Friday, February 8, 2008

Brad, the "Cool" Mayor?

I attended Brad Cole's report on the Mayor's Cool Cities organization last night. It was instructive. Now I know why he wants 4,000 more people to move to the city of Carbondale. Apparently, 30,000 population makes the magic number of a respectable mayor.

He spent a lot of time talking about recycling, which is important for the environment, but doesn't have a lot to do with carbon dioxide reduction. He talked about starting to think about trying to someday switch to electric cars, which would be good. A couple of people pointed out, though, that as Yoda says, "There is no try, there is only do". Well, they didn't actually quote Yoda, but that was the gist of their comments. He didn't want to commit beyond "try".

I tried to point out that it is hard to reduce automobile emissions when you are busy building along the roads out of town, so that we have sprawl from Carbondale to Murphysboro and Marion, forcing people to drive to get to their doctor's appointments, or other stores.

He didn't seem to understand the concept of building a walkable city, and not allowing zoning changes encouraging urban sprawl. Was this feigned puzzlement or genuine bafflement? Either is worrisome. Surely part of the mayors' initiative to stop global warming is a commitment to reducing car use! Is the mayor ignoring that part?

Maybe it's because mayors of cities below 30,000 don't understand responsible city planning.
You can look at the mayors of Murphysboro and Marion and see that.

Comments:
Further proof that Brad Cole is incompetent, and cares nothing for the city. He only worries about HIS IMAGE, and how he aspires to be a senator, governor, etc. But, then again, the voters got what they asked for....ala GWB...
 
I agree,
The perception of being a Green Mayor will get votes. We can only hope he runs for a state or federal office soon.
He is a competent politician that will use any angle to promote himself.
 
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