To the editor:
Recently, a Suttons Bay School Board member criticized a letter on this page that suggested the district sold public land to address an approaching financial crisis, and insisted SBSD is fiscally sound. However, according to County Treasurer John Gallagher, who also serves as Chair of the County Land Bank, that may not be the whole story.
In a meeting this August, Gallagher said he facilitated the $800,000 land sale only because Superintendent Casey Petz contacted him earlier this year and warned the district faced a financial crisis if it did not receive cash before June 30, 2025. Gallagher said that was the sole reason he intervened. Without Mr. Gallagher’s dual role and authority, the transaction likely would not have taken place.If true, this raises serious questions. Why would Superintendent Petz describe a financial emergency to the Treasurer and Land Bank Chair, while other school officials now insist no such crisis existed? Was the public given the same information? And why was public land transferred in a no-bid deal involving parties with clear conflicts of interest— including County Administrator Jim Dyer, who sits on the Peninsula Housing board?
