The new mayor of Rochester? NOT

My husband has a bulletin board, and someone posted a link to this guy who wants to be our next mayor of Rochester. I was personally flabbergasted. I mean, GAWD! Who does this guy think he is? I grew up in the city, and I think that if he were to try and enforce some of these ideas of his... well lets say its just stupifying.
I shall give you some examples:

Education:

The “separate but equal” attitude needs to be put to death. City schools must be fully integrated with their suburban counterparts.

Umm. No. This was attempted in the 1970's, and it failed miserably. You are sending a message to students that the city isn't good enough. That in order to succeed, you need to go to school in the suburbs. Kids want to go to school with their friends that they live with in the same neighborhood, not people that live on the other side of Monroe County. The line between the haves and have nots will become even greater.

Crime:

Declare an end to the War on Drugs in Rochester. It's a failure. Here's how to start reducing the harms caused by drugs and help make our streets safe again:

1. Create a 25% tax on all marijuana transactions within the city. Increase the tax to 50% on all transactions with non-city residents. Require $500 annual licenses for all marijuana producers. Only arrest those who fail to pay the fees.

2. Instruct city police officers to actively oppose federal or state interference. If necessary, organize militias of city residents for protection from federal or state interference.

3. Use the re-allocated police resources to tackle violent crime.

Let's see, you're letting kids know that, Hey! It's okay to smoke pot as long as you pay your pot tax, and if you live in the suburbs, you deserve to pay even more taxes! Oh yeah, and lets start a militia, so that we use our guns to keep out all those evil federal and state personnel by shooting them. They they're just interferring in our pot smoking.

Fiscal:

Rochester must recognize that victimless crimes are less harmful when taxed and regulated.

• Require all sex workers to register with the city and submit a $500 annual license fee. This fee will be applied towards health care for the local sex industry as well as general revenue.

• Say no to taxation without representation and terminate all collection of county, state and federal taxes not approved by the city. This explicitly precludes collection of taxes destined for New York City.

Oh good. Prostitution is legal now, as long as they pay their fee. So all those kids going downtown to catch the bus to school can see prostitutes in action. Why can't you send these women to a trade school so that they can learn something useful and give them a sense of pride and accomplishment?

Last time I checked, county, state and federal officials were elected representitives of the people. Those people that we elect to run our government have been chosen to represent our ideals. We have given them the right to make use of our taxes in the best way they see fit to operate the city, state etc.

Technology:

Rochester needs to push forward further its position as leader in the still evolving digital information technology revolution.

1. Create a secure citywide hi-speed wireless network for use free of charge by all city residents.

2. Replace all city computer systems running Microsoft Windows and other proprietary operating systems with free and open source alternatives like the GNU/Linux operating system. Draft students from area universities to first assist city government officials in the process, and then keep them in the loop as the changes are rolled out to city schools. Provide them with housing incentives to stay and work in the city upon graduation.

I don't even want to think how expensive and immensly impossible it would be to get high-speed internet to all city residents. Would you also be providing computers, since a vast majority of them can't afford to buy computers. (I would know this because they all come into the public libraries to use the internet).

I don't want to imagine moving from Microsoft Windows to another operating system. All the training involved and trying to find compatible programs that can replace currently used ones. Plus some of the city, town and county systems are interconnected (at least from my experience working at the library). The cost in manhours would be staggering.

This guy mentions somewhere in his platform that we should offer abandoned houses to people under 21 and college students under 30. I'm thinking that many of the abandoned houses in the city are not in any shape to be lived in, let alone by young people that can't afford the costs for improvements.

He also wants to charge suburban residents 10% more to use the ferry, and he wants to toll suburban residents to use the highways.

I'm thinking that this guy really hates people who live in the suburbs. I really don't know what his beef is, but I wish he'd stop acting like us non-city dwellers are spawns of satan or something.

Anyway, I highly recommend reading his site. I found it insiteful and frightening.