We need to conserve resources and plan for the future
We need to make "disposable" a dirty word
- People who like to simplify public policymaking into terms that turn political discussions into sporting events like to ask whether a person is "liberal" or "conservative." I reject that kind of binary thinking, but I will say that I am fundamentally conservative in the traditional sense of the word. I abhor waste, believe in reusing and repairing over disposing and acquiring, and try to never spend a nickel when a penny will get the job done.
- As applied to public policymaking, this philosophy suggests that we should understand the resources available to us, be deliberate in their use, and make decisions based on sound, fundamental evidence. We should try to avoid doing things in a hurry unless we are confident that haste is necessary in order to help people in serious danger.
- We should focus as much as possible on preventing disaster and work hard to avoid the need for emergency response. If we can spend $1 now so that we don't have to spend $2 later, that's a good expense!
- We should avoid debt and borrowing unless we are creating assets that will have value beyond the terms of the borrowing. We can't borrow to pay salaries. We can't borrow to create disposable assets. We should borrow to make capital investments that will create longstanding value and as part of a larger plan to make use of that new value.
- As just one example, we have to find a way to address the school building problem via consolidation and rehabilitation. If we're not caring for our buildings in a way that makes them obsolete in less than 100 years, well, we're failing the taxpayers who tasked us with building infrastructure and facilities. But if that ship has already sailed, we have to look at creating efficiencies and finding ways to create consolidated schools that are built with sustainability and tomorrow's climate challenges in mind. We can't be building monuments to the past.
- Mayors, town managers, town council members, legislators, governors, and everyone else who works for the people are stewards of public assets and we should expect them to care and maintain those assets and hold them accountable when they don't.
- Climate change is real, unavoidable, and fairly well forecast at this point. Failing to account for rising temperatures and rising incidence of extreme weather is poor planning in this day and age and I will work hard to make sure GNG and Maine as a whole are able to understand what is coming down the pike and be prepared for it. Heck, we might even take advantage of it!
