City Hall
Both the Mayor and Council are Being Disingenuous
As we reported last week, the city council plans to reject Mayor Mike McGinn's proposal to increase the commercial parking tax to 17.5 percent and raise the maximum parking meter rate to $5.00 an hour. McGinn has portrayed
the council's decision as a rejection of his "Walk Bike Ride" initiative, which he proposed to pay for through those parking tax and fee increases. City council president Richard Conlin, in turn, has said repeatedly (and sarcastically) that Walk Bike Ride must be McGinn's "lowest priority," since McGinn won't say what other budget cuts he would make to preserve those programs.
Conlin is claiming that McGinn could prevent Walk Bike Ride from being eliminated if he would just tell the council where else he would like them to cut. McGinn is saying that because the council plans to reject his parking tax increase, they obviously don't consider Walk Bike Ride a priority.
Both sides are being disingenuous. In reality---as Conlin has acknowledged---the council doesn't budget on a program-by-program level. Eliminating McGinn's proposed tax increase doesn't translate to eliminating his pet projects. The mayor could, if he chose to, direct the council to cut other programs instead and preserve Walk Bike Ride. And the council could, if they chose to, do the same thing without McGinn's direction.
Because of their mutual animosity, though, neither side seems likely to budge.
Instead, Conlin and McGinn will continue to blame each other for killing important transportation projects that both presumably consider priorities---the unfortunate result of a game of chicken between a mayor and council who have virtually no respect for each other, (nor for the public, apparently.)
Conlin is claiming that McGinn could prevent Walk Bike Ride from being eliminated if he would just tell the council where else he would like them to cut. McGinn is saying that because the council plans to reject his parking tax increase, they obviously don't consider Walk Bike Ride a priority.
Both sides are being disingenuous. In reality---as Conlin has acknowledged---the council doesn't budget on a program-by-program level. Eliminating McGinn's proposed tax increase doesn't translate to eliminating his pet projects. The mayor could, if he chose to, direct the council to cut other programs instead and preserve Walk Bike Ride. And the council could, if they chose to, do the same thing without McGinn's direction.
Because of their mutual animosity, though, neither side seems likely to budge.
Instead, Conlin and McGinn will continue to blame each other for killing important transportation projects that both presumably consider priorities---the unfortunate result of a game of chicken between a mayor and council who have virtually no respect for each other, (nor for the public, apparently.)
