Color me some shade of gray at the prospect of the former governor building concensus for a new school bond package. It might happen; it might not. The key will be the commission understanding that it cannot just put the same bond package in a different, more hyped wrapper.

Mecklenburg voters rejected the idea that a $427 million bond, the first installment of a $2 billion construction program, was what CMS actually needed. They understood that the package was crafted, perhaps cynically so, maybe pragmatically, to win support in the suburbs, especially in the South, by finally funding badly needed schools for that area. The catch was that voters were supposed to swallow roughly $200 million in inner-city renovations and construction, not to mention put the county on a sure glide path to a property tax hike to pay for it all, by voting yes for the bonds.

In sum, to get $200 million in needed schools, voters were asked to pay an addition $200 million in fees, overhead, and make-good money.

Voters very clearly understood this choice. Despite a “vote yes” campaign that dwarfed any “vote no” effort, they looked at the facts and CMS’s track record of using bond funds in a sketchy manner and overwhelmingly said “no” to that deal. This needs repeating before we start on a new bond discussion, it needs to seep down into the ground and into the heads of policy-makers. Once more:

The well-informed citizens of Mecklenburg County, acting on their direct experience and with reference to the facts, said “no” to a bond package that did not focus on new schools in high-growth areas and was so large as to mandate a future property tax hike. As such, a rational person would conclude that a repeat of that bond package should be off-the-table when the committee starts meeting early next year.

The question of the hour then: Who is rational?

Jim Martin, are you rational? Ken Thompson, are you rational? Ruth Shaw, are you rational? Parks Helms, are you rational? Joe White, are you rational? Future commission members, are you rational?

We will find out soon enough.