There are countless examples of Marty's increasing desire to build a legacy on the backs of city taxpayers. Wading lagoons, downtown arenas, balloon museums, trolleys, even Pandas have all been on the mayor's personal agenda. Some have been realized while it took the Red Chinese to kill other.
Our point? No matter how many times the council or the public says no, The Almighty Alcalde will continue to pursue his agenda either overtly or covertly. "No" is simply a temporary inconvenience to be endured.
Marty's choo choo train has a long history of trying to slip past the public. Monday, November 6th 2006 - the day before the hotly contested 2006 election - the mayor tried to slip his trolley by the public with the aid of the council. Since that time we've been treated to task farces and propaganda designed to make a trolley with the capacity to serve a very small number of people at a price tag of $240 MILLION plus look cost effective and environmentally friendly.
At least it seems that the council has started to get the message. Last week the council sent up a resolution to the mayor directing him not to use Obama's spending, uh... stimulus money on a trolley (read it here). Unbelievably, the measure was sponsored by none other than our socialist in chief, Councilor Isaac Benton.
[Sidebar]What The Almighty Alcalde actually did was to use his line item veto to take out language that modified the Transportation Improvement Plan so that a 19th Century Street Car - no matter where the money came from - would have to go to the voters before the city started railroading the public.
Obama and his accomplices insist on calling the $750 BILLION spending package ARRA - the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In reality it's the American Repugnant Redistribution Act. It's bad enough when these yahoos in Washington wastefully spend our tax dollars but it's simply repugnant to be blowing tax dollars that haven't even been collected yet. In other words... borrowed.
[End Sidebar]
I have exercised my authority as Mayor of Albuquerque to line item veto the portion of R-09-229 that prohibits the use of federal monies to build a modem rail system in Albuquerque. I believe that Albuquerque should no longer remain one of only a handful of D.S. cities without a diverse transportation portfolio including modem rail. I have agreed that a city funded system should be a matter for the voters of Albuquerque. I disagree that either the Regional Transportation District or the federal government with their own funds should be similarly restricted.There are a number of problems with Marty's logic here. First of all, nothing is free even if it comes from the federal government. Second, using that borrowed money to build a tiny trolley to serve a few people moving from downtown to the airport. A trolley that would make an already congested area worse by taking up space needed for vehicle traffic.- Mayor Martin Chavez Veto Message
Third and worst of all, even if the trolley were free it creates a long term operational drain on the city's general fund. This is exactly the wrong kind of project to waste borrowed money on. If we're gonna spend Obama's money, we're far better off spending it on projects like the I-25 / Paseo Del Norte interchange - a project that serves tens of thousands of people daily. Something Marty's Tiny Trolley will never be able to do.
Meanwhile the council plans on sticking an extension of the Transportation Infrastructure Tax on the October ballot without funding for a trolley. Here's the problem... that 1/4 cent tax can be easily reprogrammed by the council at anytime. So what's sold to the taxpayers as roads, bike paths, and buses magically becomes a source of revenue for a 19th Century Streetcar.
It doesn't seem to matter who pays for it or how much it costs, Marty will have his trolley. Of course if voters decide to send him packing after 12 years, maybe, just maybe we can put a stake in the heart of the Trolley that Won't Go Away.
14 comments:
I'm always so amused when right wingers weep about deficit spending under Obama in an economic crisis when they didn't say a peep while Bush increased the federal debt by over $3 Trillion during an economic upswing.
You're either a hypocrite or a moron Eye, which is it?
If stimulus money pays for it, build it. We need people working. The stimulus money has been appropriated so we should get as much of those dollars as possible.
We lost the fight to stop the out of control spending and now it is time to change gears and bring that money home. I support any attempt to build in the city. Those that do not understand this should read an economics book.
If stimulus money pays for it, build it. We need people working. The stimulus money has been appropriated so we should get as much of those dollars as possible.
We lost the fight to stop the out of control spending and now it is time to change gears and bring that money home. I support any attempt to build in the city. Those that do not understand this should read an economics book.
Boring, come on eye, whats the story on Chief Schultz short stint or Richard Romero. This is boring stuff guys
Maybe is should be a small, wee little Trolley. That way it'd be the right size for Marty, the Midget Mayor for Life!
Spending priorities. What are the spending priorities. I'm for a State of the Art Recycling Center
for glass bottles that turns glass into a high fiber glass. I'm for rewriting state laws allowing dispensing of Liquor/Wine like an "Old World" market from large
containers that keep wine from turning to vinegar if exposed to air. I am for recycling wine bottles that customers can purchase at the store that are cleaned out. It doesn't make sense to keep putting trash in oceans etc.... I'm for spending the money on a Giant Plant that is sole purpose is to clean out glass bottles and send out in trucks to local wineries in New Mexico for reuse and also grocery stores to have wine poured directly on tap into a cleaned out bottle and corked with plastic not bark! I'm for spending 400 million, not on a Downtown Arena, but to wait and see what gets build by the State/City at the State Fair Grounds instead. I'm for spending 400 million on a Trituary water system that cleans out the muddy Rio Grande river (that were now drinking from according to the Journal), three times instead of two! I'm for upgrading our water treatment Center to the most healthy and clean water! That would reduce the amount of people who drink natural spring water in plastic bottles from the grocery stores! Is that creative enough for you? Guess what? Martin Chavez has for over 20 years promised a State of the Art Recycling Center, but to no avail!
Let's send the message this Fall to Marty..... it is time to bring in a fresh change, so that we can see what new items can happen.
Build it and they will come.
I know people who now longer ride the railrunner in to Albuquerque just because of all the drunks and panhandlers at the downtown transit station. Whats going to make the trolley any different. Downtown needs to change and clean up its act.
No, don't build the trolley. Build something that the government won't have to pull out in 20 years time. Build something that is going to have an actual helpful impact on the environment and the futures to come. Build a state of the art Recyclying Center.
While traveling abroad, I went on tours of centers that welcomed tourists. The centers were actually a pretty awesome place to
be guest and tour! A state of the art Recycling Center just might be an economic help to the downtown!
I can relate to the Railrunner riders dealing with the panhandlers. I live near a Rapid Ride stop. Had I known the kind of riffraff it attracts into my neighborhood I would have fought against it. Naive me, thinking it would be good being able to walk and take the bus to work. I went back to single use vehicle driving and pay for parking. Marty’s little projects, just like him, need some work. Instead of just implementing a project he needs to follow-up. Security would be nice.
Rumor has it that Marty's minions are out collecting signatures for Don Harris in Dist 9 and in fact, are advising voters that they may only sign one candidates' petition for the ballot. So - a coincidence that the Rapid Ride will now be extended to Central & Tramway (in district 9)? Any speculation as to how Don's votes will align with Marty's pet projects in the future?
Democrat Chavez should support Democrat Barbour.
Barbour can win as R's Harris and Brasher slug it out.
In over 12 years of rule by Martin Chavez, this city is no better, if not worse, than it was when he first took office in the 1990's.
Traffic, Crime, Sustainability, Sprawl, Deceit, and Corruption.
The success of your office is defined by how much better you leave the place than how you found it. Time to go.
Enough said...send him packing.
Don Harris is a jerk, for lack of a more colorful word. My opinion is based on dealings I had with him (I'm in his district). I used to support him prior to actually dealing with him and now I'll support anyone that isn't him....what a political HO he is.
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