Council rejects "study" of restricting fast food near schools (Austin: apartment, health insurance)

[df175]

Keep in mind that TOVO, MORRISON, and MARTINEZ voted for this "study." These are the three who seem to push for every measure that drives up the cost of living - NIMBY driven zoning ordinances, blanket apartment inspections (renters have to let city code official inspect their place under threat of warrant), and so on.

10-1 cannot come soon enough.

At least the Mayor, Spelman, and Cole are semi sane, with Riley only a half kook.

[gpurcell]

I'm actually shocked Riley didn't support this.

[ScoPro]

Kooks have been the norm in Austin politics since the '70s. Maybe the 10-1 system will thin them out.

In the meantime, the city fathers are scratching their heads why their flood response system is a failure. Oh well, they can ponder it whilst jogging on their new $25,000,000" boardwalk".

[hoffdano]

Those 3, especially Martinez, are just nuts. I just can't understand why these people think the city should be involved these issues. Even more so when there are so many pressing things that impact the lives of everyone in the Austin area.

[Don in Austin]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

Those 3, especially Martinez, are just nuts. I just can't understand why these people think the city should be involved these issues. Even more so when there are so many pressing things that impact the lives of everyone in the Austin area.

Well, I can sympathize with their good intentions. I sometimes stop in at a 7-11 next to the junior high on South Congress. It is pretty appalling to see huge throngs of juveniles making complete meals out of HFCS -- today's groundwork for tomorrow's diabetes and gross obesity. But the idea that an anti-fast food zoning law can be implemented and sold to the public is naive to the say the least and for libertarian reasons I am not saying it SHOULD be sold to the public even if it could be.

It ain't going to happen, anyway, so let's relax.

Don

[scm53]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

Those 3, especially Martinez, are just nuts. I just can't understand why these people think the city should be involved these issues. Even more so when there are so many pressing things that impact the lives of everyone in the Austin area.

It is just what they are - willing to use the power of government because you can't be trusted to make good decisions. Just like you can't be trusted to buy the right size fountain drink, or you can't be trusted to buy the right kind of health insurance. There is a pernicious strain in American politics - and these three are part if it.

My hope is, that if Martinez runs for mayor, this vote is so often in ads by his opponent, that he sees it in his sleep. Voters need a constant reminder of what he his, and why he is in politics - to tell you what you need to do.

[bvanevery]

Does Austin have any kind of healthy school cafeteria food movement, or farm-to-school programs? Spending tax payer dollars to thwart external businesses is foolish. Such money should be spent on improving the food that schools provide. The experience of other cities is that when school food sucks less and has higher nutritional value, kids eat it and some behavior problems go away. At that point, if a kid wants to eat at McD's rather than the school cafeteria, that may be due to "coolness" factors of personal identity more than anything else. At any rate, I don't see any reason why a school can't compete with fast food. Any tax payer funded propaganda campaigns should go into making better cafeterias be perceived as being cool.

scm53, in fairness to the politicos, kids can't be trusted with most of the personal decisions. They are ideal receptacles for corporate brainwashing. Any public policy that doesn't take this into account is naive. However, there's still a right way and a wrong way to spend public funds on a worthwhile goal, i.e. public health.