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Letters to the editor published in the Arizona Daily Sun by Dan Frazier and Lisa Rayner about the upcoming Flagstaff election. The following letter by Lisa Rayner was published in late April, 2004. Eldon Kramer responded with his own letter published May 3 (not included here). To the editor: I enthusiastically support city proposition 302, which would provide necessary funds to buy small parcels of private land to allow the completion of the Flagstaff Urban Trail System. These pieces of land will allow all the FUTS sections to be connected to one another in an integrated system. Council challengers Eldon Kramer and Rick Krug, Citizens for Sensible Government and FACT are opposed to 302 under the misunderstanding that the FUTS is a recreational system. Kramer has gone so far as to call proposition 302, “unconscionable.” He says we already have more than 400 miles of Forest Service trails outside Flagstaff. In fact, the Flagstaff Urban Trail System provides pedestrians and bicyclists with a safe and practical way to go to work, school and run errands without risking their lives on Flagstaff’s unsafe streets. Kramer and Krug like to talk a lot about their desire to make Flagstaff more affordable. The FUTS is a needed alternative for those too poor to own a car, families without a second vehicle, children who walk to school and those of us who choose to get around town without burning climate-changing gasoline. Council member Karen Cooper has rightly pointed out that a second car costs families approximately $6,000 per year. I guess Kramer expects me to ride out into the forest to buy my groceries. Neither Kramer nor Krug appear to find spending on roads “unconscionable.” Neither have they said they do not support the Forth Street overpass, which required city buyout of private property and that is — lo-and-behold — an important connector between north and south Flagstaff! Bicyclists, pedestrians and our children do not deserve to be treated as second-class citizens. Vote YES on 302 and for the council incumbents who support the FUTS — Kara Kelty, Karen Cooper, Al White and Mayor Joe Donaldson. Lisa Rayner The following letter by Dan Frazier was published in the Arizona Daily Sun on May 16, 2004.
I find the choices facing Flagstaff
voters to be no-brainers. The incumbent City Council members deserve to be
re-elected. I have been particularly impressed with Kara Kelty, Al White and
Karen Cooper, all of whom have shown themselves to be dedicated, thoughtful, and
down-to-earth representatives of Flagstaff residents. Though I spoke out against
Mayor Joe Donaldson for his stand against a resolution meant to counter the
worst aspects of the Patriot Act, I plan to vote for him again. Though Donaldson’s stand on the
resolution was scary, I find his challenger, Rick Lopez, even more frightening.
Lopez, a realtor, offers a scary pro-development agenda – as if we can simply sprawl
our way out of our problems. Council challengers Rick Krug and Eldon
Kramer will not get my vote. I disagree with their anti-open space platforms.
Kramer, a retired Honeywell executive from Phoenix, is out of touch with
Flagstaff. Krug promises better jobs, but admits he pays $7 an hour. Nearly half*
the money donated to Kramer and Krug came from donors who have also contributed
to Citizens for Sensible Government. CSG is the organization that sponsored the
fraudulent push-poll to persuade residents to vote against preserving open
space. CSG is heavily backed by the Nackard
family. George Nackard owns the property near Wal-Mart that was illegally
clear-cut in the middle of the night. Nackard had proposed a conference center
on the site, but regulations about preserving trees posed a problem. As for council challenger David Maurer,
he has more than enough influence on Flagstaff in his role as the head of the
Chamber of Commerce. Too often he has defended Big Box retail developments
despite their low-wage jobs and devastating affect on small, locally owned
businesses. The incumbents work well together. They represent ordinary residents well. Let’s re-elect them. Dan
Frazier *At the time that this letter was finalized (May 6), campaign finance reports suggested 50 percent of Krug's funding came from CSG supporters. A subsequent report from Krug showed additional support from others who appear not to be supporters of CSG, thus lower the percentage of Krug's support coming from CSG supporters to 37 percent. Candidate Rick Lopez responds to Dan and Lisa's letters Send your letters to dan (at) CarryaBigSticker (dot) com.
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