Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Republican Candidate Matt Brakey Curries the Anti-Red-Light-Camera Vote
Posted by Vince Grzegorek on Tue, Jul 6, 2010 at 11:06 AM
- Red light cameras also known as "common ground" in political parlance.
If there’s one thing politicians of all stripes can agree on, it’s that traffic cameras are the work of the devil and smashing them to pieces is the best way to get America exercising again.
But promoting a ban on traffic cameras is also a fine way to seek the common ground on the campaign trail. It’s working for young Republican Matt Brakey, who’s running for Cuyahoga County Council in District 10 (Cleveland Heights, East Cleveland, Bratenahl, and Cleveland Wards 10 and 11), where Democrats outnumber Republicans 6 to 1.
During rush hour one day last week, Brakey and two friends were stationed at the top of Cedar Hill in Cleveland Heights, holding a banner that read “Ban red light cameras” along with the words “Principles Before Party.” They were greeted with a chorus of approving honks.
But Brakey may not curry such favor among his own ranks: The 29-year-old entrepreneur and law student opposed the new county charter (largely a Republican brainchild), saying that it opens the door for even more corruption than the current government does. He wants to eliminate the county sales tax and replace it with new property taxes, despite hailing from Shaker Heights and residing in Cleveland Heights — two cities with among the highest property taxes in Ohio. And he’s suspicious of flashy downtown projects he claims benefit mostly the same clique of developers. He also thinks it’s time someone had the guts to pull the plug on the medical mart.
If it all doesn’t sound particularly Republican, there’s good reason: Brakey ran as a Republican only because the 50 signatures required were way easier to get than the 358 he would have needed to qualify as an Independent.
He’s not sure whether the county Republican Party will back him. “I went to an endorsement meeting,” he says. “They wanted me to agree that I supported their principles. I asked them to tell me what their principles were and I would tell them whether I supported them.”
Comments (13)
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Matt Brakey here. There's a couple of things I would like to note:
1) I'm not running as a Republican "only" because of ballot access issues -- that is a secondary reason. The main reason is because I'm looking to reform the Party. But ballot access issues, in a more broader sense, certainly plays a big role; 2) this is more of a clarification than a correction. While property taxes are a far more efficient form of taxation, I would not be looking to shuffle the same tax burden from the sales tax to the property tax. I would ideally like to just abolish the sales tax altogether.
Other than that, this article captured much about what my campaign is about. Thanks for the nice writeup!
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Sounds like someone who isn't part of the machine. I need to look into him further for sure.
I like a candidate who has participated at the community level actively. Matt has been a proponent of banning red light cameras from the beginning of the campaign to ban red light cameras in Cleveland, South Euclid and Garfield Hts. Matt has been active at the community level representing the real government, the people. Those running for office should be scrutinized according to what they have really done for the community, not what they say they are going to do. How many candidates have been actively helping the community at large? or are they trying to run on a name popularity contest or some other big name achievement that had absolutely nothing to do with their own community.
This guy is a total douchebag. If you vote for him, you will see a serious demise in what is already a suffering city. Libertarianism doesn't work - smart, effective, solution-based government does.
Things Brakey has said - Abraham Lincoln was a war criminal and among our worst presidents; we should get rid of the tax exemption on people's healthcare benefits; the 1st amendment shouldn't apply to states, etc.
He's a nut.
"smart, effective, solution-based government does" why would i believe anything you would say? you sound like a child in the words you write. Douchebag? thats very mature of you. You are a tool. there you see how easy that was? whats the matter, did you just find out your girlfriend has a thing for this guy or something? maybe found his picture in her purse? so i ask, who is really the douchebag?????
I agree with Puzzled. Additionally, I have stopped holding my breath for "smart, effective, solution-based government." In theory, "smart, effective, solution-based government" is great. In reality, I have yet to see the government actually act that way. Everything it seems to touch turns into just the opposite--ineffective, wasteful and inefficient.
Brakey is a fresh, welcome voice. I hope he can gain a foothold in the upcoming elections.
The person who made the comment above is named Jeff Sanders. Apparently he has an ax to grind and seemed to think he could slander me in anonymous fashion.
I'm Jeff Sanders. I didn't make the comment. For the record, I do not agree with Matt's policies. However, if I were going to attack him I would do so publicly and respectfully. I can see how he would think the comment was made by me, but it wasn't.
Matt Brakey supports building a terror Mosque near hollowed ground on the 9/11 site. No Republican in their right mind should vote for him. We should stand up to the terrorists, not give in to them. Give me a real conservative candidate.
What the hell does that have to do with Cleveland rightisright? You're an idiot.
Rightisright is right...supporting terror is just as horrible in Cleveland as it is in New York. Islam is evil.
