Endorsements for the December 10 run-off election
5th December 2016 · 0 Comments
It’s Trump’s America, we’re being told, and with Christmas looming, so many voters could just choose to stay home out of frustration. Our editors ask, how did that work for the nation a month ago?
Louisiana will determine the scope of GOP power in the U.S. Senate next Saturday, and critical elections for Criminal Court Judge in Orleans could put a stamp on the quality of life in our community for decades. The millages on the ballot cover a range of issues upon which the voters should have an opinion and exercise that opinion at the ballot box.
U. S. Senator: Foster Campbell
He has consistently stood up for “the little guy.”
Foster Campbell styles himself as the last Louisiana Populist, and his stands against rapacious oil companies, windfall profiting utilities, and other titans of industry on behalf of the consumer has garnered our great respect. Moreover, his sense of independence, from both political parties, is just the style of ‘tribune of the people’ for which the anti-establishment electoral mood has hungered.
John Kennedy is a good man, but as just the 52nd GOP vote, Louisiana’s influence would be nil in the Senate. Compare that with Foster Campbell serving as the swing vote between the parties. Electing the current PSC Commissioner from North Louisiana would do more than just add another Democrat. His independent spirit could translate into the Pelican State swaying more weight on Capitol Hill than Louisiana has exercised in decades. Please vote Foster Campbell.
ORLEANS PARISH ELECTIONS
Judge Criminal District Court, Section D: Paul A. Bonin
No one matches Judge Paul Bonin’s experience. The fact that an Appeals Court Jurist was so concerned about the levels of unjust imprisonment and dysfunctional criminal courts that he was willing to take (what some would consider) a career demotion to lend his extensive expertise to Tulane and Broad made his endorsement a proverbial “no brainer.”
Sewerage and Water Board Millage: VOTE YES.
When a governmental body wishes to renew an existing property tax, but actually lower it from 4.66-mill property tax to a lower rate of 4.46 mills, please support that effort. A governmental body is actually LOWERING your taxes. It is a precedent that should be supported. As this millage maintains critical drainage services throughout the city, without this revenue, drainage services would decline. Please Vote YES on the Sewerage and Water Board drainage proposition.
Fire Department Millage: VOTE YES
The proposed 2.5-mill tax on the Dec. 10 ballot would be used to pay most of $75 million in back pay the city owes the firefighters as well as to provide money to help the city pay its share of the rising costs for the firefighters’ pension system. The Fire Department tax, which would generate about $8.9 million a year for the city, would add $25 in tax for every $100,000 of a property’s appraised value. The tax is on the full value of a property; the homestead exemption would not apply.
Our editors are usually hesitant to support new taxes, but if this millage is not approved, the City will still pay the firefighters their money, just over a longer schedule, and that’s the problem. The first payment would be made in 2019, followed by gradually increasing payments for the next 13 years. The money for those payments would have to come from the city’s general budget. Funds already directed to critical public services would be drastically cut to make up the deficit. That includes cuts to basic fire protection services. It would make no sense to reject a $25 fee only to see your property insurance premiums increase by several hundred dollars because there are fewer fire trucks on the street, in order to pay for firefighters’ retirement.
JEFFERSON PARISH ELECTIONS
Jefferson Tax Renewals: VOTE YES on ALL
Each of these propositions represents merely a continuation of existing taxes. Their renewal will not increase taxes in Jefferson Parish, and as they fund critical services, Our Editorial Board urges Jefferson voters to approve them all.
Sales Tax Renewal: VOTE YES
On the ballot parishwide, seven-eighths (7/8) of the revenue collected from this existing tax would continue funding important sewerage, drainage and road projects in Jefferson’s unincorporated areas and in the Town of Jean Lafitte. Nearly $85 million in new projects that would be funded by the tax in 2017 at no cost to the consumer.
Revenues produced in the parish’s five other incorporated areas could be used as those towns and cities deem best. One-eighth (1/8) of the revenue generated in unincorporated areas would go to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office for public safety. The sales tax would not apply to food products or medical services.
School Millage Renewal: VOTE YES
This parishwide measure would the current rate of 4 mills for another 10 years and would continue to fund school technology, capital projects, and school facility maintenance and improvements. Maintaining Schools is a worthy endeavor that will cost the public not a dollar more than current is taxed.
Drainage Millage Renewal: VOTE YES
This tax affects all of Jefferson except the town of Grand Isle and would renew the existing 4.64-mill property tax for drainage for 10 years. Renewal would continue critical funding for operation and maintenance of Jefferson Parish’s drainage system and help fund needed improvements.
Recreation Millage Renewal: VOTE YES
Approval would continue the existing 7.8-mill property tax for recreation in the parish’s unincorporated areas and in the Town of Jean Lafitte for 10 years. Essentially the Parks and Recreation budget would be virtually wiped out if voters reject the tax. Lafreniere Park, a monument to the author of the Manifeste, the first Independence Declaration in America in 1768, would close, and it would not be the only Jefferson Parish park to bolt its gates.
This article originally published in the December 5, 2016 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
