Thomas cast doubt as to whether Whitmire truly opposed the increase, questioning whether the mayor wanted to shift the political burden onto City Council.
“I think that works in his favor politically, to have three council members come out and take hits that he doesn’t have to take because he’s on record saying ‘I’m not raising taxes,’” Thomas told the Chronicle. “He had his finance director come before us with the proposed option, which, that’s a signal of a green light.”
The three Republicans, at least for now, coming out as being against a tax increase kind of surprised me, but maybe not so much as they would have to rely on Republican support to get re-elected.
Last year, I wrote that it was probably Whitmire’s plan.
Why would the Republican choice for mayor do such a thing? It’s easy: He wants to say the council members voted for it. It wasn’t me, and what better choice than the representative of the low-information Greyhound in our backyard, residents of the Latino Community? District I, which Joaquin Martinez represents, is the most Latino council district. Source
Some people have suggested that Joaquin Martinez could be the first Latino mayor. I seriously doubt it, but after Trump, I don’t underestimate voters’ ignorance.
