A former four-term GOP prosecutor is running as an independent for DeKalb County commissioner against Republican nominee many party insiders view as extremist
Thank you for the excellent work you’ve done covering these local races. We have a massive dearth of local political reporting so you’re filling a vital need.
The funny thing is: Dooley’s stance on roads has a small kernel of truth, but not for the reason he thinks it does. The suburban-style single family home growth pattern is inherently unsustainable because the taxes generated from that type of housing aren’t enough to cover ongoing maintenance costs on things like roads and utilities. There is an illusion of financial stability in the short term (you don’t need to do maintenance on a road that was just built a year ago) but over time the math just doesn’t work. Cities work this problem out by continuously growing and using the temporary infusion of new tax dollars to pay for the maintenance of older subdivisions. Once an area stops growing, it quickly becomes financially insolvent and is unable to provide even most basic services (see: Detroit in the late 2000s). This is called the “Growth Ponzi Scheme.” Strong Towns by Charles Marohn goes into it in great detail. The solution very obviously isn’t to get rid of roads, as Dooley ludicrously suggests. It’s to build denser, mixed use housing. I have to imagine Dooley would have an aneurysm if someone suggested that to him though.
Thank you for the excellent work you’ve done covering these local races. We have a massive dearth of local political reporting so you’re filling a vital need.
The funny thing is: Dooley’s stance on roads has a small kernel of truth, but not for the reason he thinks it does. The suburban-style single family home growth pattern is inherently unsustainable because the taxes generated from that type of housing aren’t enough to cover ongoing maintenance costs on things like roads and utilities. There is an illusion of financial stability in the short term (you don’t need to do maintenance on a road that was just built a year ago) but over time the math just doesn’t work. Cities work this problem out by continuously growing and using the temporary infusion of new tax dollars to pay for the maintenance of older subdivisions. Once an area stops growing, it quickly becomes financially insolvent and is unable to provide even most basic services (see: Detroit in the late 2000s). This is called the “Growth Ponzi Scheme.” Strong Towns by Charles Marohn goes into it in great detail. The solution very obviously isn’t to get rid of roads, as Dooley ludicrously suggests. It’s to build denser, mixed use housing. I have to imagine Dooley would have an aneurysm if someone suggested that to him though.