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if anyone should vote for anything it is for the trust. it will fund a lot of programs for children esp. with special needs.

Trust me on this one.

Why should I have to trust you or anyone? Why don't they, with their hefty ad budget, tell me? If you're going to ask me to continue to fund a public program don't you have the least bit of responsibility to explain where the funds are going?

http://www.thechildrenstrust.org/Programs.asp

Some of the programs that will receive funding such as ANgel's Reach and others are great programs to help young children and those with special needs. There currently is no government funding or enough private funding to help many of these kids especially those with autism related disorders.

If you don't have the money to provide services for your own kid with these types of disorders, you are royally fucked since these kids need intervention almost immediately. The proper services a child needs can cost in excess of $ 20K per year. The government has a waiting list to provide services and it takes many years if that to get someone to qualify. By then its way too late.

I voted for it and encourage everyone to vote for the trust.

If you want to see the types of organizations that will benefit from the trust, see here:

http://www.angelsreach.org/

I forgot to add that these programs are not covered by private insurance and are not covered by medicaid.

Again, Mike, my question is why are you telling me this and not the people who are asking for my vote? As a person who is very cynical of taxpayer funded social programs to begin with my antenna begins to twitch when a bunch of people are asking me to vote for something without telling me why, what the benefit is, in a concrete way not a nebulous "it's for the children" way. We've been burned before on these feel good claims.

Isn't the former publisher of The Miami Herald the spokesman for this organization?

I know about it because I'm involved with the children groups. I've not seen one tv ad on it. I've only seen literature through the schools which I get through the PTA and through my involvement in various organizations. The ads are paid for by private donations.

For many of those with kids with special needs, it is the most important item on the ballot today.

I think you're missing the point. Yes, the ads say they are paid for by a PAC, adding to the impression that I have that this is some sort of inside game. All of these people telling us about this great organization whose goals and programs are not clear in the communications makes me feel like they are trying to get over on me.

This leads me to one of two possible conclusions:

1. They are in fact trying to get over on me and my fellow taxpayers.

2. They don't have enough sense to explain why we should continue to fund this beyond "it's good."

Neither explanation is a particularly appealing one. I suppose the second is more benign but in a community that has been jaded by corruption in the use of public funds it's just as egregious.

By all accounts, this thing is going to pass so it's a moot point but it's alarming that there was so little debate about this.

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