Dear Tucsonan (new or life-long),
Do you get the sense that it might be a little past time to start doing things differently? That our current social trajectory, no matter which major political party is in charge, just keeps getting us further behind the eight ball? That our current slate of elected officials either don't have the will or the vision to put us on the right path? If you're of the opinion that the economy is a subset of the environment, and that if we don't have a healthy and productive environment we won't be able to meet our own needs, let alone have anything worthwhile to pass on to the future--other than debt, destruction and disillusionment--how'd you like to do something about it?
If you're up to playing a leading role at a most opportune time (due to crumbling infrastructure in an increasingly toxic world nearing resource depletion without a Plan B) in building a rejuvenated world with a positive future based on ecological wisdom, social justice, economic equity, and participatory democracy, I have a very serious and realistic proposal for you.
I'd like you to consider joining a united campaign to build upon the Green Party's Ten Key Values with a common, integrated platform whose foundation is a systemic process to create a sustainable future known as relocalization. We're looking for City Council candidates for Wards 3 and 5. We have a candidate for Ward 6--Dave Croteau--who's experienced with this platform.
I had the privilege of working with the Pima County Green Party's candidate for Mayor of Tucson, Dave Croteau, two years ago. We ran on a relocalization platform for Tucson written by myself which was based on a decade of research and activism. Many citizens responded with favor to our plan and showed support with over 16,000 votes in that election. Bob Walkup and members of the city council also spoke in favor of the plan throughout that campaign. Of course, as you've no doubt noticed, none of them have actually been able or willing to implement it. They know it's necessary, but they still labor under the fantasy that we can return to business as usual and not have to make any hard decisions.
The election results of 28% for Mayor in 2007 means the Green Party has ballot status for this year's local election. We can take advantage of the fact Green Party members only need 7-12 signatures from fellow Greens to qualify to be on the ballot.
Are you or someone you know interested in being a Green Party candidate for the City Council of Tucson this year? You'll be able to benefit from a common, unified platform that can be coherently and cohesively presented by a full slate of candidates that will be extremely hard to ignore by the local media and pundits. If you're not at a place to commit to that level of involvement, or you simply can't see yourself in that public of a role, sign up to become a Precinct Captain for the Green Party and help make it too obvious to ignore the support this platform has within the citizens of Tucson.
I'm not necessarily looking for someone who considers themselves to be a "progressive". I mean, let's be honest. We've had over 150 years of progressive politics and things continue to get worse at the core--which becomes easy to forget as we celebrate a few highly visible victories on the margins.
And, right from the get go, let's dispel the totally unfounded rumor that the Green Party is the left wing of the Democratic Party. If you have the intellectual honesty to evaluate the Ten Key Values, you'll understand that they speak equally to traditional Republicans as well as Democrats. And these values speak the loudest to those who understand that not only is it necessary, but there really is a different way to create and maintain our various social relationships as well as the way we interact with the natural world that sustains us. This way of being is more natural and thus has a higher probability of successfully improving quality of life. This is a fact, it has been scientifically validated, and it's our responsibility to implement it.
If you're still struggling under the illusion that either of the current major political parties can be reformed from within, don't bother responding to this message. We're looking for, and in dire need of, systemic change that is not only in balance with the living world, but that brings out the best in people by increasing the opportunities they have to realize their potential. If you fit the bill, then get in touch and I can supply more details on becoming either a candidate or a precinct captain.
It is time for Tucson citizens to wake up and hear the truth about global warming, peak oil, the uneconomics of infinite growth and what we can, and must, do to prepare for a future that is not going to look like the past, let alone be a bigger and shinier version of it. We can take charge of our future. We can lead, with the grounding of the Ten Key Values and a viable plan for a sustainable future. The community of citizens living in neighborhoods and operating businesses in Tucson will unite behind a plan that secures more local control of our economy, energy and water use, and thus our safety and security.
If you're willing to put the effort into making a real difference, please get in touch right away. Together, we can make a difference. There's no time like the present to get started. In fact, leading climate scientists say it's past time.
Dave Ewoldt
Platform author for Croteau Campaign
Showing posts with label growth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label growth. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Heaping No Sense on Top of Nonsense
Don't be confused that these blog entries say "Posted by Dave Croteau." It's me, Dave Ewoldt, and I'm the one fully responsible for the following analysis and opinion.
I've heard that the local Democrats have started polling. In the context that this was related to me, it means that the Croteau campaign is not only being taken seriously, but that certain people who consider themselves to be power brokers are beginning to worry. Which is as it should be. This campaign is serious and is speaking to real values that people hold, not to the special interests the powers that be are beholden to.
This used to be considered tilting at windmills. But then a few inconvenient truths made themselves known in a manner that could no longer be easily spun. These include global warming, the energy crisis, the collapse of financial markets that were created from something less substantial than fairy dust, and the completely insane clinging to a growth paradigm at the expense of life itself.
In the Tucson metro area, this latter factor manifests as the continuation of approving trophy subdivisions in the foothills and big-box development incentives as the overall water table continues to drop and the Colorado River that we depend on for about a third of our water continues to dry up. Tucson Water states that if current trends continue, and there's no reason to doubt that they won't, we probably have less than five years of CAP water left. Meanwhile, the Rio Nuevo downtown master plan depends on 30% growth over this time frame.
Tucson City Councilwoman Shirley Scott's comments at the Sonora Progressives' Democratic candidate panel discussion last night could have almost been considered comical, if they weren't so sad as to be downright scary. The gist of her comments in reply to a question about constraining growth in light of diminishing water supplies were basically that we're helpless in the face of growth (the victim defense), we can't slam the door in the face of the people that we're enticing here at taxpayer expense, and besides, the City of Tucson has a piece of paper saying we have a 100 year assured water supply, which was written by "experts" paid to say what CoT wanted to hear, and anyone who disagrees based on peer-reviewed scientific evidence to the contrary is a mere philosopher, so we might as well get used to the fact that we're going to continue on a path of mutually supported suicide as we consume the few natural resources we have left. And the other officially anointed Democratic candidates just nodded their heads in agreement. Kinda like those little figures you see in the back windows of people's cars. Meanwhile, the progressive Democrats in the audience were left to shake their heads in both amazement and puzzlement.
Just move along folks; there's nothing to see here.
Another indication that the powers that be are getting worried was made apparent by another piece of nonsense that crossed my desk this morning. Someone whined to the Pima County Democratic Party that a few Dem Precinct Committeemen had exercised their rights to free expression and democratic values and publicly endorsed Croteau's candidacy for mayor on the Green Party ticket. Even typically loyal Dems were doing this in good conscience, as the Democratic Party in Pima County couldn't manage to rustle up a candidate to run against the Republican incumbent, citing Mayor Walkup's popularity in doing such a fine job of handing Tucson's future over to sprawl proponents in the development lobby, and to transnational corporate interests busily sucking the life out of the local economy.
Local Democratic Party leaders were so incensed over these endorsements for a Green Party candidate that they're threatening to excommunicate the unfaithful. The official justification for this edict is that a little known--and unsupported by the Democratic Party--resident of a homeless shelter had filed as a write-in candidate for mayor on the Democratic ballot line.
This provides a prime example of how the Democratic Party is eating itself from within. The Democratic party hierarchy in Pima County seems more intent on re-electing Republican Mayor Bob Walkup than Walkup's own campaign committee does. The rank & file, however, continue to flock to Croteau's campaign to offer support for the only candidate with both a viable vision and a realistic plan to relocalize our economy for a sustainable future based on ecological wisdom and social justice.
Dave Ewoldt
Campaign Manager
Dave Croteau for Mayor
I've heard that the local Democrats have started polling. In the context that this was related to me, it means that the Croteau campaign is not only being taken seriously, but that certain people who consider themselves to be power brokers are beginning to worry. Which is as it should be. This campaign is serious and is speaking to real values that people hold, not to the special interests the powers that be are beholden to.
This used to be considered tilting at windmills. But then a few inconvenient truths made themselves known in a manner that could no longer be easily spun. These include global warming, the energy crisis, the collapse of financial markets that were created from something less substantial than fairy dust, and the completely insane clinging to a growth paradigm at the expense of life itself.
In the Tucson metro area, this latter factor manifests as the continuation of approving trophy subdivisions in the foothills and big-box development incentives as the overall water table continues to drop and the Colorado River that we depend on for about a third of our water continues to dry up. Tucson Water states that if current trends continue, and there's no reason to doubt that they won't, we probably have less than five years of CAP water left. Meanwhile, the Rio Nuevo downtown master plan depends on 30% growth over this time frame.
Tucson City Councilwoman Shirley Scott's comments at the Sonora Progressives' Democratic candidate panel discussion last night could have almost been considered comical, if they weren't so sad as to be downright scary. The gist of her comments in reply to a question about constraining growth in light of diminishing water supplies were basically that we're helpless in the face of growth (the victim defense), we can't slam the door in the face of the people that we're enticing here at taxpayer expense, and besides, the City of Tucson has a piece of paper saying we have a 100 year assured water supply, which was written by "experts" paid to say what CoT wanted to hear, and anyone who disagrees based on peer-reviewed scientific evidence to the contrary is a mere philosopher, so we might as well get used to the fact that we're going to continue on a path of mutually supported suicide as we consume the few natural resources we have left. And the other officially anointed Democratic candidates just nodded their heads in agreement. Kinda like those little figures you see in the back windows of people's cars. Meanwhile, the progressive Democrats in the audience were left to shake their heads in both amazement and puzzlement.
Just move along folks; there's nothing to see here.
Another indication that the powers that be are getting worried was made apparent by another piece of nonsense that crossed my desk this morning. Someone whined to the Pima County Democratic Party that a few Dem Precinct Committeemen had exercised their rights to free expression and democratic values and publicly endorsed Croteau's candidacy for mayor on the Green Party ticket. Even typically loyal Dems were doing this in good conscience, as the Democratic Party in Pima County couldn't manage to rustle up a candidate to run against the Republican incumbent, citing Mayor Walkup's popularity in doing such a fine job of handing Tucson's future over to sprawl proponents in the development lobby, and to transnational corporate interests busily sucking the life out of the local economy.
Local Democratic Party leaders were so incensed over these endorsements for a Green Party candidate that they're threatening to excommunicate the unfaithful. The official justification for this edict is that a little known--and unsupported by the Democratic Party--resident of a homeless shelter had filed as a write-in candidate for mayor on the Democratic ballot line.
This provides a prime example of how the Democratic Party is eating itself from within. The Democratic party hierarchy in Pima County seems more intent on re-electing Republican Mayor Bob Walkup than Walkup's own campaign committee does. The rank & file, however, continue to flock to Croteau's campaign to offer support for the only candidate with both a viable vision and a realistic plan to relocalize our economy for a sustainable future based on ecological wisdom and social justice.
Dave Ewoldt
Campaign Manager
Dave Croteau for Mayor
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