Paying attention, Marty?

Maggie says:
As further evidence that most cool planning news comes out of California, the city of Murrieta just recalled Mayor Jack van Haaster because of the city's rapid development. Last year, citizens formed a group called Rescue Murrieta in response to several controversial project approvals that they disagreed with. According to the citizen group, growth in Murrieta (cited as one of California's fastest growing cities) has been too rapid and resulted in major traffic congestion, a loss of open space, and other problems. This kick-ass group then targeted three officials (two councilors and the mayor) who they cited as being beholden to developers, started the recall process, and low and behold, their development-hungry mayor is now out of a job.

Other tidbits: Murrieta has grown 92% in just five years. And guess who backed the three officials (and outspent Rescue Murrieta 60-to-1, by the way)? Two branches of the Building Industry Association and at least four other development interests capable of writing five-figure checks to save their mayor.

What could this mean for Albuquerque, struggling with the same problems of massive growth without adequate planning and a mayor who's owned by developers? First, people really need to stop saying that Marty will win re-election "just because of the money." I hear this a lot. The Murrieta case is almost parallel to what we have happening here in town, and look at the results. Second, voters aren't dumb. So Marty, next time you're going on about how you really do care about the entire city, not just the West Side, and about how it's perfectly fine for the rest of the city to crumble while new subdivisions spring up daily out west, think of Murrieta and how those voters outsmarted their mayor. We can and will do the same. Denying the very real traffic, infrastructure, environmental, and quality of life problems that your policies are causing won't work any more. Third, other officials need to take note. I'm thinking of the legislators behind the push to destroy the Planned Growth Strategy in particular. Again, this city is full of very smart people who are perfectly capable of connecting the dots between politics and who's footing the bill (that's you, NAIOP). And for progressives who are out there doing good work, publicize it. Albuquerque is ready for a real discussion about its planning problems, and we're looking to you to make some major changes. (P.S. to David Steele: Running for mayor as a "planner" but saying you want to repeal the PGS in favor of something "more realistic" is not progress, it's Marty Lite and no one buys it.)