by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — Five Cueball thoughts for June 1, 2014…

1. Bond analysis…

I feel like a political analysis like Britt Hume or Brian Williams…

The Sumner Newscow weekly poll this week asked readers how they will vote on the USD 353 security and safety room bond proposal (you can still vote here)

The results appear to be a positive sign for those promoting the issue with 48 percent saying they are in favor of the proposal and 31 percent against it. Currently, there are a 12 percent people who are undecided – a high percent which means a lot people can be swayed either way. Nine percent said they won’t be voting in this election. 

While the Sumner Newscow poll is not scientific by any stretch of the imagination, it has been a fairly accurate barometer to how an election will go. During the 2012 elections, the poll numbers were closer than 5 percent of the actual vote tally percentages of all the political races. The only exception has been with the hospital half-cent sales tax election in early 2012. The Newscow poll then projected a close race with it winning narrowly. The question won by a landslide.

I attribute that to the “elderly/non-Newscow reader vote – people who don’t log onto Newscow but vote in elections. With political candidates, the vote isn’t nearly pronounced because the non-Newscow readers aren’t voting as a block. But one thing I have found in Wellington, the elderly will vote for the hospital, but not necessarily anything else, and definitely nothing as far as recreational facilities are concerned.

And this is why the people promoting the latest bond proposal, can’t rest on their laurels of a 17-point lead in the Newscow poll. It’s a positive sign for sure, but victory is far from imminent.

2. School Improvement committee…

Elsewhere on this site will be a question and answer session. This will allow people to submit questions in the comment session on the security and safety bond proposal. Promoters of the bond proposal and school officials can address your concerns.

I urge everyone to take advantage of this opportunity to be informed.

3. Water rate proposal… 

A water conservation committee, designated by the Wellington City Council, has come up with some interesting proposals on ways we can conserve water. The committee has proposed offering rebates for people installing low-flow toilets and exchanging old shower heads and faucet aerators for low-flow energy efficient ones.

I have no problem with those two proposals. The third proposal has me worried. It would create an accelerated water rate schedule. The more water you use, the more you pay.

The city should be weary of a proposal in which one customer is charged one rate while charging another one a different rate. Some people have pools, an abundance of cool season plants, larger families, or commercial ventures that naturally use more water. Levying a higher rate on people, who may not be able to conserve more because of circumstances out of their control, seems to me to be unfair. These people are already paying higher water rates just because they are consuming more water.

Here’s an analogy. A trucker comes in to fuel his rig at a convenience store. Are you going to charge him/her more for fuel per gallon than the person who drives a VW bug? It’s not as if the trucker can do anything about the amount of fuel he’s putting in his truck.

One council person expressed concern that rural customers in some divisions are using one meter. What do you do with them?

There needs to be flat water rates. If we need to ration water, offer incentives, or take conservation measures, we should do it together as a town. Changing rates based on consumption is a pandora’s box the city probably shouldn’t open.

4. Most hated list…

Think it’s difficult being Donald Sterling? Aside from the fact someone is about to pay him $2 billion for a basketball team, the L.A. Clipper owner was recently named the “most hated man in America,” according to E-Score – a consumer research company.

The survey was conducted among 1,100 persons ages 13-49 representing a cross-section of the U.S. population.

The top 10 most hated people were:

1. Donald Sterling, 92%

2. Bernard Madoff, 90%

3. O.J. Simpson, 88%

4. Conrad Murray, 88%

5. Justin Bieber, 86%

6. Phil Spector, 83%

7. Aaron Hernandez, 81%

8. Michael Lohan, 76%

9. Eliot Spitzer, 73%

10. Jon Gosselin, 71%.

Personally, I would have rated O.J. Simpson first, Justin Bieber second and Donald Sterling third. Not sure why anyone would care about Jon Gosselin, the loser from Jon and Kate Plus Eight.

5. Shoutout of the week…

My shoutout goes out to the Sumner County track athletes who participated in the Kansas State Track and Field meet at Wichita’s Cessna Stadium. It was a big weekend for some of the Kansas biggest athletes.

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