Monday, July 02, 2007

Mayoral Race Quote of the Day

Some of the talk [among the candidates] of cutting red tape sounds a lot to me like ignoring community input. I am absolutely not going to ignore community input, and I have the fear, sometimes, that that’s what their conversation about cutting red tape really means.

- - David Briley to the NCP

As long as there is real estate, developers and investors will complain about red tape. Some of the complaints are valid, some are just whining about having to consider the concerns and plans of the neighborhoods in which they build.

I wonder if terms like "property rights" and "red tape" are often code for allowing development without consideration of a democratically informed planning process that occurs over the span of years. And when candidates like Buck Dozier or Bob Clement refer to "balance" and "one-stop shopping," I worry that they intend to leave the door open for eliminating the influence of community feedback on behalf of their more influential friends and their richer campaign supporters.

5 comments:

  1. Great idea for a t-shirt - "Buck Bob,
    Vote Briley" You heard it here first.

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  2. Great idea for a t-shirt "Buck Bob, vote Briley" - You heard it here first...

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  3. I think that there's a vast difference between Clement and Dozier, or Clement and anybody, when he says that he'll cut "red tape." For Clement, that means making it easier for the small business guy to make an inroad. For the others, it means making it easier for the big guys to keep that from happening...the Congressman's record speaks for itself in that respect.

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  4. I have heard Dozier speak at several forums over the past few weeks and there has been absolutely no indication of some ominous policy to ignore community input. He has spoken repeatedly about the Nashville Community Plan document and the importance of preserving the character of our neighborhoods. He has said over and over that it is neighborhoods and schools that draw people to Nashville, Tennessee. Dozier has expressed no intention of ending community input and he has said, on the contrary, that community involvement in neighborhood and zoning issues is essential.

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  5. Let's see....Bob has promised builder and current councilman Eric Crafton a cabinet position if he is mayor(maybe codes?)...do we really need to wonder what Bob means when says cut red tape?

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