While this represents the majority of the authors on McBlogger, there will be at least one dissent in one of the races and I’ll let the author discuss his reasoning in a separate post which I’m sure you’ll all enjoy.
Here’s how you should vote…
Place One – No Endorsement (well, begrudgingly, Skeletor)
Originally, we had discussed Roger Chan but his opposition to rail based mass transit is, frankly, asinine. OF COURSE, he wasn’t going to win anyway since apparently Chris Riley has taken Castle Grayskull and NOW HAS THE POWER. We just hope he will use it to stop infrastructure privatization (like, I don’t know, working hard to make sure PPP’s aren’t entered into on 360 or MoPac to create toll lanes… it’s bad policy, regressive and horrible for tax payers. If you’ve got to have tolls, keep them under government control) and not for the more nefarious purpose of turning Austin into some ersatz replica of Central Beijing, ca. 1967, with everyone riding bikes.
Yeah, we really hate bikes.
Place Three – Kathie Tovo
Love. Her. Our only concern is whether or not she will fight hard for affordable housing in the core. She has repeatedly said it’s one of her concerns and something she hopes to be able to work on, so we’re hopeful. We’ve not heard a similar commitment from Randi Shade who was more focused on telling supporters of an ordinance tying a living wage to tax incentives for new businesses that they were wrong (They weren’t, Randi, you were… Simply, without real progressivity in the tax code, the only way to keep the economy growing robustly are for other forces to drive wage growth at the bottom end of the income scale. Your response to them was condescending, ignorant and wrong). Randi also declined to commit to demand non-discrimination policies from companies seeking tax incentives. While the living wage thing is just bad policy (I mean, really, don’t we want to subsidize companies that will actually put real money back into the community?), the non-discrimination thing is inexcusable. I don’t shop at Exxon or Wal-Mart because of their policies (unless an empty tank absolutely forces an Exxon stop) and I sure as hell don’t want my tax dollars subsidizing ANY business who doesn’t have a stated policy banning discrimination. Randi has shown that she thinks Austin should prostitute itself to any company willing to come here. That’s not only silly, it’s dealing away our strengths and creating a position of weakness we’re not currently in only to attract opportunists who have no intention of making a commitment to the community.
While we’re on the subject of homosexuality in politics, I’m kind of irritated that Randi has apparently decided to pull out all the stops to appeal to the Austin LGBT community. Yes, we know she’s a lesbian. And that’s no more a reason to vote for or against her than the color of her hair. I’m also irritated as hell at some of my fellow ‘mo’s who have upbraided me because I decided to support someone else in this race. Voting for someone because they are gay is no different than voting for someone because they’re white.
Place Four – Laura Morrison
Really? You need to know more? The parking meter thing alone was worth a vote for her. Thank you, Laura, for your service to all of Austin.
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