Michiel Noe - District 5 Candidate
I had a chance to visit with Dr. Noe on a while back for a cup of coffee and some discussion on his candidacy and where he stands on various issues. I meant to write about this a while back but had a full plate with the station changes.
Dr. Noe, as he did at the Tejano Democrats meeting Tuesday night, explained to me that he came from a family of Republicans and had at one point voted for President Bush. He also explained that he eventually switched parties to become a Democrat.
This has caused quite a bit of concern from local Democrats who aren't entirely convinced that his conversion is genuine. Interestingly some of these same people didn't have a problem with Brian Haggerty who changed parties recently as well.
My best analysis is that Noe is in fact a Democrat, albeit a conservative one. We visited for a little over an hour and I asked him policy-based questions. Its good to see a candidate that isn't afraid to stand up to a little scrutiny and answer issue-based questions that relate to his candidacy. Too bad I can't say the same for all of the candidates.
Nonetheless, we talked about issues in the upcoming election, his views on some of the issues the city council has dealt with over the last year or so, and what he thought the priorities of the district where.
Here's an over view of what we talked about and what his positions are on the issues.
Why He's Running: "I see a need on the Eastside for someone who will be a voice." He said he felt like the Eastside needed someone who will stand up and speak their mind. He was very diplomatic in clarifying that he didn't mean it as a slight on anyone that is currently on council. Noe talked about being accessible and opening an office in the district and having a minimum of two meetings a month there. This is an idea that was successful for Representative Robinson in the Northeast. Noe's opponent has been talking about this idea since the day she announced her candidacy as well.
His Plan: "To listen to all sides, number one..." Noe said he was going to look at each issue in a way that he doesn't believe is being looked at now. He then went on to explain his point from the perspective of a physician, measuring risks, benefits and alternatives. He mentioned being committed to researching each issue, getting input from all the stake holders and then examine all the scenarios to choose the best course of action.
The Three Biggest Issues Facing the District - "...safety, taxes, and quality of life..." Noe says police have to be a priority. He said the city deserves a sound police and fire department. He mentioned setting up a block watch within the neighborhood association in his area.
Noe said that quality of life issues need to be balanced with the budget. "I think we are getting a little short-changed on quality of life issues...I'm gonna fight for our fair share." He talked of setting up an Eastside Business Association so that business people can help contribute to parks and other community beautification issues.
On taxes Noe's position is that waste in spending is what should be looked at before budget cuts and tax increases. He made note of the fact that with cuts at the federal and state level it was going to be much more difficult to provide a baseline level of services. When specifically asked about his stance on taxes, Noe replied, "I'm for spending not one more cent than we need to to get what we deserve, what we are entitled to and not taxing one cent more than we need to. I'm for making the city do something they don't like to do, and thats making them be more effecient...I am tough fiscally, but I am a Democrat. I fight for the taxpayer and the downtrodden...Taxes have to be fair and transparent. These fees are crap, they are hiding takes. I mean speak the truth."
I followed up by asking if we can get there (balancing the budget) on taxes alone or would he examine a tax increase. "You have to examine everything. If there is a tax increase that the city has to have to function at its basic levels for safety that the city has an obligation to do and services, then you have to do what you have to do. But I think what you first want to do is look for waste and cut that."
We went on to talk about other city issues including waste management and contracts.
Eventually I asked him a question about the fact that City Manager Joyce Wilson moved the Auditors under her control in the city chain of command. They previously answered to city council. I asked him what he thought of that and he said he didn't like it, but that he had to research the issue more because he felt he didn't know enough about the issue to fully answer my question.
That surprised me. Maybe I'm getting a little cynical covering El Paso politics, but I was surprised to hear a candidate shoot straight with me. I think sometimes they forget that sometimes it is okay to answer a question with I don't know. I guess they usually think they do a good job of hiding the fact that they don't know an answer to a question, but they aren't fooling anyone. So when one of them is honest with me, it usually surprises me.
Here are his answers on how he would've voted on some of the more controversial issues before council over the last year:
Plastic Bags - He said he sees it work well in other places like Washington, DC. He apparently knows his trash pretty well because he mentioned the speed at which paper degrades in a landfill. Apparently its not as fast as we think. He said he probably would've voted to eliminate the plastic bags.
SB 1070 Resolution - He paused for a great while before finally answering that question. I get it, it can be hard disagreeing with me on an issue I am so passionate about while I'm sitting right in front of him. He said he would have abstained from voting on the resolution. He said he didn't like what was going on in Arizona but didn't think it was appropriate for El Paso to be voting on a resolution condeming their policy.
ADA Compliant Apartments - Noe says he spoke with the Apartment Association about this issue. He says both sides are right and both sides are wrong. The central problem is that there is not enough affordable housing for the disabled because they are frequently on fixed income. The focus he said shouldn't be on more accessible apartments, but a strong focus on ADA compliant affordable housing.
Domestic Partner Benefits - He gave one of the most complicated answers I ever heard and I don't think I followed very well because he took a few side trips when he answered, but when we finally got to the end of the road, he was against it. Mostly. Sort of. I think.
So there was most of our conversation in a nutshell. We also covered economic development and his throughts on how he can win the seat, but I'll save that for another piece later because I want to go over my notes and ask some follow-up questions on ecomonic development.
Stay tuned for more candidate profiles throughout the race...
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| From The Lion Star Blog by Jaime Abeytia |
| From The Lion Star Blog by Jaime Abeytia |
This has caused quite a bit of concern from local Democrats who aren't entirely convinced that his conversion is genuine. Interestingly some of these same people didn't have a problem with Brian Haggerty who changed parties recently as well.
My best analysis is that Noe is in fact a Democrat, albeit a conservative one. We visited for a little over an hour and I asked him policy-based questions. Its good to see a candidate that isn't afraid to stand up to a little scrutiny and answer issue-based questions that relate to his candidacy. Too bad I can't say the same for all of the candidates.
Nonetheless, we talked about issues in the upcoming election, his views on some of the issues the city council has dealt with over the last year or so, and what he thought the priorities of the district where.
Here's an over view of what we talked about and what his positions are on the issues.
Why He's Running: "I see a need on the Eastside for someone who will be a voice." He said he felt like the Eastside needed someone who will stand up and speak their mind. He was very diplomatic in clarifying that he didn't mean it as a slight on anyone that is currently on council. Noe talked about being accessible and opening an office in the district and having a minimum of two meetings a month there. This is an idea that was successful for Representative Robinson in the Northeast. Noe's opponent has been talking about this idea since the day she announced her candidacy as well.
His Plan: "To listen to all sides, number one..." Noe said he was going to look at each issue in a way that he doesn't believe is being looked at now. He then went on to explain his point from the perspective of a physician, measuring risks, benefits and alternatives. He mentioned being committed to researching each issue, getting input from all the stake holders and then examine all the scenarios to choose the best course of action.
The Three Biggest Issues Facing the District - "...safety, taxes, and quality of life..." Noe says police have to be a priority. He said the city deserves a sound police and fire department. He mentioned setting up a block watch within the neighborhood association in his area.
Noe said that quality of life issues need to be balanced with the budget. "I think we are getting a little short-changed on quality of life issues...I'm gonna fight for our fair share." He talked of setting up an Eastside Business Association so that business people can help contribute to parks and other community beautification issues.
On taxes Noe's position is that waste in spending is what should be looked at before budget cuts and tax increases. He made note of the fact that with cuts at the federal and state level it was going to be much more difficult to provide a baseline level of services. When specifically asked about his stance on taxes, Noe replied, "I'm for spending not one more cent than we need to to get what we deserve, what we are entitled to and not taxing one cent more than we need to. I'm for making the city do something they don't like to do, and thats making them be more effecient...I am tough fiscally, but I am a Democrat. I fight for the taxpayer and the downtrodden...Taxes have to be fair and transparent. These fees are crap, they are hiding takes. I mean speak the truth."
I followed up by asking if we can get there (balancing the budget) on taxes alone or would he examine a tax increase. "You have to examine everything. If there is a tax increase that the city has to have to function at its basic levels for safety that the city has an obligation to do and services, then you have to do what you have to do. But I think what you first want to do is look for waste and cut that."
We went on to talk about other city issues including waste management and contracts.
Eventually I asked him a question about the fact that City Manager Joyce Wilson moved the Auditors under her control in the city chain of command. They previously answered to city council. I asked him what he thought of that and he said he didn't like it, but that he had to research the issue more because he felt he didn't know enough about the issue to fully answer my question.
That surprised me. Maybe I'm getting a little cynical covering El Paso politics, but I was surprised to hear a candidate shoot straight with me. I think sometimes they forget that sometimes it is okay to answer a question with I don't know. I guess they usually think they do a good job of hiding the fact that they don't know an answer to a question, but they aren't fooling anyone. So when one of them is honest with me, it usually surprises me.
Here are his answers on how he would've voted on some of the more controversial issues before council over the last year:
Plastic Bags - He said he sees it work well in other places like Washington, DC. He apparently knows his trash pretty well because he mentioned the speed at which paper degrades in a landfill. Apparently its not as fast as we think. He said he probably would've voted to eliminate the plastic bags.
SB 1070 Resolution - He paused for a great while before finally answering that question. I get it, it can be hard disagreeing with me on an issue I am so passionate about while I'm sitting right in front of him. He said he would have abstained from voting on the resolution. He said he didn't like what was going on in Arizona but didn't think it was appropriate for El Paso to be voting on a resolution condeming their policy.
ADA Compliant Apartments - Noe says he spoke with the Apartment Association about this issue. He says both sides are right and both sides are wrong. The central problem is that there is not enough affordable housing for the disabled because they are frequently on fixed income. The focus he said shouldn't be on more accessible apartments, but a strong focus on ADA compliant affordable housing.
Domestic Partner Benefits - He gave one of the most complicated answers I ever heard and I don't think I followed very well because he took a few side trips when he answered, but when we finally got to the end of the road, he was against it. Mostly. Sort of. I think.
So there was most of our conversation in a nutshell. We also covered economic development and his throughts on how he can win the seat, but I'll save that for another piece later because I want to go over my notes and ask some follow-up questions on ecomonic development.
Stay tuned for more candidate profiles throughout the race...
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