The following is Republican city council at-large candidate Tariq Bokhari’s response to the candidate survey.
I would just like to preface my answers to these VERY SPECIFIC questions below (thanks Jeff!) with two things: 1) The safe way out in situations like this is to not answer questionnaires like these – ones that make you take specific positions. I believe that it is my responsibility to you to always be upfront about my views, and share them for better or worse. I pride myself on being a logical person, and am always willing to have a dialogue on my views, and if you have a logical counterpoint that makes sense, I will never be one to hold onto a position just because I said it once before. 2) Many of the answers below are my opinions – and how something personally makes me feel is not necessarily how I, as a leader, would make decisions for the good of the city. I may like something, but it may not be in the best interest of the city, and in that case I would not be able to support it. That is the curse of living by a set of principles. I hope I can earn your vote in Sept and Nov.
Question 1 — Based on the facts as you now understand them, do you believe the Mecklenburg district attorney’s office should charge C.L. McClure with a crime in connection with the recent shooting death of Marcus Fluker?
Bokhari: This is a difficult situation. On one hand, we can look to the Bible and say “Thou shalt not kill” yet be just as right in quoting “An eye for an eye”. It is a slippery slope to travel when the law says you may only be justified in killing when, as the law states, you are in clear and imminent danger. After the perpetrators left the McClure’s home it could be argued that the imminent danger had passed. However, it could also be convincingly argued that for anyone tied up and threatened the way the McClure’s were, that there is nothing to say they would not come back again in the future, thereby, in the reality of the victim (and let’s be clear, the McClure’s are the victims, NOT Marcus Fluker) they were still in imminent danger when Mr McClure chased them down and shot at them. Fact is, it is entirely plausible that the perpetrators threatened that if the McClure’s called the police that they would come back and kill them. I strongly believe that these repeat offenders being on the streets in unacceptable, and shows how broken our criminal justice system is.
Question 2 — Do you believe Mecklenburg County should seek state authority to levy an additional half-cent sales tax dedicated to transit? Would you support additional dedicated revenue of any kind for CATS, such as car licensing fees, parking surcharges, etc.?
Bokhari: No, we have pressing needs with our $12B road crisis that are priority number 1 for our transportation spending. I pledge to this community that if elected, over the next 2 years, I will not vote on anything that raises taxes or fees – our economy can’t afford it, and we can still spend on our needs through zero-based budgeting and prioritized spending. This doesn’t mean I am against exploring other transportation solutions, it means that I believe we need to be realistic about our current situation, and weigh out through cost/benefit analysis each decision we make. In fact, what we must do, as responsible stewards of the public’s money and the public trust is CUT taxes significantly. The people’s money is best left in the hands of the people, not the government.
Question 3 — Do you support the construction of a $500m. streetcar line across Charlotte? How would you pay for it?
Bokhari: I am not against multiple options for transportation plans, possibly including light rail, streetcars, buses, and bike lanes, but with each of these decisions I will have to answer the following questions: 1) Have we taken care of our $12B road crisis, 2) can we accomplish this in a way that helps lower taxes, 3) can we accomplish this in a way that helps shrink government, 4) can we accomplish this in a way that helps promote free enterprise, 5) can we accomplish this in a way that helps promote individual liberty, and 6) does our approach uphold the constitution? I don’t see any true leaders in the private sector state they are against something forever point blank, and I wouldn’t want that in any leader that represents me in government. I am someone who will take every decision that I have to make, do my homework, answer my own questions based upon my principles, and make the best possible decision for the long term future of this city. To me, creative solutions are about finding ways to accomplish things this city needs and wants in a way that still upholds ones principles – and if I can’t figure out how to do it for a certain topic – no matter how much I or others want it – I will not be able to vote for it – period.
Question 4 — Has the city’s 311 system been a success? Explain.
Bokhari: I would perform a cost-benefit analysis to determine how much per customer this service is costing us, and then quantify the softer factors of efficiencies gained by having the service to make a call on if the system is effective. It does fall in one of my priority areas of making local government a more customer-service oriented model for businesses and citizens. Again, we must be more like Lowes and less like the DMV to be successful and value-adding for our shareholders.
Question 5 — Given what has transpired in other cities in recent months, with pro sports franchises winning more advantageous lease conditions as part of ownership changes, would you support changing the terms of the city’s agreement with the NBA in order to entice a new owner to replace Bob Johnson as owner of the Charlotte Bobcats?
Bokhari: I love the Bobcats, and I love going to the games (when we aren’t getting creamed), but I hate the mentality of ‘the only way we can get these franchises is to give huge subsidies funded by us, the taxpayer’. Charlotte is a great sports city, with dedicated fans, and I believe we can still attract great professional and amateur sports without mortgaging our city’s future. Tax cuts and a business-friendly customer service-oriented model of government is the way for Charlotte to attract businesses and keep them here for the long term. When our tax rate is lowest and not highest, when are roads are able to handle the needs of the community, when our streets are the safest and when our schools are the best, that is when Charlotte will no longer have to beg companies with handouts to come here, but rather companies will be forming a line, knocking down Charlotte’s door to locate here.
Question 6 — Should the city help pay the construction costs of a new baseball stadium for the Charlotte Knights?
Bokhari: I have worked hard to become the vice president of a large local bank, and have worked to serve this city as a council appointee to the business advisory committee (reviewing many aspects of the city and providing recommendations on behalf of the business community to council), and I believe these private sector skills and experience in the city are critically needed on City Council. I like to look at city investment opportunities just like a business would – how much is the investment, what is the return (hard and soft factors), and what is the probability of not receiving that return. We should never subsidize situations just for special interest groups that will never have an opportunity to produce an acceptable ROI, and we must realize we are on a slippery slope when we have these conversations increasing the size of government and the taxes of our shareholders. My gut feeling, without doing the in depth analysis on this as I described above, would be that if it was a fiscally sound deal, the private sector would want to invest making the city’s investment unnecessary. I do love going to baseball games, think it would be great to have a stadium uptown, and will work diligently to figure out a way to encourage it – but I have to answer each of the questions I listed above in all my decisions. That is the curse of living by a set of principles – you can’t always have everything you want.
Question 7 — Do you support or oppose raising garbage collection/recycling fees on city residents?
Bokhari: I oppose raising taxes and fees over the next 2 years, and furthermore doing it when we have not prioritized our current spending. I understand the reality of increased costs of basic government services, but with a $1.87B budget, and instituting zero-based budgeting, I am confident we can meet these costs without raising fees – instead by reprioritization.
Question 8 — Does the city have any responsibility to the contractors who have not been paid for their work on the EpiCenter, a city-backed and supported development?
Bokhari: I am sorry – I am not familiar with the inner details of this situation.
Question 9 — Do you support or oppose the full and complete disclosure of all financial activity by all city funded non-profits, such as Center City Partners?
Bokhari: Unless there is a legal requirement prohibiting it, I would say that my overall belief is that all local government financial activity should be completely visible to the public, and presented in a simple way that can be understood. After all, it is our money.
Question 10 — Should the city extend its option agreement with CMP Carolina Theatre past mid-October? Why?
Bokhari: If I was making the decision, I would have to answer my questions mentioned above to support it.
Question 11 — Please identify one city department which you believe spends too much.
Bokhari: I can’t. It’s not because I haven’t looked – every year I go through the budget with city staff in my role on the Business Advisory Committee, piece by piece. I can’t because we do not utilize zero-based budgeting, and the city departments are not required to justify the dollars they spend that were spent last year – only the increases. No business I know of would operate like this, and we will never be able to truly prioritize our spending if we don’t act on this need. I am confident that we can and we will, find and eliminate the wasteful spending taking place today if we take this path.