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04/20/05
Not so fast
Strong-Armers
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Before the
Strong-Armers run to cite the
Time
Magazine
article that claims the nation?s best Mayors are strong-arm Mayors, they
should do a little research. Here?s what I found:
Richard Daley?
A strong-mayor frequently lauded by Laura Miller and the rest of her
strong-arm cronies:
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Time calls Daley best big-city chief
BY JIM RITTER Staff Reporter
April 18, 2005 |
...
But there's scant mention of scandals: "Allegations of financial
corruption have caught up some of his political allies, although Daley has
personally avoided implication."
Daley's Hired Truck Program paid
politically connected and mobbed-up trucking companies $40 million a year
for little or no work. The Water Department, called a "racketeering
enterprise" by the feds, allegedly took in $500,000 in bribes. And contracts
that were supposed to go to minority, female and disadvantaged contractors
have enriched "rich white guys who are friends of the mayor," said Ald.
Ricardo Munoz (22nd).
In the last 70 years, there has been
more corruption under Daley "than any other mayor other than his father,"
said Dick Simpson, a University of Illinois at Chicago political scientist
and former alderman. ... |
As far as the others:
Shirley Franklin
? The Mayor of Atlanta has a great rapport with other city officials and is
generally beloved by the city's residents.... I went to school in Atlanta, so I
have some insight here. An article from the City
of Atlanta?s official site (www.atlantaga.gov) states the
following :
| ?Franklin commended the (city)
council for making some very difficult decisions and approving the tentative
budget. ?I am pleased with the rapport we have been able to develop across the
board,? Franklin said. ?We are able to debate and make decisions based on the
issues, not personalities.? Does that
sound like Laura Miller? (birds chirping)
Martin O'Malley
- Baltimore is still a crime-ridden and lawless in many areas. It's no secret
that many people who live there call the city ?Bodymore, Murderland? - an
inner-city citizen's take on the name that may better describe the city?s
plight. I have family there and haven?t been anywhere other than the
Inner Harbor in the last 10 years.
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James Northrup:
He makes a good point - the mayors most frequently cited as
being proof that strong-mayor systems
work better were all immediately proceeded by unbroken strings of
incompetence and corruption.
Guiliani was preceded in NYC by David
Dinkins (an inept party hack),
by Ed Koch (a municipal clown)
and Abe Beame (who bankrupted the city).
Ed Rendell in Philly was preceded
by Wilson Goode, who ordered the fire bombing of a residential block and
Frank Rizzo, who was a crook.
Most "famous mayors" starting with La
Guardia in NYC were famous for being reformers - of the corruption and
patronage that such strong mayor systems
naturally engender. |
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Michael Bloomberg?
The jury is still out; there are people that think that New York is more
efficient and other groups especially civil service people like the NYPD and NY
Fire Department that feel that they still don?t have adequate funding.
To be fair, I don?t know much about
Gavin Newsom who is the Mayor of San Francisco so I can?t comment on him.
I hope that these strong-armers do
some research and get a grip. I see Channel 8 (owned by Belo aka Below
Reporting) is already touting the Time article as the gospel.
Most people in the know realize that Channel 8 and the DMN
Editorial Board are shills for the strong-arm
proposal and whatever else the Decherd/Miller gang wants.
Have you read The
Dallas Managed News lately? So much for
balanced reporting.
Maybe we ought to hire someone from
the Below gang to be the city manager. Since they?re so adept at
managing the news,
maybe they?d like to manage the city. They can
give away free front-end alignments and tires whenever you lose one to one of
these potholes. I digress?
We must defeat the Blackwood
Strong-Arm proposal!
Early voting has begun. If you have people in
your family who are registered to vote but rarely do
so, please make sure they are counted. We need every vote we can get!
I am seriously considering a run for City Council in 2007.
I?ll only be 33 at that time, and I?m sure my future opponent will
knock me for that. But, when you come of age in the
inner-city war zones of the late 1980s as I did, you know what needs to be
done. I don?t take such an undertaking lightly,
I?m just praying that having a Council seat will count for something.
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