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Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Interesting ...
That's the way I would describe the election of Laurel Prussing to the office of Mayor in our little town. Interesting is good. It is possible that she will be as bad as they say, and ruin everything good about Urbana, but somehow I doubt it. In my opinion, ruining Urbana looks like making Urbana more like Champaign. We need to get back to our roots, reject the tides of capitalist conformity, and dedicate ourselves to making every change count for something. We should try to be an example of how to develop a town intelligently.
It's better to have a future that is interesting to watch. How progressive will Prussing become? Will she moderate her radical side at the altar of consensus, or will she try to make our town a bastion of liberal idealism? And, better yet, what will happen if she does become the "moonbat" the folks on the right are calling her? Will the world end if we raise taxes to better fund the schools? If we marry homosexuals at City Hall? What if that new Chilis goes up in Savoy instead of Urbana? Will we suddenly become PoorTown USA? Somehow I doubt it. In fact, I think we may attract more and more intelligent, thoughtful people to our little town. Build some nice, quality, affordable developments. Encourage small business growth. Encourage tolerance. Sounds like a recipe for success to me. No wonder conservatives backed Tod. If there's one thing conservatives hate, it's interesting.  
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4 Comments:
Well, I don't know what Prussing's tenure will be like, but it may at least start out on the right foot, as the psychological shackles people have in regards to having to deal with Tod will be gone.
But there are a lot of folks who probably feel as though Laurel owes them. The first time she may decide on something differently than they'd like, watch the sparks fly.
Also, it seems as though man Democrats in Urbana feel as though she is going to be their magic pill, washing away all their gripes. Conversely, many Republicans can't seem to whine enough about how disenfranchised they now feel, and to hear them talk, you'd think that a few years of Laurel Prussing at the helm will cause God to open-up a crevice in the earth which will swallow Urbana whole.
Neither point-of-view seems very accurate. Probably, business will carry on per usual (i.e. some things well get done, some things won't. Some people will be happy, some won't). We'll just have to see.
Also, under Tod Satterthwaite's reign, there was always an annual Gay Pride week decreed by the mayor's office, a provision passed allowing for domestic partnership benefits for city employees, the raising of chickens allowed in resident's yards, and an increase in the city's recycling program. Those are but just a few of the things one could mention. For a town in the midwest, that's really pretty progressive. One wonders what, exactly, Urbana Republicans have to fear from Laurel that they didn't from Tod?
And, personally, I think Urbana is great. It needs measured growth, more small businesses, and some re-modeled infrastructure (with as few teardowns as possible). Oh, and keep it progressive, for sure.
Take care.
You problaby don't believe me, but I hope she does fine.
I'm really worried about her making development more difficult, because if she does, I think all the new residential and commercial construction will move to Savoy and Champaign. Like it or not, Urbana isn't bigger than the market, and can't control the market, and developers and business will locate where they can make the most money.
But that's my biggest concern. If she wants to marry gays on the City Halls steps, so be it. If she wants to encourage more recycling, so be it. I just hope she doesn't hinder any reasonable new developments (including Wal-Mart) and that she doesn't raise property taxes.
Urbana's city council should raise taxes to help the Urbana schools? Funny, I thought it was the school board's responsibility to find funding. Believe it or not, more money MAY not be the answer to problems in the district. If it were, then that Chili's that you would rather see in Savoy is needed in Urbana to pay the property tax! How's the population growth been in Urbana? Pretty low? You think maybe raising taxes might discourage others from moving there and encourage other to leave? There goes your funding. I hope you're not an advisor to the new mayor. Sheesh!
anonymous - you're confusing the causes and the effects of the school board's budget crisis. The cause is not lack of taxes - the cause is increased enrollment due to the housing developments that are going up with no impact fees. We are also seeing a diminishing of resources from the feds, due to NCLB, and it's unrealistic expectations. You may not know what this means, but Title 1 funding is being eliminated in Urbana next year. It is the beginning of what will most likely be a retreat from federal funding of schools.
The city council can, of course, choose to do what it wants with it's tax revenues. For example, when the library board needed an additional $1.2 million for its expansion, the council found the money in it's reserves. The city spent almost $5.5 million on the library which (btw) was over a million more than what the voters approved. When the School Board was laying off librarians and increasing class sizes, they would have been happy to accept that $1.2 million on loan or as a gift. The council could have given it to the schools, but they chose to throw more money at the library instead.
Finally, I am again unclear on why the idea of development is central to the future of Urbana. Can someone explain to me why more development will help Urbana? All the studies I have seen show that increased development leads to increased property taxes. Most of the development in this town seems negative to me. What is the bright side that I am missing?
Thanks for your responses!
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