Public Safety or Cash Cow?

An October 14, 2009 blog in Grits for Breakfast titled “Proposed Austin Traffic Ordinances Hype Fear, Generate Revenue, Without Improving Safety”, brought to light a couple of city ordinances up for vote on October 22nd by the Austin City Council. Authors Radley Balko and Scott Greenfield warn Austin citizens how the ordinances are merely a way for the city to increase revenue and not a way to increase safety as it should. The two ordinances consist of “a ban on texting while driving and a requirement that cars come no closer than 3 feet to pedestrians, cyclists or other ‘vulnerable road users’.”

Balko and Greenfield do a great job of showing just how useless the ordinances really are. They resourced the Austin Statesman to quote Council Member Sheryl Cole saying “the ban will be tough to enforce but is worth enacting to bring attention to the dangers of texting behind the wheel,” and then they find that Council Member Martinez has no plans on advertizing the new ordinances which would make sense to do if you want to “bring attention to the dangers of texting behind the wheel.”

I completely agree with Balko and Greenfield in that these ordinances are more about making money than showing concern about our safety. An example of just how ignorant these ordinances are, the authors further discuss the fact that Austin police have laptops in their car, but because they have no policy against it, it is not considered a problem. According to APD’s highway enforcement unit, the “officers are trained to be aware of the hazards”. I’m siding with the authors when they say that it is hypocrisy to allow the police department to type on a laptop but then persecute citizens for texting while driving. Not to mention that even if the ordinance is passed, it would be extremely hard for the APD to catch or prove the use of texting while driving.

I find our authors to have prime credentials on the issue. Radley Balko is senior editor for Reason magazine and a former policy analyst on civil liberties issues for the Cato Institute. Scott Greenfield, on the other hand, is an attorney and counselor at law. Both show political or legal background but most importantly they are citizens in their respective cities, and they too are required to follow city ordinances.

Endangered WD-40 Texas House Democrats - One Man Down

In the October 2, 2009 Midland Reporter-Telegram, Reporter Dave McNeely wrote an Opinion article, titled “Farabee Retirement Could Cause Shift in Power of Texas Politics”. McNeely highlights State Representative David Farabee’s (D-Wichita Falls) recent announcement of not running for re-election. Farabee is one of the last so called, WD-40’s (White Democrats over forty) in the Texas House of Representatives. McNeely believes this not to be good news for the Texas Democratic Party. He says it is presumed that without a tenured Democrat who is skilled in battling over Republican territory, the seat will fall to a Republican.

McNeely has touch on what is indeed bad news for Texas Democrats seeking to reclaim the majority. The Texas House is currently split 76-74, and the uphill climb to retake the speakership, lost in 2003, will prove even tougher with Farabee’s retirement, as it almost guarantees a Republican House seat pick up for District 69. McNeely is a Texas Capitol veteran and a longtime political reporter who brings credible arguments in his opinion article. His intended audience in this particular Opinion article is the public at large, but he seems to be ringing alarm bells, and calling attention to Democrats on the seriousness of Farabee’s retirement.

I disagree with McNeely’s assessment that national debates on healthcare and the economy will have much effect on the November 2010 HD-69 race. This strongly conservative legislative district only remained in Democratic hands and will doubtfully remain as such, because Farabee’s name identification in the district (his father is a popular former State Senator), his ability to fundraise, and his impeccable fiscal and social conservative record. Any potential Democratic candidate in this race will be hard pressed to match any of these criteria.