Tag: Local government

Oregon's Republican senators are in hiding over a Democrat-backed carbon cap and spend bill, hoping to run out the clock on voting on the measure; Dan Springer reports from Salem, Oregon. FOX News operates the FOX News Channel (FNC), FOX…

Dear Editor: The pages of the news continue to daily take mind-numbing absurdity to evermore dizzying heights. This time, it was the opinion page letter from former Cambridge City Council member Howard Lewis. In reading the letter, it was difficult to determine which was worse: Lewis’ profound contempt for his audience through his use of sophistic financial argument or his open admission of conflicts of interest that, given his history on the council, border on criminality. We’ve all heard it before: “Support this tax, it’s just a miniscule amount that you won’t even notice!” Problem is, the people who use this line of argumentation have used and will use it as infinitum to sell people on one thing or another; miniscule sums of money, when multiplied and piled up as they’ve been from all the times this argument has been used, add up to serious sums. More seriously, though, was Lewis’ open admission that his “rental business does better when we have better amenities in Cambridge.” In other words, Lewis stood and continues to stand to benefit financially by making Cambridge a higher tax community with all the accompanying bells and whistles presumably associated with that. This is a massive conflict of interest over which Lewis, during his time on the council, should have recused himself during any discussions related to municipal taxation, something that appears not to have happened. Absent such recusal, Lewis proceeded, his judgment colored by his personal financial incentives. Things like this are why even municipal politics cannot be ignored. While I realize the big issues and big figures of national politics are more exciting and grab the headlines, local politics matter too. Matthew Rothchild Isanti

(WBNG) — Many people are calling 2018 the year of women in politics, and Broome County is no different. For the first time in its 50-year history, the Broome County Legislature’s Majority Leader and Minority Leader are both women. Cindy O’Brien (R-10th District) is the majority leader while Mary Kaminsky (D-14th District) is the minority leader. The women plan to work together, across the political aisle to accomplish their goals in 2019, which include promoting local business and agriculture. O’Brien said she was convinced to run for office after working on a campaign, and realizing she could make a difference. “You can actually do something with your opinion so I thought why not actually make something happen in Broome County for the good of the people,” O’Brien said Thursday. Kaminsky said she’s always deeply cared about her community, but her start in politics was helped along by another local leader. “Jason Garnar moved out of my district and was looking for someone and suggested I think about it, so it was kind of a surprise for me,” Kaminsky said. Broome County Historian Gerald Smith said when the legislature was created in 1969, each of the 19 representatives was a white man, but throughout its history the legislature has become more diverse.

To make a life, young people need education, yet funding and focus on that is surprisingly challenging. We tax labor heavily, but what about capital? Buyers of business capital in Indiana can fully depreciate the value of that capital in eight years, removing more than two-thirds from the property tax rolls. However, paying any business property taxes is apparently only for dupes. Local businesses offer tax abatements of nearly $1 billion of new investment each year, and no Hoosier business big enough to hire a law firm will ever pay more than a 1.0 percent tax on their investment. Among a short the list of places that have spent the most to attract jobs — Marion, Muncie, Terre Haute — are all places that must import workers every day to fill the jobs they already have. That approach to state and local spending and economic development policy contributes to the economic unease felt across the country. I’d like to end with something glib and funny, like “if you think your community needs to attract more jobs, the ’70s are calling and want their economic policies back.” But, the problem is too serious for that. Worker training must support careers and communities must attract people. We should be funding our schools to prepare kids for lifelong learning, not just their first job.

The community of the beleaguered South San Antonio Independent School District failed its children by voting down a proposed school tax increase. The failure to generate new tax revenue will likely result in an additional 30 positions on the chopping block. In 2013 Di Maio ran for office the Five Star Movement way: by posting his own candidacy online. Why should Luigi di Maio have a degree to become Prime Minister? But if di Maio is chosen to lead the next government after the election, this will become famous as the hometown of the youngest ever prime minister of Italy. In the last national election five years ago, di Maio was one of 160 citizens with little or no experience in politics who gained a seat in parliament. If Beppe Grillo is the movement’s mouthpiece, and Di Maio its face, the brains was the late Gianroberto Casaleggio. “Whoever manages the portal has access to all data, to everything that happens within the Five Star Movement, above all the votes,” he explained. He was already retired when the board, in a last-ditch effort to save the school district from state control in 2014, brought him in after having had four superintendents in two years. The state’s failure to act has prompted more than half of the state’s 1,000-plus public school districts to seek voter approval through tax ratification elections to make ends meet.

David Ermold returned to the Rowan County courthouse Wednesday, nearly two years after Clerk Kim Davis refused to give him a marriage license because he was gay. This time he's seeking Davis' job. David Ermold, the English teacher whose bid to capture the office won national attention, failed to survive a four-person Democratic primary, while Davis, who refused Ermold and his partner a marriage license in 2015 while citing “God’s authority,” had no opposition as a Republican. “David Ermold never had local support and had no clue what the clerk does on a daily basis.” Davis said in an interview at her office Wednesday morning that “the people have spoken, and they have spoken loudly.” She said their message is they wanted the election to be about who would make the best clerk. Morehead Mayor Jim Tom Trent said Ermold lost only because he ran against a better-known and more experienced politician who sought the same office four years ago — and came within 23 votes of defeating Davis in that primary. “They have no more clue what Americans want than David Ermold has about running the clerk’s office,” he said. But Republicans who support Davis are just as eager to cast their ballots for her in the fall. As she sat in the Coffee Tree Books/Fuzzy Duck Coffee Shop, where Ermold announced his campaign, she said she supports Davis “100 percent, because I am a Christian, too.” Morehead City Councilman Tom Carew said that Ermold worked hard — and his message resonated in Morehead, one of Kentucky’s first cities to adopt a fairness ordinance. Several Rowan County voters, like retired accountant Steve Schafer, 77, who was enjoying a drink at the Fuzzy Duck, said they just want the controversy to go away. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/andreww

Roseville Library is hosting a series entitled ” All Politics is Local” later this month and in June. The first program — “A Black Conservative in the Land of Ten Thousand White Liberals: a Conversation with Peter Bell” — will take place at 1 p.m. Tuesday, May 22. Bell is the former chairman of the Met Council as well as a former member of the University of Minnesota’s Board of Regents. Dan Lanegran, a professor emeritus of geography at Macalester College, will discuss politics and economics involving the transformation of urban landscapes in the program “Who’s Buying Up St. Paul? Redevelopment and Historic Preservation In Our Historic City.” The program will start at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, May 29. Former St. Paul Mayor George Latimer will discuss his city’s politics, city life and changing times at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, June 5. Latimer served as mayor from 1976 to 1990. The events are co-sponsored by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute of the University Minnesota with financial support from Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. The programs are free and there is no requirement for those attending to pre-register. Roseville Library is located at 2180 Hamline Ave. N.

Aa Aa Miguel Díaz Canel's political career took off in the nineties, when he governed Villa Clara, his native region. "He rode a bicycle, he talked openly," says Silverio, director of the El Mejunje cultural center, who remembers how Díaz Canel defended the venue when it hosted homosexual artists, rockers and hippies. "He was a leader with long hair, a community leader. He made surprise visits to the center to see how it was doing." Locals remember him being close to the community in what was a period of great scarcity. "He'd come to this park", says José Luis, an engineer. "We're effectively subdued by a regime that never ends," says resident Manuel Molina. Miguel Díaz Canel won’t have an easy rule, says Hector Estepa, Euronew's correspondent in Cuba. Cubans are divided between those who clamour for change and those who believe in the continuity of the Castrism. And Raúl Castro will continue presiding the Communist Party for at least two more years.

The San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association wants you to distrust, resent and despise your city government. That’s not how Chris Steele would put it, of course. At a press conference this week, moments before delivering petitions to City Hall that call for monumental amendments to the city charter, the fire union president sought to portray those demanding change as “regular people.” The changes would cap a future city manager’s salary at no more than 10 times that of the lowest-paid city employee; make it easier to take city ordinances to a public vote; and prohibit the city from going to court over labor agreements. “It seems like the mayor wants to characterize this as a union issue,” Steele said at the news conference. “So these groups are going to talk to you and tell you why it’s a people issue.” Behind Steele stood Antonio Diaz, a failed candidate for mayor who earned less than one percent of the vote last year. In a previous interview with the San Antonio Express-News, Diaz spoke about his “hatred toward the government.” “I’ve basically struggled with the city politics for about 15 years just to get a declaration of a date recognizing indigenous people,” he said. “Was more filled with hatred toward the government because of my oppressed condition. But I’ve learned … you can only meet force if you address it with force.” To Diaz’s left stood perennial council gadfly Jack Finger, hoisting a sign that read, “Take That, City Council!” In his regular tirades against city government, Finger has dealt in explicit racism and homophobia — once expressing outrage that the city spent tax dollars in support of a Latino-centric event, for instance. In recent elections, as the fire union has refused even to negotiate that contract, Steele has sought leverage in the composition of city council, endorsing candidates presumably friendly to the union’s collective bargaining demands.

Who says politics doesn’t pay? Those looking for ways to drum up consumer revenue might look at several news publishers’ efforts to build subscription products around politics. Since it first launched local state coverage in 2014, Politico Pro has expanded its head count there from 20 staffers to almost 50; this past August, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution launched Politically Georgia, a subscription newsletter and paywalled content offering focused on state elections, local economic news, health care and immigration, plus content licensed from PolitiFact and a legislation tracking tool that follows bills through Georgia’s state congress. These join more long-standing efforts, including The Texas Tribune’s The Blast newsletter, which launched in 2016, and NC Insider, a newsletter run by the McClatchy-owned News & Observer. By aiming squarely at lobbyists and local business leaders, these products deliver a loyal audience that’s willing to spend big bucks for a product of sufficient quality. “They need to understand that what’s driving purchase is really different.” Politically Georgia stands out from this pack for charging a consumer-friendly price, while most other products’ prices are much higher. Subscriptions to NC Insider start at $1,169 per year, with additional subscriptions running $399 per person. NC Insider, for example, still gets most of its subscribers by reaching out directly to local lobbyists, businesses, law firms and politicians. “We treat this more like a trade product.” For that reason, along with smaller reader totals, advertising is typically not a major ingredient in these products. Politico has not added new state-level Pro coverage since 2015.