Political Theater

Councilors Ken Sanchez and Rey Garduno are looking for their time in the political spotlight. The two have alerted the media that they plan to try and add Mayor Berry's new APD illegal immigration policy to tonight's council agenda. Their objective is to prevent the mayor from checking whether or not a criminal has already committed a crime by entering the country illegally.

In addition, the two intrepid councilors are proposing that the city join the few states, schools, and cities that are "boycotting" Arizona. Siding with Sanchez and Garduno is none other than Isaac Benton.

This isn't Benton's first foray into international affairs. Back in January of 2009, Benton characterized the Israeli conflict with Palestine as "genocide" (ABQ Journal - Subscription).

Look... Mayor Berry's new SOP, is no different than checking those who are arrested for wants and warrants. We'd argue that the policy doesn't quite go far enough, but the truth is Berry's policy could have prevented the rape of a six year old girl earlier this month.

Juan Gonzalez told police he has "problems touching little children" after he was arrested earlier this week on suspicion of sexually assaulting a 6-year-old girl at an Albuquerque gym, officials said.

Gonzalez, a 20-year-old Mexican national, was being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center late Thursday on a $200,000 cash-only bond, jail records show. He is charged with criminal sexual penetration, kidnapping and evidence tampering. 

- (ABQ Journal - Subscription)

Not all immigrants are criminals - not even illegal immigrants (except for that whole illegally being in the country thing). But what Sanchez, Garduno, and Benton are proposing is that police officers intentionally ignore the crime of entering the country illegally when performing a legal investigation.

This looks to us like a case of political "me toos" designed to garner support from a far left constituency. It certainly makes for good political theater, but in reality a majority the public wants a secure border and Mayor Berry's new policy is a step toward that goal.

Un-be-lievable!

The Albuquerque Journal reported Tuesday that (as we've been telling you) The Almighty Alcalde is back on track to build his choo choo. Like a child whose mind is set on a shiny new toy, Chavez is desperately trying to find an argument that will convince the public and the council that he should have the object of his desire.

The streetcar would run along Central Avenue, then by Isotopes Park on its way to the airport.

Adams said the project would help tourists get around the Rio Grande Valley without stepping into a car. They could fly in, take the streetcar to Downtown Albuquerque, then ride the Rail Runner to Santa Fe. Or someone from Santa Fe could come down for a ballgame without having to drive.

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

Previously, Marty was arguing that the trolley would service the throngs of mythical riders along Central Avenue and provide another way to get across the river. Now, he's arguing that tourists need a $130 MILLION way to get to the ballpark!

If you're a parent these shifting arguments probably sound familiar. Next little Marty will probably argue that "everyone else is doing it." Uh, wait... never mind, he's doing that too.

Chávez said cities across the country are launching rail projects. He predicted Albuquerque will join them, even if it doesn't happen while he's in office.

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

Fortunately, there seem to be some adults on the council who have rightfully determined that the public isn't all that hot on the idea of spending over $130 MILLION to ferry tourists to ballgames.

"Unless somebody drops $300 million on us, it's going to go to the voters some day," City Council President Isaac Benton said in an interview. But "I don't see any immediate movement on it."

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

Councilor Sally Mayer said her Northeast Heights constituents are "angry that we're even considering it." She said that even if the federal government gave Albuquerque $50 million, that wouldn't pay for two miles of track.

"This is extraordinarily expensive, and I don't see a need for it," Mayer said.

Councilor Brad Winter said the city should focus on other transportation needs, such as the reconstruction of the Paseo del Norte and Interstate 25 interchange.

"I don't think we need another study," Winter said of the streetcar. "It ought to be dead."

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

Councilor Winter brings up a good point - one that we have maintained for some time. Even if $300 MILLION should fall from Obama on high, it should be spent on transportation issues like the Paseo del Norte I-25 interchange that services hundreds of thousands of Albuquerque taxpayers on a daily basis not some tourist trolley for people who don't pay to keep the city afloat.

O'Malley said the route of the system shouldn't be "subject to somebody's whimsy. We're talking about millions of dollars."

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

Actually, we're talking about HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS not only to build it but to run it in perpetuity.

Even if Councilor O'Malley favors building a $400 MILLION money pit, errr... arena, she's got the right idea here. The Valley councilor is planning on introducing legislation to force the tracks of any trolley to go directly through the council chambers.

Any unnecessary expenditure that will obligate taxpayers to hundreds of millions of dollars of debt and operation costs should at the very least be approved by the people upon whom that obligation will be laid.

The Almighty Alcalde up on his perch on the 11th floor simply doesn't get it. It's unbelievable that an elected official would so blatantly ignore the wishes of his constituents. Of course, that can be fixed this October.

Useful Idiots

Over the weekend Council President Isaac Benton made a foray into international relations calling Israel's current incursion into Gaza "oppression and genocide" (ABQ Journal - Subscription). From a political standpoint, Benton chose to step into a political minefield on a battleground where at best he's a spectator. More importantly, the District 3 councilor is just flat wrong.

"For the record, this is not genocide, and no rational person can justifiably call Israel's actions of self-defense genocide against any people," said Sam Sokolove, executive director of the Jewish Federation of New Mexico.

Webster's New World Dictionary defines genocide as the "systematic killing of a whole people or nation."

Asked Monday whether he believes Israel's actions are, in fact, genocide, Benton referred to the United Nations' definition. A 1948 U.N. convention said genocide involves trying to destroy all or part of a national group and can include "causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group."

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

Imagine having anywhere between 20 and 100 rockets randomly hitting different parts of the city. Imagine that despite a declared cease fire, these rockets continue to maim and kill your friends and family. Imagine always having to wonder whether or not your next trip to your local pizza parlor or ride on a bus will end in a fiery death. How long would it take for you to demand that your government do something?

Israel has the right and the duty to protect its citizens. It's unfortunate that the Palestinians in Gaza chose Hamas to run their government, but choose they did. Hamas is responsible for the firing of rockets into Israel. The Palestinians in Gaza are responsible for turning their government, their future, and their lives over to Hamas.

While Israel is by all accounts making every attempt to minimize civilian casualties, there has never been a war where the innocent didn't die alongside the combatants - a fact that Palestinians living in Gaza should have remembered before they put a terrorist organization in charge of their government.

Benton said he didn't want to discuss his "genocide" comment further.

"I regret it," he said. "I'll leave it at that."

-ABQ Journal (Subscription)

It's no surprise that Councilor Benton doesn't want to discuss his foray into international politics. His loose tongue reveals a profound lack of understanding of not only what genocide really is, but of how terrorists use the media to claim victim status. In World War II, Germans taught the world what genocide was. Hamas uses the media and "useful idiots" like Benton to confer victim status that they do not deserve. In both cases, the real victims have been Jews and Israelis - who continue to pay on a daily basis with their lives.

"My response is we have freedom of speech," [Rabbi Arthur Flicker of Congregation B'nai Israel] said. "He can say whatever he wants, and we have freedom of the ballot, so we can vote him out of there."

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

Amen.

Legacy and OPM

At a time when Congress, President Bush, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reed, and President-Elect Barack Obama are busy either spending $700 BILLION or asking for even more, Comrade, uh... Councilor Benton and Councilor O'Malley have the temerity to ask for another $400 MILLION to pay for an undersized arena with no anchor tenant at a time when we just approved a RailRoader tax and are generally afraid that we may not have a job come Monday.

(Sidebar)
Ok... that's probably the worst run-on sentence we've ever seen. Even we admit it's somewhat ridiculous. But, we're not asking for $400 MILLION for an un-needed arena when almost everyone else is worried about the next dollar they may, or may not be able to earn - that's truly ridiculous.
(End Sidebar)

Somehow, somewhere, the council came up with almost $1 MILLION to for a "feasability study" that looked at whether or not (or rather whether without the not) we all should cough up $400 MILLION for a new downtown arena.

Dale Lockett, president of the Albuquerque Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the city risks losing convention business without the project. The city already provides a roughly $1 million subsidy to the Albuquerque Convention Center, a consequence of not having enough hotel rooms for big conventions, he said.

"Cities after cities are lining up to do these projects," Lockett said. "It's our competition. ... We are in serious jeopardy of being completely out of the convention industry."

-ABQ Journal (Subscription)

So, we're dumping $1 MILLION a year into the Convention Center, all because we don't have enough hotel rooms. Hmmm... Have you ever noticed that we have a somewhat large event every freaken year that's ten times the size of any convention we've ever seen? It's called the Balloon Fiesta and we seem to be able to handle that "convention."

There was a time when finding a room anywhere from Belen to Santa Fe during the Balloon Fiesta was near to impossible. However, the market provided and now we have all sorts of hotels all over town and a fair number of entrepreneurs who put their own homes up for rental - and it didn't cost taxpayers a dime. It's hard to believe that we don't have enough hotel rooms for a any convention that might be held in The Convention Center.

This sounds an awful lot like the AIG bailout... "we're in danger of being out of the convention business." Lockett's solution is for the city to go into the hospitality business. In other words we need to have another money pit to go with the Balloon Fiesta Museum, The Convention Center, and the Bio Park - all because we're "in danger of being out of the convention business." The government is too big to fail.

Benton also said a mail-in ballot might be the way to quickly get the issue before voters. Waiting until October might not work because the group that owns the First Baptist Church — part of the planned site — could sell it before then to someone else.

"The sooner we deal with this, the better," O'Malley said.

-ABQ Journal (Subscription)

O'Malley and Benton's idea to have a "special" or "mail-in" election is nothing but a ploy to reduce turn out and tilt the odds in favor of a new city funded arena/hotel complex. They understand that a municipal election that includes the Mayor historically generates a larger turnout - a turnout that has repeatedly said "no" to raises and taxes not related to public safety.

October might not work because the group that owns the First Baptist Church — part of the planned site — could sell it before then to someone else.

"The sooner we deal with this, the better," O'Malley said.

-ABQ Journal (Subscription)

At this point we're really stunned that anyone in government would ask for more money and higher taxes in order to build an arena and hotel complex that the city doesn't need. If the folks over at First Baptist Church decide to sell their property to another buyer before the general election they're probably doing "the Lord's work."

The arena isn't something we asked for and it's not something that we need. Spending other people's money on a project that can't possibly pay for itself is easy - particularly when you've just spent $700,000 on a marketing... feasability study that shockingly tells you to go ahead with the project despite an economic downturn.

What's hard is for elected officials to resist the temptation of paying for huge projects with our money in order to have some kind of legacy - some proof that they held office. Of course their legacy is built with Other People's Money.

Our first post-election Eye Poll concerns the Legacy that O'Malley and Comrade Benton seek to build. Arena yes or no... Don't forget to vote!

Form Over Function

Form Based Code... the name pretty much says it all. It's a building code whose major objective is to transform the area to which it is applied into a little slice of urbanism and The Almighty Alcalde, the City of Albuquerque Planning Department and a group of councilors led by Comrade, uh... Councilor Benton are doing everything within their power to make the Albuquerque of tomorrow an urban utopia.

So what are we talking about? An urban utopia resembles cities like New York and Downtown Chicago. They're based on walking, mass transit, and mixed use. In other words, lots of people in a small space, with high crime, high rent, high taxes, and every kind of pollution known to man, all in the name of reducing our carbon footprint. The truth is ordinary people have been leaving urban areas as soon as they could afford to for over 200 years. For most people, the American Dream is not a 600 square foot efficiency next to 250 of their closest friends.

The establishment of the Form Based Code zones is consistent with the health, safety, morals and general welfare of the City. The land use patterns realized by the Form Based Code will play an important role in improving Albuquerque’s social and economic quality of life. The new development pattern guided by the Form Based Code zones will reduce dependency on cars, increase opportunities to be physically active, and improve air quality by reducing hazardous vehicle emissions, currently the second largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in New Mexico. [emphasis added]

-Proposed FBC, General Provisions 3(b)

The Form Based Code places form above function. Current zoning sets rules for use. For example a factory can't be built next to your R-1 Northeast Heights home. In a FBC zone, there are few restrictions on what types of businesses and residences can be located in the zone. Zero lot lines and alleys are encouraged. In other words, all kinds of business and residential uses crammed into one small area - the only prerequisite being that the form is correct.

What they're saying is that if a development looks right and promotes the agenda of the planning department and the EPC then build it. Of course the agenda of any government agency is hard to predict and there's nothing more subjective than aesthetics.

Under the FBC there are no clear cut guidelines on what can be built where and developments are held hostage to a set of unpredictable arbitrary guidelines that can change with the political wind. The surest way to stifle economic growth and business development is to make the costs associated with investment unpredictable.

Albuquerque is a suburban city. Its growth was largely shaped and driven by the market place. That means all of us making buying decisions based on our personal wants and needs. Albuquerque is the result of the choices of her citizens. In the past, the city has concentrated on providing the infrastructure that supports these decisions. With the Form Based Code, the city is attempting to dictate these decisions. In short, another form of power is transferred from the consumer to the government and we all lose one more choice, one more freedom.

Advocates of the plan often called New Urbanism, will tell you that the FBC will make you healthier, more moral, and even allow you to save the planet. In reality, they're foisting their idea of utopia upon everyone and the dirty little secret is - every last one of the developments envisioned by the FBC could be built today. Yep... every one.

Life is filled with gray areas. Our zoning code shouldn't be one of them. It should be simple, easy to understand, and predictable. We don't need another layer added to our zoning code, one that is arbitrary, subjective, and most of all unnecessary.

Streetcar Stupidity

The marketing group that is Councilor Isaac Benton's transportation task force received a report from Leland Consulting Group, LLC Tuesday and - we know this will shock you - the consultants recommended that a trolley be installed between San Mateo and Downtown (ABQ Journal - Subscription). We told you what Train Master Benton and the Almighty Alcalde were cooking up over a year ago (read it here).

The concept is if the public doesn't want something and New Urbanist acolytes like Benton and the city planning department do, create a task force stacked with "business and community representatives" who already agree with you, meet and talk for a few years, and the coup de grâce bring in a consultant whose specialty is... "transit-oriented development."

Our experts are recognized nationally as leaders in these strategies, having contributed to more than 70 light rail station areas.

-Leland Consulting, LLC

The reality is that this trolley down Central Avenue will only serve about 5,000 people a day - if that. (Mario Burgos has an interesting analysis here.) At a cost of $28 MILLION a mile and $3.9 MILLION a year we could buy a whole lot buses, build all kinds of bike and walking trails, and fix a whole lot of roads throughout the city. The estimated $106 MILLION would go a long way towards fixing the Paseo/I-25 interchange which serves far more people on a daily basis.

Isaac Benton and the Almighty Alcalde would have us believe that rails embedded in Central Avenue will carry the trolley to utopia. In reality, it's the worst sort of government wealth redistribution scheme aimed largely at legacy building not solving transportation problems. To make matters worse, these yahoos are considering wasting our money at a time when city hall is trying to avert a budget crisis and squabbling about how to do it. It's just more 19th Century Streetcar stupidity that'll end up costing all of us MILLIONS of dollars up front and for years to come.

Localization and Lunacy

In the news business it's called "loacalization." We've all seen it, a national tragedy or natural disaster occurs and every reporter in the state is out trying to find some New Mexican who knows someone who knows someone who knew one of the people who could have been involved. The result is usually some tangential relation to the story that often makes little sense and comes off looking silly.

What really drives us crazy is when local political officials get into the act trying to "localize" a national policy issue, especially when that local official or governing body can't keep its own house in order. Such is the case with the councilor from Albuquerque's district 3 Isaac Benton, who has introduced a resolution to end the Iraq war.

Never mind the fact that the resolution R-07-293 reads like a leftist propaganda piece and that the council is in no position to prove or disprove any of its assertions, Benton and the council have no authority whatsoever to affect national security policy and further, they are not privy to any of the classified information required to make informed decisions. You'll notice that even the Congress controlled by Democrats who largely ran the last election on an anti-war platform, have not introduced legislation to de-fund the war and withdraw our troops immediately.

We tend to believe that if Democrats in Congress who know that there will be hell to pay with the far left wing of their party aren't clamoring to pull the troops out immediately, then there's probably a pretty convincing reason for them not to act. After all, most of them ran on an anti-Iraq war impeach Bush platform and their failure to act is driving the Kozheads and MoveOn-ers absolutely nuts (that could be redundant)!

The funniest part of Benton's whole resolution is that he mentions "$383,900,000" dollars of Albuquerque taxpayer's money that has been spent on the war. We don't know where he got his numbers but even if it's true, this is the same councilor that wont' bat an eye to spend $240 MILLION (realistically more like $300 MILLION) of our money on a trolley that will serve a couple thousand people, max.

At the very least the money spent in Iraq has benefited millions of Iraqi's (believe it or not living under a dysfunctional democracy is superior to living under a tyrant), protected our national interests, and made the world generally safer by making our terrorists enemies fight us where they live instead of where we live.

In the final analysis it doesn't matter whether or not you are for or against the war, or for that matter whether you were for or against the war. It is a waste of our time (since city councilors work for us their time is ours) for the council to be debating resolutions that have absolutely no impact on policy. Benton will create a media circus and he'll fill the council chambers with radical lefties but NOTHING will be accomplished; only a lunatic would believe otherwise.