Month: July 2008

When Mandates Are Not Optional

Post author By David
Post date July 25, 2008
6 Comments on When Mandates Are Not Optional

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I generally do not favor government action that places a mandate on citizens. I don’t believe that it is the place of government to decide whether citizens should recycle or not, but if the options are between mandatory recycling and no recycling option after the citizens have overwhelmingly favored optional recycling it makes sense for the city to choose mandatory recycling. This appears to be the case in Bountiful.

The motion to proceed from Council member Beth Holbrook rescinded the “opt-in” proposal passed May 27.

Reasons cited were a change by Allied Systems, the previously chosen provider. It wanted a guaranteed minimum participation level and a four-year contract, and would start charging the city to maintain the 200 West recycling bins, at an estimated cost of $30,000-$35,000 each year.

With a price-tag of $3 per month I don’t think we’ll see too much protest over this. Of course my position might be affected by the fact that I have lived with mandatory recycling in Lehi for a few years and I liked it. We generally had more recyclable trash than we did regular garbage so I thought the service was very worthwhile.

Tags Bountiful, Davis County, Davis County Clipper, government, recycling, Utah

culture technology

Progression of Transit

Hopefully the idea of growing into light rail does not come as a real surprise to anyone.

{Darrell Cook}, executive director of Mountainland Association of Governments, said if the dedicated bus system linking Utah Valley University, Brigham Young University and Provo’s East Bay works as expected, the system could, in time, be replaced by a light-rail system.

There would seem to be a natural progression for public transit that city planners could prepare for that would allow for public transit to be tailored to the current needs of a community with a defined growth potential as ridership needs increase over time. With advanced planning it should be relatively painless to meet expanding needs by starting early without investing prematurely in expensive systems.

The transition from BRT to light-rail is a last step along one line of progression, but I think there may be two progressions available. There is the regional transportation which starts with simple bus service and graduates to more complex bus service (with BRT and dedicated bus lanes etc.) before converting dedicated bus lanes into light rail – assuming that the growth and ridership supports each successive transition. Then there is the longer range transportation between metropolitan areas which starts with shuttles or express buses and eventually graduates to commuter rail or even high-speed rail. There may even be a step between the express/shuttle phase and the commuter rail phase that can be filled with DMU’s.

If early development incorporated the possibilities of future transit options then it might be easier and less costly to build and maintain transit commensurate with population.

Tags DMU, planning, Salt Lake Tribune, transit, transportation, Utah County

meta State

Editing for BNN/Utah

I have been given the opportunity to function at the editor for BlogNetNews/Utah. That is not likely to produce visible changes to the site because the purpose of BNN is to remain neutral while providing an image of what’s happening in the various corners of the blogosphere. Functionally, it means that when people want to have their blog added to BNN/Utah I will be the one who receives and processes the request. On the other hand, I have been invited (if I choose) to categorize the Utah blogs geographically.

There is currently some categorization between liberal and conservative leaning blogs and a category to identify blogs connected to MSM organizations but there has been no geography-based categorization thus far. You can see how the categorization works by clicking on the arrow next to “Sort By” in the header. If you visit BNN/Virginia you can see an example of geographic categories in use.

Having been given that invitation, my first action as editor is to ask my fellow Utah bloggers whether they would be interested in geographic categorization – which would allow people to sort blogs based on those categories – and if so, do you have any recommendations on what categories would make sense for Utah?

Tags BNN, questions, Utah

National

Useful Denunciations

An interesting article on the European enthusiasm toward Barack Obama had this little gem of a thought in it:

If Obama follows the sort of race-conscious policies he has faithfully supported for the last quarter century . . . then racial divisions will continue and perhaps sharpen. If he is true to the “post-racial” rhetoric of his campaign, however, and seeks healing indirectly by helping the poor lift themselves out of poverty, then he would have better chances of long-term success. Short-term, though, he would invite noisy denunciations of betrayal from the Jacksons and Sharptons of this world.

Six months from now, one of two men will be our new President. Between the two of them I do not currently have a preference but I would argue that “noisy denunciations of betrayal from the Jacksons and Sharptons of this world” can only be a good thing – no matter who’s getting them.

Tags Europe, Obama

State

An Informed View of Congestion-Pricing

Post author By David
Post date July 21, 2008
14 Comments on An Informed View of Congestion-Pricing

I always like to see when someone with lots more information and better credentials than me comes to the same conclusion on an issue that I have come to. In this case it is Michael R. Brown stating that Congestion-pricing positives outweigh negatives. Mr. Brown is a Certified Transportation Planner and he has been participating in a study on the issue of implementing congestion pricing along the Wasatch Front. One thing he does that I have never thought about is to define the fundamental difference between standard tolls and congestion pricing:

The purpose of tolls is to provide revenue to pay off construction bonds. You pay even when there is no congestion. It amounts to unfair taxation. The purpose of congestion pricing is primarily to ensure the freeways do not fall below 60 mph. At times or places where that wouldn’t be an issue, then the price can be free. (emphasis added)

Secondly he provides his personal top 10 list for the advantages of using congestion-pricing:

(10) More use of off-peak capacity
(9) Increased transit usage
(8) Increased capacity
(7) Reduction of side-street spill-over
(6) Point A becomes closer to point B
(5) Fuel is saved, air quality improved and carbon dioxide reduced
(4) Economic competitiveness
(3) “Tragedy of commons” is avoided
(2) Generates revenue.
(1) More productivity

I like the list he presents except that #6 seems a bit ethereal to me. (This comment seems to be a good clarification of #6.) If you don’t like his list I would recommend reading his version (which includes some explanations) before settling on an opinion.

Tags congestion-pricing, Deseret News, tolling, transit, transportation

Local

Advocating a Utah Lake Bridge

Post author By David
Post date July 21, 2008
11 Comments on Advocating a Utah Lake Bridge

One of the things that is good about Editorial boards is that when they are right about something they usually do a good job of defining and defending their position and they have the power of the press at their disposal. (One of the problems is that they have all those advantages when they are wrong too.) A great example of that is the Daily Herald Editors putting the issue of a bridge over Utah Lake in perspective.

Local pressure groups are lining up to fight even thinking about the possibility of a bridge across Utah Lake. They might as well protest the heat of a Utah Valley summer. It’s inevitable that some kind of passage will be forged over the lake in coming years, and the most productive course would be to find the best feasible alternative that will serve the widest number of people.

When my close interest in the transportation issues of Utah County began, the idea of a lake bridge seemed like a distant possibility – something that might happen in 20 or 30 years if at all. Years of living there and following the issues easily have me convinced that the question of if a bridge should be built is short-sighted, the only real questions to answer are where, when, and how to do the job right.

No comprehensive plan to meet the growing transportation needs of Utah County can fail to include some route across the lake. Anyone who wants to delay or minimize a lake bridge had better approach their goal through community planning and business development in Cedar Valley. Only by lowering the overwhelming incentives to travel between that growing area and the established communities on the east side of the lake will allow for a more leisurely approach to designing the bridge that will still become necessary at some point in the future for economic and quality of life reasons.

One nice change in their rhetoric is that they no longer appear to lay the blame for this issue at the feet of Lehi City – like they did only 2 months ago.

Tags Daily Herald, planning, transportation, Utah County, Utah Lake

culture National

Republic of California

51% of California voters surveyed said they would oppose Proposition 8.

I suppose it’s too much to hope that some seismic activity causes California to break off from the rest of North America and convinces the people of California to declare independence. They could be the 21st century equivalent of Texas.

Tags California, gay marriage, Texas

State

Self-Policing Lobbyists

Often lost in discussions about ethics legislation and lobbyist influence is the fact that there is a legitimate value that lobbyists can bring to the legislative process. I’m in favor of making solid rules of ethics for legislators and lobbyists without removing lobbyists altogether. With that perspective, I really enjoyed this Deseret News story about a lobbyist who carefully limits the money he spends on legislators.

While some lobbyists often take lawmakers to Utah Jazz games — all good seats are over $50 — or to expensive restaurants, {Paul} Rogers is one of a growing number of lobbyists who works in more modest means, even if they have the wherewithal to spend more on legislators.

“My firm, Tetris, has season Jazz tickets. We use those for ourselves and our families. I’m finding that many legislators don’t want those (more expensive gifts),” Rogers said.

One thing I have always believed is that buying a meal for a legislator as a way to sit down with them is generally a perfectly reasonable “gift” for a lobbyist to give a legislator. If our $50 cap on anonymous gift is encouraging lobbyists and legislators to limit their financial back-scratching to such meals then I am pleased with that rule.

I would not consider this to be sufficient evidence that we do not need any more ethics legislation, but I do see it as a good sign that it is possible to have reasonable restrictions to discourage excessive use of gifts for legislators.

Tags Deseret News, ethics, legislation, lobbying, money

National technology

Ambitious Pronouncement

I’ve already stated that I believe the goal of using only energy from clean, renewable sources is attainable but I think the Green Prophet might be getting ahead of himself.

{Al Gore} said the goal of producing all of the nation’s electricity from “renewable energy and truly clean, carbon-free sources” within 10 years is not some farfetched vision, although he said it would require fundamental changes in political thinking and personal expectations.

“This goal is achievable, affordable and transformative.”

I would love to be proven wrong on this, but I’m skeptical of the 10 year time-frame. The only real question in my mind is, will Barack Obama endorse this idea before I publish this post?

I guess my personal expectations are among those that he predicted would require fundamental changes.

Tags Al Gore, economics, energy, environment, New York Times

culture

American Citizenship

I really liked this Deseret News profile of a naturalized citizen.

Airman 1st Class Elena Dulger’s face lights up the room when she talks about her first chance to participate in a democratic election.

Dulger, 21, is taking her oath of citizenship today, seven years and one day after meeting her father at JFK International Airport in New York. After becoming an official U.S. citizen, Dulger will get her passport, and she plans on registering to vote.

“A lot of people don’t realize how important (voting) is,” she said. “It is a privilege.”

This is how every American citizen should feel about voting. (I’m not delusional enough to actually believe that we will ever have a time when every citizen actually does feel that way.) I seriously wish we could find a way to limit the right to vote to those people who do recognize the importance of that privilege.

Tags citizenship, civic participation, Deseret News, voting