Proving once again that no matter who voters elect to office, they don’t necessarily support higher taxes and vast increases in the size and scope of government, Albuquerque Public Schools district voters overwhelmingly turned down two tax hikes and a bond measure last night.
The Rio Grande Foundation was among the small group of organizations leading the charge against this massive overreach. Here is a recap from the Albuquerque Journal.
Noted Gesing, for the 3rd time in less than three years (the Santa Fe soda tax and Albuquerque paid sick leave mandate) when voters are given a “clean shot” via the ballot box on issues of taxes or unrealistic mandates, the voters have sided with the Rio Grande Foundation and its views on limited government.
Gessing sat down with KOB-TV immediately after the results were released for a story that can be viewed below. As noted, voter turnout was quite high relative to other APS elections. Whether that was due to the big tax hikes on the ballot or the convenience of the mail-in election is anybody’s guess.
The lesson learned from the Mail In Vote is that when a larger number of voters are involved, many School Bonds & Taxes won’t be routinely passed
Hooray, hooray, hooray!!! And I hope the next school board election will be in November along with all the other stuff, so that many more people will vote and we will have a similar outcome.
I neglected to add a well-earned thank-you to the Rio Grande Foundation for its help in bringing about this result. I posted one of Paul’s best comments on this issue on my NextDoor website, which seems to reach many more neighborhoods than just my local Heritage East one. I’m sure that helped many people decide not only to vote, but to vote “no” to all three issues.
Thank you very much, Paul!!!
The high voter turnout may have been partly the result of the new election law that prompted the mail-in ballot. Previous school elections that used schools as polling places made it more convenient for school employees to vote than for parents and taxpayers. Voter turnout in the last school board election was only slightly higher than the APS payroll, and you can guess who did most of the voting. Under the old school election system, that tax hike might have passed.
All great comments but the question – why do democratic voters, being the majority of those voting this APS issue down, continue to put in office those who raise taxes and take away economic freedom elsewhere – has not been answered.