Is There a "Green" Candidate for Mayor of the City of El Paso?

Yesterday on Facebook, I asked a question: Is there a "green" candidate for Mayor of El Paso? Well, is there? So far I have only received one response - from Matthew Venhaus who, as always makes sense. In part, here is what he wrote:

"It is fun to fantasize about radical changes in our city overnight. Imagine an end to zeroscaping, flourishing farmer's markets, clean water and air, thriving community gardens, vibrant families picnicking on local organic food in beautifully preserved open spaces. It's fun, but we don't have a reset button and it won't happen overnight. Worse, it will take far more than a new mayor to get there.

"Fewer than 15% of registered voters will cast a ballot for any mayoral candidate. Most people don't care who the mayor is and won't change their lives regardless of who is chosen.

"Before "green" mayor: live as sustainably as you know how; raise consciousness among friends, family, and acquaintances; and fight the system of waste and reliance on cheap energy. After "green" mayor: live as sustainably as you know how; raise
consciousness among friends, family, and acquaintances; and fight the system of waste and reliance on cheap energy."

Matthew lines up the issues:

End to zeroscaping
Flourishing farmers markets
Clean water and air
Thriving community gardens
Vibrant families picnicking on local organic food
Beautifully preserved open spaces

There are more green issues to add to be sure and there are plenty of policy decisions to be made to get us there. If you listen to the videos of all of the candidates for Mayor, not one of them even uses the word "environment" not to mention "green" or "open space" or "local food" or "community gardens". Not current Mayor Cook (who sold his soul to developers when he made sure that the impact fee committee had more coyotes than fowl; not Alfrank Catucci; definitely not Gus Haddad; David Henderson - no; Alejandro Mendoza - no; Carlos Rivera - no; and, even the most articulate candidate, Lee Mendez, was silent about the environment.

So, El Paso, who is the "green" candidate for Mayor?

Venhaus is right: ". . . live as sustainably as you know how; raise consciousness among friends, family, and acquaintances; and fight the system of waste and reliance on cheap energy." Do this all of the time.