Paul Jenkins: Community has spoken on field lights; now it’s time to move on

By Gordon Woodworth, Chronicle News Editor

“Obviously we’re disappointed the proposition for permanent lights at LaMay Field didn’t pass, but it was a clear message from the community that they don’t want us moving forward on that,” Glens Falls City School Superintendent Paul Jenkins told The Chronicle.

On May 16, residents overwhelmingly approved the district’s $43-million budget, 1,108-260, and the $17.55-million capital project by similar totals.

But the permanent lights proposition failed, 833-549.

“We had more than 1,300 voters, the most in my eight years,” Mr. Jenkins said.

“We’re ecstatic that more than 1,100 voted yes for the budget and the project and the buses, but clearly people were not in favor of adding lights.”

Says another push would ‘erode trust’

Asked if the lights project will be brought up again, Mr. Jenkins said it won’t.

“Putting together a budget is about trust, and the community trusting us to do what is in the best interest of the students and the taxpayers,” he said.

“The fact is the lights were defeated. Doing anything further would erode the trust of the people who voted. We’re going to take what the voters said and move forward.”

What if the Grandstanders booster club says they have enough money to pay to install permanent lights? Mr. Jenkins said, “I would tell them no. The community has spoken, and they don’t want lights.”

Board president Tim Graham said, “I was very disappointed in the vote on the lights. And I have nothing at stake, no kids in the school. I’m all about doing what’s best for the kids. It’s disappointing.”

Board vice president Jeremy Deason said, “I’m sure the issue will come up again, but not anytime soon. The message was clear enough. I can’t imagine a whole lot of conversation about it anytime soon.

“People took this seriously. I talked to more people about the lights than I did about any other issue in my four years on the board. People made a really informed decision. We had good community engagement.”

1 game a year with temporary lights

Mr. Jenkins said the school’s teams “don’t want to play anywhere else,” and the school does plan to continue playing one game a year at home under temporary lights, as they’ve done since 2012.

“We’ll try to do a Friday night game just as we had last year,” Mr. Jenkins said.

If the JUG game against Hudson Falls is a home game, that’s the game played under temporary lights at LaMay Field.

Former school board members Todd Feigenbaum, Dr. Anna Poulos and Shirley Berger, and former Mayor Robert Regan, all wrote a letter urging voters to vote against the permanent lights.

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