"I am dismayed, but I am determined to succeed," said Ralph Cabana, a member of the Secondary Schools Facilities Committee and a strong advocate of the high school project. "We put too much time into this, and it's needed too badly, to let it die."
The group has scheduled a public meeting from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. today at the high school library. No agenda had been posted as of Wednesday afternoon, but Cabana said he's hoping the committee will talk about why the measure failed so badly and where to go from here.
Susan Adams, the co-chairwoman of SPHS-Yes!, a political action committee working to pass the bond, also said the issue is "definitely not dead."
She said her group will not go away "because the problems at the high school aren't going away." In addition to adding a second gym and artificial turf to the high school field, the project called for new heating and ventilation systems, asbestos removal and making the school more handicapped accessible.
Steve Bailey, an assistant superintendent who worked with the facilities committee, could not be reached for comment.
Cabana and Adams said they could not predict when a new high school proposal might come before voters and what it might entail. The facilities committee spent three years developing the proposal, and now is working on proposals for improving the city's two aging middle schools.
Residents who spearheaded opposition to the project could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but some had said that the project was too costly. With $29 million in interest, the total cost would have been $85 million, and it could have affected the city's bond rating.
The bond would have cost the average South Portland taxpayer about $5,100 over 23 years, starting in 2009.
Adams and Cabana said the project was costly but necessary. They said they were shocked by the amount of opposition.
The vote "was not even close," said Adams, the mother of two young children.
"I was very surprised with the margin of defeat," said Cabana, whose child graduated from the high school.
The vote was 4,724 against the project and just 1,561 in favor.
Adams said he was disappointed voter turnout wasn't higher.
City Clerk Susan Mooney said 34 percent of the city's approximately 18,500 registered voters turned out. She called that "kind of slow for an off-year election."
In other recent off-year November elections, in 2003 and 2005, turnout was 55 percent and 45 percent, respectively, she said.
The high school's original building dates to the 1950s. The project called for tearing down and rebuilding part of the school, expanding classrooms, upgrading science labs and replacing the school's cafeteria and library.
It also would have reduced the current 22 entrances at the school to just two, for security reasons.
More than half the money -- $30 million -- would have gone toward fixing a leaky roof, improving the heating, ventilation and stormwater systems, removing asbestos and ensuring that the school met federal handicap-accessibility requirements.
Staff Writer Tess Nacelewicz can be contacted at 791-6367 or at:
tnacelewicz@pressherald.com
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