2014 VBEA-PACE CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE

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1 2014 VBEA-PACE CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE Candidate s Name Stephen A. Johnston Date July, 31, 2014 Address (Home) 2316 Enchanted Forest Lane Phone (757) City Virginia Beach, VA Zip Address (Office) 2316 Enchanted Forest Lane Phone (757) City Virginia Beach, VA Zip Which City Council seat are you seeking? District Campaign Manager: Same Telephone: Same Treasurer Same Telephone: Same Campaign Address: Same City: Same Zip : Same Please return questionnaire to: Virginia Beach Education Association 445 Kings Grant Road Va. Beach, VA Phone: Fax: The City Council and School Board have adopted a revenue sharing agreement that allocates a percentage of various city revenue streams to the School Board budget. As a member of City Council, would you support the continuation of this agreement? Why, or why not? I support the Revenue Sharing Agreement for several reasons: a. The agreement sets a base line for school budgeting and allows for the School Board to request more funds if needed.

2 b. The agreement stops City Council from unjustly assigning short falls in the City budget to the Schools. c. I support closing the Dedicated Taxes loophole. (see Attached #1) 2. Please describe your view of the relationship between the City Council and School Board. The City Council is a legislative body. The School Board is an administrative body. The School Board is responsible for running the schools. The City Council is responsible for establishing policy, planning and dealing with problems in the City. The City Council should not interfere with the operations of the Schools. The only responsibility of the City Council is funding the schools. 3. Under what circumstances would you consider providing additional funding beyond the revenue sharing agreement if requested by the School Board? All requests for additional funding from the School Board should be seriously considered. The School Board runs the schools. They know what funding is needed to maintain top, quality education. Our schools are our biggest asset and should be treated as such. 4. In recent years, the amount of state and city funding has not allowed the School Board to contribute toward the replacement of schools in Virginia Beach. Do you believe that the General Assembly should provide funding or help to school divisions for construction costs? What would you do to help secure funding for construction? There are many things to consider for school construction: a. Some of the schools are old and need to be replaced. b. The School Board has been wasting money on construction of new buildings. I am a Project Manager at an engineering firm. The School Board has been constructing LEED Gold and Platinum buildings when the Federal, State and City standard is to construct buildings to Silver standard. Constructing buildings to LEED Gold and Platinum standards increases the cost of the building to construct, operate and maintain (see attached #2) c. The school replacement program needs to be reviewed and updated taking into consideration the growth of the City and plans for future growth. d. The possible loss of one-third of the Navy Fleet from Hampton Roads, the School Board needs to review the replacement of schools with the strong possibility that a drop in student population will not support the current number of schools Virginia Beach operates. I support replacing old schools, however the School Board needs to be better stewards of the construction dollars. 5. What do you consider off-limits to budget cuts? Why? The items I consider off limits in the budget are the commitments the City has made, the commitments to the citizens for providing a first class city to live in, the safety of our citizens, and to the education of our children. I also consider the commitments to our employees, both past and present, to be off limits. Once you make a promise to someone it is your responsibility to keep that promise. An example of the City Council not keeping their promise is changing for the retirement term from 25 years of service for current employees to 30 years of service. 2

3 6. Would you support funding the School Board s budget at a level that would move Virginia Beach teachers benchmark salaries (salaries after 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 years) to a level that is equal to the highest in the state when adjusted for the cost of living? I support having the highest salaries in the region, not only for the teachers but for the other school employees as well. There is more to living in Virginia Beach then just a job, and if someone is willing to relocate to another part of the state their decision should be based on other factors and not just salary. If Virginia Beach wants to maintain the best schools we need the best teachers and support staff. I would not want other cities in the region to lure away our best people because of higher salaries. Higher salaries should not just be extended to the teachers; currently Virginia Beach has a shortage of Bus Drivers. I know several people who were Virginia Beach bus drivers and now work for Chesapeake because of the higher salary being paid. This creates two problems, first the teachers cannot teach the children if the children cannot get to school, and secondly, by not having quality bus drivers there are risks to both the children on the bus and the other drivers on the road. We need high quality personal, at all levels, to be a top quality school system. 7. What is your position on the use of tax credits or vouchers for parents to send their children to private schools? I am adamantly opposed to the use of vouchers and tax credits to send children to private schools. The Virginia Constitution clearly states you cannot take money away from the public schools and give to private schools for primary education. School funding from the State is based on student population, and if you give tax money to students to attend private schools the schools will receive less money from the State, therefore you will be indirectly taking money away from the schools and giving it to the private schools. This is unconstitutional. 8. Employees who retire under the Virginia Retirement System and who have worked for the City and/or schools for 25 years or more may continue their health care coverage until age 65. A portion of the premium is paid by the City. Do you support continuing this practice? Why or Why not? I support the current system of employees participating in the VRS until age 65 with a portion of the premium being paid for by the City. This is the employment agreement between the City and the people, and it should not have been changed. It is unfair to the employees for the City to have changed the duration of service for employees without their consent. The employees have been working under one agreement for some time now and for the City to unilaterally change the agreement is not right. It might have been acceptable for the City to change the agreement for new employees or employees with less than ten years, but for them to change the agreement for all employees is just not right. 3

4 9. If elected, in what format would you be receptive to input from VBEA regarding children, the budget, and other issues that affect Virginia Beach public schools? The first thing on my campaign literature is to be more accountable and accessible to the residents of Virginia Beach, this would also include the employees of the City and School Board. I am open to any and all forms of input from Town Hall meetings, small groups and individual meetings. I have been attending various Civic League meetings throughout the city and have only seen a City Council member present at three or four meetings. I love to attend meetings to listen to the concerns of the people, I would welcome the opportunity to sit in and listen to the members of the Virginia Beach Education Association, and hear their concerns. 10. Employees who retire under the Virginia Retirement System and who have less than 25 years of service may participate in the health care program until age 65, but they must pay the full premium. Do you support continuing this practice? Why/Why not? I am in favor of this practice because it benefits everyone involved. Employees who do not meet the minimum employment duration and are allowed to participate in the VRS program will benefit from the lower rate for insurance for being in the larger group and the School System will benefit for having more people in the group. There is no additional cost to the tax payers so excluding the employees from the group will not benefit anyone. 11. In priority order, what are the major issues around which you are going to build your campaign? Be more accessible and accountable to the residents of Virginia Beach. Keep the schools fully funded. Change the City from being a Developer Friendly to a Business Friendly city to attract good paying jobs. 4

5 Attachment #1- School Funding A few years ago the Virginia Beach City Council raided the School Reserve Fund and used the money the schools had saved for various other projects in the city. Since then the Virginia Beach City Council has adopted a Revenue Sharing Formula, where the school budget is determined by a three part formula: 1. Standards of Quality matching funds The State gives funds to the schools to maintain high standards and the City is required to match these funds. 2. Four Cents of the Real Estate Tax A few years ago the City raised our real estate taxes and dedicated four cents to the schools % of all un-dedicated city taxes The schools receive a percentage of all taxes that have not been dedicated for a specific purpose. The first time the Virginia Beach City Council unintentionally cut the school budget was when the City Council converted the taxes for trash collection into fees on the water bills, and reduced the real estate tax by two cents. The reduction in the real estate tax cut approximately $3.2 million dollars from the school budget. The City Council latter corrected this cut in school funding. The Virginia Beach City Council has been secretly cutting school funding ever since. The City Council has been creating Dedicated taxes, thereby removing that revenue source from the funding formula. This year s City Budget takes one cent of the real estate tax and dedicates it to dredging the Rudee and Lynnhaven inlets, denying $1.3 million dollars to the school budget. When you hear Dedicated taxes what you should be thinking is Take from the schools and pay for The Virginia Beach City Council needs to be more aware when creating dedicated taxes and converting taxes to fees, these actions cut funding to our schools. 5

6 Attachment #2 LEED Certification and School Construction LEED certification is required when using taxpayer money. The Federal Government requires buildings be constructed to Silver certification levels. The State Government requires buildings be constructed to Silver certification levels. The City of Virginia Beach Government requires buildings be constructed to Silver certification levels. The Virginia Beach School Board policy 3-67 states: buildings are to be constructed to certified level only. The Virginia Beach School Board has been constructing Gold and Platinum buildings for the past ten years. Since 2010 VBSB has constructed seven buildings of which two are Platinum rated, three are Gold rated and two are Silver rated. In general constructing buildings beyond the standard Silver rating adds ten to fifteen percent to construction cost. The cost comparison can be easily seen in the chart provided by the Virginia Beach Public Schools (see chart below). Two elementary schools were constructed in Virginia Beach and opened within one year, Windsor Oaks and College Park Elementary Schools, so the cost for materials and labor should be relativity the same. Windsor Oaks Elementary School was opened in 2010 and constructed to a LEED Silver rating level, and College Park Elementary School was opened in 2011 and constructed to a LEED Platinum level. The construction cost for Windsor Oaks Elementary School was $158/SF and the construction cost for College Park Elementary School was $190/SF. Both buildings were constructed around the same time frame and both buildings were of the same use, the only discernable difference is one was constructed to LEED silver standards and the other to LEED Platinum standards. The Platinum building cost the taxpayers 20% more to construct than the Silver building. If you look at the total cost of the last few construction projects; Virginia Beach Middle, Great Neck Middle, Kellam High, and the new ODC/Kemps Landing Schools, and the additional cost for increasing the ratings above LEED silver would have been enough to construct the new John B. Dey Elementary School. 6