Wednesday, July 24, 2002

You want my vote? Here's the cost

By SALLIE SATTERTHWAITE
sallies@juno.com

As regularly as Independence Day, Thanksgiving and Mother's Day, a columnist has to deal with Election Day. But ­ although fireworks and turkeys may be involved ­ it's not near as much fun.

Election Day brings out the worst in us, I fear, as we list reasons to vote for or against So-and-so. Columnists have to get their two cents in early, after all, if they want to elicit any response from the candidates. (A gentle friend told me recently that she has not voted in a decade because it seems to her that voting for or against someone means judging them, and she feels constrained by Scripture to "Judge not.")

Maybe it's a matter of compromise, maybe I'm rationalizing, but I believe that our responsibility to community and country demands hard choices, among them the choice of leadership. I don't care how committed we like to say we are to small or do-it-yourself government, the truth is that neither you nor I alone can build a bridge, staff an army, or change a law.

We do these things collectively, by our vote, by selecting and electing the best individuals who must then work collectively with other selected, elected individuals to do the work of government. And yes, that takes a certain amount of judgment on our part.

But ­ and excuse me if I wax fervent ­ I don't see voting as optional. As I've said before and will say again, blood has been spilled to secure my right to choose my government, and while there's breath in my body, I will vote.

So, all right, you're a candidate who wants my vote. Here's what I need to hear before I pledge it to you.

I need to hear that you are serious about finding solutions ­ already long overdue ­ to our water and air crises.

We form agencies and we run study after study that show (drum roll, please) that we're running out of water and our air is dirty and we do not have adequate transportation alternatives. But no one seems willing to start the hard work of making things right.

I need to hear that these problems matter to you and that you will do whatever the office to which you aspire empowers you to do.

At the risk of oversimplifying, here are some solutions to some problems that could at least be set into motion in a heartbeat.

Water: Get serious about water conservation. This has been a popular subject this summer, with newspapers soliciting readers to submit ideas. Many are catching rainwater in barrels and cisterns, and contriving complex systems to direct it to landscaping ­ commendable suggestions. Go further:

· What possible justification is there in throwing away shower and laundry water while pouring clean drinking water on a lawn? For that matter, what justification to have a lawn? Either provide incentives not to plant acres of grass around our homes, or provide a means of watering them with wastewater.

· Those few publications that have been brave enough to suggest using gray water do warn readers that state and county laws prohibit distribution of untreated wastewater other than through a septic or sewer system.

So, would-be lawmakers: Change either the law or the plumbing or both. Gray water can be retained for irrigation purposes, treated safely and inexpensively if need be, and if any is left over, can then be discharged into the sewer lines. Some engineer out there should be able to figure that out. Bring technology and law to a meeting point until both are satisfied ­ it can be done.

· Many water departments have a price structure that rewards large users of water by reducing the cost per thousand gallons over a base rate. This is backward.

Let small users pay the least per-thousand-gallons ­ and yes, I'm thinking of ourselves and many other empty nesters whose water usage rarely exceeds the base rate. Then every thousand or so gallons above that, increase the per-thousand charge, including water used by commercial customers.

It should be noted that the Fayette County system provides that a higher rate per thousand may kick in for residents using 20,000 gallons or more.

Tony Parrott, the department's director, says the water board has not seen fit to employ that condition because the odd-even watering plan is working. Since the odd-even plan has been implemented, water usage in Fayette County has decreased, even with increases in population.

Air and transportation: They are inextricably bound together. Our air will stay dirty as long as we are fossil fuel-dependent.

· Reward carpoolers with parking privileges ­ the more in the carpool, the choicer their parking spot.

· Reward with tax breaks purchasers of alternative-fuel or hybrid cars.

· Set sky-high miles-per-gallon rates and require automakers to meet them in three years max.

· Require that school kids walk, ride bikes, or take the bus, with very few specific, documented exceptions like large science projects that need special handling. (I'm not unreasonable; I had school-age children once.)

· Scrap the Northern Arc/Outer Perimeter once and for all.

· And work for public transportation. Provide dependable and timely public transportation within Fayette County, from Fayette County to Atlanta and the rest of the state, and from the Southeast to the rest of North America. I'm talking about buses, light rail, and high-speed trains.

The candidate who persuades me he or she will work toward these goals will get my vote. Our county incumbents won't. They've already stated that "no one in Fayette County wants bus service."

No one except seniors, the disabled, people with low incomes, and people who prefer comfort and relaxation to road rage and long commutes. That's all. No one much.

OK, Ms. or Mr. Candidate. Your turn. Convince me.

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