Voting for Slay

Whenever I vote for local politicians, I try to think of who gives me the best chance to address the core issues that are important to me.

Here they are:

1. changing our zoning laws to make it harder to turn the city into a series of suburban strip malls and surface parking lots
2. annexing suburbs
3. gaining resident population in the city
4. getting rid of the 1% earnings tax
5. developing, gaining diversity in north city; south city is relatively developed and diverse
6. improving the PERCEPTION of our public schools

So in the current mayoral field of candidates, who will be the best to address these?

Firstly, I don't think Libertarian or Green party stands a chance. That being said, I don't think Smith or Watson-Wesley-Coleman (WWC) stand a chance either. I think Smith will get a part, maybe 25% of the vote, simply because I suspect there are many who vote strictly along racial lines.

So here's who I think has the best chance to meet by top 6:

1. I think this is a pipe dream-best chance-Slay
2. Again a pipe dream-best chance-Slay
3. We've made slight gains in the Slay years.
4. I wouldn't be surprised is Slay is a conservative at heart. More so than the other candidates, anyhow. Conservatives don't like income taxes. That being said, I think this would be a bold move. I don't consider Slay a bold mayor.
5. I think only an outsider can bring change to the relative mono-culture that exists on the north side. Slay is probably not enough of an outsider, but he probably gives us the best chance for radical change.
6. I think he's more of a fan of not getting involved with the public schools, letting the state take over and not having any accountability for the neg. perception. I think he would be more prone to vouchers or charters and parochials to propose viable options from the SLPS. I don't think the school facilities, funding levels, overall teaching stock is our problem anyhow. I think it's the lack of quality families that send their kids to SLPS. If the halls and corridors were filled with kids from loving homes with caring/concerned parents, we wouldn't be talking about this.

So all in all, I'm not that enthused over Slay as our Mayor. He's the best bet this round, though. He's better that Bosley and Harmon, too. Less scandal, more action when compared to those 2. He has run a relatively clean, low profile office during his tenure. However, I think Slay is truly old school politics. For instance, can you ever see this guy standing up against aldermanic courtesy? However, sadly because no one is running on a new urbanism ticket, we are stuck with the old baby boomer machine politicians once again.

I guess I'll vote for Slay. How about you?