Mayor Benoit Finds His Voice….

 

…OF REASON AND POLITICAL MATURITY

Because Wildomar Magazine has been quick to be critical when Mayor Ben Benoit has made foolish and fatuous statements in the past, it is only fair to give him credit, when credit is due, when he speaks with reason and political maturity on an important issue for Wildomar.

In his defense of the Wildomar City Council’s decision to spend up to $15,000 for a survey/poll of Wildomar’s voters to determine if they should go ahead with a $28 per year parcel tax measure in November 2012 general election, where the total tab will be approximately $43,000, and could still face an ignominious defeat, given the likelihood of a significant “anti-tax” political environment, Mayor Benoit’s comments demonstrated appropriate leadership.

According to a recent Californian article, “I’d rather spend a little money up-front to find out what people are willing to support, and stop this (election) if we have to,” Mayor Ben Benoit said. “If the poll comes back and it’s only 52 percent (in support) or some dismal number like that, it’s not worth spending the taxpayers’ money to put it on the ballot.”

 Wildomar  Magazine agrees with Mayor Benoit.

“Stopping this election,” would take a lot of political courage, given that doing so would be tantamount to throwing Wildomar city councilmember Bridgette Moore, who is up for re-election, out into the harsh re-election environment without the political cover of an “I’m trying really hard for parks” election measure, which might be sufficient to deflect criticism of her actual voting record  in order to soothe and satisfy  her un-critical followers in Wildomar.

Click on the following link to read the entire article:

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/wildomar/wildomar-council-authorizes-park-tax-survey/article_4b3ae5ac-e97f-5f97-b776-1f8ba43a7cf4.html

Hopefully, Benoit and his cohorts on the City Council, will heed my recent suggestion (see WM article, below) about reducing the amount of the parcel tax from $28 per year, to a more modest, and more justifiable, $20 per year, or less, which would improve the chances for success for the proposed parcel tax measure.

Comments can be made to gilrasmussen2012@gmail.com.

Congratulations to Mayor Benoit for his well-reasoned comments.

 It may be, after all, a modest glimmer of hope for the future of political-speak in Wildomar.