7523.