By Mike Ebert
The following is in response to an Inside Tucson Business editorial by the same name. That publication would not publish any responses:
Yes, I agree that Ethan Orr is not our enemy but we have only one way to disapprove of the way an elected official behaves ultimately that is; and that is at the ballot box. Medicaid Expansion is not a healthy choice for us as a state or as a nation. I never knew how strong people felt about that until I heard two different people speak on this subject. Regarding “moderate”; I imagine in this current environment that anyone who believes in our U.S. Constitution is a radical. Ethan has the right to believe as he did, but, to quote “The Principals of The Republican Party” handout item #5, “We believe that the free enterprise system is the best system devised for managing the economic affairs of man because it maximizes freedom and production, stimulates competition and thereby benefits the consumer”. Medicaid expansion creates more entitlement mentality and does none of the above and at a tremendous expense to “we the taxpayers”.
Regarding Red State vs Blue State: I wish we could rid ourselves of those terms because they further the notion of encampments. We need people from the business community to step up and run for political offices to bring us back in to the reality of most cities this size; leadership is numero uno.
Politics 101: term limits for city council seats, no party tags, some business acumen required to even run for office and ward only elections. City Council is our board of directors yet not a one of them has the skill set for making management decisions. And we wonder why bold decisions are not made.
I have been asked by candidates on several occasions to review the city charter with them. I want to say to them, if you have not even studied our charter, why are you running? Steve Kozachik was never a Republican and I am sure he never studied the party platform. Steve was a carpetbagger but he didn’t know it at the time, and oh yea, I am an extremist. That is how he justifies his lame behavior. If he would have done his homework he would have saved himself and us a lot of trouble.
He probably would have still won because he was at least curious about the issues and is not afraid to speak up; a quality sorely lacking at council meetings.
Ethan Orr’s score card is still fresh in this game. He has opportunity to improve his game and I hope he does. One thing for sure is his chance of succeeding is in his hands. Steve K is a turncoat and that should offend most voters. Credibility counts but right now ability to lead should be foremost.
I hope in the near future we can pay more attention to attracting leadership and get away from the red vs blue or dem vs rep head bashing.
Mike Ebert,
Past chair City Budget Advisory Committee, and several other committees over the years that did nothing because city council would not, could not, decide anything.