We will have a convention.  The contenders are as follows:

Jon Way (incumbent)
Steve Smith (incumbent)

Mark Wolfe

Maureen Wood

Dave Core

Good luck to all! General observations are welcome, abuse is not.

I generally do not get real worked up about what I read in the paper but the opinion piece from the MJM about the City’s future has irritated me somewhat.  I do not disagree with the notion that the property tax rate will have to go up.  I’m ok with that as the rate has to float up and down and housing valuations change.  Lower is better but we have to pay for the things the City does.

However, here is what I take exception to:  “An attempt to enforce tougher zoning restrictions last year was something of a back-door effort to battle illegal immigration, as illegal immigrants are often painted as the culprits of housing overcrowding.”

As the author of that initiative I can state that this is complete bunk.  It is true that we went to proactive zoning enforcement but the zoning regulations we were enforcing were no different than the zoning regs of years past.  Not tougher, not softer, just the same.  That initiative was focused on cleaning up the City and, as you might expect in such a scenario, there were many more building code violations (over a thousand violations – broken fences, peeling paint, etc.) than there were zoning violations.  I probably shouldn’t even post on this but I want folks to understand the motivation for that initiative.  I view the cleanliness of the City as an important part of the overall fabric of the community and a necessary thing as we try to move the City forward.