To be fair, Councilor Cadigan has been generally good on budget issues. However, he's completely blind when it comes to the trickle-down effect caused by his penchant for regulation. Let's take for example the requirement for city residents to use 90% efficient furnaces when replacing their old furnaces.
Scott Ruch, whose firm has installed furnaces for years, said the 90 percent models typically cost $400 to $900 more than the standard less-efficient furnace.Let's say that gas used by your furnace in winter months is equivalent to $120 of your overall gas bill. It would take over 33 winter months for you to recapture the additional cost of your furnace imposed by the city. If you use your furnace for 4 months out of the year and you are lucky to purchase a furnace that only costs $400 more than the 80% efficiency models, that's over 8 years in operation.
One person who contacted the Journal said the cost would be several thousand dollars more for installation
Councilor Cadigan is currently sponsoring an ordinance requiring the city to replace all of their porcelain thrones with low flow toilets by the end of the year.
Cadigan said he was open to giving the city more time to complete the transition. But he said it was important to pass the bill because residents will have to make a similar move.In principle the councilor is correct. The city really should have begun their transition to low flow before forcing the rest of us to do so. However like the ordinance that goes into full flush in 2010 requiring home owners to replace their toilets before selling their property, we're paying for the change using tax dollars that are in short supply down at city hall. A common sense approach would be to replace the fixtures as they require replacement. But of course, it's hard to generate headlines for common sense.
An ordinance set to take full effect in 2010 will require private residents to change out their toilets before selling their property.
"It's not right to ask residents to do it until we do it," Cadigan said.
Impact fees are another way that Councilor Cadigan has worked against the fiscal interests of Albuquerque residents. Impact Fees were instituted as a way to cut down on eeevil sprawl. The idea was to charge more money for housing in areas that aren't a part of the urban center.
Unfortunately even before the housing bubble burst, the number of building permits issued for home construction dropped significantly as builders simply chose to build outside the council's jurisdiction.
Builders understand that there's only so much that they can charge for a product. The additional $10,000 added by Cadigan's Impact Fees and a whole litany of city requirements made their houses too expensive and/or not profitable to build. The result was that sprawl increased and home prices rose (which of course required that we make housing more affordable by using your tax dollars subsidize housing for people who can't afford to buy a house... but we digress).
Folks, understand that these types of mandates cost you money. It doesn't matter whether or not they require the city to spend your money or you to spend your money... it's your money that's at stake and it's your money that you end up with less of.
If Councilor Cadigan wants to run on fiscal responsibility, he should start by reigning in his own tendency to over regulate. Make no mistake, unfunded mandates and ridiculous regulation cost you money - it's only a matter of whether the government takes it through taxes or forces you to spend it directly out of your own pocket.
22 comments:
Cadigan is a control freak bully with no understanding or respect for private property rights. What he tried to do to the Montes and their small business was a sweeping abuse of power that should have gotten him hauled in front of the city ethics board or impeached.
We will not forget.
Make no mistake, Cadigan is not 34 friendly nor will he give APD the budget it needs. He will cut funding.
On another note, ask any westside resident what Cadigan has done for the Taylor Ranch and Ventana area. Absolutley nothing.
No way to Cadigan folks.
The first thing Cadigan should make an issue of is the lie about how many APD officers there are. The Journal, KOAT, KOB and KRQE should do a story about how many full time sworn officers APD has now that January is here.
Please don't let Schultz and Marty BS us about future cadets, we want the real numbers as of now 2009. Not make believe and not part timers and not cadets.
Let us not forget Cadigan's support to take away the rights of Albuquerque citizens concerning their privilege to smoke in bars, or cigar bars. There also seems to be a double standard against some concerning "smoking" also. It is legal to smoke in private clubs, casinos cigar bars, at home, outside, but not inside the very places that smoking has been allowed for centuries, good old bars. All of this in the name of health and safety for all. (Cadigan needs to learn when to keep his nose out of other people's business!)
It is also scary when I hear the term "community policing"! I believe there should be a balance of law enforcement verses crime, but under our current rule, there is more corruption in government and by dishonest police. It is hard to be a good citizen and watch our city as it is being torn apart by those who swear to uphold the constitution, yet they don't! The authorities in our community are in need of being watched, and policed!
I'm not sure you even understand what impact fees are for. They're to offset the cost to the City to extend infrastructure out to these new exurbs in the middle of nowhere.
Its the developers who, even after the impact fees, were sucking off the government teat in the form of taxpayer funded roads, water, sewer, etc infrastructure while they made all the profits on the plywood and drywall McMansions that start falling apart five to ten years later.
Why are you in favor subsidizing the house building industry? Particularly now, when they've already out-built demand to the point where property values are now falling as those idiot Californian house flippers are no longer buying houses they never intend to step foot into with the hope of reselling them at a profit in six months. The home building house of cards (which was encouraged every step along the way by your despised enemy Marty and his Republican allies on the city counsel) has now fallen apart and the rest of us are just trying to dodge the debris.
how about everyone filling in the blank:
In a perfect world I would vote for ____________ FOR MAYOR.
PAUL HEH FOR MAYOR
Well, if Councilor Cadigan wins the Mayor's seat, Capt Sonny Leeper will be Chief of APD.
Cadigan for Mayor in 09'!
Concerning low flow toilets. Seems like you have to flush them about six times to get the waste down, then whatever waste is still standing has to be unhealthy. It takes extra cleaning supplies to clean them, because they don’t flush everything. Some of them have such a powerful flush the water with waste in it jumps out of the toilet onto the seat and floor. And why have toilets with standing water anyway? They have ones that only send water when flushed. I know of a contractor whose customers don’t want low flow toilets. So when building their home he puts in the low flows, then after the purchase goes back and changes them out to regular ones. This Nazi city administration has to even control our shiter’s, what a bunch of shit!
We need to remember that NO candidate will satisfy everyone 100%. We need to look at the most important factor as to who will be upfront and honest with the citizens of Albuquerque.... with that in mind, we know Darren White does not fit the profile and the current Mayor, Ol Marty, is just behind him....so who does that leave? Cadigan has my vote
First thank gawd you are back, first ten minutes at my desk have gotten boring the past week.
Second, your numbers are right close to the quote I was given at the builders assoc. that it would take 7 years to recoup the cost of the heaters.
AS to low flows, I had one, put it in, took the sucker right back out in a month. It is ridiculous to have to keep a plunger right next to the throne...they dont work worth a damn.
Look for Cadigan to get hit with his own 'pay to play' issues in the next month or two.
Anyone buck Smarty Marty
Muck Farty '09 4 SURE- Cadigan is worth consideration.
Anyone Buck Smarty Marty
Muck Farty!
Politicians a necessary evil! I vote for the lesser of the evil, but who knows who that is. Don’t know much about Cadigan, but he was/is so right about the west side infrastructure, especially the SW. Ken Sanchez’ district!
Marty was endorsed by the Home Builders Assoc.was given a lot of money for his last campaign. The reason so many homes popped up on the west side! Problem, most homes were built before roads led to them; although, maps showed the roads went through. It delays(ed) response times when hitting the end of a road to nowhere. The maps still show some roads that go through that don’t, IG: 98th south to Dennis Chavez (DC), have to go down Gibson to Coors over then up, or up Central to 118th then over to DC. 6-10 minute response times turn into 25-40, response times suck!
Mortgage Co. fat cats didn’t help, giving no down loans to people who couldn’t afford an apartment in the war zone! Check out current foreclosures, most of them are on the SW side and no deals because nothing was ever paid on them. The houses are run down some totally stripped inside no carpet, fixtures, etc. It would take $$$$$ to sell them. Not all people deserve to have a house I lived in an apartment until I could afford to buy one.
And the Californian’s buying up blocks then Section 8 the houses. What type of cliental was expected? They don’t care they get their money from the State of NM.
So as far as Cadigan goes… All I know is that Marty HAS TO GO!
I would vote for Sgt. Heh. At least he stands up for people.
I'm actually liking the Paul Heh for Mayor idea. Maybe he should form an exploratory group. He may not win but if we could all put aside our backbiting for a few months it would be damn fun to have a 34 in the mix.
Paul Heh do you even have a clue how much it costs to run for mayor? better have a million bucks stashed somewhere if your going against the likes of chavez, cadigan, or chavez de aragon, good luck dude!
I am waiting for Geraldine Amato to throw her hat in the ring. Then while have a full blown circus.
Amato would be the perfect mayor for ABQ!!
A crazy, half retarded, sorta hippie lady!! With a cable access show no less!!
Oh my gawd, she has it all, sweet baby Jesus, if we could get a picture of her kissing Heinrich she'd be a shoo in.
I THINK ONE OF YOU KNOW IT ALLS SHOULD RUN FOR MAYOR. SO YOU CAN BE BLOGGED INTO OBLIVION!
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