Cathy Kentner, a teacher and an anti-growth activist from Lakewood, appeared on the Ross Kaminsky radio show this week, and in a great act of charity by the host, was not completely slaughtered on the studio floor, metaphorically, of course. Not only did Kentner show up with her “D game,” but her twisted logic supporting bad policy probably could have not been defended successfully by anyone against Kaminsky.
Kentner is a co-author of the controversial Question 200, which will be voted on in Lakewood on July 2. Among other things, the confusing ballot measure limits the growth of residential real estate in Lakewood to one percent per year, and pushes permitting decisions for 40+ unit buildings to the city council.
Completely clueless about the concept of supply and demand, Kentner complains that housing is too expensive, but at the same time pushes a measure to limit new supply of housing stock in Lakewood. Hmmm…what could go wrong? Anyone with a vague idea of economics have an answer…Bueller…Bueller…Bueller…?
Kentner also completely misappropriates the term “checks and balances” throughout the interview. When faced with the cold reality of the unfairness of government telling a property owner how many homes to build and what to charge in rent, she deflects the argument by dismissively saying “it’s checks and balances.”
Finally, near the end of the interview Kaminsky called his guest on this nonsensical use of the phrase, explaining to her that checks and balances are leveled between different branches of government – not by government against citizens.
Please remember these ideas sprung from the mind of a woman who teaches in the Jefferson County government schools. Your tax dollars hard at work. Let’s hope she teaches art.
A gracious host and gentleman, Kaminsky took a compassionate approach to dealing with his guest’s cognitive dissonance and lack of understanding basic government and economics.
We, like many others, agree with Kentner’s basic premise that Denver housing is expensive compared to average wages. It’s just the role of the market to work these things out among its participants, not the job of government to dictate discrete business decisions to those putting their capital at risk.