Mayors Everywhere

Are YOU listening?

Read the recent article for the Dallas Monthly on what Libertarians want from the new mayor.

Change "Libertarians" to citizens and change "Dallas" to Fort Worth.  Remember, it's all interchangable. 
So are the Mayors.

What do YOU want from YOUR Mayor?

I was asked by the Dallas Monthly News to write a short article on what I might like to see from the new Mayor, many people like me have sat on the side lines with their investment money because we can never be sure what our government is going to do, for instance, I have seen a recent resurgence in the Deep Ellum area and think now is the time to invest, so I bought a restaurant and bar there called The Free Man Cajun Cafe & Lounge, but if at the same time the city works with its influential friends to prop up another area, that could actually harm me. Meaning I would have been better off staying on the side lines, not creating 30 jobs and not giving people another great place to eat.

This is what is so important for people to understand, government needs to stay out of business, it makes for a shaky, unfair playing field, and though many might say "but look how great The House of Blues is doing!" they don't understand that in order for the House of Blues to make it with government subsidies, places like Trees, and The Granada suffer. By what right does the city have to pick winners and losers in business? I can only hope that they don't play favorites, and let Deep Ellum revive as it as has been doing on its own lately.

That being said, I wanted to include a reaction from my great friend Jordan Wagnon, who has his masters in City Politics:

"What would Libertarians want from him? First we would want an end to the sweetheart deals at City Hall. "Public-private partnerships" and "bringing business and jobs to Dallas" sound great, but in practice the Council just funnels the city's resources away from the many into the pockets of a few. We hope Mayor Rawlings understands that every tax deal makes the rest of us shoulder a heavier burden, and every subsidy or TIF project forces businesses that already create jobs and earn their own way to go up against government backed competitors. The best thing the new mayor could do for the economy would be to fight against the rigged system so the people of Dallas can decide for themselves where resources are needed most.

In addition, we hope he shares our commitment to the personal freedoms that Americans cherish but the City Council seems to hate. The smoking ban, teen curfew, and window sign restrictions are recent ordinances that have no place in a free country. These measures do not make anyone safer, except for incumbents, who can say they did something about violence and theft by making criminals out of peaceful property owners or juveniles who dare to venture into public during the daytime. So Mayor Rawlings has a simple choice - he can embrace the idea that Dallas government exists to serve and protect freedom, or he can embrace the coercion and favoritism now imposed on us by City Hall. We will support him whenever he chooses freedom."

John Jay Myers & Jordan Wagnon of the Libertarian Party of Dallas County.