I'm pleased to report that my campaign website is featuring plenty of information for people studying up on their local candidates: Sophia for Commissioner

When you visit the site you'll find a page expressing a "visual statement of values" and details about my progressive platform. You'll also see a listing of people I greatly admire who have done great work in our community as Progressive Democrats---people who care about peak oil, are unafraid to speak out against the new terrain route NAFTA I-69 highway, care about land use, local agriculture...and beyond. I'm honored to be able to say that the list includes my campaign chairperson City Councilman Andy Ruff----and even includes several of his colleagues, some great writers affiliated with Bloomington...and activists who continually amaze and move us by their tireless efforts.

On the Press Release page you'll find a press release that I sent out last Thursday. Interestingly, it was published online by the local corporate newspaper and then subsequently "unpublished" with very little explanation as to why it was buried and taken off of their election news page.

Here it is for you, for your consideration; my daily blog entry that accompanied the release of this press release can be found at www.pin-the-tail.com. If you visit the campaign site, you'll find the press release with an accompanying map of Monroe County TIF districts:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Sophia Travis for Commissioner
April 17, 2008 Sophia Travis, 812 824 8711. sophia@littlebear.com
TRAVIS: LAND USE POLICIES POWERFUL POVERTY PANACEA

Sophia Travis, Democratic candidate for County Commissioner, today outlined her position with regard to land use decisions by the Board of Commissioners and how those decisions impact lower-income families and individuals.
"The cost of transportation is a huge detriment to those working their way out of poverty, or trying to keep from spiraling into poverty," she said. "The County Commissioners have direct control over how our community is shaped, and what infrastructure is favored, and what is not. That means they have direct control over the cost of transportation to our community's families."

Citing a recent American Automobile Association study, which found that the average cost of owning a car is now over $8,000 a year, Travis said: "We can't expect that someone making $24,000 a year, $12 an hour, can afford to spend a third of their income on a car. And we certainly shouldn't be building a community that forces them to."

Travis instead called for both a decrease in automotive-dependent and taxpayer-funded "suburban" development in the county while pledging to work towards alternative transportation options for all county residents.

"We can both reduce the need, while increasing everyone's options," said Travis.

Travis cited several projects approved by the Board of Commissioners over the past few years as examples of misplaced priorities and public spending harmful to the community's most vulnerable. "Seventy five percent of Tax Increment Financing dollars in Indiana are not used to revitalize depressed areas, but to build 'greenfield' shopping and employment centers, usually far apart and separated from where people live," she stated.

Travis continued, "From the Richland TIF district to the NorthPark development, county officials have spent public money for private developments with no regard to rising energy costs or affordable transportation options. The burden has fallen on the backs of residents who must balance the cost of food, clothing, and housing against the cost of gasoline and vehicle upkeep."

"An option of not needing a car is the same as an option of an eight-thousand dollar a year raise. And that is one powerful option to poverty. If elected Commissioner, I will work to make affordable transportation and compact, low-sprawl, development a requirement for any taxpayer-financed infrastructure," she concluded.

Visit Travis on the web at http://www.sophiaforcommissioner.com and at http://www.pin-the-tail.com