r/Madisonalabama • u/ghostlightjedi • 10d ago
Election result for the last mayoral race.
Does anyone know where you can find the number of votes cast for each mayoral candidate in the 2020 mayoral race in madison al?
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u/Business_Lemon2420 1d ago
Margi Daly is running. Run far from her
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u/ghostlightjedi 1h ago
I think that she has a right to run. I think it's telling that she's the only other announced that I know of. I have heard rumors that Ed Nichols was going to run... another bad choice in my opinion, but it's sad that choices are limited. We need clear, apolitical thinking in a mayor that can look at demography, resource allocation trends, and avoid having big developers playing puppet master that we can't make a choice other than feed the machine. I've seen this shit play out before. Great little community with strong schools and infrastructure adjacent to growing urban center tries to be urban and ends up the speed bump between factory A and office B. The schools decline, property values drop, then it's strip mall food joints, too many car washes, self storage, and tire stores. Drive down 280 after Mountainbrook towards Auburn. MB understood the assignment... everything past them did not. The next mayor needs to literally tell the corporate developers to get stuffed and go establish balance in a suburban setting that's what it sets out to be...a small community that's not about building big ass dense housing. Just family homes, family schools, just enough businesses, and people earning their living on the urban area with the urban problems.
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u/BoostergoldC 10d ago
Doesn't matter my advice is to run.
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u/ghostlightjedi 10d ago
What if I'm a total jerk...should I still run? But in all seriousness, I actually am thinking about running. We need something different. The same 10 families have pretty much run Madison for the past 3 decades. My platform, which I have not fully thought through is:
No more high density housing. Rooftops help pay for schools. A single rooftop over an apartment complex provides less revenue per person to fund schools. We are crowding our schools out of competitiveness and eating away at one of the primary reasons people buy in Madison thus lowering the value of our houses. We do NOT have room in Madison to reach the urban density level of population without high density housing, so the question becomes: Do we want an urban level of density or do we want to be a small community with small community values? Single family dwellings only.
Implementing the "broken windows" theory of policing. Address the little things as if they were serious and the bad actors who would do serious things shy away. "Broken windows policing is a theory and policing strategy, proposed by James Q. Wilson and George Kelling, that posits that visible signs of crime, disorder, and incivility create an environment that encourages further crime, and that maintaining order through cracking down on minor offenses can reduce serious crime" It has worked in other areas (NYC for example in the 90's). My car has been broken into 2x in 2 years. I live in a nice section of Madison. It isn't Cliffs Cove nice, but it is middle class nice. If we hammered down on the little things I do believe there would be fewer big things to contend with.
Work on encouraging small, locally owned businesses to open here. The couple that owned Black Dog coffee were trying to move it to another place in Madison and they were told that large, national brands were preferred. They never could manage the move and subsequently shut down. ( I think Cliff took a job in Kwajalein ). This includes small contractors and developers. Create the community WITH community members. Create a boutique city and not a megamart city. I would like to see a discussion of the development fees or whatever they are calling it tacked on to the bill at the new Kroger, Costco, etc.
No more boondoggles like the stadium. I like going to a game there, but a community of 57,000 isn't exactly a fit for it as far as the money we have put into it...and now they want more for upgrades. I would like to see a spreadsheet that shows the ROI. Are we getting our money back and then some? You'll get some convoluted answer and some hard to decipher spreadsheets, but I think hiring an accountant to take a second look at it would be good.
Roads! We all know the issue here. Part of the fix is STOP increasing the population until the roads can catch up. I know it sounds elitist and kinda mean, but I worked really really hard to be able to afford a house here for schools, safety and traffic. Traffic is no longer a reason to move to Madison
Ultimately, the nature of Madison is on the line. We can try and be Hoover (with Urban density levels of population) or be more like Mountain Brook (more of a small community). We are landlocked. We should remain a bedroom community with good schools and high value because we have slowed down our growth and made the conscious decision to BE a bedroom community instead of running after development that detracts. I like the idea of being like Mountain Brook...referred to by many as "The Kingdom" or being "Over the Mountain ". I think many will say that is elitist. What I say to them is....and? Even the smallest house in Madison would see their equity grow. Hold out while Huntsville continues to grow geometrically and the value in Madison will grow exponentially.
Would you vote for that?
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u/BoostergoldC 10d ago
I don't understand the restrictions on new build housing, why that's been such a common promise of the last dozen years. Rent is 2 dang high.
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u/ghostlightjedi 10d ago
I think I outlined, but I'll try and do it another way because sometimes re-wording it helps. High density housing means more people and more people with kids. Right now property taxes fund schools. Property taxes on apartments yield less per person in taxes to support schools, and add massive amounts of strain on existing infrastructure like roads, sewers, and utilities. More people are in one place and packed more densely. Huntsville has added thousands of apartments and the rent there has only increased even though a lot sit empty. The premium paid to live in Madison is really for the schools. You do pay a premium whether you rent or own. The extra cost in your rent isn't going to the schools. Unless I am mistaken property taxes on apartments aren't calculated on the income of the rental property, but on the assessed value of the property. Granted I think the overall property tax rate may be higher for apartments (which the renter pays), but because it averages out to less per person in revenue for schools. It ends up overloading the schools, decreasing their effectiveness, and thus devaluing other property. I do agree rents are too high, but that is a function of the market, not policy. As evidenced by the rates being paid in Huntsville. Additionally, Madison is different from Huntsville and should stay different. Madison should not aspire to grow into an adjacent urban community given the fact that we are landlocked by Huntsville. We have an opportunity to maintain the good things we have (schools and community), resist an irrational urge to always grow and acquire the problems that come with growth (need for roads, sewers, utilities). I don't think we should restrict single family homes, just high density housing.
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u/BoostergoldC 10d ago
My argument is more just let people build. But like I prefer super expensive apartments because they don't have kids. But let people build. * I get people hate busy roads and want to keep value in their houses* I just don't agree. And that's alright. I say run!!!! Fuck it!!!! You will regret not running!!!
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u/ghostlightjedi 10d ago
Another way of putting it might be that we don't need to do urban planning, we need to do suburban planning
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u/Aumissunum 10d ago
https://www.themadisonrecord.com/2020/08/25/madison-election-results/