Re-elect Bill McCartney for Jonathan Alder School Board

06/18/2025

As promised, here is the video of June 10, 2025 JA Community Forum meeting on the Bond issue. By clicking on “more” under the link, you can see and go to specific topics that came up during the meeting. Thank you again for your time and contributions.

The Jonathan Alder Board of Education held a special meeting, community forum on Tuesday, June 10, 2025 to discuss the district's Facilities Master Plan and ...

04/30/2025

Every vote matters! Please, please vote Yes early or on May 6th in support of the bond. Your vote could be the one that pushes us across the finish line. It's critically important that each and every one of us make it to the polls. Please reach out to me if I can answer any questions!

11/05/2024

Just under one hour to go before our 8:30 PM Zoom to discuss tax incentives within Alder! My intent is to livestream it to FB and record it, but I hope you'll join us live on the call so you can participate and I can hear directly from you!

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/73860837559

Meeting ID: 738 6083 7559

Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

11/03/2024

I've been working on a video series called Tax Incentives: The Complex and Shadowy World of Local Government Incentives and their Impacts on Development, Taxpayers and Public Services. I finished editing the last video! The talent and video editing leave a lot to be desired, but I hope I've done a good job capturing the complexity of this topic. I was able to secure the help of a special guest to help me reenact how conversations between multiple local government agencies have went with the school board.

I know this topic is boring but TIFs, abatements and CRAs are annually using millions of dollars worth of property taxes voted upon by residents within Jonathan Alder intended for public services like schools, EMS, police, public health and roads and are being diverted to incentivize developers. I hope you'll take the time to educate yourself!

I'm hosting a zoom on Monday evening, Election Eve, at 8:30 PM. I'd really like your feedback on this topic! I created an event, and I'll share it out later this evening! I hope to see you there.

In the meantime, enjoy! Please let me know if you have any questions.

I'm your host, Bill McCartney. This is the last of a 3 part series explaining how property taxes work, the incentives local governments give to developers, a...

11/01/2024

As I mentioned previously, I want to educate our community about tax incentives, their impacts and get feedback on where you’d like me to be as one of your elected representatives. I will be hosting a Zoom on Monday evening, Election Eve, at 8:30 PM. I’ll add the zoom link in the comments.

There’s a lot of information to have a true picture, so in preparation for that meeting, I’m creating 3 videos to lay the groundwork and here’s the first one! I’ll post the links to each video as I get them completed. My goal is to post video 2 tomorrow and video 3 on Sunday. It’s taken me a long time to figure out how to edit these but hopefully the next two go more quickly!

I'm your host, Bill McCartney. This is the first of a 3 part series explaining how property taxes work, the incentives local governments give to developers, ...

09/30/2024

The school district has had to make decisions on tax abatements, TIFs and CRAs. This means property owners are either not paying real estate taxes that they normally would or they are paying taxes that are then being legally diverted away from where they are supposed to go and put into a fund for specific uses. As the community continues to grow, this trend will likely continue and expand. These typically range from 10-30 years and impact not just the school district but many other public services in both positive and negative ways. Normally, there isn't a clear and concise answer, often forgoing in the short term for hopefully more longer term benefits.
I am by no means an expert, but I have attended dozens of meetings and asked every question I can think of. I would love to "pull back the curtain" of the shadowy world of development and local government incentives as I understand it and take the opportunity to explain what I have learned, allow you to ask questions, give you my opinion and get your feedback on the direction you would like me to lean as your elected representative.
Please either leave me a comment or send a message if you would be interested in participating in a zoom call put on by me as a voter, tax payer and elected official but not sponsored by any official local body.

11/08/2023

First, I want to thank everyone that voted and particularly those that came out to re-elect me. The support from our community has been overwhelming and I’m grateful to be given the opportunity to serve a 2nd term.

The board, along with a lot of new administrators, has set a new trajectory and the results suggest our community sees this and supports where we’re headed. As a district, we have a lot of exciting work ahead of us. A building campaign is in the near future, and I’m excited I’ve again been entrusted to continue the work we’ve been doing.

Thank you for your support, Alder! I promise to continue being the listening ear and voice you’ve come to know me to be.

11/01/2023

There’s something we all need to hear, but no one wants you to know this. Not the left, the right, mainstream media, social media, conservatives, liberals, politicians, CEOs of multinationals, nor nation states. You see, every single mention will claim this is fake news. They don’t want you to know the truth, but I’m going to tell you anyway. You see, as long as you don’t know, they can continue carrying out their plans with you being distracted. Are you ready?

No matter what you believe, or what your neighbor believes, we’re all entitled to our own opinions. That doesn’t make you wrong or me right. I might disagree with you about something, or nearly everything, but just because we may be diametrically opposed doesn’t make you more than or me less than. We all have unique histories and experiences that have shaped our perspectives and we should respect and celebrate that diversity of ideas and use that to make our communities and our world a better place.

Civil discourse is a lost art and it is incumbent upon each of us to be examples to our friends, family, and children. I challenge each of you reading this, no matter which names you select or whether you check yes or no next week, that when a conversation presents itself with someone that doesn’t see things the same way you do, you take the opportunity to truly listen to a perspective that you might not have heard before and in return, patiently, civilly explain how and why you came to take the position you did. You will likely not win hearts and minds in a single conversation, but you may plant a seed or inform a new perspective that softens the other person. At the very least, agree to disagree without your friend, neighbor or uncle being dead to you.

10/27/2023

I know lots of people have questions about all of the housing growth in Alder and how it will affect the district and our students. I’m part of the Steering Committee and we’ve gotten in front of staff at each building and school groups.

Today, we’re able to bring the message directly to you! We discuss recent history of how we got here and the process to develop the plan for moving forward.

If you are interested in serving on one of the teams discussed in the video, please reach out to Dr. Miller, Mrs. Quick, Steve Votaw or myself!

Bookmark elevatealder.com to follow our journey and to get the most up to date information on the master planning process and construction!

https://youtu.be/5ix8O1heEHI?si=xNdaIkbpFVGunckB

Message from Strategic Planning Steering Committee members to update the community on Jonathan Alder Local Schools.

10/21/2023

Normally our family costume is a secret until we start Trick-or-Treating but this year was a special treat and lots of people got a sneak peak. Thanks to everyone that stopped by the tent to say hi. It was a joy to see so many smiles (we waited too long - we woke up Theo and Ellie was just about there.) We missed Henry (Forky but he isn’t OG Toy Story so did you really miss much??), who was at the Crew game with his FC team.