No contingency here: Revised budget passes by over 1,500 votes amidst attempts at online harmony
The Northport-East Northport UFSD’s 2021-2022 budget passed on Tuesday, June 15, with a total 2657 “Yes” and 1119 “No” votes. The revised budget decreased by $14,960 to $174,689,788, and carries a 0% tax levy, thanks to $1 million of unanticipated relief money from the state government.
Less people came out to vote this time than when the original budget failed on May 18.
That budget, with a .75% tax levy increase, was voted down by just 167 votes. A rallying cry of pro-budget and pro-district sentiment ensued, with community members leading a campaign, both in the streets and on social media, to turn the vote around.
Three hundred lawn signs reading “Vote Yes for Our Kids” were printed and given out by district residents in a grassroots effort to mobilize voters. A Facebook page, created by Bethany Potenza Pokorny on May 26, declared itself a “place of positivity,” and shared multiple posts daily celebrating the Northport-East Northport district schools and students. By voting day, the “Northport-East Northport Tiger Pride” group had amassed more than 740 members.
“It is no secret that I’m very happy with the outcome of our budget revote, but for me it is about more than a passed budget… It is a sign that we can begin to move forward together,” Bethany wrote to the Facebook group the morning after the vote.
“I truly believe in my heart that everyone has good intentions and we have lost our way because of social media,” Bethany told the Journal when asked why she began the group. “It’s really easy to make a comment from a distance but I think when we put the personal into it, it brings it back to why we’re here – our kids and our community.”
A Northport High School graduate with two children in the district, Bethany believes making personal connections with people, whether through positive posts or private messages, removes the tendency to feel “on guard” online, and allows room for dialogue and consideration of multiple viewpoints in a respectful way. She said people thought of the Tiger Pride group as a safe space, where parents and residents who normally might not have engaged in conversation felt comfortable to ask questions and become better informed.
“In the last month we have all seen how much we all love our community and our kids,” she continued in her post. “We have seen that we can all find places of agreement while engaging in respectful discussion. Most importantly, we have seen how a little positivity can go a long way.”
So what is next for the community, for both those who voted for and against the budget, and how can people return to civilized discourse, while standing up for what they believe is best for the district and its residents?
“I think it’s really important that the district sees that number, those 1,119 people,” said Bethany. “Because those people voted no… those are people making a statement, and I think it’s important that they’re heard. They represent what could come up at the next budget vote and what’s going to be a continuous issue for our district.”
Bethany suggested starting right away on long-term, long-range involvement, by the community and the district. She believes it is a responsibility of school officials to provide accurate information in real-time, a Budgeting 101 of sorts, that puts facts out there because social media often loses sight of them.
“If we don’t own them [the facts], if there is no one really truly owning them, then we’re all making our own conclusions,” she said.
Ultimately, Bethany would like to continue to focus on all the positives the district offers, while appreciating and addressing the things that need to improve. She plans on keeping the Northport-East Northport Tiger Pride page up, and active.
“It’s here to stay,” she said. “I really hope that we can start celebrating all the great things that are happening in our district with as much consistency as possible.”
