Let me first introduce the human behind this blog. My name is Dave Ewoldt, and I'm Dave Croteau's campaign manager and in charge of the campaign platform. The main purpose of this blog is to discuss the actual implementation of the Green Party's Ten Key Values to creating a sustainable future through the process of relocalization, paying particular attention to those issues people say they're most concerned about.
Tucson citizens have serious and valid concerns about growth (too much), water (too little), neighborhood quality, few living wage jobs, and transportation problems. Croteau, a native Tucsonan, sees "relocalization" as the process to create a sustainable future that addresses these concerns while safeguarding social justice and our economic, energy and food security. He knows city planning must be in balance with the environment and consider global warming and the energy crisis.
Croteau's mayoral campaign will detail ways the Ten Key Values of the Green Party can guide sound policy decisions. Under his leadership, Tucson will become a thriving, sustainable region with a strong local economy. This will improve quality of life now--and leave a healthy, vibrant legacy for future generations.
Growth is negatively impacting our water supplies, our transportation quality of service, our ability to provide living wage jobs, and the vibrancy and safety of our neighborhoods. We are allowing vested special interests to profit at the expense of Tucson's citizens and locally owned businesses. Our desert ecosystems are being covered over by the sprawl of more housing developments, strip malls, big-box stores, and putting an increasing strain on our local resources. If growth actually paid for itself, we wouldn't be seeing regular bond measures to pay for infrastructure. We wouldn't be fighting the current losing battle to protect our local ecosystems. Why do we keep settling for minor mitigation of major degradation?
A sustainable Tucson can be created through the process of relocalization. By working together, we do have the opportunity to improve our quality of life in Tucson, and create and support a thriving, vibrant local economy.
For more information about Croteau and his campaign, the website is: www.davecroteau4mayor.org
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6 comments:
"We are allowing vested special interests to profit at the expense of Tucson's citizens and locally owned businesses."
Agreed! I hope that these vested special interests are identified. I'd also like to hear more about how special interest outcomes run counter to the will of the population of Tucson. This disparity between popular will and corporate managed activity could be a great rallying point to gather votes for Croteau.
In some ways there are almost too many vested special interests to name individually. In toto they comprise the growth machine.
Most people don't want growth. What they want is stability, safe neighborhoods, living wage jobs, and a healthy environment. The growth mantra is preached by those who value short-term financial gain over the long-term good of a community they often don't even live in, and those who have accepted the myth that growth is necessary for prosperity, well-being, and innovation in spite of mounting evidence to the contrary.
mr ewoldt-
I have primarily identified with green party values my entire life. I believe, however, that in a place like Tucson, a green party candidate is going to be viewed as too "left wing" by most voters, not to mention that people in general don't bother with third parties... On the other hand, voter registration numbers around here would lead one to believe that a third party candidate would have potential here. The only way I can see hope for third party success here (or almost anywhere else in this country) is for an alliance to form between the green party and the libertarian party. I believe that despite their public perceptions as far left and far right, these two parties have more in common than people think. Such an alliance would draw in voters from all over the political spectrum instead of one end of it. What do you think?
Is David Croteau going to withdraw from the Mayor's race now that John Kromko has entered as a Green Party candidate?
Dave is staying in the race. I'll be doing a longer blog posting on the subject, but for now I'll just say that after a long weekend of intense conversations it was decided that Dave is best suited to bring forth a sustainability campaign based on the Green Party's Ten Key Values.
In reply to Eldon's comment, we have a unique situation in the Tucson mayor's race this year. There is no third party. The race is between a Republican and a Green.
As you point out, however, part of our challenge as the Green Party in this race is to make people aware that the Green Party is not as "left-wing" as the media would like people to think it is. Sustainability and future focus in particular cuts across the political spectrum.
The Green Party is also often referred to as the party of tree-huggers. Sustainability is probably our best way to overcome this erroneous image. Sustainability is not an environmental movement. It is a community movement.
There are indeed a number of issues the Greens and the Libertarians agree on. The main difference that I see is the Libertarians steadfast refusal to see that free-market economics is actually economic cannibalism and is about to consume the world--at least that part of it that it doesn't pollute to the point of making it uninhabitable--to the point that our common life support system is about to collapse.
If we could find a way to resolve this issue, or even put in on the back-burner for a while, I would love to get the support of the Libertarians. Compared to the Democrats and the Republicans, the Greens would move our society in a direction I think most Libertarians would be much happier with.
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