Some Tasks for Mayor Berry

In an unexpected (by him) and welcome (by the electorate) defeat, Mayor Martin Chavez lost to (now) Mayor Elect R. J. Berry in the October election. The new mayor doesn't get to take over until December, but in the mean time, here's some suggestions to undo some of the things that are just "a bit off" from the last mayor's terms. (Yes, that's plural. Chavez had been mayor for just too long.)

1. I have nothing against bicycles, but stop reducing traffic lane counts in favor of bicycle lanes. There aren't, and won't be that many people bicycling to work. It takes people who are extraordinarily physically fit to bicycle for miles uphill. If ABQ were flat, I could see it. But most of it is not flat. Reverse the trend. For example, put back four lanes on Morris north of Candelaria. And on Indian School west of Wyoming and east of Eubank. Come on already! Traffic is already bad enough. And even Smart cars need regular traffic lanes.
2. Take down the silly sewer-cover / tinpot dictator emblems from the Rio Grande Blvd., I-40 bridge, and do something with those tricentennial towers.
3. Stop with the rapid-rides and just put on more regular buses that travel by "grid" routes so we can all figure out where we are going if we have to ride them.
4. Don't even think about putting your picture on everything "city."
5. Get rid of the red light / speed cameras. I don't care if they reduce accidents. (Harsh.) But banning all auto traffic from the streets would reduce accidents, too. Both actions intrude on our rights. We have a constitutional right both to due process and to confront our accuser. The cameras and their kangaroo "administrative" hearings provide neither. I can't confront a speed camera. And a hearing officer paid by the city can't provide due process.
6. Do nothing else in the name of safety and/or environmental purism that infringes on our constitutional rights. There are enough things that are within the framework of the constitution that can be done in both arenas.
7. Just be mayor. Don't try to be all thing for all people. And don't have delusions of grandeur. Albuquerque is not New York or Los Angeles, nor is it Las Vegas. Stop trying to make it so.
8. Limit growth. I have been in ABQ for 15 years and I never imagined when I moved here that it could sprawl so badly. It is as horrifying as the city I moved from in that respect. A sea of oversized housing on undersized lots, with no landscaping, is not scenic. It's scary!