Racine mayoral candidate Greg Helding has called for the demolition of the "infamous" Jacato Drive apartments, according to a recent article in the Racine Journal Times. From the article:
“It is high time to solve this problem once and for all,” he stated in a news release. “The law allows the city to proceed against the buildings as a public nuisance.
It is often said that Greg Helding is one of two conservatives running for mayor, the other being Jody Harding. Is Greg Helding's proposal conservative?
Not in my view. Conservatives believe in limited government, the rule of law, personal responsibility, and property rights, among other things.
Let us consider the GH's proposal in light of the beliefs or values typically held by conservatives.
1. Limited government. GH's proposes to take and destroy private property owned by people neither accused of or convicted of any crime. This is unlimited government power. Indeed, this is abuse of power and conservatives should not stand for it. Oh, and it would be very expensive with court costs, lawsuits, razing costs, relocation costs etc...
2. Rule of law. This is the idea that laws should be fairly, rather than arbitrarily, applied. GH's proposal to demolish nuisance properties would be arbitrarily applied. How do I know this? I am willing to bet that the three buildings that require the most police responses are Horlick, Park, and Case. Will these buildings be destroyed? No, of course not.
3. Personal responsibility. There are people committing crimes in Racine, to be sure. Rather than hold the criminals responsible for their own behavior, GH instead proposes to destroy the property of the people who have not been accused of any crime. Why not hold criminals responsible for the crime problem?
4. Property rights. GH's proposal is just another of a series of proposals and policies that undermine the rights of property owners in Racine.
Many of GH's proposals are not conservative. Indeed, he has seemingly embraced and or proposed virtually every big government idea at City Hall. I take no pleasure in saying so. GH understands conservative thought but it seems to me that he no longer embraces conservative ideas. If he believes otherwise, he is most welcome to chime in here.
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20 comments:
As part of the growing consensus that Anthropogenic Global Warming is merely a hoax, I'm also concerned about his emphasis on "Green Industry". I share your concerns, Denis. Is this a real conservative?
Greg Helding is to be commended for his ability to actually stand for his own ideals and something other than boilerplate party rhetoric and ideology.
Even though i disagree with his position on the Jacato apartments, he's earned my respect for being able to think and stand on his own two feet without concern or desire to be lock-step with the GOP establishment.
So the guy steps out from his Republican roots of personal empowerment and responsibility to be an ass clown and you admire him for it?
You just can't make this stuff up -
The "only logical solution" is to confiscate the property, raze the buildings and rebuild; then hire a full-time property manager.
- Bad "assault" buildings gone and our children will be safe.
- New "housing" created to assist the unemployed.
- New "job" created during the economic downturn.
- *Bonus. Slap solar panels all over the buildings, too.
Damn, it makes me feel good to be such a caring, helpful and intelligent "solution provider".
anon 6:08...like it or not the "green" movement is booming right now. Why shouldn't someone try to get some jobs to Racine bc of it?
Denis...while I certainly agree that we need to limit government, hold the line on taxes, etc. , I'm curious to know what else you think the city of Racine needs to do in order to right itself. Is cutting taxes the only answer?
so anon, you think Helding is an "ass clown" for actually thinking beyond ideology?
Caledon, as i said before, i do not agree with Helding's position on the Jacato apartments, but i do respect him for not allowing himself to be a pawn in his own party.
So destruction of private property and kicking innocent people to the curb is now a ten on your "getting away from ideology" scale? I guess I could make a joke about wanting to stand fifty people up against a wall and shooting them to create jobs stimulus in the death industry, but I'm sure you would argue that that is already on the conservative agenda.
Have the police been called to every single apartment there? Are multiple calls coming from just a few places? Yes, let's just throw everyone out on the street - like they do in Chicago - the drug dealers will have new places the same day. The innocents would be stuck. Congratulations for thinking out of the box.
This is what happens when you pander with slogans and not make decisions based on sound policy.
The real trick would be to employ friends and family on the apartment raze, have grant writer and grant facilitator swing into full action, get funding from the state (or the feds which of course means no one in Wisconsin has to pay for it) for low income housing, move everyone into the empty places at Wagon Wheel and maybe the other places that have gone tits up (drug dealers first, junkies second, needy families third, of course), and poof - City Hall (Haul) is in the black and poulated by visionary geniuses!!!
"This is what happens when you pander with slogans and not make decisions based on sound policy"
Hope and Change you can believe in
George, I have been asked that question many times. Rather than repeat myself, I would refer you to some of my previous posts. Go to my archives, 2007, March 3, March 25, and Oct 11 are some good examples of my philosophy.
Here are some ideas that I like: eliminating business subsidies while lowering taxes for everyone. School vouchers. Also, we need to realize that free and responsible people will solve problems. Governments rarely do.
We also need to realize that political parties don't solve problems either, only add to them.
UCT: "Caledon, as i said before, i do not agree with Helding's position on the Jacato apartments, but i do respect him for not allowing himself to be a pawn in his own party."
My post was not addressing you or anything you may have said. I don't comment on your rhetoric. That would be unfair to you and a waste of my time.
Are you stalking me AGAIN?
Caledon...you just commented on my rhetoric. Let's see how much more of your time you waste commenting on this one.....
Wrong, as usual, UCT. I did not comment on your rhetoric. As I've indicated, that would be unfair to you and a waste of my time. What I did do however, was point out your unsolicited focus on me. Don't confuse my response to your delusional behavior, with having an interest in your opinions.
Also, please stop stalking me.
...like clock work...
Caledonication is right. You are some kind of freak. You were pwned, so piss off and troll somewhere else.
greg helding can suck a fat dick all he does is sit on his ass and watch sesame street while his wife does all the campaign work & feeds him mashed up baby food. he probably just wants to eat jacato drive. he's the one who framed gary becker. the truth will come out.
UCT: "Caledon, as i said before, i do not agree with Helding's position on the Jacato apartments, but i do respect him for not allowing himself to be a pawn in his own party." My post was not addressing you or anything you may have said. I don't comment on your rhetoric. That would be unfair to you and a waste of my time. Are you stalking me AGAIN ?
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