2006/08/07

A Final Word on the Primary

A Final Word on the Election

The errors and nuisance value of the last Schreiber offering on the campaign trail make me certain that I have done the right thing in getting behind Pierce.

read it here http://www.schreiberformayor.com/images/hype10.pdf

Making plans that depend on a tax that is not going to fly is daft. Holding the Police and Fire department for ransom over the tax is almost criminal. There are many ways to trim the fat from City Hall:- Police, Fire and Trash should last on the list of any responsible community leader. They are right up there, front and centre, in the City cross hairs if it doesn’t get its tax.

A vote for Schreiber is a vote to be arm-twisted into accepting an income tax.

The factual errors Schreiber makes about the BRCCF and the income tax are well documented in my comments on this forum as well as on trustygetto.com.

The negative spectacle of the 2004 Township election is not something that needed to be dragged up here, but again, the Schreiber team have gone for impact and innuendo over substance and fact.

What those slogans from the township campaign bring to mind for me is the fundamental inability of the current administration to negotiate, and the determination of Schreiber to follow in its footsteps.

There is no doubt that the township officials won their seat with a negative campaign rejecting a closer relationship with the city. Using old rivalries and turf wars to get elected is an old ploy in politics. Ypsilanti cannot afford another 4 years of “us versus them” when “them” is every other unit of government in our region.

What surprises me is the negativity presented by Schreiber towards the idea of regional co-operation. This displays to me the Schreiber team’s wanton lack of vision.

Schreiber’s Ypsilanti 2020 initiative (released July 28, though I didn’t hear about it until much later) makes a lot of noise about getting Ypsi’s best and brightest to come up with a plan. On Schreiber’s own list of priorities is greater regional co-operation. This latest (and probably last) volley shows us that he has no interest at all in regional co-operation, either that, or Mr Schreiber has a lot to learn about negotiation if he thinks that rubbing salt into old wounds is any way to solicit a favourable negotiating environment.

Schreiber’s Ypsilanti 2020 statement is an admirable piece of work on the surface. It’s a pity I didn’t read it sooner, I might have given it a better run. It addresses several of the lacks that I had been carping about on this forum, but it does make 2 things very clear. The first thing the Schreiber administration will do is initiate a bunch of talk-fests. The last thing the Schreiber administration will do is put the Income Tax to the vote. This means that the tax issue will hover over the heads of Ypsilanti citizens for as long as Schreiber can make it last.

I realize there is more support for a vote on the tax than for the tax itself. Under those circumstances, putting it to the vote quickly is the best option by far.

Dragging this issue out for another 100 days of talk-fests, then another 100 days formulating the language for the ballot, then another 90 days lead time required by the state for the ballot…. How long do you want to drag this out for? For how long do you want to demoralize our Police and Firemen? By my estimation, the Schreiber plan won’t have the vote on the ballot before November 2007. Then what are we going to do when the people say no?



The City of Ypsilanti can ill afford another 4 years of bumbling around in the dark, trying to find a way to justify an unpopular tax.

There is another option, and the good folk of Ypsilanti would do well to take it.

Take Care

Rod

2 comments:

trusty getto said...

Quick question:

The name of the document is hype10.pdf. Is that the 10th draft? Wonder what the first one looked like . . .

Rodney Smith said...

Perish the thought!!!

Mind you, remebering some of my rough drafts, ye gods I'd hate to be held accountable for those.

I'll be glad when we have a winner today.

I have said it all along, either way will be OK for the city, there are a lot of good peole in Ypsi, but my clear preference is for Pierce.

Holding their feet to the fire will be the job of vocal citizens, with Pierce there will be one set of trouble, with Schreiber there will be another. With Richardson there would be another again, but my sense is that she lacks the support to get up.

My gut feeling is that the income tax will cost Schreiber enough to make Pierce a clear winner.