Overheard: Let Duluth Vote sounds off

The News Tribune editorial board sat down yesterday with members of the red plan opposition group, Let Duluth Vote. The candid, nearly two-hour conversation hit on everything from the group's lawsuit against the Duluth school district to its emerging Plan B and the possibility that Plan B could go to a public vote.

Below are excerpts straight from the mouths of Let Duluth Vote members Harry Welty, a former Duluth School Board member; Art Johnston, an engineer with the U.S. Forest Service; and Rich Paulson, a retired banker and a Duluth School Board member during the 1970s.

-- On Let Duluth Vote's lawsuit against the Duluth school district:

"The case is [about] the contract between the school district and [its consultants, Johnson Controls. We feel the contract is] unlawful. It violates well-established case law that says if you have a bidding policy, you have to abide by it." -- Welty

"We did this as a last resort. We've been talking to the school district for two years. ...I've been stonewalled every step of the way." -- Johnston

"I don't like lawyers any more than anyone else. We feel we were forced into this."

-- Johnston

-- On accusations the lawsuit is an attempt by Let Duluth Vote to stall the red plan until the fall elections:

"That's pretty irrelevant. Either the contract is legal or it's not legal." -- Welty

-- On criticism Let Duluth Vote and others could have and should have participated in the process that led to the adoption of the red plan rather than working now against a decision already made:

"I don't feel at all guilty about not participating." -- Welty

"Had I known at the beginning of the process the school district was going to do this without a vote, I probably would have attended the meetings." -- Welty

"The public process was extremely flawed." -- Johnston

"The data those people were given who did participate was not vetted at all." -- Johnston

-- On the work of Johnson Controls:

"Nobody vetted what Johnson Controls said. They came up with three high-end plans [including the red plan when it was adopted]. And the data they used was flawed." -- Johnston

-- On the Minnesota Department of Education, which reviewed and approved the red plan:

"They rubber-stamped it. They did a cursory walk-through."

-- Johnston

-- On the red plan and Let Duluth Vote's Plan B:

"I don't like the smoke and mirrors. I expect my government to be transparent." -- Johnston

"Our big philosophical difference between the red plan and Plan B is we want smaller neighborhood schools."-- Johnston

"We don't think centralized learning is the way schools should be going." -- Johnston

"We don't think there should be [1,500] kids in a school, [as the red plan proposes for Duluth's two high schools. That would] harm quality learning." -- Johnson

"We don't think we have to keep getting larger and larger schools." -- Johnston

"We think we're fiscally responsible." -- Johnston

-- On Duluth district residents not being allowed to vote on the red plan:

"My initial objection was they were going to do all this without the public having to weigh-in." -- Welty

"[There have been] sly attempts to get past the voters." -- Johnston

"People should have a say. With our plan, people would have a say with a vote. We want it to go to a vote." -- Johnston

-- On taking on the school district

"We're very handicapped. We have almost no money, and we're up against teams of lawyers. ... It's definitely David-vs.-Goliath here." -- Johnston

"We have justice and public opinion on our side. Those are tough things to fight." -- Welty