Former Mayor of Avondale Ron Drake is having a few problems getting out of the gate in his bid to unseat Congressman Raul Grijalva in CD 7. The first and most obvious is the apparent futility of running at all against an extremely popular Representative in a safe Democratic district. The answer to that conundrum probably lies somewhere between overweening ambition and exhibitionism, and a promise of preference from the AZ GOP in some future office that is within their metier in exchange for a sacrificial dash.
What struck me immediately about Drake’s campaign was the symbolic resonance of his announcement. For some reason Drake’s campaign decided that a Southern Pacific engine would make a dandy backdrop for the historic occassion. What does this say about the campaign?
It could mean that Drake is boldly looking backward into the 1880s for
the inspiration for his campaign. Perhaps he is making a endorsement of
business practices of the railroads during the expansion of the
Southern Pacific line across the Southwest, marked by graft,
monopolistic practices, price fixing, political corruption and the
wholesale subbornation of the public welfare to private business
interests. Perhaps he is promising to support polluting and inefficient
legacy business models that require massive infusions of corporate
welfare to sustain the industry. Any way you look at it, Drake’s
message is rather alarming.
Other’s have pointed out that Drake is unwilling, or unprepared to answer easy questions
about his own voting record as Mayor: specifically how did he vote on
Avondale’s resolution calling for the PATRIOT act not to be renewed unless legal
standards be reinstated before an individual’s personal information can be
accessed.
The answer as to how he voted is easy enough to determine:
RESOLUTION
2525-05 PATRIOT ACT: A
resolution that urges Congress to amend the Patriot Act, requesting that legal
standards be reinstated before an individual’s personal information can be
accessed.Andrew McGuire, City Attorney, read Resolution 2525-05, by
title only. Council Member Wolf moved to approve the Resolution and directed
staff to send a copy of the information to the National League of Cities.
Councilman Carroll seconded the motion.
ROLL CALL VOTE AS FOLLOWS:
|
Council Member Earp
|
Aye
|
|
Council Member Rogers
|
Aye
|
|
Council Member Wolf
|
Aye
|
|
Council Member Carroll
|
Aye
|
|
Council Member Leitner
|
Aye
|
|
Vice Mayor Lynch
|
Aye
|
|
Mayor Drake
|
Aye |
Now that we’ve answered that question, it remains to be seen why Drake voted for it, and why he seems to be running away from his vote now.