Are donations to the Pro Budget Override Campaign pay to play payments by companies that have worked or want to work for the district?
An anonymous source in the Chandler Unified School District has asked if generous campaign donations to Yes for Chandler students, the campaign/PAC supporting budget overrides and new bons, could be connected to the Treasurer of this campaign, and CUSD80 school board member (up for reelection in 2024), Barb Mozdzen. The donations are often worth several thousand Dollars and in total the PAC has raised over $100,000 this election cycle, which is more than most candidates for local office raise.
Mozdzen is the campaign treasurer of the Yes for Chandler Students campaign that has been pushing for past budget overrides and is now pushing for the nearly $500 Million bond. John Anguiano, a mortgage banker and Secretary of the Chandler Education Foundation, is the Chariperson of the campaign/PAC.
Even without a possible connection to Mozdzen's re-election bid, it is concerning that there is a possibility that donating to a campaign that is favored by the district, could lead to better business outcomes for donors, such as a higher chance to be hired a a contractor for a project that the district engages in.
The image above shows a list of recent donors to the Yes for Chandler Students campaign/PAC. Many appear to be contractors. A CUSD80 insider has asked if many of these contractors are working, or are hoping to be working on CUSD80 projects.
The Yes for Chandler Students campaign pushes for a a new bond of nearly $500 Million. Mos of the bond money, nearly $300 Million, would be used for construction, making the many high dollar donations by construction contractors to the Yes for Chandler Students PAC concerning. The PAC pushed for budget overrides 3 and 5 years ago. There was already resistance against the last override in 2021 when outraged parents asked why a school district that is in essence closed, needs more money. The override passed anyway, albeit with fewer than the customary 75% of yes votes.
For the current bond, many voters provided arguments for a NO vote in the elections pamphlet provided by the district. Lauri Baroni from Sun Lakes writes that she would rather spend money to keep DEI and medical abuse (transgender sex change surgery) out of schools. John MicTighe from Chandler writes that the override is unnecessary and burdensome and that the exorbitant bond of almost $500 Million, to be borrowed at an interest rate that could reach 8%, is unfair to tax payers. Sharron Gebhardt from Gilbert writes that Bonds always result in higher taxes.
Arguments for a YES vote are mostly provided by Democatic politicians and public sector workers such as Mozdzen herself, Congressman Greg Stanton, Camille Casteel the previous superintendent who managed to get a CUSD80 school named after herself, Jennfier Pawlik, Democratic AZ House members and so on.
The Pro Bond Campaign falsely claims that the bond would not raise taxes, presumably because it is borrowed money. However, it has to be paid back this will have to be done from taxes. The election pamphlet clearly states that a a 0.4% property tax increase would be necessary. This is not 0.4% more than current, which would be small, but 0.4% of the property value that is being asses or $0.41 per $100 of assessed value, in addition to already existing property taxes.
The Yes for Chandler Campaign pushes for a close to $500 Million bond and falsely claims that this won't increase taxes.
We are researching further.
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