Local politicos STILL don't get blogging

I started this blog way back in '05 and held my breath. The local bloggers are a tight-knit community. There are unwritten rules. Traditions. Things you have to know if you're going to be successful. It wasn't long before my blog was discovered by TKC. Fortunately for me, he seemed somewhat ambivalent early on. Calling me a "harmless white guy" and saying my blog barely qualified as a blog because it was too "vanilla." I got off easy. Man did I get off easy! The local blogosphere can be a minefield for a politician. If you blog, you're open to criticism. If you don't blog, you're really open to criticism. Bloggers are the pundits and beat reporters of our time. Acknowledge them. Accept them. Pay them proper respect, or die. Witness the Truman Sports Complex stadium renovation vote. Remember saveourowners.com? Stadium vote supporters lost their minds and spent a great amount of resources trying to track down a couple of guys with a laptop and ten bucks a month to have a domain. That tiny little website almost flipped an entire election. I haven't been attacked yet. It's probably coming. Not from an established blog, but that's the thing about the internet. A new blog pops up every five minutes. For all I know there could be someone right now furiously composing a screed against the unholy evil Mark Forsythe. I'll just have to remember to never pick a fight with someone with unlimited bandwidth. It's a double-edged sword. I may be the darling of the local bloggers right now, but if I'm fortunate enough to be elected, that could turn on a dime. I have over a year of posts out there for everyone to see. A little over two hundred posts if memory serves. My opinions, my stances, my raging against the machine is there for all time. If I go back on any of that, I will be roasted alive by the very people who extoll my virtues. And you know what? I would deserve it. That's why I welcome the bloggers. They will keep me honest. Indeed they may keep all of us honest.

Super!

Super TIF. Not just regular TIF, but a strain of incentive so powerful it has to be predicated with "Super." BlogKC reports on Councilman Bonnie Sue Cooper's desire to assist poor little old Briarcliff. It seems she feels the Northland is being "ignored." What better way to show our love than by enriching a developer with an extra $15 million? The Business Journal article which BlogKC quotes from goes on to say Councilman John Fairfield also supports this travesty. Apparently there was some sort of gentleman's agreement amongst the council to make sure the 2nd District would get a little something as payback for not being included in the MODESA deal which brought State money into downtown. Well guess what? It's payback time! It seems like there's going to be a free-for-all over the next couple of months as the current council tries to bankrupt the City before they leave office. Ridiculous? You be the judge.

Compliments are complimentary...

Dan over at Gone Mild has written yet another nice post about me. I should put him in charge of authoring my campaign literature. I've never been very good at receiving compliments, but then who is? It reddens the face a bit to have someone extolling your virtues. I think it's important, especially during the Christmas season to keep things in perspective. I've always lived by the credo that no matter how good you may think you are, how talented, how smart, how whatever, there's always somebody better. That's a good thing. It keeps me motivated, and it gives me hope. For example, I met up with a friend of mine after the AIA mayoral forum. She and I walked over to John's Top Deck to recap what we had just seen. She and her husband volunteer with the Mid-America Bully Breed Rescue organization. They shelter dogs, work tirelessly to educate public officials on the folly of Breed Specific Legislation, and just generally look out for the welfare of our four-legged friends. I asked her where her husband was that night. Her reply? He was off teaching underprivileged children how to read.... I laughed and asked her if the glow from his halo kept her awake at night. That's the beauty of running a grass roots campaign. Not only do you make a lot of new friends, you get to meet a lot of people who are better than you. And that, I think, is a very good thing.

Swept Away

There is a lot of on-street parking in the 4th district. That's very common in an urban neighborhood. I myself park my vehicle on the street. So do many of my neighbors. Working from home affords me the opportunity to see everything that happens on my street. My attic office gives me a bird's eye view. Every so often I get to see the street sweeper come by. About twice a year if we're lucky. What frustrates me is that I'm given no advance notice to move my car. I watch the sweeper make a wide swath out and around my and my neighbors' vehicles. Leaving long expanses of curb uncleaned. What's the point? Why bother to sweep the streets if you're not going to do a good job? I called Public Works about this a long time ago. I wanted to know if there was a way our neighborhood could be given advance notice so we could put out No Parking signs. I wasn't even asking the City to do this for us. We were perfectly willing to provide the signs, and the labor because it would directly benefit the neighborhood. The answer I received was less than satisfactory. Something about a "general idea of what part of the city they would be in" but no more specific data then that. It's the little things like improving communications and doing a better job sweeping the streets that can make an effective councilman. I won't need to lobby six other votes, or find money to hire consultants. Just a simple policy change. A phone call or email to a neighborhood as a heads up. We can predict leaf and brush or bulky item pickup, I'm reasonably sure we can predict street sweeper schedules. In fact, I'll wager if I could talk to the actual street sweeper drivers, I could get very accurate information. It's not exciting like a new arena, or a new entertainment district. It's just good government.

This is why we need a full-time grant writer

Every year, thousands of dollars in grants are offered by state and federal agencies. It's staggering the amount of money that Kansas City is missing out on because we cannot compete with organizations that employ professional grant writers. The grants we do receive are applied for by motivated City employees who take time to educate themselves on the grant writing process and make the application for their particular department. Something as important as obtaining funding should not fall to an ad-hoc process. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources is offering $10,000 grants for loose scrap tire covering projects. Playgrounds, running tracks, walking trails and other surfacing projects using rubber mats or pour in place materials are eligible. Public schools, some private schools, parks, non-profit day care centers, other not-for-profit organizations and governmental organizations other than state agencies are eligible to submit applications. Kansas City has a lot of playgrounds. Because of cost, our Parks and Rec has taken to putting down wood chips under playground equipment. I know wood chips are better to land on than the asphalt or concrete surfaces we had when I was a kid, but wouldn't eight inches of rubberized material be better? Even one full-time grant writing position would pay for itself. Most major municipalities have an entire development organization that does nothing but research and compete for grants. In this particular case we're missing out on $10,000 for a nice safe playground surface. What else are we missing out on? It's a long list.

Youth Movement

A while back there was a post on kcskyscrapers.com. It was from a graduate student lamenting the fact that he could have no influence in shaping Kansas City because of his age and lack of financial status. It got me to thinking about my own experiences as a young adult. As a 23 year old first-time homeowner I wanted to take part. It was my city too. But the unwritten rule in KC politics is you have to be "established" in order to have an opinion. I was 34 when I was appointed to my first mayoral committee. I wasn't the mayor's pick. In fact, she barely knew who I was. The chairman of the committee had requested my appointment because the group was tasked to write business & strategic plans for City departments and they needed somebody who had actually done it. Enter yours truly. The thing I found most disconcerting about my experiences with that first committee was the attitude about age as it relates to experience. Some members of the committee had a hard time accepting opinions from a "kid". I had almost 15 years of industry experience and a graduate degree but because I didn't have enough gray in my hair I couldn't possibly know anything. I know that young adults have a lot to offer. I used to be one myself. I think it's time to start including them in shaping the city that they are going to live in. I certainly am not going to practice agism if I'm elected, but look for a major youth movement at City Hall. At least on advisory committees. I think it was Albert Einstein who said something to the effect of "Today's problems will not be solved by the minds that created them." And to the grad student who thinks he can't make a difference? Get ready to go to work.

Blowin' in the wind

My legs are sore! What a weekend. The weather on Saturday was amazing for door knocking. The only complaint I had was the wind was blowing something fierce which made it difficult to keep all my push-pieces from blowing away. A "push-piece" is just fancy politician talk for a piece of campaign literature you hand to a voter. The blowing wind also provided some more comic relief for yours truly. At one particular house I could see myself in the glass of the storm door. My hair was standing straight up! I had to laugh. I'd been talking to voters looking like some wildman. Who knows. Maybe that's why Saturday went so well. I didn't look like a slick politician. I looked like some poor slob out fighting the wind. Sunday was not as pleasant. It was a bit colder. I found far fewer people at home, or at least far fewer people willing to answer the door. I did run into two households that were very interested in talking to me. The first couple came out on their porch and questioned me about various issues. The second couple invited me in. That's a rarity, but it was a welcome respite from the cold. We had a nice long talk about city government. It was nice to find voters so informed. They were very engaged with the issues. I felt instantly at home with them. Like I could have grabbed a soda out of the fridge, sat down and and asked what was for dinner. Nice people. Nice weekend.

Yardsigns

The yardsigns are in! Picked them up from the factory yesterday afternoon. To save money I used the stock blue instead of the exact shade of Forsythe Blue from my family tartan. It's pretty close. I wasn't going to spend a lot of extra money for a custom color. We've made this campaign about fiscal responsibility. The yardsigns are no different. I was told "you have to use this printer" or "you have to go through this company." All phrases that immediately make me think "extra expense." I found an online company that undersold its competitors by almost .50 cents a sign. That saved the campaign close to $500 on yardsigns alone. The funny part is they all get printed at the same factory. Gill Studios in south Johnson County. I learned a lot about yardsigns. It was interesting to see the factory in action. The people there were very nice. They are proud of their work, and they should be. As you can see from the picture, they do good work! One thing I learned about yardsigns that I wish I hadn't. Freshly printed signs stink something fierce! Thank goodness it was warm yesterday because I had to drive all the way home with the windows down. If you haven't signed up to host a yardsign, please do so soon. I'm not going to clutter people's yards during the Christmas season, but look for Forsythe Blue popping up all over the 4th district sometime in January.

This is NOT what we bargained for....

There was much rejoicing this week, at least from some people, when it was announced that the East Village project would move forward. I have been critical of this deal from the start. Today I read something in the Business Journal that has me gnawing on the furniture. The headline is one of those bittersweet titles that gives rise to your spirit, then dashes it to the floor. GSA considers office in East Village; housing units halved And people wonder why there is so much mistrust of City Hall. The taxpayers were promised an amazing Urban Village that was going to revitalize the east side of downtown. There were going to be 1,200 to 1,400 housing units. Now it has been announced that the number will be halved to "create more parking" to make the area more attractive to the GSA. Part of what makes an Urban Village "urban" is the density. A true downtown cannot be made up of acres of surface parking lots. The original justification for this project was to "remove blight". Part of that blight was described as underutilized surface parking lots. I've said this before. If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.

The Return of Roller Derby

I know I'm showing my age, but one of my earliest childhood memories was Saturday mornings in front of the old Admiral B/W television set watching All-Star Wrestling and Roller Derby. I think both took place in Memorial Hall over in KCK. I can't be sure of that though. It's been a few years. Roller Derby was my favorite. Men or women, I didn't care. It was people on rollerskates knocking each other around. I thought it was the coolest sport ever. My friends and I used to get in trouble at the old B&D Roller-rink in Independence for re-enacting our favorite roller derby moves on each other. Ahh, those were the days. Through the miracle of MySpace I have learned of a Roller Derby league in Kansas City. In it's third year, they are moving from a skate center to the Hale Arena. Their website describes the league as follows: The Kansas City Roller Warriors, LLC, is KC's premiere all-female roller derby league. Playing on a local and national level, league members are proud to join the ranks among several other competitive, amateur leagues in cities across the country. A true blend of sport and spectacle, this "Neo-Derby" is something unlike anything the world of athletics has seen. The Kansas City Roller Warriors promises to capture your heart and then skate all over it ­ until it bleeds. The season starts in April. I can't wait!

Mixed Emotions

Good news and bad news for my campaign this morning. First the bad. I open this morning's paper to find that Yael Abouhalkah has written a column about the City Council races. He has endorsed one of my opponents as "intriguing newcomer". I could deal with this if I had ever spoken to Mr. Abouhalkah. If he had talked to all the candidates and clearly felt I was not the best choice, I could at least agree to disagree and walk away. The fact is he has not spoken with me. He has made his judgements based entirely on the Citizens Association interviews. Since I declined to go before the Citizens Association, I missed an opportunity to impress him. That is my blunder. I could have at least gone to the interviews. I admit a tactical error on my part. It's not the first mistake I've made in this campaign, and it probably won't be the last. The fact that a Star columnist is too lazy to seek out all the candidates is his blunder. I have made it no secret my disdain for endorsing organizations that not only accept money from PACs, but demand "reimbursement" for their "endorsement costs". I even sent out a Press Release on the matter, which apparently the Star has chosen to ignore. Oh well. Enough whining. Poor me. Boo hoo. The mean old Star is ignoring me. Okay, I'm over it. Now the good news. Perhaps this is a precursor of things to come. New Media versus Old Media. Local blogger My World as I Shot It has given me my first official endorsement. He calls it the Loco News Political Website Award for Excellence. I love the informality of blogs. Mr. Abalos begins his post by apologizing for a delay because he was outside working on his roof! That's my kind of endorsement. An ordinary citizen, finishes patching a hole in his roof, and climbs down a ladder long enough to go inside and handicap the 4th in-district council race. Take that Old Media! Correction: It has been brought to my attention that Tony's Kansas City and Gone Mild have endorsed my candidacy before My World as I Shot It. When I'm wrong, I say I'm wrong. Thanks to a concerned tipster for pointing that out and a big mea culpa to Tony and Dan.

Farewell Lamar

I don't remember meeting Lamar Hunt but I'm sure I did. I practically grew up at Chiefs training camp in Liberty. My older brothers were ball boys back in the late 60's and early 70's. That meant I pretty much had the run of the place. The Chiefs were a big part of my life back then. I thought every kindergartner got to hang out with future hall-of-famers. What did I know? I was four. Lamar Hunt brought professional football to Kansas City. At the time, the rest of the country didn't consider it professional, but within a few short years the fledgling AFL Chiefs challenged Vince Lombardi's Packers in Superbowl I. All the brainchild of Lamar Hunt. The Chiefs are Lamar Hunt's legacy. Sure the glory days of Hank Stram, Len Dawson and Otis Taylor are long gone, but Kansas City remains on the map as a major league city. He will be missed. Thanks Lamar.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em

The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce has endorsed an ordinance that would prohibit smoking in all enclosed public places, including bars and restaurants. A Chamber representative will testify at tomorrow's Finance & Audit Committee meeting. Interestingly enough, there's no language in the Chamber's press release that indicates their stance on the current ordinance language that excludes casinos from the ban. We all know that smoking is bad for you. Every smoker I know or have met going door to door will be the first to admit that it's a horrible habit. Of course I can understand their unwillingness to support such a ban. I myself still enjoy a good cigar with a few drinks at my local watering hole. That indulgence will of course have to stop. I could argue either side with equal merit. Personal liberties versus the rights of your neighbor. I tend to lean towards the rights of your neighbor though. What I don't understand (but I have my theories) is why the exclusion for casinos? Yes, casinos not in Kansas City will have the advantage of luring smokers, but that same argument can be made for bars and restaurants too. You don't see them getting special treatment. It all comes down to fairness. A level playing field. It's all or nothing. Kansas City needs to lead, follow or get out of the way. I think the casinos will survive.

Go away

Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon is urging the General Assembly to pass a bill in 2007 protecting Missourians from automated political calls. The law would allow people on the No Call list to opt out of all the pre-recorded calls we were inundated with this last election season. I certainly would support such a law. We consider ourselves to be well-informed voters in this household and don't really need to hear pre-recorded messages urging us to get out to vote. I have to admit it has allowed for some comic relief during the hectic electoral season. I would answer the phone, then call out to my wife "Honey! It's the former president, again..." "Yes sir. Yes Mr. President. Yes you reminded me of that when you called yesterday. Uh huh... Okay. Thanks. By the way, how did you get this number? Mr. President? Shoot! He hung up." NO SOLICITING. That's a sign you see quite a bit when you're out door knocking. For a grass roots candidate like myself, that sign is a real bummer. It's the old fashioned equivalent to being on the No Call list. I always opt to leave a piece of literature and continue on my way without disturbing them. It's frustrating, especially when you know the people at that residence are frequent voters. They will be going to the polls, but how to get to them to ask for their vote? Would they consider a politician asking for their vote to be soliciting? I've never had the audacity to knock on the door and find out!

Domestic Partner Registry

I had a "quizzer" the other day. That's one of those people you meet going door to door that wants to question you on your stances, your knowledge, your general qualifications as a candidate. I find it a great opportunity to make an impression. This particular voter asked me what I would do if I was presented with a difficult vote regarding the domestic partner registry or with regards to gay rights in general. I cut him off and said it wouldn't be difficult at all. I basically told him some of my most ardent friends and supporters happen to be gay and that the domestic partner registry must be defended. He then informed me "Good, because I'm gay." I laughed and told him he had slipped under my gaydar. He was very proud of that. "You didn't think I was going to ask you that question and let you know ahead of time I was a gay man, did you?" Sneaky, sneaky! Coverage of domestic partners is the fastest growing trend in health care plans in the United States. On Aug. 28, 2003, the City Council voted to provide domestic partner benefits, which cover opposite-sex and same-sex partners of city employees in committed relationships. Kansas City joined major cities including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles in recognizing the need to care for all employees regardless of marital status or sexual orientation. Recruiting top talent to work for the City can be difficult. In a lot of cases we cannot compete in terms of salary. Where we can compete is tolerance, working environment, benefits and a general attitude that your orientation has nothing to do with your job performance. I have no intention of letting those who would attempt to remove KC's domestic partner registry succeed. GLBT people are part of our community. They are our neighbors, our friends and our coworkers. They purchase goods and services, they pay taxes, run businesses and participate in our community just like everybody else. My latest Issues paper echos the sentiment of this post. And as Forest Gump would say, "That's all I have to say about that."

No love from Bill Grady

Tony Botello of Tony's Kansas City was on 980 KMBZ this morning. Bill Grady was filling in for Mike Shanin and he interviewed Tony about goings on in the blogosphere. I thought Tony did a great job. He talked about how BlogKC scooped the traditional KC media on the Funkhouser for Mayor announcement. He talked about how his site was the only one to cover recent controversies involving two local news media personalities. When the subject of politics came up, Bill Grady asked Tony about his opinions on Charles Wheeler running for the 4th District at-large seat. It wasn't of much interest to Tony. Instead, Tony began to talk about one candidate of interest to him. Mark Forsythe. He plugged my blog and had some other nice things to say about me. It was quite a surprise. Grady cut him off though and said "we can talk about Forsythe but what about Charles Wheeler?" Thanks Grady. Thanks a bunch. You're interviewing a blogger about blogging, who wants to talk about a politico who blogs, and you redirect the conversation? Oh well. Any publicity is good at this point! Thanks to Tony for the plug.

Just Write

I've been "blocked" for a couple of days now. Nothing has really come to mind to write about. I've started a couple of topics and then put them on the back burner. Even writing this is proving to be torturous. So as an experiment I've decided to write about writing. My college American Literature professor would be proud. He encouraged me to write every day. About anything and everything. Just write. It's not easy. I had coffee with a real journalist and she asked me how I do it. She wants to start a blog, but as a professional she understands how difficult it is to "just write." I told her it gets easier with time. Just like my Lit professor said it would. My early posts on this blog are horrendous. Coupled with the fact they took me hours to write. I stuck with it though. Soon my writing loosened up, ideas began to flow more easily, and I found with a good topic I could knock a post out in under fifteen minutes. With the exception of today's blathering, I usually spend more time looking for jpegs or thinking of a title than I do actually writing. The blogosphere is full of failed attempts. If you could tally the number of blogs with less than ten posts that have gone dormant the number would be staggering. Politicians are especially bad. Howard Dean's early success with the blogosphere encouraged many aspiring politicos, including myself, to try their hand at blogging. Most of those blogs seem to degenerate into a repository of press releases. Others just go dormant. Some make you wish that person would have their blogger credentials yanked. I have been very fortunate to have this venue to express my views. Fellow bloggers like Tony's Kansas City, Gone Mild, My World as I Shot It and BlogKC have thrown me links and given advice. The traffic on this blog continues to grow. I have no idea what the next three months will bring as the election draws close but I certainly have enjoyed the ride. Thanks for reading!

Maybe "Czar" isn't the best title...

The Star reports this morning that City Manager Wayne Cauthen has presented plans to restructure the housing department. Part of that plan appears to be aligning it with the City Planning department. Hopefully this means we will stop turning entire blocks into low quality "projects" and start using some common sense when it comes to subsidized housing. I am encouraged to hear the City is seeking to hire a "rental property czar." I'm not crazy about the title but I guess it's better than "der housen fuhrer." I dig the uniform though! I seem to remember reading something about putting someone in charge of monitoring rental properties. Even maintaining a detailed database on property status, ownership, tennants, etc. Oh yeah, I remember now. I read it here. I sincerely hope Mr. Cauthen looks inward first. We have some excellent people working in City Hall and promoting from within is a great way to show faith in your organization and improve morale. I know it will be tempting to dig out the City of Denver directory and make a couple of calls, but I have met and worked with plenty of City employees who are smart, dedicated and deserve a chance to move up.

I'll take one in black

I follow alternative energy issues very closely. Every month my Fuel Cell Technology Newsletter arrives and I read about advances in hydrogen power. A few short years ago the newsletter was pretty short. Mostly announcements about a government grant here, a minor breakthrough there. Nothing real exciting. Lately the news releases have become more and more interesting. This month for instance Ford unveiled a six-passenger fuel cell-powered Explorer that can travel 350 miles on a single tank of hydrogen fuel. It's a concept vehicle, but the fact is it exists. All the naysayers who dismiss hydrogen as a viable energy alternative need to take notice. The arguments about viability, safety, infrastructure and just about every other reason "we can't" seem to dissolve in the water-vapor exhaust of this very real vehicle. Technology is funny that way. Not too long ago, they said cell phones would never get smaller than a lunchbox because of the power required to transmit. Microprocessors would never run faster than 500 MHz because of physical barriers presented by silicon technology. CD's would never take the place of cassettes because you can't record on them. There are many Chief Technology Officers who are unemployed today because they had the word "never" in their vocabulary. If there's a hydrogen-powered Ford Explorer on the road today, what will be available in five years? Staggers the imagination, doesn't it?

Don't Blink

"Every deal dies a thousand deaths before the ink dries on the contract." Those were the words of wisdom a good friend imparted to me years ago. He had just closed his first commercial real estate deal and had dropped by my house with cigars in hand to celebrate. He told me the whole saga of how his deal had looked dead several times. Now he sat with me and basked in the glory of his first commission check. A very concerned Hyde Parker contacted me over the weekend and wanted to know my thoughts on Antheus Capital's recent announcement that they are backing out of their plans to renovate 5 properties along Armour Blvd into market-rate apartments. He is rightfully concerned that having the the Bellerive, Park Central, Clyde Manor, Yankee Hill and Hyde Park Plaza remain vacant will continue to blight his neighborhood. He's right. But they won't remain vacant. This latest posturing in the press is one of those "thousand deaths" my friend told me about. The Planned Industrial Expansion Authority actually recommended denial of Antheus' abatement request. It seems even the PIEA has its limits. Not only did Antheus want abatement of property taxes on their improvements for 25 years (which they got) they also wanted full abatement on the current property taxes. Having just paid around $11 million for the five properties, by my rough calculations at the current mil levies that comes out to about $165,000 a year in property taxes. It's become a poker game now. The only problem is the City's cards are on the table face up, and nervous neighborhoods are pacing around whispering "Fold!" in the City's ear. The City needs to start playing hardball. First, enact a zoning ordinance for Armour Blvd that limits the amount of subsidized (Section 8) housing. This will eliminate Antheus' ace in the hole of threatening to make all the buildings into Wayne Minor-type projects. Section 8 was never intended to be densely concentrated like that anyway, but that's the subject of another post. Next, we go to Jackson County and make sure all five properties are re-assessed at their new value. They just changed hands for $11 million. There's no better appraisal than a bill of sale. Even the deepest of pockets will not be willing to endure the carrying costs of an $11 million commercial note and $165,000 per annum property taxes. Throw in utilities, maintainence and keeping the buildings within code compliance and I think you'll see the developer soften in their stance. Finance wonks like myself will always tell you it's a numbers game. It is. We just need to remember that there are numbers on our side too.

Light Rail. Heavy Price.

I just finished reading Clay Chastain's latest "Course of Action Plan" for light rail which he wants us to pursue. Mr. Chastain has warned the City we cannot deviate from his plan. He's right. Unfortunately he can't seem to heed his own advice. In reference to his assertion that we not have overhead lines, I agree. I find them unsightly. Unfortunately he roped us in to an unknown technology. From the ballot "also including new ground level power supply technology (no overhead wires)". But from his Action Plan, it says "Incorporate the wireless light rail technology into at least the downtown central corridor of the first stage, if possible." We have to follow the ballot language. The law is very specific about that. The ballot says nothing about "where possible." It could be argued that "including" doesn't mean the entire line, but then again, maybe it does. That could cause years of litigation over one word. And what is "new ground level power supply technology"? I've heard he meant the type of third rail power supply currently being implemented with much expense and difficulty in Bordeaux, France. His action plan now calls it "wireless light rail". What the ballot language actually does is limit us to an unspecified system that needs to be at the ground level, needs to be new and needs to supply power. In a classic display of Marketing Myopia, Mr. Chastain has completely eliminated the opportunity to pursue emerging technologies like zero-emission on-board hydrogen fuel cells. At the same time eliminating any opportunites to pursue federal grant dollars for alternative energy uses. This plan is unworkable. Both the ballot initiative and Mr. Chastain's Action Plan. I agree with the public that we should have light rail, but not Mr. Chastain's light rail, gondolas and electric buses. I can only wonder if the current crop of mayoral candidates on the council will be willing to address this, or take the easy route and let it slide to the next council.