John Kilian, candidate for mayor, sent the following comment for consideration at Planning and Zoning, and requested that it be published in The Eye. He also requested that the press ask candidates for Planning and Zoning indicate what they think about this proposal. The Eye invites all candidates to respond, please send email to middletowneye@gmail.com.
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For years now, we have protected our children from addictive substances by prescribing additional punishment to those who sell their deleterious products within a fairly wide radius of the schools where we try to teach our children. The time has come to apply the same approach to the fast food industry, which similarly cultivates addiction in our young people as part of degenerate business plans that are as successful as they are pernicious.
The establishment of zones within walking distance of our schools, such as a mile from center mass of a public school, would allow our Common Council to establish the premium fees industries that prey on our children shall pay in exchange for easy access to our children.
So if a corporation can pay the fee they can be within a mile of a school and exploit our children. Sounds more like your promoting it to raise revenue than preventing it. Not very well thought out for a Mayoral candidate.
ReplyDeleteObviously this fella is a graduate of the Bloomberg School of Management. How do you make up these things? Nobody is force-feeding Big Macs into the mouths of helpless youths.Once again, deflect the blame from the real cause and penalize business.
ReplyDeleteRemember, many of these school children will be working for these fast food franchises when they graduate.
This is got to be more satire from this joker Kilian!
ReplyDeleteThe point is, our children are being targeted by big businesses, and with deleterious effect. Why are we changing our Zoning to allow them easier access, instead of taking measures to make it harder for our children to be herded into the nutritional equivalents of crack houses?
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great idea, very pragmatic. John Kilian is a genius.
ReplyDeleteA genius would know that the City of Middletown lacks the legal authority to impose such a fee.
ReplyDeleteI think it would take more than a genius to read the mind of an anonymous critic who does not explain why a city cannot tax activities completely within its jurisdiction. And it wasn't legal for CT to legalize medical marijuana, but they did, and the feds are not doing much to counter these state initiatives.
ReplyDeleteYou can take action to help children in your city.
Connecticut law clearly states that municipalities have no powers of taxation except those expressly given by the legislature. Can you figure out the problem now?
ReplyDeleteThe biggest problem, Anonymous, are people who limit their efforts to address problems to what they consider to be unchangeable codes. Childhood obesity is a huge problem,one that threatens to dissolve healthcare as we know it. If the state law becomes a problem, you change the state law.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, do you have any solutions to this crisis you would like to volunteer? Or do you think we just have to accept the demise of Western Civilization because that's what's good for business.
Really John? You are campaigning for mayor on the proposal to tax fast food, completely unaware that the city doesn't have the power to impose such a tax and I am the problem? My pointing out the obvious flaw in your idea is going to lead to the collapse of the entire Western World?
ReplyDeleteAdjudication of jurisdiction is hardly a slam dunk for challengers of local autonomy.
ReplyDeleteMedical Marijuana is a violation of Federal law, and yet the Common Council voted to allow it in Middletown. Laws change when they need to be changed, and leaders don't use current laws to rule out solutions. Laws change all the time. We are not powerless, unless we choose not to fight for our children.
John the problem with your proposal has nothing to do with jurisdiction, and yes, it is a total slam dunk that you cannot do what you propose.
ReplyDeleteAfter the Civic Center roof collapsed Hartford collected a 4.5% sales tax on hotel stays to pay for repairs. How can you say something that has already been done, "impossible"? We're talking about a town charging a fee, not turning pumpkins into golden carriages.
ReplyDeleteYou could require licenses for operations that host unusual amounts of idling. Especially within a mile of schools, where our children have to breathe. Fees for such licenses could be tied to the volume of traffic that passes thru these venues.
Plenty of ways to skin this cat.
No John, wrong again. There is a STATE occupancy tax on hotel rooms and the STATE gives some of that money to the city in which the room is located. Hartford does not have the power to impose such a tax.
ReplyDeleteNor can you simply call a tax a license fees as you suggest. That has been tried by other municipalities in Connecticut and they have all been struck down.
P.S. your cat is dead.