Charlie Swope:
The point that was pushed hardest by the pro-Coleman group was his ability to raise the money necessary to take on Kelly. Not exactly the most ringing endorsement.
Andrew Hine:
All this talk about campaign coffers is disconcerting. In this day and age
of cheap webpages and e-mails, I can't imagine it would take $500,000 for a
savvy and articulate person to win people over on the merits of what they
stand for and not what they sit on (wallet). I don't get it... I don't
think I want to...
This is a sad commentary on the state of elections in our hometown. There is a perception that *certain parts* of the business community have bought the election, and that taints not only the perception of the candidate that is backed with the money, but it has become an identified reason to support one of the challengers over another. Chris Coleman is clearly a bright and articulate guy, and he is fully capable of standing on his own two feet in this endorsement process. It seems our civic conversation is awfully debased, and the influence of money may very well diminish the legitimacy of the outcome of the election, and diminishes the legitimacy of the Mayor we elect.
In the long term, is this an acceptable place to be as a city? Not for me, but I'd love to hear from another viewpoint... I think it's time to seriously consider PUBLIC FINANCING of City elections. We should specifically ask our candidates whether they might ever consider or support such a proposal. Perhaps someone else with more knowledge than I has an example of what this looks like at the City level.
Taxpayers will have to help in the effort, of course. But there is a major financial benefit, too. Mayors and the Council prioritize major investment decisions all the time. An airport dike, investment in historic preservation, infrastructure like Ayd Mill, sports facilities, recreation facilities. These subjective and discretionary decisions easily total in the many tens of millions annually of City money. But if the outcome of the election changes the amount we spend on some of these major investments to be more in line with the true hopes of the voters, and if our elected officials are free of the taint that these vast sums of money bring, I think it is money well spent.
I very well may keep hitting this theme during the election, and I encourage others to do it as well, in hopes it may stick.
Raising an issue without taking sides on the endorsement...
Bob Spaulding Downtown
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