In what can only be termed a blowout, City Council Commissar Isaac Benton scored a decisive victory over County Commissioner Alan Armijo. In our unscientific poll Councilor Isaac Benton received 65% of Eye readers support while Alan Armijo ran 30 points behind with 35% (view it here).
What we originally believed to be a close contest looks to be leaning heavily toward the incumbent councilor. Of course these numbers are unscientific, but no campaign likes to be 30 points behind in any poll. When you add these numbers to the fact that the Armijo campaign has been next to silent since qualifying for the ballot, the October election very well could be a Benton blowout.
This week we take a look at what had been a sleepy little race that looked to be a rerun of the 2005 district 7 council race. That is until one of the candidates - David Green - failed to file his Declaration of Candidacy last Tuesday. That failure changed the entire dynamic of a race that our Eyes told us was leaning toward incumbent Sally Mayer. Will the incumbent solidify her position? Will challenger Cook make in-roads with Green voters? Will the Green campaign wage a successful write-in challenge? All questions to be answered in this week's Eye Poll! Don't forget to vote!
Showing posts with label Isacc Benton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Isacc Benton. Show all posts
Aug 16, 2009
May 29, 2007
Memorial Day - A Time for Reflection
Memorial Day is a time of reflection (or at least it should be); a time to remember all of those men and women who sacrificed their lives on the altar of liberty. The very people who died so that we could sit here in safety, decked out in our favorite pajamas and tell you what we think. The Internet is the embodiment of free speech and as you navigate through the ether that makes up this cyber world, you'll find all sorts of opinions, facts, and fiction.
For about 7 years now, one of the email threads floating about is one attributed to Scottish history professor Alexander Tyler from about the time of our Constitutional Convention.
Our reaction... so what? The analysis attributed to Tyler seems to make sense even if it was invented by some other blogger and simply attributed to him in an effort to make it more credible.
We see the erosion of liberty every day here in Albuquerque. From H.E.A.R.T. ordinances to cell phone bans, from red light Scam-eras to "affordable housing" programs, the citizens of our fair city are becoming more dependent on government to solve their problems no matter how small; and dependence is a form of empowerment for those on which you depend.
A few months back during the cell phone debate, we remember Councilor Winter bringing up loss of freedom as a reason not to impose the ban. Councilor Benton scoffed at the idea that somehow driving and talking on a cell phone was an issue of freedom. On the contrary, every issue that comes before the council is an issue of freedom. When legislation steps beyond the bounds of the basic functions of government, or creates dependence in the citizenry, they have made us all just a little bit less free.
Take a close look at the steps into bondage that Tyler (we're going to go ahead and give him the credit since there's no proof to the contrary) describes. Apply it to what you see coming out of city hall... where would you place Albuquerque? We'd argue that over the last 15 years Albuquerque has rapidly gone from number 4 to number 6 or 7.
Memorial Day is over along with its accompanying backyard BBQs, but perhaps there's still a little time for reflection. We need to remember that these fallen hero's died for freedom, not for dependence and bondage. We need to make sure that we don't fall into dependence and bondage by supporting policies that promote personal responsibility and smaller, less intrusive government. Otherwise Memorial Day will become a day to mourn the loss of the very freedoms that our country's hero's died for.
For about 7 years now, one of the email threads floating about is one attributed to Scottish history professor Alexander Tyler from about the time of our Constitutional Convention.
Being ever curious we crawled around the web to see if this 18th century quote could be verified. We found it on Blogs (here and here) and we found it on at least a couple of websites (here and here). Some sites happily attribute the quote to the 18th century scholar others dismiss it as being unlikely. Our visit to snopes.com revealed that the attribution is "very likely fictitious."
“A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.”
“From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.”
“The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years.”
“During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the following sequence:
1. from bondage to spiritual faith;
2. from spiritual faith to great courage;
3. from courage to liberty;
4. from liberty to abundance;
5. from abundance to complacency;
6. from complacency to apathy;
7. from apathy to dependence;
8. From dependence back into bondage"
Our reaction... so what? The analysis attributed to Tyler seems to make sense even if it was invented by some other blogger and simply attributed to him in an effort to make it more credible.
We see the erosion of liberty every day here in Albuquerque. From H.E.A.R.T. ordinances to cell phone bans, from red light Scam-eras to "affordable housing" programs, the citizens of our fair city are becoming more dependent on government to solve their problems no matter how small; and dependence is a form of empowerment for those on which you depend.
A few months back during the cell phone debate, we remember Councilor Winter bringing up loss of freedom as a reason not to impose the ban. Councilor Benton scoffed at the idea that somehow driving and talking on a cell phone was an issue of freedom. On the contrary, every issue that comes before the council is an issue of freedom. When legislation steps beyond the bounds of the basic functions of government, or creates dependence in the citizenry, they have made us all just a little bit less free.
Take a close look at the steps into bondage that Tyler (we're going to go ahead and give him the credit since there's no proof to the contrary) describes. Apply it to what you see coming out of city hall... where would you place Albuquerque? We'd argue that over the last 15 years Albuquerque has rapidly gone from number 4 to number 6 or 7.
Memorial Day is over along with its accompanying backyard BBQs, but perhaps there's still a little time for reflection. We need to remember that these fallen hero's died for freedom, not for dependence and bondage. We need to make sure that we don't fall into dependence and bondage by supporting policies that promote personal responsibility and smaller, less intrusive government. Otherwise Memorial Day will become a day to mourn the loss of the very freedoms that our country's hero's died for.
Apr 5, 2007
Selling Streetcar Snake Oil
Snake oil salesman, new urbanist acolyte, and City Councilor, Isaac Benton was trying to clear up the "apparent misunderstanding" of the 19th Century Streetcar project. His Letter to the Editor (Subscription Required) found in today's Journal demonstrates rather than dismisses the idea that his "study" is a scam.
The first thing you will notice is that Councilor Benton engages in a bit of revisionist history that would make Lennon proud, claiming "on Nov. 6, after much debate and public comment, on a 6-3 vote we approved the proposal to fund the streetcar project..." The "much debate and public comment" Councilor Benton is referring to is a series of presentations made by Transportation Director Payne intended to sell the trolley not to solicit public input.
The other thing to remember is that there was a hotly contested national election taking place the day after the council took up the question of the Transportation Infrastructure Tax extension. Railroading a $270 MILLION project through the City Council the day before that particular election was a great strategy for proponents, but hardly provided for large public participation, much less debate. (Talk about politics.)
Benton makes clear that his opinion is that the 19th Century Streetcar is inevitable which makes any "taskforce" created to "study" the issue suspect to say the very least.
"Multimodal options" sounds good, but this study is designed to support just ONE mode... rail. Not having a 19th Century Streetcar does not take away options like buses, bikes, cars, or good old fashioned shoe leather. Further, adding a 19th Century Streetcar does not help the majority of those aging in our city, and being able to get to Atrisco Plaza from Nob Hill doesn't count as a river crossing, because there's already a river crossing in place.
We've said it before... Albuquerque is primarily a suburban city, which is why forms of mass transit struggle here. The only areas of town that are even close to being dense enough to make mass transit work as a means of reducing traffic is the Central Nob Hill to Downtown corridor. What possible justification is there to spend $270 MILLION on a 19th Century Streetcar for that single corridor? Transportation money would be better spent on bikeways, trails, roads, and upon improving our bus system.
It's about the efficient use of our tax dollars. It's about efficient mass-transportation. It's about time proponents of the trolley stop pursuing it as the only solution to our transportation problem. With this "Letter to the Editor," Councilor Benton has gone from selling streetcar snake oil to selling a product that is most often transported with a shovel.
The first thing you will notice is that Councilor Benton engages in a bit of revisionist history that would make Lennon proud, claiming "on Nov. 6, after much debate and public comment, on a 6-3 vote we approved the proposal to fund the streetcar project..." The "much debate and public comment" Councilor Benton is referring to is a series of presentations made by Transportation Director Payne intended to sell the trolley not to solicit public input.
The other thing to remember is that there was a hotly contested national election taking place the day after the council took up the question of the Transportation Infrastructure Tax extension. Railroading a $270 MILLION project through the City Council the day before that particular election was a great strategy for proponents, but hardly provided for large public participation, much less debate. (Talk about politics.)
Benton makes clear that his opinion is that the 19th Century Streetcar is inevitable which makes any "taskforce" created to "study" the issue suspect to say the very least.
"[R]oad building will not by itself take us though the 21st century without other multimodal options. We have an aging and more-transit-dependent population, global warming, air pollution, diminishing fossil fuel supplies and limited river crossings to contend with."The simple fact is a 19th Century Streetcar will not make any discernible difference in any of the talking point justifications listed above. Streetcars operate on electricity. Electricity is generated largely by burning fossil fuels. All we're doing is moving pollution, and energy use.
"Multimodal options" sounds good, but this study is designed to support just ONE mode... rail. Not having a 19th Century Streetcar does not take away options like buses, bikes, cars, or good old fashioned shoe leather. Further, adding a 19th Century Streetcar does not help the majority of those aging in our city, and being able to get to Atrisco Plaza from Nob Hill doesn't count as a river crossing, because there's already a river crossing in place.
We've said it before... Albuquerque is primarily a suburban city, which is why forms of mass transit struggle here. The only areas of town that are even close to being dense enough to make mass transit work as a means of reducing traffic is the Central Nob Hill to Downtown corridor. What possible justification is there to spend $270 MILLION on a 19th Century Streetcar for that single corridor? Transportation money would be better spent on bikeways, trails, roads, and upon improving our bus system.
It's about the efficient use of our tax dollars. It's about efficient mass-transportation. It's about time proponents of the trolley stop pursuing it as the only solution to our transportation problem. With this "Letter to the Editor," Councilor Benton has gone from selling streetcar snake oil to selling a product that is most often transported with a shovel.
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