Dumb and Dumber

Two of the Foolish Four were back at it today claiming that Councilor Winter made some sort of back room under-handed deal with the devil to gain his seat as President of the City Council. According to Harris, Winter sold the three water authority appointments to the "liberals" in order to obtain their support for his presidency (ABQ Journal - Subscription).

Meanwhile Dumb's sidekick Councilor Mayer was busy insisting that there was some nefarious scheme afoot since Councilor Winter's wife Nan Winter works for the Water Authority and has for some time. Mayer is quoted as saying "I don't think it passes the sniff test... It just doesn't seem right" (ABQ Journal - Subscription).

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The councilor ought to know something about stinky situations as her admitted ex-boyfriend and real estate partner continues to receive $50,000 a year contracts from the False Alarm Reduction Unit to do... well, something anyway. If you'll remember, the false alarm ordinance was sponsored by none other than The Mayer herself.
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Granted, the appointments to the Water Authority are important but their claims make the two Capo's Councilors look foolish and petty... again. Councilor Winter made them look even dumber-er when he named his first appointment - newly elected councilor and founding (and hopefully ex) member of the Foolish Foursome Trudy Jones.

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As we've noted before, we don't think there should be a Water Authority. This quasi-governmental agency has an awful lot of authority to bond debt, set rates, punish water evildoers, and stymie economic growth. Councilor Cadigan said just last week that the board should stop extending service to new areas even when water wasn't an issue (read our take here).

Not to be out-done, last month former Councilor and Congressional Candidate Heinrich wanted to use aerial photography and drive by inspections to tell consumers the amount of water that they should be using (ABQ Journal - Subscription). Heinrich insists that the $20,000 pilot program would simply be giving advice on how much a particular household could save (ABQ Journal - Subscription), but it's a short step from should to must and we don't want any government agency peeking over our wall telling us the amount of water we are allowed to use.
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Let's face it folks, there's a reason that Mayer and Harris faced recall uprisings in their respective districts - they don't seem to be able to learn from their mistakes. You'll notice that Councilors Sanchez and Jones aren't out making themselves look like idiots (again) by giving legs to a story that had essentially gone away. You can also bet that neither of these two brain donors will be serving on the water board anytime soon.

Tapped-Out

Yesterday's Albuquerque Journal did a somewhat short story in the Metro section about Councilor Cadigan and his designs to use the Water Authority to control growth. We've been concerned about this exact misuse of water and the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Authority since it was stupidly created by the legislature and Governor Bill some 4 years ago (ABQ Journal - Subscription).

The excuse used at the time was that the city and county weren't playing nice in the aquifer; and perhaps they weren't. Frankly, we don't really care because just like many of the drugs advertised on TV, the cure is far worse than the disease.

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The Water Authority was the brain child of none other than accused crook Manny Aragon. That by itself should give you pause, but the real problem with the authority is that it's not directly accountable to the public.
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The stated goal of Senate Bill 887 (2003 legislative session) was to force the City of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County to communicate better by creating a board consisting of 3 county commissioners, 3 city councilors, and a representative appointed by the mayor of Albuquerque. This board has complete control over the life blood of the city and county and now Cadigan wants to use the board's authority to stop growth in the city.

Albuquerque City Councilor Michael Cadigan is calling for the city-county Water Authority to flex its muscles to control development.

Cadigan, who is also a member of the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority board, said the board should block service to some new developments, even if water availability isn't the issue [Emphasis Added].

The Water Authority ought to look at all growth issues— including the impacts a development would have on schools and traffic— before giving the go-ahead for water service.

"The water supply is the teeth of urban planning," [Emphasis Added]he said.

City and county governments can only tell a developer how to build, Cadigan said, not if it can build. But developers "don't have a constitutional right to water," he said.

-ABQ Journal - Subscription

Look, if Comrade Cadigan gets his way the Water Authority will end up more powerful than either the city or county governments that gave life to this socialist Frankenstein. The neo-socialist underpinnings of his statements are simply terrifying for anyone who believes that government's first obligation is to protect freedom - our freedom.

Worse yet, it won't just be water that is tapped-out it'll be jobs, housing (especially affordable housing), opportunity, innovation, and all of the things that make a community and a city great - all of the things that are only present when a community is growing.