Hot air, wet pants spice up election race

Hot air, wet pants spice up election race By Catherine Bremer
Fri Jun 16, 10:25 AM ET



A squawking wild turkey as president, voodoo, a dancing grandpa pharmacist and a nervous criminal urinating in his pants on television -- welcome to Mexico's election race, as wacky as it is vitriolic.

Full of colorful insults, blaring pop songs and nonsensical sparring, the campaign for the July 2 election has been based as much on personalities and petty point-scoring as policies.

Sick of weeks of mudslinging and silliness, voters have been sticking pins in voodoo dolls of the candidates, and the Federal Election Institute has axed some political ads as too slanderous to be aired.

"It's a very basic, very crude, very coarse, very clumsy election campaign," commentator Guadalupe Loaeza told Reuters.

The battle for the presidency is the first since 71 years of one-party rule ended in 2000 and fierce competition between the three main parties has sparked flaming tensions.

Probably the oddest campaign moment yet is a TV ad by third-place candidate Roberto Madrazo showing a criminal wetting his pants out of fear for Madrazo's tough stance on crime.

"For me, it's lacking in creativity. Vulgar. It's resorting to something very childish," said Loaeza.

Among outlawed ads are spots by conservative Felipe Calderon calling his leftist arch-rival Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador a danger and linking him to Venezuela's fiery leader Hugo Chavez.

Calderon, a balding lawyer whose hairline is inked in on his campaign posters, is in a neck-and-neck race with Lopez Obrador, a crusader for the poor who dons floral garlands and tropical-style guayabera shirts.

In their latest spat, Lopez Obrador sent Calderon's campaign office huge cardboard boxes he said contained documents proving Calderon awarded his brother-in-law lucrative contracts when energy minister.

But Calderon said the boxes were a farce, empty but for a few meaningless papers. He said his rival was a liar, called him "Lopez Hablador" (Lopez Talker) and his aides "clowns."

Rhetoric has been harsh, reflecting a nation split between left and right that is still learning some of the rules of democracy.

"If the players persist in just insulting each other, they may win the contest but could not lead the country," wrote columnist Javier Oliva in daily La Jornada.

DANCING PHARMACIST

Lopez Obrador has laid into President Vicente Fox, who he says is illegally helping Calderon, dubbing him a "chachalaca" -- a wild turkey known for its piercing squawk.

"He acts like a chachalaca, he screeches like a chachalaca," the leftist said, also accusing Fox of "verbal incontinence."

Keeping with the bird theme, he told supporters after a heated election debate last week that his rivals "came to eat pigeon, but what they got was a fighting cock."

Amid all the madness, frustrated voters have lobbed plastic bottles, paper airplanes and inflated condoms at candidates and even offered one, Patricia Mercado, a puff of marijuana.

Some of the most colorful campaigners cannot legally run because no political party will back them.

They include oddball magnate Victor Gonzalez, who has adopted the persona of his pharmacy chain's rotund and grandfatherly mascot, "Dr Simi," with fluffy white hair and mustache.

Claiming more Mexican fans than Mickey Mouse, and fond of models in mini-skirts, Gonzalez hires people to wear spongy Dr Simi costumes and dance outside his pharmacies.

"I have money but I earned it honestly. I have women but I am single. The people love these things," he said recently.

Also seeking support is Zapatista rebel leader Subcomandante Marcos, who gave his first live TV interview in years in his trademark ski mask and smoking his pipe to call for the overthrow of the government, whoever wins.

Reassessments bring fairness

Reassessments bring fairness

To the Editor:

As the southern regional director of the State Office of Real Property Services, I am writing in regard to the issue of property taxes.

This year, nearly 350 municipalities are conducting reassessments in order to provide fair assessments for their taxpayers. This is no easy task, especially when real estate values nationwide have increased dramatically in recent years.

As property values change, it is important for local assessors to adjust assessments - typically by conducting reassessments. When assessments aren’t adjusted to reflect changing real estate values, some property owners will pay too much in taxes while others will pay less than their fair share; in fact, some taxpayers will actually subsidize the tax bills of others.

Reassessments do not collect more taxes for school districts, counties, cities, and towns. Rather, reassessments ensure that the taxes to be collected are distributed fairly among all taxpayers.

Many taxpayers don’t realize that an increase in their assessment does not necessarily mean that their taxes will increase. After a reassessment, some taxpayers may see their tax bills decrease even if their assessments increase.

In almost all communities conducting reassessments, assessments will be determined at market value. In communities assessing at less than 100 percent of market value, the estimated market value of each property is listed on the tentative assessment roll. If this estimated market value reflects roughly the price for which you could sell your property, then you are probably assessed fairly.

Each year, property owners should check the tentative roll, which becomes available in early May in most municipalities. Of course, not everyone may agree exactly with his or her assessment. If you have questions or concerns, you should discuss them with your assessor.

To learn more about these and other topics, readers are invited to visit the Office of Real Property Services’ website: www.orps.state.ny.us.

John Wolham

Regional Director, Southern Region

New York State Office of Real Property Services