2009 Election Guide

Before I start, I just wanted to give a quick off-topic message: I loved the wide variety of opinions expressed in the comments to my first post. Knowing that I can generate some interesting conversations among people who care about this city is what makes this blog worth it.

Now, on with the show:

The Journal and Alibi have already done theirs; I think now it’s my turn. Read on for my own personal choices for approval this election.

First, full disclosure: I am a single-issue voter. Yes, I admit it. My issue is public transit – the fellow who tells me I should be able to ride a bus past midnight in this town will immediately be the one to get my vote. I haven’t heard the fellow who told me I should be able to ride a bus past midnight in this town, so I had to dig through the rhetoric a bit to find the answers.

Mayor:

Let’s knock the big one out of the way – the office of the Mayor. I am not as vehemently anti-Marty as some of my friends, but I’m no fan of his either.

Firstly, Marty has had some great ideas. I love Tingley Beach, the expansions to the zoo and Biopark, his willingness to look into rail transit (although he did botch that rather horribly), water conservation has improved considerably, and since he became mayor there have been three major improvements to Albuquerque’s mass transit system: the creation and expansion of Rapid Ride, the construction of the Alvarado Transportation Center and a few new park-and-ride lots, and the purchase of a new fleet of wheelchair-friendly buses.

But then there’s all the bad. The crusade against smokers, the handouts to sprawl developers, the greenwashing, the downtown arena, and his incredibly pushy personality all get on my nerves; not to mention that his very presence in this election and defying term limits annoys the hell out of me. And at the end of the day, Albuquerque’s mass transit system is still incredibly underwhelming, even with recent improvements and soaring ridership levels.

Richard Berry has done little to impress me. He’s from a construction background and many of his ideas read like developer fantasies, “no impact fees” chief among them. He’s interested in privatizing certain city services and dropping the transit tax (which by the way, see below), all while claiming he’s interested in sustainability yet offering precious little evidence to back that claim. I wrote his campaign an email asking what they would do for mass transit and never got a word back; it’s just not an issue for him.

On the other hand, Richard Romero is an intriguing personality. Firstly, unlike Berry he actually did return my email (good man!) and has declared support for expanding mass transit in the city. His ideas on energy conservation are great, and I’m very intrigued by his plans to remake the city’s Planning Department. He’s got the experience, and while he doesn’t have the assertiveness that Chavez holds (what Marty’s followers seem to refer to as “vision”), his workable attitude might actually get more done in the long run, when we’re not drowning in mayor-city council or city-county fights.

While Marty’s campaign has surely outspent Romero’s and Marty’s chances for reelection are looking pretty darn good, I am voting for Romero, if just for the change of scenery.

City Council – District 1:

Ken Sanchez is running unopposed in this election, so there really isn’t much point talking about it anymore here.

City Council – District 3:

This is a run between incumbent Issac Benton and Alan Armijo. Well, Benton is the obvious choice here, and I have no doubt he will take this election. He’s probably the biggest supporter of alternative transit in the city, has repeatedly encouraged central city investment, and put a lot into energy conservation. You just can’t ask for a better guy than him.

City Council – District 5:

Probably the only contentious city council race this year is the one between incumbent Michael Cadigan and Dan Lewis. Cadigan definitely has my vote – he’s shown a true dedication to alternative transit (he actually uses the bus connections and bike paths he’s fought so hard for), has not been afraid to stand against sprawl developers, and is bold when it comes to conservation. To lose him would be a hard blow indeed.

Dan Lewis, on the other hand, has spent more time talking about Cadigan than anything else this election. On issues, he’s mostly about roads, roads, and roads. He also wants to ditch impact fees, preferring that the city pay for new infrastructure through taxes collected from the purchase of goods – it’s trickle-down economics, which is bad enough, but anyone with a shred of common sense knows what this proposal really means is that the whole city will be paying out of their pockets for the West Side’s growth. No thanks.

City Council – District 7:

There’s a race in District 7? Actually, you can’t really call it a race, since Mike Cook is the only fellow formally running. David Green is running as a write-in candidate, but he has no website and the voter’s guides don’t have any info on him, while Cook at least has a website. But Cook is an unknown as well – take a look at his website, and it’s all about his job experiences. He mentions what the major issues are to him, yet none of the info has any meaning and there doesn’t seem to be any plan of action whatsoever. I’m glad to see Sally Mayer leave (the pet focus was getting to be a bit much), but I’d rather she be replaced with a known. I’m just happy I don’t live here, so I don’t really have to think about it on Election Day.

City Council – District 9:

This is a race between incumbent Don Harris and David Barbour. Barbour has talked some great language in his campaign, such as expanding public transit and pursuing energy conservation, but while he can talk the talk he hasn’t convinced me he can walk the walk; for one thing, he opposes the transit tax; and another thing, his ideas don’t seem to have any plan behind them. I’m glad he’s bringing these issues up; he just seems to lack a ground to stand on. On the other hand, I’ve never been a huge fan of Don Harris. Here I just throw my hands in the air and thank god I don’t live there either.

Transportation Tax:

Well now, you’d be insane to turn this down. It has played a huge part in paving our roads, running our buses, and expanding our bicycle system. And what’s even better is that this time around, mass transit is getting a bigger slice of the pie, going from 20% of ¼ of 1 cent to 36% of ¼ of 1 cent. Greg Payne actually said that should the tax pass, ABQ Ride would look into expanding service hours and putting down more routes.

So vote for it, all right? Just say yes. Say yes, damn it.

Bonds and Propositions:

Just say yes. To all of them. Say yes, damn it.