[Vision2020] Sprawl! (and election 2005)

[Donovan Arnold]

I too share Mr. Hayes sentiment about the future of
Moscow and living next to the corner of 3rd and Mt.
View I am deeply concerned about the bridge proposal.
But I wish to point out a few things regarding this
election:

1) The Third Street Bridge is not an issue this
election because it is not going to be funded. It is
going to take a great deal of resources to build and
pay for the implementation of a bridge, resources that
will not appear in the next four years. Further, there
will be lawsuits, and lots of public opposition for
the plan during that time.

2) Voting for Mayor on the issues is a wasted vote.
The Mayor does not decide policy, the Mayor implements
policy determined upon by the city council. The MOST
important characteristic of a mayor is their
competency to run the city. 

3) Voting for or against a city council member solely
based on their stated opinion of one, two, or even
three hot button issues at this moment is an
irresponsible use of your voting power.

I am not going to tell you WHO to vote for, in part
because I have not even decided myself. However, I
will tell you how I decide to vote using my experience
and understanding of the government process:

The first criteria is if the person is competent to
perform the task. Can they handle the job? Are they
intelligent enough? Are they a team player, a good
listener? Are they into consensus building. If you do
not think they can handle the job, even if the
candidate thinks they can, it is an irresponsible vote
to put them and the city in that position. 

Second, do they have the experience? Have they
encountered enough situations to be able comfortably
and effectively handle the problems they are going to
encounter? Or are they going to be spending most of
their time learning how to do the job? Do we have to
invest heavily into the person, perhaps years, before
we can have a smooth running and effective government?
Is the learning curve for this person going to be a
sharp curve upward, or is the elected person going to
know all they need when they take the oath of office?

Third is character. Is the position the person is
stating now the position they have had for the last
year, 4 years, 20 years? Or, suddenly is the person
nicer, wishy-washy on the issues? Are they
fair-minded, open minded, and respectful to all others
with a different point of view?

Fourth, what are relevant issues? Abortion is not a
relevant issue, the city council will not be deciding
abortion issues. Or tax issues. They will not be
deciding statewide issues either, or county issues, or
even school issues. The City Council will not be
deciding the Third St. Bridge issue this time around.
The city council will be deciding the park issue on
Palouse River Dr. It will be deciding parking issues,
budget issues, zoning issues, and a dozens of issues
we do not know about that will occur in the future.

Fifth and finally, is it a decisive vote? Sure, a
candidate may meet all your criteria, but, if they are
doomed to lose with less than 25% of the vote, cast
the vote for the next best candidate. Nader voters
learned this lesson in 2000. Until we change the laws
and election process, only two candidates are really
running for each position.

This election is every difficult for me because no
candidate, with the exception of Bob Stout, has at
least three of the four characteristics needed for me
to vote for them. So what I have to do is prioritize
which of these is most important to me. 

For Mayor, competency and experience are the most
important, issues and character are less important.

For city council, character and issues are the most
important. 

My biggest dilemma is between Aaron Ament and Walter
Steed.

Aaron Ament has offered in recent years some of the
most bigoted, judgmental, unfair, and divisive
comments I have ever heard from someone running for
City Council. So I am reluctant to give someone like
that a seat on the council. But on the other hand,
Ament has been someone that is active in the
community, done things for the community, and is
someone you want on your side when fighting for issues
you care about. I for the most part, agree with most
of the positions that Aaron has taken.

Walter Steed is a very competent person. He is nice,
fair minded, and would easily be able to handle the
job of city council members. However, he is wrong on
many of the issues. 

I have to decide between these two men, sadly I must
choose between someone I disagree with on character
with someone I disagree with on the issues. 

I thought about not voting at all, but I cannot do
that. People died for my right to vote and it is my
responsibility to vote, so I am going to vote, I just
probably will not make up my mind until Tuesday
morning for all the candidates.

I doubt I am the only one that feels this way, but
maybe. I wish I was more certain of who I wanted in
office, but I am not. I will however, VOTE, and I
think it is the moral responsibility of everyone that
can vote, to vote. But do not vote out of ignorance,
that is worse, learn as much as you can before voting,
then vote. 

Donovan J Arnold
Political Science, BS, University of Idaho



	
		
__________________________________ 
Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 
http://mail.yahoo.com