Full-time mayor adds more value

By P.T. Larson

I'm a lot like that 40-year-old boy from Kiln, Miss., who can't get enough of playing football! That wonder, awe and joy keep me focused, in this my 13th consecutive run for the Cedar Rapids City Council.

For you will decide whether to elect me as your mayor, a job in which I'll work full-time, or opt for one of my part-time mayoral challengers.

Public safety is my primary concern, followed by a crumbling and deteriorating public infrastructure. I have plans to address these areas, as well as some of the tedious, detail-oriented issues that you simply can't get done if you choose to moonlight as mayor.

The job of mayor pays just over $32,000 and comes without benefits, and my opponents will not give up their main jobs - that of an attorney in a large law firm and a trucking company executive. Time I plan to spend serving you and your needs first!

They will not be replaced by the boardroom meetings and legal issues, which do not impact the City of Cedar Rapids and your future.

It all comes down to priorities. What's in the best interests of our city, or is chasing the Almighty Dollar and my own fiscal welfare primary? My opponents have both made their choices.

I dare to be different, in this post-flood era, and provide time in mayoral leadership you deserve, as our city binds up our wounds and begins the healing process as a united community!

We've had several debates thus far, highlighting our platforms, character and differences. Also, interviews are online and available for the public to see.

The KCRG.com site has been re-airing the mayoral debate held last Tuesday at Coe College, and Robin Kash has interviews with all three mayoral candidates and other council candidates at www.neighborhood

networknews.com

I will need a huge outpouring of absentee ballot voters to be competitive in this election. If thousands embrace this concept of a full-time mayor, will they march on Westdale Mall to the Linn County Auditor's Office and allow their voices to be heard?

Can you imagine, just a year after they did this for President Obama, that they'd switch gears, and rally behind a former Republican state Legislator, and elect one of my opponents in this manner?

More than 87,000 of Cedar Rapids' eligible voters are in play this election cycle, and the more who participate, the better I'll do. In our 2007 city election, only 11 1/2 percent of registered voters participated.

There's room for growth.

And if I begin to get some traction on the ease of voting absentee, as Gov. Culver did when he voted for president last year, watch out, formidable foes. Your wealth, influence and prestige may be all you have left! You have both underestimated the cost, in time needed, to lead our city in this post-flood recovery era by your unwillingness to adopt a more modest lifestyle and give up your day jobs.

For absentee balloters galore have the potential, if they choose to do so, of electing a full-time mayor.

There are too many issues left unsettled in our post-flood era that need our attention, including an important city council up or down vote in January on the city manager's $165,000-a-year position, and his future as the City of Five Seasons' CEO.

I'm the only candidate for mayor who will deliver on this.

This issue may not be resolved until 2013, at the rate my opponents will move, due to their part-time efforts and commitment. Our beloved Parlour City deserves so much more.

My aim if elected is to give our beloved city a value-added mayor.

P.T. Larson is a candidate for mayor of Cedar Rapids.