Neil Edward Goldschmidt
While reading some more The Geography of Nowhere, I came across this passage:
The city of Portland had an equally visionary mayor, Neil Goldschmidt–later Secretary of Transportation in the Carter administration–who understood that cars were wrecking America and aimed to do something about it.
So, I thought, “Why not Goldschmidt for Secretary of Transportation once again?”
Small problem - from the wiki (and corroborating sources):
Goldschmidt was widely considered the most influential figure in Oregon politics, both as an elected public official and as a lobbyist and policy consultant, until he was revealed to have sexually abused an underage girl over a period of three years, when she was 14 to 17 years old, during his first term as Mayor of Portland, when he was in his mid 30s.[1][2][3]
So, he’s out.
But I wanted to read a bit more, just to see what this guy’s public policy agenda was about - after all, that statement from Kunstler about him, “…[Goldschmidt] understood that cars were wrecking America…,” is pretty strong - and, of course, Kunstler wrote this long before details of the abuse became public.
So, let’s go back to another Time article, this one just after his appointment:
“I know they say the American will never give up his car or his right to drive it when and where he pleases, but if that’s so, the city is dead.” So said Neil Goldschmidt shortly after he became mayor of Portland, Ore., in 1972. He then proceeded to kill plans for an inner city freeway, arguing that it would unnecessarily displace 600 families and destroy an old city neighborhood. Next he beat down opposition from Portland merchants to a multimilliondollar, 22-block-long downtown mall, in which all vehicles would be banned except buses. After two years, the mall seems to be helping downtown business. Lately, Goldschmidt, 39, has been pushing for construction of a $60 million, ten-mile light-rail system to link downtown Portland with its most populous suburb of Gresham. The result of Goldschmidt’s efforts may be one of the country’s most effective urban transportation systems.
Pretty laudatory.
I read elsewhere that Goldschmidt was the first Secretary of Transportation to have had any background in transit, and he obviously was part of some good policies while in Portland, but (from the wiki) we see that his time as Secretary of Transportation was less than stellar (bold is mine):
Goldschmidt was elected to the Portland City Council in 1970, and then as mayor of Portland in 1972, becoming the youngest mayor of any major American city. He promoted the revitalization of Downtown Portland, and was influential on Portland-area transportation policy, particularly with the abandonment of the Mount Hood Freeway and the establishment of the MAX Light Rail. He was appointed U.S. Secretary of Transportation by President Jimmy Carter in 1979; where he worked to revive the ailing automobile industry, and to deregulate several industries. He served until the end of Carter’s presidency in 1980, and then served as a senior executive with Nike for several years.
This Time article from soon after Goldschmidt’s time in office as Secretary of Transportation seems to confirm that he did, in fact, do a lot to help keep the U.S. auto industry afloat. And deregulating industries? That’s pretty much always been about helping big business externalize its costs - i.e. pollute our air and water without paying for that damage so as to leave their profits untainted. It almost seems like as soon as Goldschmidt made the jump to Washington, DC, he turned from radical/lefty/hippie/Democratic/Portlander to…standard Washington, DC political appointee.
So what’s it all about?
I think the overarching message is this - you can put anyone you want in office - in any office - President, Secretary of Transportation, whatever - but expecting policy to happen just because someone from some ‘lefty town’ had decent policies and ‘beliefs’ at one time is a bit delusional. Such thinking pretty much discounts the incredible forces of proximity - that is, the great affects that the people surrounding you have on you - including, of course, your various bosses.
It makes a difference who is in office, of course, but whether we get ‘our’ person or not, we can’t expect to be able to just give up the fight. It will always be this way. We will always need to be organized, looking upwards, pressuring the people in power to do what is right.
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