One thing I'm seeing regarding the bridge tolls is a disturbing number of transplanted New Orleanians who voted for them due to some version of, "Where I'm from we have tolls so that's probably the non-backward thing to do."
Aside from the bullcrap about mowing the grass and threatening to let the bridge fall into the river, I can't think of a less-informed or more irrelevant reason to have supported the tolls but it's a popular one among the transplants I talk to. I guess the best way to poll this demographic regarding the tolls would be to propose it on Neighborland and letting the kids there tell you what they think.
Since we're down to counting absentee ballots now, it will be interesting to see if the voters who were transplanted away from New Orleans have a better sense of this thing than the ones who were transplanted to it.
1 comment:
Ha, should have read further down before I left that last comment.
Since I'm totally in the category you're talking about here, I'll respond:
a) transplanted new orleanians are mostly from the south and are as vehemently anti-tax, anti-toll, etc. as you would expect from people from Jackson or Dallas.
b) the toll renewal coalition was a mix of technocrats (Transport for NOLA types, myself who believe in learning form other people and places to glean good ideas about how to do things. In life, in government, in business, etc.) the business establishment (Chamber of Commerce and the like who worry about the FUBAR State of Louisiana maintaining the bridge) and probably some other folks I'd be less pleased about learning I'm in a boat with.
c) What is the less-informed and more irrelevant reason to support tolls? Not clear from the writing. Is that where you mistook "thats how they do it where I come from" for the technocrat's "thats how they do it in places where they have well run transportation networks of bridges, trains, buses, tunnels, and roads regardless of where I come from"?
d) Here's your neighborland poll: https://neighborland.com/ideas/nola-to-keep-the-toll-on-the-c
e) Following on (d), this post is irritating to me personally for obvious reasons, in no surprising or new way. I suppose it's a fools errand to try and get you to give up a straw man.
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