Re: Mayoral race
Seth David Schoen (schoen@uclink4.Berkeley.EDU)
3 Feb 1998 08:25:13 GMT
Kevin Dempsey Peterson writes:
>> Jelinek then quickly proceeded to describe 10 planks that he said he
>> would tout until the November election. He called for free AC Transit
>> bus service "within the borders of Berkeley" and said he intends to
>> give small businesses and neighborhoods precedence over big
>> businesses.
>
>Now, if "give small businesses and neighborhoods precedence over big
>businesses" didn't mean, "the evil capitalists are out to enslave us," I
>would go for that. A city policy to (say) give a construction job to a
>local contractor rather than a national company is a good thing, and if
>you don't like it, "vote with your feet."
What they probably mean is something like "we will grant locally-owned
business preferential zoning treatment in an effort to keep chains from
establishing branches in Berkeley".
>> Jelinek cautioned that when Berkeley citizens lose their welfare
>> money, the city has to provide some kind of assistance. He also vowed
>> to preserve Berkeley's architectural heritage.
>
>If a city wants to pay it's citizens to not work, it's no big deal. Of
>course, it will ruin the economy of the place, but hey, if that's what
>the voters want.
They're taxing other people to support "what the voters want", though.
(Sometimes even nonvoters -- for instance, I was taxed in Massachusetts
before I was eligible to vote there, not that I believe that taxation
without representation is really much worse than taxation with
representation.)
>Coming from a Los Angeles suburb (yes, Ventura county, but it's still a
>sub urb), the architechture here is definitely worth preserving. Modern
>building have no character.
It's worth preserving, but they want to do it by denying private property
rights to historic buildings.
>The city is the right level to make descisions like this. Saying, "you
>live in our city, you play by our rules" isn't, in my opinion,
>"government coercion." There is a case to mde for state level controls
>on maintaining the status quo within a city, so that a business which
>moves there can expect to be able to operate without the rules changing
>over night, and most of the services proposed will be paid for by state
>and federal taxes, but it's easier to move to the next city than to the
>next state or country.
It's not exactly easy, though, even if it is easier; you have to renegotiate
leases, rehire, pay moving companies, establish new utilities, do all of
your advertising again, make new business contacts, and probably having some
renovation and construction work done.
"If you don't like Berkeley ... just spend thousands of dollars to move to
the libertarian haven of Oakland."?
Why "our city, our rules", but not "our country, our rules"? Why do people
like devolution so much?
>> But the owners of the neighboring 379-car parking garage, Hink's
>> Garage, who have been upset about the Progressive Party's bid to
>> demolish the garage to make way for the next Alameda County
>> Courthouse, decided to close the garage for three hours yesterday so
>> that downtown customers and Jelinek supporters could feel the "pinch"
>> of looking for parking in the congested downtown area.
>
>Freedom of speech at its finest. Is there a lawsuit in progress yet?
I really like that idea for a protest -- although it's still basically a
populist approach. "Go pick on someone else with your eminent domain,
we're too important..."
>>It sounds like, unless there's a Libertarian running, Mayor Dean will be
>>the logical recipient of Cal Libertarians support -- unless we want to
>>advocate NOTA...
>
>I'll be basing my evaluation on practical grounds, isnce I don't think
>the libertarian philosphy enters into it in local elections. (That's
>the theory, at least, I'll really e basing it on what I hear from other
>people, of course)
Again, why devolution? Why do you like the Berkeley government more than
the United States government?
Yes, I know Mayor Dean is way cooler than President Clinton... :-)
--
Seth David Schoen L&S '01 (undeclared) / schoen@uclink4.berkeley.edu
Magna dis immortalibus habenda est atque huic ipsi Iovi Statori, antiquissimo
custodi huius urbis, gratia, quod hanc tam taetram, tam horribilem tamque
infestam rei publicae pestem totiens iam effugimus. -- Cicero, in Catilinam I