Well, guess what? That ain't gonna cut your taxes by 10%. And does Kelty offer up any actual plan to level spending? Of course not, it's all smoke and mirrors. Making matters worse he doesn't seem to understand the options available to local government as he thinks House Bill 1478 will some how lower the tax burden:
Kelty said as the Aug. 1 deadline for the bill that allows City Council to set tax policy approaches, he would like to see council create a permanent reduction of taxes in whatever method it chooses.
Readers should understand that 1478 is, by design, revenue neutral - it will not lower taxes. Any candidate running for mayor should understand this. Will the Kelty campaign continue to make promises they can't keep? There was yet another example in today's JG story about the city light fund. Kelty spokesman Mark Garvin said
In general, he would support spending the money only if it would contribute to creating lots of high-paying jobs.That's not what he said before. He was going to put $5 Million into a student loan forgiveness program - how does that create jobs? And what exactly does he plan to do? The current administration thinks Harrison Square is going to create high-paying jobs so Garvin's generalization is pointless.
This is why I want Henry talking about issues because I believe it's a battle Kelty can't win. He pandered his way through the primary due to the ineptness of the Peters campaign but that isn't going to fly in the general election. Matt Kelty should be prepared to defend his positions...
3 comments:
A flip flopping politician? Say it ain't so...
Jeff:
I would like to see you analyze the extremely WEAK press conference from the Henry Campaign...
You should tear it apart...
It was awful...
Basically Tom Henry said he wants to form a Government Committee and ask the taxpayers what they want to do with the Light Lease Proceeds. This is 100% the wrong answer.
That money should be used for one of two projects... It either should be used to help fund the Firefighters pension fund that is massively underfunded or it should be used to help fix our CSO debacle.
When the press asked Henry about property taxes he said that he would have to research the topic.
Wow...
I can see why you would take exception to some of Matt's stances; however, Henry is not even running a campaign.
I cannot imagine a candidate for Mayor saying he would have to research property taxes in July...
In all seriousness; please tell Tom Henry that I would be happy to explain the property tyax problem to him any time...
Mike Sylvester
Mike,
I'm sure Henry would consider your ideas on how to use those funds. I personally think they should be used in a different manner, but I think we both like the idea of a mayor that listens to the people.
I didn't see the press conference so I can't comment on it. However, I'm sure Tom Henry knows there's a problem w/ property taxes. The question is what is the solution? Kelty's blanket statement to cut taxes by 10% was pandering and everyone knew it. That's not leadership. Why stop at 10% - why not go for the gusto and cut them by 50%?
A leader doesn't use soundbites to solve a problem - he puts puts forward a plan. I welcome debate on the issues - I'm not sure where Kelty or Henry stand on just about anything. But I paid very close attention to Kelty's strategy in the primary (politically I thought it quite impressive) and I personally won't let him get away with it in the general election.
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