Campaign Proposals that I would like to see

Campaign Proposals that I would like to see

March, 2007 - by Yours Truly

The Governor of Yucatan election campaign is officially underway with the designation of all the candidates including, at last, the PRD's candidate for the position; they have named local personality Cholo. His previous claim to fame was as a comedian in the under funded netherworld of regional theatre. Now he joins his wife Jazmin aka Tina Tuyub, who also ran for the PRD party during congressional elections a year or so ago, to no avail; it appears that no one took her seriously enough.

We, the humble populace can now appreciate the vast wisdom and judgement of the distinguished personalities that have been chosen from so many qualified applicants in the various parties. All have wonderful, completely original ideas that will benefit you and I and Yucatan in general. You can read about them on the blog.

While the the newspapers, billboard sign owners and managers of specialty printing shops are churning out pens, balloons, t-shirts and various assorted plastic made in China trinkets that will break shortly after the elections are over, should they last that long, the candidates themselves are making the same empty promises as ever, none of which are backed up by any concrete idea of how to raise the money they would potentially cost. Apparently, they all think that we, the ignorant masses, will once again fall for their brainless 'solutions'.

Especially interesting is PAN candidate Xavier's promise that if you vote for him, 'you will be better off' (Te Va a Ir Mejor). Interesting because it means nothing and recognizes the fact that during the last several terms of PAN leadership, things have not been particularly good.

Here are some real proposals that I would like the candidates to consider:

1. A Serious Attempt to Eliminate the Onerous 'Tenencia' Tax on Vehicles.

This tax, paid over the first five years of vehicle ownership on a percentile basis, was originally enacted in 1967 (!!!) to defray the cost of the 1967 Olympics in Mexico City. We are STILL paying for the Olympics. How much longer will we have to pay for them? Do the facilities built for the purpose of hosting the Olympics even still exist?

I would love to see a candidate take a stand and promise to really push to eliminate this tax.

2. Elimination of the State Government's 2% Payroll Tax

While the government bitches and moans about investment and how much we need more job creation, the same government, in its infinite wisdom, taxes what said investors and business owners pay their employees to the tune of 2%. I would like to see this hypocritical tax eliminated. While they are at it, they can take that amount and legislate (only because they love to create laws in this country - that won't be enforced but that's another story) that the 2% be applied as an official increase in the minimum wage.

3. Creation of a Citizen/Business/Government Group dedicated to the Preservation of Yucatan's Flora and Fauna

The slogan used by the present Yucatan state government "Yucatan Se Ve Diferente" (Yucatan Looks Different) is true. The peninsula is in the process of becoming a grey, paved, overheated cement and concrete mass. Deforestation and bulldozing of the peninsula's fragile (it's a bitch to survive if you are a plant of any kind in this heat and with such little soil and water, especially in the northern part of the peninsula towards the beach) is ongoing and permanent.

There appears to be absolutely no awareness of what is happening in terms of ecology, let alone climate change and global warming. These are concepts that are completely foreign to the ignorant government hacks granting the permits for more and more low-income housing without green areas and parks, the greedy developers who are only interesting in screwing the environment and the general public many of whom believe that trees generate 'garbage' and should be cut down.

Yucatan needs to have some sort of Ecology Awareness Program and it needs to start now.

Some steps should include:

Establishing a Green Corridor along the entire length and breadth of the state to ensure flora and fauna preservation, which could be a system of interconnecting parks, reserves and limited-development areas.

State Government incentives for those investing in alternate energy technology, either for the home, for businesses and factories, or the transportation sector.

4. Take Action to Eliminate Street Vendors

Unpopular yes, but it sure would be fair if someone stood up and said, 'You know, I support business, job creation and the tax revenue these generate and will speak out against the roadside businesses that do none of the above. The most blatant of these is the huge display of furniture directly across from the Hacienda building on Calle 60.

That about wraps it up for now. As more ideas come to the surface, I will be sure to publish those as well. If you are Yucatecan and would like to forward these ideas to your local 'representative' (ha ha) please feel free to go right ahead. I could even translate them for you, if you wish.

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