Seventh City candidate to commit to voters:
No tax increase
Brad Wenstrup is only candidate for
Cincinnati Mayor to take COAST pledge
No tax increase
Brad Wenstrup is only candidate forCincinnati Mayor to take COAST pledge
Brad Wenstrup, candidate for Cincinnati Mayor, last week signed COAST’s pledge against raising taxes in the coming term as Mayor.
COAST encourages you to call or write Brad Wenstrup for this courageous stand. You can e-mail him here or call him at 513-378-2716.
The pledge, modeled on the pledge for Presidential candidates, and candidates for Congress, and State Legislatures of Americans for Tax Reform, is a promise from Council candidates and the Mayor not to raise property taxes, earnings taxes or add new fees such as a garbage tax during the coming term for which they are running.
To date, Council incumbents Leslie Ghiz (R) and Chris Monzel (R), and challengers Charles Winburn (R), George Zamary (R), Amy Murray (R) and Lemarque Ward (I) have all signed the Pledge.
Mayor Mark Mallory and the remainder of Council’s incumbents have refused to sign the pledge so far. Please encourage them to do so.
This is not a news story. I don't want my city officials signing pledges to organizations based outside the city, especially a special interest group that aims to erode government.
ReplyDeleteThis is a COAST blog site. What involves COAST by definition is appropriate for publish here.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious whether you'd criticize a candidate for signing a gay rights pledge, or a pledge to support the streetcar. Just trying to see if there's any consistency to your "concerns".
UC Student -
ReplyDeleteI don' t want my Mayor trekking all the way across the Country to other cities to drum up support for his pet boondoggle, but ehre we are.
I am also curious if you were as outraged when Cincinnati City Councilmembers (and streetcar supporters) Chris Bortz and David Crowley signed on to the Climate Communities initiative based out of town in Washington D.C.
My guess is that you're only outraged by "outside interference" if it comes from Conservatives. If on the other hand that outside interference advances a liberal agenda and advocates the expansion of government and spending of tax dollars you're all for it.
UC Professor,
ReplyDeleteCOAST advances a fiscal conservative agenda. We don't get involved in social issues like gay rights, so that's not part of our candidate criteria. Fiscal conservatives, who are also socially liberal, are very welcome here.
The streetcar is a purely fiscal issue, so a pledge in support of it would be fair game to question a candidate's commitment to fiscal restraint. There's simply no way a candidate could advocate such a financially irresponsible project at this time, and legitimately claim a mantle of fiscal conservatism.
COAST, I hear what you're saying. My question wasn't directed at you it was directed at UCstudent and his so-called concerns. I'm asking him if he is against these pledges when they support liberal acts like the streetcar or gay rights.
ReplyDeleteI would not support any government official signing a pledge by an organizing that is fundamentally opposed to government, such as COAST. It doesn't matter in this case however, Wenstrup won't win. I also have no problem with Mayor Mallory leaving the city to answer your question. He is doing just what you accuse him of, and according to Mark Miller's latest youtube appearance he is doing exactly as politicians should, "drum up support". You keep calling me a liberal, I'm not sure you know what the word means.
ReplyDelete^I'm confused. How does Mallory drum-up support in Portland? Portlanders can't vote on our streetcar.
ReplyDelete^ Are you being facetious?
ReplyDeleteUC Student - You didn't answer my question. Your first post railed against special interest groups from outside the City. Are you opposed to all outside special interests (like the one I cited) or just Conservative ones. Will you condemn Chris Bortz for "signing pledges to organizations based outside the city"?
ReplyDeleteMy guess is no, and you will have once again shined a light on your hypocracy.
I would not support any government official signing a pledge by an organizing that is fundamentally opposed to government, such as COAST.
ReplyDeleteI would like COAST to explain what they think taxes SHOULD be used for? It is odd that Cincinnati ranks 4th in terms of Fortune 500 companies and yet they are squawking about streetcars, school funding, and the Freedom Center. If the free market solves and funds everything, why is this a city with such a disparity between rich and poor? The answer? Because private interest and bottom line, dividend driven economics don't care about quality of life. People don't want to live in cities where people say, "Wow, they haven't spent a dime on anything! Looks vacant and dismal, no schools, nothing to do, they've dumped all their industrial waste downtown, let's move here."
ReplyDeleteUC Student - So then your initial post railing about out-of-town influence is toitally bogus. Thanks for clearing that double standard up for the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteAnon - I'll answer your question. Taxes should be spent first on the basic essential services that all governments ought to provide and provide well - Police, fire, streets, snow removal, etc.
ReplyDeleteWhen those things are taken care of, the money left over can be spent on non-essential services -playgrounds, swimming pools, the arts, trolleys, etc. (I'm not saying at all that these things aren't good or worthwhile. They're not essential though).
As to your statement about people not wanting to live in a city that doesn't spend money, they also don't want to live in cities where the streets are unsafe, there aren't enough firemen to respnd if your house burns down, and your home-bound every time it snows. For the record, by the way, Hamilton County has more special levies on the tax rolls than all 88 Ohio Counties.
As to your comment about not spending money on schools - you must be kidding. Cincinnati Public Schools has one of the highest per student spending rates in the County.
The question I have for you is - what isn't worth spending tax money on. Is there a tax levy that you do not support? How much is enough for our local government?
UCstudent is against candidates signing pledges, except for the ones he supports. Good to see him finally clearing that up, though I don't know why he couldn't have just said so to begin with.
ReplyDeleteBris,
ReplyDeleteIf you are so concerned with taxes, why not protest the military? They are the biggest social program in this country. I don't see any complaints about the billions spent on missile defense programs that prove time and time again to not work.
You complain about how much we fund education, we also fund police at the nation's average of about $200 per capita, so why aren't we seeing results of low crime based on your 'necessities' barometer?
The reason is because police and low taxes don't generate communities. Read about Little Tokyo or one of Robert Florida's books about why corporations actually follow the people to cities with high taxes rather than stay in cities with lower taxes.
Anonymous -
ReplyDeleteProtesting the military here in Cincinnati would have absolutely ZERO effect. Don't believe me? Ask the dozen ladies who stand on central parkway every week demanding that the troops come home from Iraq. They've been there how many years now? They make absolutely NO difference.
I can, however, make a difference by protesting local issues that I don't agree with like the streetcar. If you have spare time to waste, feel free. I'll direct my efforts towards things that I can actually change.
"we also fund police at the nation's average of about $200 per capita, so why aren't we seeing results of low crime based on your 'necessities' barometer?"
- According to the streetcar proponants we are seeing lower crime. We had an entire blog conversation on this a while back and were told that Over the Rhine was actually a safe neighborhood that had seen significant reductions in crime. Also, COAST has taken a stance against wasteful spending by Law Enforcement over and over again (See Sheriff Leis).