So the City and its wealthy benefactor, the SCV Auto Dealers Association, have been tripping over themselves the last few days to point out a “cool” campaign that might help the local economy and inject some money into cash-strapped SCV schools. The idea is to get school parents to test-drive and/or buy new vehicles at one of a number of auto dealers in the SCV during the month of May; the school that has the most parents test drive cars will win a $1,000 cash prize.
To be “cool to your school”, all you have to do is sign up and test drive at a dealer, and you’ll even get a $10 gift certificate to a restaurant and a free one year subscription to The Signal, which by the way, is busy running fancy web-based and paper ads promoting the program.
“The City is pleased to support the ‘Be Cool to my School” campaign because we know it benefits the community as a whole,” Mayor Bob Kellar says in the press release.
Oh yeah Mayor? I beg to differ.
I suppose this is one of those situations where many readers of this site have their antenna go up and instantly think of the “Good ol’ boy network” where this valley’s business, government, media and school interests all work out a plan to scratch each other’s back and reach for each other’s wallets.
I’ll admit that’s the case here (and offer a shrug because business is business). But there’s more reasons to be skeptical of this program than the obvious quid-pro-quo benefits it entails.
I’m more interested in the hypocrisy of the city supporting it. You see, we just came out of an election where -once again- traffic, streets, and road building were major issues.
Not only that, but we’ve been treated to not one, not two, but several stories on the price of gas here in Santa Clarita and how $4 a gallon is having a “ripple” effect throughout the local economy.
Now the city -under the guise of getting more tax money from auto sales- is actually encouraging people to take superfluous car trips on the SCV’s most crowded streets. What’s more, they’re actually making it into a contest over how many superfluous car trips can be made!
But it’s for the schools! Oh please. The only schools that will benefit from this are the wealthier ones that have the parental support, organization and wealth to take advantage of it. I doubt there will be many poor parents in Newhall or Canyon Country lining up to test drive a Ford or Lexus on Creekside. This contest is stacked against those schools from the start.
No, instead, we’ll soon be treated to how the Auto Dealers gave a $1,000 check to some elementary school in Laurie Ender’s precinct or on the west side. That would break down to about $0.25 to $2 per student at most of the SCV’s schools, hardly enough to make a dent in the $25 million our schools are being asked to cut.
Finally, there’s the insulting timing of this whole program. May is Bike Month in the United States, and the City -to its credit- is also busy encouraging us to Bike to Work one day next week (Thursday, May 15). They’re even going so far as to sponsor a friendly challenge between SCV businesses to see which one can “be part of the solution” to traffic, obesity, high gas prices and environmental challenges.
Why couldn’t the City, Mayor Kellar and The Signal have worked on an incentive program for local schools with one or two of the many locally-owned bike stores in this valley? It would have been easy to whip up a sexy ad campaign encouraging high school students to ride newly purchased bikes to school on Santa Clarita’s bike paths and paseos. Sales tax from all those stores would also benefit city coffers (and with enough volume might have made it really worthwhile) and would have dovetailed nicely with Bike Month and high gas prices.
Instead, the groups behind this campaign are acting like its 1999 and the price of gas is still $1.25. And their “gift” to local schools will be a grand total of $3,000. I don’t want to sound like a scrooge, but what is $3,000 in comparison to the $600 million the SCV auto dealers say they make each year?
I have a better idea if you want to be cool to your school. Do like other communities have done and volunteer there. And if that’s not enough, see if other parents are interested in donating to your local school. Many communities in California are under the same pressures we are but have even less resources, and some are responding to the fiscal crisis by digging into their own pockets to support their local schools.
No need to engage in a silly contest that only adds to traffic, pollution and congestion problems and will only benefit three schools with a very small donation.
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managing editor