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Ingold collecting signatures to run for Mayor
02/12/2016 7:20 PM by John M
Chad Ingold, a Fulton resident and history teacher at Open High (and formally at MLK Middle School), is collecting signatures to make a run for Mayor this year.
From the twitter feed, his nascent campaign has a focus on social issues, including education and “the social growth and revitalization of our community”.
Ingold for Mayor
@Ingoldformayor
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Would like to hear his qualifications on running a city other than education. a 500 million dollar budget isn’t just going to balance itself.
Ingold has my vote. Richmond needs to focus on its public school system and sense of civic pride, two departments the gentleman from Fulton seems to have experience with.
He also taught English at MLK. That takes guts.
Mike, do you think Dwight Jones was some kind of financial genius because he ran a church?
If Mr. Ingold thinks we need better schools (we do) then he ought not give short shrift to economic growth. It is the only way to expand the tax base and bring in new revenues to the city.
With the exception of those of us who are subsidized by historic tax credits, taxes in the city are already becoming uncompetitively high relative to the surrounding counties. A significant tax increase is not going to fly. So the best way to increase revenues is to create new economic value in the city through economic growth. Economic growth brings in new tax revenues. The (hopefully) increased property values of the surrounding real estate also brings in more revenue. That’s money that could be spent on schools.
I have no idea what “social growth” is, but it doesn’t sound like it will generate dollar one to fix the schools. Also, not like the city has the debt capacity to borrow the money.
Given the track record of Richmond government, I wonder how much of the city’s tax revenues that would otherwise be available for schools is instead completely frittered away by bad management, non-existent financial controls, inability to balance the municipal checkbook and things that are utterly wasteful and unrelated to the already underfunded basic services. We can start with the individual Council member’s slush funds and work from there.
I’m sure Mr. Ingold is a nice guy, but I would rather see someone with some real financial and management acumen take the reins for once.