Fishing for $$$!

This makes me crazy . . . 

Local resort receives $700,000 federal tourism grant (5/14/2012)

Fish Creek Cabin Resort has received a Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan for rural development totaling $700,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer announced Monday. The funding will allow the resort to purchase cabins and rental equipment and grow business beyond kayaking and canoeing to benefit skiers, fishers, and hikers as well, Schumer said.

Tourism grant awards announced (5/14/2012)

Oneida County Tourism has announced the recipients for its new Tourism Marketing Grant Assistance Program. The awards provide financial assistance for the promotion of tourism attractions, events and activities taking place in Oneida County . . . Fish Creek Cabin Resorts,. 5,625.00,. . .

Microenterprise Grant assists Fish Creek Cabin Resort to begin operations in Taberg, NY (10/27/2011)

Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente, Jr. announced today that Fish Creek Cabin Resort, LLC has received an Oneida County Microenterprise Grant in the amount of $34,200 to assist its startup operations. The Oneida County Microenterprise Grant program, administered by Mohawk Valley EDGE, utilizes Community Development Block Grant funding . . .

The grant will assist Fish Creek Cabin Resort with working capital as they commence a $1.44m civic, recreational and eco-tourism destination project that is transforming a once blighted landscape in the Town of Annsville from an income dormant rental housing community into a 7-acre four-season economically viable recreation campus. 

From a March 2011 OCIDA Notice of Public Hearing we find out that OCIDA

will provide financial assistance to the Company in the form of issuance of a lease for a term of five (5) years, exemptions from mortgage recording tax, exemptions from sales and use taxes and abatement of real property taxes for a period of five (5) years

and buried in this article Indium Corp. makes plans to expand (10/15/10)

the IDA also approved an initial authorizing resolution for the Fish Creek Cabin Resort, which would be located in Taberg and primarily target kayakers visiting the area.

What ever happened to people putting their own capital at risk?  or going to a Bank for a loan? or selling shares to investors to raise capital?

Through their government the Taxpayers have been a silent "partner" to this little Oneida County start up business -- or making "investments" as the politicians like to claim -- right from its inception. But unlike a real partner, they get NO right to a return on the investment of THEIR money: 

It seems like there's no such thing as a free market/level playing field anymore.  Government is involved in everything.  This is discouraging to those who don't want handouts because Government becomes their competitor.

Upward Bound: DEBT!

Per the OD: MVCC receives $250,000 grant to help students.

Mohawk Valley Community College will receive a $250,000 federal grant to help students from disadvantaged backgrounds, U.S. Rep. Richard Hanna announced this morning.

Wow ... this sounds like great news.  Who could be against helping disadvantaged students?

MVCC's Upward Bound program "aims to generate the skills and motivation necessary to complete a higher education degree," according to a news release. Students eligible to participate include first-generation college students, low-income students and those with disabilities.

Nice -- but how is this different from what we are already paying for?  Aren't our schools supposedly already geared to generate skills necessary to complete a higher education degree?  

And how does a federal program generate "MOTIVATION? The implication is that first-generation college students, low-income students, and those with disabilities somehow are not motivated.

Now consider that about 40 cents of every dollar of this grant (or about $100,000) is being borrowed by the federal taxpayer.

One's education is the responsibility of the parents, and ultimately, the students themselves.  There are so many opportunities already out there that no one should be lacking the education they want if they are really motivated.  No federal program can substitute for what must come from within.

What this program is ... like many others ... is to foster a culture of dependency on the federal government.  Look at the "Life of Julia" scenario promoted by the current administration.  The implication is that people need the federal government to get by.  But they don't . . .

The only thing Upward Bound by this program is our National Debt .... Debt to purchase government control of many people.

TEA Party: NOT Going Away!

As much as some Republicans wish it, the TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party is NOT going away. Six Term US Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind) appears headed for defeat tonight in today's primary at the hands of Richard Mourdock, who was backed by Tea Party members. Surely his support for the UN's Law of the Sea Treaty, which was supported by both Bush and Clinton administrations, did not win any support among Tea Party members who view the treaty as an affront to US sovereignty.


In our own backyard we have a Tea Party Challenge to Representative Richard Hanna on the Republican ticket June 26 by Michael Kicinski of Earlville.  The OD (unsurprisingly) merely reported that Kicinski was running in a short blurb today not mentioning that Kicinski fought off a challenge to his petitions by the Oneida County Republican Establishment.

Unreported by the OD whatsoever is the fact that long-time local Conservative leader Julie Miller of Utica also filed petitions to challenge Mr. Hanna on the Conservative line. You have to read the Binghamton Press-Connects to find that out.  

Mr. Kicinski may seem like a long shot -- but maybe not. Mr. Hanna won with Tea Party support in his last run, but cannot count on that support now. The Tea Party favors limited government and fiscal responsibility, and abhors politics-as-usual. It thought it had a champion in Mr. Hanna who was not a politician.  However, Mr. Hanna not only has sounded very much like a politician after taking office, he has disappointed many with his votes to increase the debt ceiling three times and for more government programs. He gives no comfort to those who fear that government has simply become too intrusive into every-day lives, nor to those who fear that our national debt will become this nation's undoing.   Mr. Hanna could be viewed as an out-of-touch "1% er" -- in tune with the "global elite" compared to Mr. Kicinski who unabashedly admits to being unemployed on his web-site -- who like many others, has been the victim of an economy that has been shedding jobs to overseas locales under policies promoted by Democrats and Republicans alike. 

This could be a very interesting primary.    

Metro Government: Let's Get Started.

Every now and then, something comes along in the Observer-Dispatch on the subject of consolidation of regional services or "Metro Government."  Usually promoting the regional agenda of our "powers that be" that already control things  (you know, the people who always seem to manipulate government to wind up on the receiving end of the taxpayer largesse -- see recent posts in NH Online for the latest example), today's edictorial "Time to talk about metro government" is no exception.

The editorial gives three examples of businesses that have been/are being moved to Rome from Utica with county taxpayer (i.e., including Utica residents') participation. These moves manifest the "regional agenda."  Those who call these moves "hijacking" are dismissed by the O-D as "parochial." To the O-D:

The silly turf wars need to stop. We must see ourselves as a region . . .

I agree. The question is, is the Observer-Dispatch serious about our creating a true regional government that will REPLACE our current patchwork, or does the O-D want just enough "consolidation" to continue implementing its friends' current policies which have promoted one unit of local government cannibalizing another (with Utica seemingly always being the one eaten).  

The O-D needs to be reminded that these policies have created sprawl and given us a public infrastructure that far exceeds the needs and ability of our stagnant regional population to sustain.

To be Fair to the residents of the municipalities involved, "Metro" needs to be an "All, or Nothing at all" proposition... Responsibilities for both the good and bad in the region must be shared. One community should not be built up at the expense of another.

So, Observer-Dispatch, when you use these examples of businesses moving from Utica to Rome and promoting "Metro" government, are you ready for a merger of Utica and Rome and environs? Though more ambitious than what this blogger has proposed in the past, I actually think that would be a great idea! That way, when former Rome's tax-base gets augmented while former Utica's declines, some of that money will find its way back to pave roads in former Utica... and it will come back because more than 2/3 of a Utica-Rome Metro Council will be from former Utica and vicinity.

The "devil" is always "in the details,"  isn't it, O-D?


Somehow I don't think the Observer-Dispatch is really interested in Metro government, at least not one where ALL participating residents will share the benefits, ALL will share the burdens (including the cost of negative results such as declining tax base or incomes), and ALL will share in the decision-making. The O-D has always been there to demand that Utica "share" its benefits with the region, but has never demanded that the region share Utica's burdens . . . The region's principal city, Utica, is always left to fend for itself.    Like the pot calling the kettle black, perhaps the O-D is the one that is being parochial.....

But I could be wrong.   This is 2012 and some say the world as we know it is about to end.  If so . . .

Metro Government: Let's Get Started.

Cannabalism . . . While Utica Sleeps!

OD 10/15/10 Indium Corp. makes plans to expand

Indium Corp. is looking to expand its space of operations by moving into an additional building at 6149 Sutliff Road in Oriskany, company officials said Friday. . . .
The 64,000-square-foot building Indium Corp. is looking to purchase has an assessed value of $773,000 . .

Rome Sentinel 7/21/11: Rome? Georgia? China?

Indium Corp. wants to open a manufacturing plant in the West Rome Industrial Park and create 30 jobs over time, but the plan comes with some conditions. Before Indium buys and renovates the former ConMed building at 5836 Success Drive, it wants incentives from the county Industrial Development Agency and the state. While Kevin Martin, outside counsel for Indium, says Rome is the preferred location, he notes the company also is considering sites in Fulton County in Georgia, and China. . . .

Indium has its global headquarters in Clinton and a facility in Utica. It has 302 direct employees in Oneida County, plus contract workers that bring the total number to around 400, said Martin. The addition of a Rome plant would not affect employment at the other two locations in the county.

Rome Sentinel 4/20/12: $1M in grants and credits for Indium Rome expansion

 The company has already bought the former ConMed building at 5836 Success Drive and begun renovations. The new location will create up to 24 new full-time jobs. Indium currently has about 320 employees at its Clinton and Utica facilities.

Empire State Development Corp., New York’s economic development agency, is providing the company with a $347,939 grant to help offset the cost of the purchase of new machinery and equipment, as well as $652,061 in Excelsior Jobs Program tax benefits over five years.

 The project, estimated at $10 million, includes the relocation and expansion of some operations from Indium’s Lincoln Avenue location in Utica, including existing machinery and equipment. . . .  

116,124 square feet . . .

So plans have changed from "not affect"ing employment at the company's other two locations (July 2011) to relocating operations from Lincoln Ave to a location almost 21 miles away on the FAR side of Rome in April, 2012.  Pretty sad for a company founded in Utica in 1934. Indium can certainly do what it wants, and should do what it needs to survive and thrive, BUT

Why should taxpayers participate in this?  And where the heck were Utica officials all this time?

The answer to the last question may be that Utica officials and residents were already tapped out by this corporate pan-handler . . . 

OD Editorial 10/09/2007:  Indium deal lacking job information.

In its deal between the city of Utica and Indium Corp. that could be worth nearly $1.2 million, it’s not clear to the public whether Indium will be living up to its part of the bargain because it’s not fully forthcoming on job totals and job goals. By refusing to disclose that information, the company fails to provide specifics the public has a right to know as a partner in the deal.  That deal was announced last week following preliminary approval by the Utica Industrial Development Corp. of a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) program and mortgage recording tax and sales tax exemptions that could total $545,000 over the next decade. That would be in addition to a $600,000 loan, approved by Utica’s Department of Urban and Economic Development in July. . . .

The $600,000 “loan” won’t have to be repaid if the company maintains 120 jobs at two Utica sites for five years. 

2007 to 2012 is -- 5 years!  Yup -- time to move on to the next community teat to milk. 

Enough is enough. Handouts are wasted money.  They do not fix the problem.

Cannibalism!

Indium receives $1M from state to expand 

Indium Corp. will move “selected” operations, including machinery and equipment, from its offices on Lincoln Avenue to a new facility on Success Drive in Rome.
The project will be supported by $1 million in a state grant and tax benefits, and $100,000 via the city of Rome.

It's interesting how often taxpayers pay for companies to move from Utica to Rome. Now people will have to drive farther (with $4.00/gal gas) to go to work! Even a move to the NH Business Park would have been preferable.

And Utica just sits there and takes it

Disgusting.

Viva la Résistance . . .

Per the OD: Utica teachers reject contract: What's next? 

Monday’s defeat leaves $5.8 million out of the budget that would have restored 90 classroom jobs, including full-day kindergarten. . . . 
Approximately $2 million of the $5.8 million would have come from a wage freeze. The remaining $3.8 million is promised in increased state aid if the teachers’ union and the administrators’ union agreed to the teacher and principal evaluation system negotiated in Albany this winter. [emphasis added]

There may be a lot more here than meets the eye.  Undoubtedly, some teachers may have voted down the contract out of greed . . . not wanting to give up the pay increases that almost all other public employees have given up. . . and not caring about the public's ability to pay.    For many, however, the evaluation portion may be the bigger issue.

Instead of being evaluated in accordance with standards set by their supervisors or local board of education, they will be evaluated per standards set in Albany . . . and ultimately Washington where this program is originating.

People take on debt to build their homes.  The nation is taking on debt also to build a structure:  A NATIONAL structure to control our local schools.

Control what goes on in our schools, and you control the population.

Viva la Résistance!

Marketing Effort? . . .

or Marketing Study?

Per the OD: Our view: Airport needs more aggressive marketing effort

According to the editorial, Fixed Base Operations at Griffiss "International"  Airport simply have not produced the profits anticipated (hoped-for) by Oneida County. But the OD has the answer:

What’s really needed is more aggressive marketing of the airport. That needs to be a combined effort, with the county, Mohawk Valley EDGE and the airport commissioner working in partnership with Million Air — Freeman Holdings’ franchise name — to secure more business. Their success would benefit everyone.

The unstated assumption, of course, is that there is a market for what Griffiss has to offer. . . This seems to be a reoccurring error of our "build it and they will come" county leaders who repeatedly show their ignorance of business basics by spending lots of money on facilities without knowing precisely what needs are currently unserved or underserved locally, how local people are coping with their needs, and who this region's competition might be. This blog talked about the County's lack of basic business information back in 2008 for example.

While it is possible that there is a perfect niche for Griffiss "International" Airport to fill, it is not clear what that niche might be (though there were signs of needs in the air cargo department about 10 years ago).  What is needed is a Marketing STUDY to determine what niches GIA might fill.


Diving into an "aggressive marketing effort"  without knowing the market may result in Oneida County spending a ton of money and effort on the equivalent of marketing snow to Eskimos.

Le Tour . . .

Le Tour de France is the world-famous bicycle race ... this year starting in Liège, Belgium, and traveling in stages over a three week period through numerous French cities (and part of Switzerland) from the English Channel south through the Alps to the Mediterranean Sea, then west to the Pyrenees Mountains then north to end on that famous Boulevard in Paris, Les Champs-Élysées (which handles some 90,000 cars a day when Le Tour isn't running).  People far and wide follow the Tour de France . . . Win it, and you are an international star.  But Le Tour de France is not the only bicycle Tour . . .

Le Tour d'Utica is . . . not quite as famous . . . nor nearly as long (about three hours)  . . . and not even a race.  It's just a time for bicycle enthusiasts to get together and have some fun taking a themed tour of their favorite city -- or least the one that they are closest to.

This year's theme is coffee ... and several stops are planned with coffee in mind.  So while Tour de France followers may want to check out the champagne cellars in Epernay, France, Tour d'Utica participants can check out the roaster at Utica Coffee Roasters on Baggs Square West.

Click on the image at left or visit the CNY-BAP home page for more details.

Join in the fun . . . You might even spot a famous gold bicycle on your ride.

Going Batty in New Hartford . . .

Per the OD: Newest obstacle in N. Hartford storm-water project? Bats The endangered species Indiana Bat to be exact . . .

The town is working to improve storm-water drainage in areas that have historically been impacted by flooding. . . .

But while environmental scientists were examining the upper portion of Beechwood Road, where phase two of the project will begin, they noted that the clearing and removal of trees may interfere with the bat species, said Senior Managing Engineer Charles White of Barton & Loguidice. 

 The firm alerted the Town Board of the issue earlier this month. Now, Barton & Loguidice will perform an environmental study costing about $11,000 to identify if the bats are in fact roosting in the trees. . . .

The bats have been on the endangered species list since 1967 and if they are found here, trees cannot be cleared until fall when the bats head back to the Indiana caves where they hibernate.  [emphasis supplied]

HELLO???   Based on the statement above, the prudent (and less costly) thing would seem to be to assume that the bats actually roost in Beechwood Road's trees and then do all tree clearing between the fall and the time that the bats return from Indiana, whenever that is. [There may even be time now if they hurry.]


Why spend money studying bats when tree-cutting can be timed for when they won't be around?

Not Budging . . .

At least that was the overall impression left after attending a rather frustrating meeting last evening with DOT officials about our favorite topic: The North-South Arterial.

Oh it was not that blatant.  There were the usual conciliatory tones that DOT is looking into "this" or "that"  alternative. . .  but we've been through the drill often enough to know that DOT only looks far enough to justify its own position which can be summarized as "My way IS the highway."  Then it becomes a matter of "expertise" (members of the public are not traffic engineers, you know) and current highway standards require X,Y and Z (i.e., DOT can't accommodate those needs).  The bottom line is that it's always a highway.

The inescapable fact is that the N-S Arterial is also a street -- an integral part of Utica's street grid -- but the proposal continues a 50 year tradition of making that local street system less functional by forcing people to drive out of their way for short local trips and to follow routes that are not intuitive.

Several Utica Council members being in attendance was no help.  Holding on to 62 million dollars seems to be their main concern as opposed to the dysfunction that 62 million will create in the Utica street grid. If I hear that we need to take a "regional"  perspective of the highway design one more time from one of these people it will be one time too many. Utica residents and businesses should not have to be inconvenienced to meet a "regional" need. If Utica goes down the toilet, the whole region will follow.

The take-away is that Sunset Avenue will ultimately be closed and a pedestrian bridge that few will use will take its place. 

Is DOT really incapable of designing a city street or streets that can accommodate the traffic of those who merely want to pass through? Somehow I find that hard to believe.

Sticking a Finger in Your Eye . . .

And Twisting It!

That is what a lot of local Republicans must be feeling today after reading of Congressman Richard Hanna's comments at an Equal Rights Amendment rally in the Huff Po article: Richard Hanna, GOP Congressman, Tells Women To Give Their Money To Democrats. 

"I think these are very precarious times for women, it seems. So many of your rights are under assault," he told the crowd of mostly women. "I'll tell you this: Contribute your money to people who speak out on your behalf, because the other side -- my side -- has a lot of it. And you need to send your own message. You need to remind people that you vote, you matter, and that they can't succeed without your help."

"Precarious times for women?" Women aspire to the highest office in the land and head some of the nation's largest corporations.  Some would say these are the best of times for women.  .

"So many of your rights are under assault?"  Exactly which "rights," Mr. Hanna? Please be specific.


"You need to remind people that you vote" ... Really? In this day and age of minute-to-minute polling that slices and dices voting data among gender, age, racial, ethnic, sexual and political orientations?   

There are reasons why after 40 years the Equal Rights Amendment still has not been ratified by the required 38 states not the least of which are (1) it is not needed and (2) it will be used to distort rational decision making by elevating gender over other considerations.  But this post is about Mr. Hanna and not the ERA.  

When HuffPost asked Hanna after the rally whether he was bucking his party by encouraging women to give their money to "the other side," he said that he wasn't.
"I'm trying to help [the GOP]," he said. "I think it's the appropriate thing to do."

Mr. Hanna, you were nominated for your office by local Republicans as their standard-bearer with the full knowledge that you were an independent thinker and would not always "tow the party line." However, your nomination and election should not be confused with a willingness to be lectured by you as to what Party members should believe. 

You were elected to represent the people of this district in Congress, not to "help" the Republican Party.  Telling women to support Democrats is not "appropriate" because it undermines the Republican Party and many of your supporters rather than "help" them.  If you undermine your supporters, why should they continue to support you?

Mr. Hanna, you may have just lost Utica-Rome's seat in Congress to someone from Binghamton.

Not Buying It . . .

Officials: More money needed to protect Griffiss assets 

“New York needs to come to the table and they need to do it in a big way,” U.S. Rep. Richard Hanna, R-Barneveld, said. “The governor has committed $500,000? I don’t think that’s near enough.”

Just exactly what will this money be buying?

A Monument to Ourselves . . .

. . . does not solve our regional economic problems. . .  and could exacerbate them. . . . Thoughts that crossed my mind when perusing "Grant will help build One World Garden in Utica"
in the OD.

Rust to Green Utica announced Wednesday the receipt of a $48,475 grant to design a community green space called One World Garden on Park Avenue behind the Stanley Center for the Arts. . . . .

The grant was awarded by the Baltimore-based TKF Foundation through its Open Spaces, Sacred Places program to celebrate and better understand Utica’s changing blend of people created by its long-settled immigrants and its more recent influx of refugees, according to a news release . . .

When you can't solve problems you can always honor yourself or one of your friends, right?  Don't get me wrong.  Utica has a story to tell -- a proud story -- of people of many cultures coming to this place with barely the clothes on their back but ultimately finding the American Dream. . . . Of a community willing to embrace people different from themselves and becoming all the richer for it.  But what more celebration do we need than the variety of names in the phone book, the restaurants and grocers catering to unique palates,  the different hued faces, tongues, and modes of dress on our streets?  Utica is a living celebration of itself, and Uticans don't need to be told of where they've come from. 

Uticans also don't need another public space to take care of , especially now when the city can barely afford to keep police on its streets.  In addition, this is prime downtown land we're talking of.  It needs to be placed into productive TAX GENERATING use if Utica is to ever grow itself back into a city capable of sustaining itself.  A park prevents that from ever happening.

While the Rust2Green folks need to be commended for their efforts, they need to apply their considerable knowledge and collective intellect to analyze why that parcel of prime land has not attracted private development thus far, and then work to identify and solve the problems that they find.

Regional Obligations in New Hartford . . .

Last night the New Hartford Town board considered zoning changes to the New Hartford Business Park (NHBP) to permit small businesses, retail, offices, and restaurants. The members of the public in attendance were overwhelming opposed to the changes. 

While this blogger is disappointed that the Town Board voted to allow mixed development along Seneca Turnpike (Rt. 5) (the last thing NH needs is more congestion in that area) , the board wisely tabled changing the zoning of the bulk of the project area. 

Ultimately, the Board needs to reject this zoning change.

New Hartford owes its attractiveness for development to a regional infrastructure that has been paid for mostly by people residing outside the Town.  It has a public water system.  It has a sewage collection and treatment system.  It has a system of state and county highways.  New Hartford could never have afforded these on its own -- and town development would never have occurred without them.

Since New Hartford's "success"  is largely the product of a regional effort, it is only fitting that the Town uses its regional assets for the regional good.  Back in 1999, Town leaders tried to do just that when establishing the NHBP zone.

When the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the NHBP zone was issued in 1999, the zone was promoted as a site for industrial use, for "new high-technology industries" intended to "meet the economic needs of the entire region . . ."
It was recognized that the region had a shortage of high quality industrial sites that were large enough to meet the requirements of modern industries. The entire region supported New Hartford's efforts because the lack of such sites was a hindrance to the region moving forward economically.

What has happened to NHBP since could kindly be described as a "drift" from its original purpose.   (Unkindly, some may describe it as a "bait and switch.")  Offices seemed to become the primary use rather than ancillary as intended.  Then a hotel . . . and now the current proposal. 

While ridiculous state and national policies have put a damper on industrial development, it is not going to last forever.  Leaders will eventually realize that the public still needs "things,"   that the "things"  need to be made somewhere, and that an inability to make certain "things"  here poses a national security risk.  Will this region be ready?

The region, which has given so much to New Hartford,  cannot afford to lose NHBP as an industrial development site. New Hartford  needs to return to its original vision . . . for everyone's benefit.

Control Board Nonsense . . . and The Solution: Leadership

With the huge Utica city deficit some people are actually flirting with the idea of asking the State to come in and take over Utica's fiscal mess with a control board.

DON'T DO IT.

The State of New York has problems taking care of its own affairs so why should anyone think State control will improve things? Look at the NY budget.  How about Buffalo and Erie County? They are still in decline in spite of being under control boards.  How about the 700 school districts taken over by the State?  No headlines about student achievement there.  Some point to New York City and its Municipal Assistance Corp.  as a turnaround example... but NYC's turnaround was not engineered by the MAC. Rather, NYC's turnaround can be attributed to one man: Mayor Rudy Giuliani and his strong leadership. And therein lies the answer for Utica . . .

Leadership.

Utica is not going to be bailed out by the Tooth Fairy (even the Tooth Fairy is broke these days).  Utica will have to GROW itself out of this mess.  Knowing what will result in economic growth has been the question of the ages and seems to be a matter of guessing by those pretending to be experts in the area.  We know, however, what kills growth.

High taxes kill growth.
 
An 18.2% city tax increase on top of already high city, school, and county taxes and water and sewer fees and high utility costs will cause more people to leave town ... some may even abandon their properties.  What good does that do?

Utica needs to REDUCE taxes permanently; reduce unnecessary regulations; create accessible places where small businesses can set up shop without causing problems for neighbors; stop petty bickering over individual projects that drive up developer costs; and stop sucking on the Federal tit for grant money to construct more housing for poor people who wind up being from NYC. Anything less will continue the city’s loss of the very people and businesses it needs to pay the bills to sustain city services.

The People are the answer.

Since there is no $$$, Utica must marshal and coordinate the talents of volunteers — treat them and their ideas with respect — and value their work . . . because they will be the ones doing the things that the city will no longer be able to do adequately itself.

An example of what NOT to do: Pixley Park. One woman with a lot of help from her neighbors beautified a little corner of west Utica. But someone at City Hall, because they apparently did not like the woman, took umbrage and had the DPW destroy the volunteers’ work. Such must NEVER happen again.

Something else that must not be done:  giving raises to employees while relying on volunteers.

People LOVE Utica.  They WILL volunteer their time if they feel appreciated, feel that they are accomplishing something tangible, and feel that they are not being taken advantage of.


The key to making this all work: Leadership.

Surprised? Really?

Officials, residents surprised by people exiting South Utica 

... population fell by roughly 7 percent in the decade, from 10,105 to 9,353. Surprised?
So were a number of city officials and residents.

This blogger was not surprised! And I bet my readers are not surprised.

Utica officials and various institutions, particularly not-for-profits, are singularly focused on getting as much grant money as they can. Most grant money is geared to programs for the poor. Ergo, Utica's focus has been on its poor.

The recently passed Utica Master Plan and its drafts put this in sharp focus.  Why in the world would Utica need more "affordable housing" as called for in the Plan when it already has the most affordable housing in the nation according to recent surveys?  Why try to require that all developers set aside 20% of their units for "affordable housing?"  The answer to both questions is that federal programs have a lot of money for "affordable housing" and the "20%" criterion is a requirement.  But the Federal programs are geared to large metropolitan areas where housing is very expensive -- which is not the case here.  So the result here creates more harm than good.

Utica's citizens who are a bit higher up on the economic scale have been paying the bulk of the taxes that keep the city going.  But their needs have been ignored because there is no pot of grant money for officials to dip into for them.

They are "getting out while the getting is good."

It's Not About Health . . .

This story was the talk of conservative media last week:
Turkey sandwich replaced with chicken nuggets at North Carolina school  

A grandmother claims a state agent took away a homemade turkey sandwich, saying it wasn’t nutritious and didn’t meet U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines.. . . 

She said a few weeks ago that a state agent inspected her granddaughter’s lunch and forced her to eat chicken nuggets from the school’s cafeteria.

The woman said the lunch consisted of a turkey and cheese sandwich on white bread, potato chips, a banana and apple juice. The student also brought home a bill for the cost of the school lunch she had to eat instead.

After cries of government "overreaching" took hold,  it was downplayed in main-stream press as a "teacher's mistake."

But this clearly was no "mistake" when a second  incident from the same school was reported, along with a memorandum from the school principal to pre-K parents explaining what would happen if a home-made lunch was brought to school and did not meet USDA standards.

The school lunch story was followed by this one: Mars to Downsize Candy Bars

This move is part of an agreement Mars signed with Michelle Obama's Partnership for a Healthier America.

What? The government wants to take away king-sized Snickers?

Then there was the political issue over who could be made to pay for contraceptives which are already readily available. 

Forcing people to pay for contraceptives in violation of their  religious beliefs, preventing them from buying king-sized candy bars, and replacing their home-made turkey sandwiches with mass-produced chicken nuggets ...

These things are NOT about health.

Goodbye Utica . . .

Utica continues its history of self-destruction . . . Council changes direction, supports Arterial plan

Councilman Joseph Marino, D-4, who sponsored the most recent legislation, said he hopes the state gets the message.

 “It’s saying, ‘We do in fact support the project,” Marino said. “We do in fact support investment in this area.”

Even investment that continues a 50 year pattern of destruction, apparently.

So . . . What becomes of the issues raised last year? The visual and psychological barrier of a wall separating the Brewery and Arts Districts and preventing synergies between them does not go away. The effect of cutting off Sunset Avenue -- a major North-South thoroughfare in Utica -- does not go away. The effects of severing Lincoln Ave from Court St, routing Lincoln Ave over Roberts St., and eliminating a right turn off westbound Court onto the arterial, do not go away. Removal of scores of properties from potentially contributing to the tax rolls does not go away.

The "devil is in the details" as they say, and this new, youthful Common Council -- whom the public had desperately hoped would inject vitality into the body -- has shown itself to be too lazy to address the details: the changes to the UTICA street system, traffic patterns, potential tax base, and the effects thereof.

Being "decisive" is easy if one does not care. Being deliberative requires effort.

Instead of youthful vigor, Utica gets operatives of the elites who have pulled the strings from behind the scenes for the last 30 years.

But the council unanimously approved a resolution Wednesday saying they are supportive of the current plan

Unanimous?  This blogger has been on the receiving end of numerous e-mails urging attendance at Council meetings on this issue . . . but received nothing in over a month.

Mr. Zecca, you have some 'splaining to do.


Goodbye Utica . . . Between lazy, know-nothing newbies and old would-be power brokers, there is no hope for you.

Entitlement Mentality: Rich . . . and Poor . . .

Utica teachers group: Concessions not the answer 

Wage concessions aren’t the answer to the Utica school district’s budget woes. That’s the stance of the Utica Teachers Association, one day after the district said it would have to cut 150.4 teaching positions to help make up the $10 million deficit it’s facing for the next school year.

Astounding! Businesses closing all over the place, state workers giving up pay increases for years, but this group feels entitled to more in spite of already being among the best paid workers in the region.

Local residents 'Speak Out' against area poverty

Area residents and community leaders gathered Wednesday to hear the stories of those who are struggling. The group met in an effort to bring attention to poverty issues in the Mohawk Valley during the Community Speak Out for the Mohawk Valley at the Parkway Recreation Center in Utica. . . .

“I work as hard as I can to provide for my son,” [a 21 year old single mother] said. “I don’t get any help. Now I have to pay.”

 “I want you to all pretend you get $200 in Food Stamps every month. That’s it,” [a local senior] said. “You dial the phone for your Food Stamp balance and it’s now zero. The programs have been cut. So, now what do we do?”

Perhaps it is unfair to ask why a 21 year old has a child but no supporting husband?  Perhaps it is unfair to ask why a senior must subsist on food stamps?  OK, people make mistakes, people don't always plan for their future, and people suffer the unexpected. They need help . . .  Most people believe in helping the poor. That is what charities are for. 

But the tone of persons being "entitled" to help is what is bothersome here.
 
Where does the tone come from? This event was organized.  Mohawk Valley Community Action Agency was a sponsor. Per its 990 out of a $17 million dollar budget $16 million comes from government grants: i.e. it comes from the taxpayers.


Whether we speak of relatively well-to-do teachers' union members, or the organized poor, taxpayer dollars are fueling lifestyles -- and, apparently, a sense of entitlement.  Taxpayers can always be forced by law to cough up more money.
 Sorry . . . NO sympathy here for the entitled rich and poor ... I'm saving that for the taxpayers.

Silencing Constituencies . . .

Recently, the proposed redistricting of the State Assembly practically wrote Assembly Member Tenney out of her district by attaching New Hartford to a district sprawling to the east to the Hudson River.  Fortunately the governor plans to veto this map, but why was it drawn this way? In a similar fashion Congressman Allen West is being written out of his district in Florida.  Since Florida is a growing state, why should anyone lose their district? While "politics"  is always the ready answer -- the Republicans and Democrats always seem to be trying to best each other when lines are redrawn -- there is more at stake than just numbers of Rs and Ds.

Constituencies are being silenced.

In Ms. Tenny's case, both she and her predecessor, while both Rs, have not always followed the "party line," much to the consternation of the always downstate-dominated party elite.  Similarly, Florida's Mr. West has taken a "Tea Party" stance on many issues, again to the chagrin of party elites. Are these attempts to silence the conservative preferences of the voters in these districts?

What about the County Legislature?

The OD has just run another edictorial -- the latest of a series that runs back several years -- calling for the Oneida County Legislature to cut its number by 10. Anything less is deemed unacceptable by the editorial board. The OD compares Oneida to "larger" or similarly-sized counties such as Onondaga and Broome which have fewer legislators, essentially arguing that if these counties can do with fewer legislators, so can Oneida. This, however, is misleading.

Oneida County, geographically, is several times the size of Onondaga County, and is considerably more diverse: 3 cities, numerous far-flung villages, and numerous towns some of which are distinctly rural while others are heavily developed and suburban. Onondaga County is primarily 1 city and its surrounding suburban towns and villages. Broome, while having several cities, is still geographically smaller than Oneida.

Many, including the OD, seem to be fixed on the "one-man-one-vote" pure democracy form of government, assuming that all important perspectives will be represented. Our "Founding Fathers," whether at the national or NY State level, understood otherwise, however, and tried to formulate governments where certain constituencies would be guaranteed representation regardless of population (i.e., each State has 2 Senators in the US government, and each county formerly had one senator in the State government). The idea was that each state (or county) was considered sufficiently distinct from others to warrant its own constituency. In Oneida County a Board of Supervisors guaranteed a constituency for each Town until the County adopted the legislature as its form of government about 1970. (Saratoga County still has its Board of Supervisors.)

Now the OD wants to cut the number of legislators down to 10. In terms of cost saving, this will be minimal when compared to the County Budget. Will it be more "efficient?" Yes, if the intent is to reduce the diversity of voices that will be heard in formulating government policy. And therein lies the problem, because it would be unjust. Certain constituencies will undoubtedly be silenced or considerably diminished. Combining a Sauquoit with, say, a Paris or Marshall probably would not leave people feeling unrepresented because these Towns are very similar to each other. What benefits one will benefit the others. Combining suburban and rural towns, or suburban towns with portions of cities, is problematic because there is a diversity in needs.  Per the OD:

"Democratic Majority Leader Frank Tallarino of Rome doesn’t think any seats should be cut until the new district lines are drawn. But that’s not how it works. It makes more sense to trim the numbers and then carve up the districts to correspond with the number of legislators."

To the contrary, OD, Mr. Tallarino is right on the mark. Reducing the county legislature isn't just about reducing a number ... its about doing so without silencing constituencies. The only way the latter can be done is to draw the lines first.

--o-O-o-- 

Feb. 8, 2010 Update . . .

Oneida County Board of Legislators OK's reducing its size . . .

The Oneida County Board of Legislators Wednesday approved a measure that would reduce its size by six members, from 29 to 23.
If the public approves the measure in a referendum this November, the change would go into effect in the next term, which starts in 2014, and save the county $50,208.

Let's hope that the lines of the new 23 districts are drawn BEFORE the public referendum, so the public knows exactly which constituencies are going to be silenced.

Buzz: In With "Density" . . .

From City Journal, please read Get Dense. The subtitle tells the story in a nutshell:

"It’s time to stop wasting land and resources in the name of environmentalism."

More than three decades ago, the British economist E. F. Schumacher stated the essence of environmental protection in three words: “Small is beautiful.” As Schumacher argued in a famous book by that title, man-made disturbances of the natural world . . . should have the smallest possible footprints.

The idea is that the environment is protected when human activities are concentrated into a smaller footprint. "Sprawl" immediately came to mind when reading this, and author Robert Bryce did not disappoint.

 Perhaps the most familiar example of environmentally friendly density, though, is the way humanity has concentrated itself by moving from the country to cities, a process that is happening especially rapidly in the developing world. The opposite process, suburbanization, requires far more land area per resident—and therefore more miles of streets, electricity cables, and sewer lines . . .

Bryce goes well beyond sprawl to address other aspects of human development.  He exposes through specific examples of food and energy production  how policies promoted as being environmentally protective can be exactly the opposite when the density of development is taken into account.  The numbers will open your eyes. He summarizes:

The greenness of density leads to two conclusions. First, those who make environmental policy should consider density a desirable goal in nearly all the issues that they confront. And second, the real environmentalists aren’t headline-seeking activists and advocacy groups; they’re farmers, urban planners, agronomists, and, yes, even natural-gas drillers and nuclear engineers.

Bryce's article is well worth reading... and we now have a new word to bring into discussions: "density."

Buzz: The Sprawl Lobby .

From Next American City: Sprawl, Under Any Other Name, is Still Sprawl, we learn that in the Cleveland suburbs, politicians woke up to the fact that sprawl development hurts locally grown small businesses . . . but they cleverly tried to promote more sprawl by making the development aesthetically appear to be more small businesses. 

Now, why do we keep up with the illusion? Especially when the reality is a stagnant region with little-to-no job growth, and a concomitant infrastructure footprint that has become so unsustainable . . .

Part of the reason for this . . . is the sprawl lobby.

The sprawl lobby is real, and it’s powerful not only in Ohio but everywhere. It largely represents road and home construction companies, developers and home builder associations with deep pockets, and in the case of Ohio is tied to the farm lobby. Yes, the farm lobby has been fighting for farmer’s rights for generations, which means in the current context a refusal to allow agricultural zoning to occur as it would deflect from potential windfalls if and when the farmer decides to get out of the milking cow business.

We've seen this all happening right here in Greater Utica, too.  Now we have new words to describe those promoting sprawl: the Sprawl Lobby.

New Hartford Development: Urban Cancer . . .

"Cancer ... is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth."  (Wikipedia)

"Urban Cancer is sprawl development, involving unregulated regional growth." (me)

"Urban cancer" immediately came to mind when I read the OD Story "Rezoning plan returns to New Hartford," where developers are asking the Town to re-designate about 250 acres to permit mixed uses including small businesses, retail, offices and restaurants. Supposedly the proposal was withdrawn and resubmitted so that it could incorporate goals from the Town's comprehensive plan. (One suspects that the recent change in the composition of the planning board might also have something to do with it.)


New Hartford Online posted on this subject as well, and listed some of the  interesting/troubling comments of the focus group that contributed to the development of the Town's Comprehensive Plan Update:

• This becomes a mini-city if everything comes together . . . 
• Town needs to be a leader and needs to be able to discuss issues such as the decay in the City of Utica; NH is a jewel in a rusting hulk
• NH has shown a lot of leadership in spite of itself commercially and etc. . . .
• NH competes with Utica for offices; businesses are moving out but NH isn’t prepared with a nice business park

Why is there competition between New Hartford and Utica? How is it possible? Does it make sense? This is where the analogy with cancer comes in.

New Hartford development in the Commercial Drive/Seneca Tpk/Route 840 area far exceeds what a town of 20,000 people needs. Rather, this vast commercial development depends upon the 60,000 people living next door in the City of Utica for its survival, for both customers and employees, and to make municipal services affordable.

This development, which is on the southwestern fringe of Greater Utica's urbanized area, would have been more sensibly placed within the City of Utica to be closer to customers/employees, and, more importantly, where the dollars it would generate could be used to maintain municipal services.  Instead, the economic activity generated by a Utica-resident population benefits New Hartford, leaving fewer dollars in Utica to maintain services and crumbling infrastructure.  The result is what a NH focus group calls "decay in the City of Utica" while "NH is a jewel in a rusting hulk."  From a regional perspective, however, the development is more appropriately described as a cancerous tumor because it is draining the life out of its host.

One market cannot spread its population and economic activity over double the area without increasing maintenance costs. Because municipal services need to be extended to cover the newly developed area, it's not hard to see why taxes/user fees in BOTH Utica and NH must go up. This makes the entire Greater Utica area non-competitive with other areas.  Like a cancer ultimately kills its host and itself, this sprawl development ultimately will kill the entire region. 

How this happened is much like what happens to people when they get old, things start breaking down, and they become prone to cancer. It takes more effort to keep an older person fit and trim than a younger one. If they get the right medicine they can keep going, but the wrong medicine will either do nothing or make things worse.

Utica was a "mature" community sixty years ago when it was filled to capacity, but was showing its age. Envious of the shining new cities that arose from war's ashes in Europe, US experts of the day recommended duplicating the process by leveling whole sections of cities (with bulldozers instead of bombs) and building anew: Urban Renewal.  At the same time, US experts recommended arterial highways as the antidote to traffic congestion, predicting that downtowns would continue to grow by making it easier to whisk people in an out.  In hindsight, both were not only the wrong medications, they combined to make the patient very sick, not only here, but in other cities as well.  Urban Renewal destroyed the "critical mass"  of activity needed to attract new investors.  Arterials destroyed the advantage of a central location in the city by making suburban greenfields on the urban fringe as accessible as downtown.   Instead of high quality construction on expensive downtown land, we have low quality construction on the fringe, and depressed values downtown. 

More bad medicine came when regionalization of water and sewer systems with uniform rates made outlying suburban locations as cheap to develop as in-city locations in spite of the greater infrastructure needed to extend the services there.  Compound this with local development policies that gave PILOTs and other tax breaks for green-field developments. Development in New Hartford is probably more the product of these occurrances than anything done by the Town itself.

 Something is very wrong with local development.  Figuring out the answer will not be easy.

The More Things Change, the More They Remain the Same

Out with the old in 2012 ... the old Airport Commissioner, that is. Per the OD:

Oneida County Aviation Commissioner Vernon Gray is out. . .

“It’s a new term, and I made the decision to go in a different direction,” County Executive Anthony Picente said. . . .

David Wood, the chairman of the county Board of Legislators Airport Committee, said he had been informed Wednesday evening of the decision not to reappoint Gray.
“While he was there, Vernon certainly was instrumental in improving the airport,” he said. “I think there was a difference in vision between him and Tony.”

It seems like only yesterday Mr. Gray was appointed. Back then (November, 2008) I took to task some of the new commissioner's comments to the press ("New Commissioner, Old Vision") and then HE took ME to task to set the record straight!  The fact that he took time to do so in a thoughtful manner gave me reason to hope that he could turn things around.

Per the Rome Sentinel, Board Chairman Fiorini indicated that when Mr. Picente advised him of Gray's dismissal:

"He didn’t go into it," said the board chairman. "Obviously he’s got his reasons. I can’t say what went wrong... I’m not privy to that."    

If Mr. Fiorini can't say what went wrong, who can?  

Somehow I have the feeling that the County has just lost a good man.

Perhaps the reason why no one seems to be saying what went wrong is because no one really knows what went wrong.  To judge right from wrong, you need some standard for comparison. In the case of running any operation, the standard is the business plan.

In "Poised for Take Off???" 3 years ago I asked regarding Griffiss:

To the "officials:" Where's the business plan?

• What is the need that this over-sized airport will fill?
• What data exists and what assumptions are being made to support any conclusion that this albatross can ever be made profitable?
• What data exists and what assumptions are being made to support any conclusion that this albatross will ever return more to the taxpayers than is being taken from them

These questions need to be asked again today.  What is the "different direction"  that the County Executive wants to move in? Does anyone really know?  Is there data to support the vision? The impression with the airport has long been that the ones wielding the power are amateurs and don't know what they are doing.


The more things change, the more they remain the same.

Common Sense . . . From California!

Unlike New York where the Court of Appeals has given the green light to crony capitalism in spite of the State Constitution that provides otherwise, California (of all places!) is moving in the opposite direction. Per City-Journal: Crony Capitalism Rebuked:

On December 29, the California Supreme Court handed down what the state’s urban redevelopment agencies (RDAs) and their supporters called a “worst of all worlds” ruling—first upholding a law that eliminates the agencies, then striking down a second law that would have allowed them to buy their way back into power. This was great news for critics who had spent years calling attention to the ways modern urban-renewal projects distorted city land-use decisions, abused eminent-domain policies, and diverted about 12 percent of the state budget from traditional public services to subsidies for developers, who would build tax-producing shopping centers and other projects sought by city bureaucrats. As of now, the agencies are history, though the redevelopment industry is working to craft new legislation that would resurrect them in some limited form. . . .

The article, like many on City-Journal, is a good read.

Bring the Money to US . . .

A quick little video that explains how our US tax system is killing jobs . . .

A Change of Perspective . . .

Once again, the Arterial plays into the Observer-Dispatch's Good, Bad and Ugly column:

Once again the Utica Common Council has shown its lack of good sense by attempting to undermine the state Department of Transportation’s proposed North-South Arterial project in west Utica. In a 5-4 vote, the council voted this past week to urge the DOT to consider keeping Sunset Avenue open where it intersects with the arterial.

This should not be viewed as an "Arterial project," but, rather, a "project to close Sunset Ave and Warren St at the arterial, and close Lincoln Ave. at Court St."


A change of perspective from "commuter-orientation" to "resident orientation"  is needed to understand the true damage that the State's proposal will do to the city. These changes will disrupt traffic patterns that have been established for perhaps 150 years, and will be on top of other disruptions the State has done through other rounds of arterial-making. 


Simply put, the state proposes to sacrifice the proper functioning of Utica's local street system to make it easier for people to get to and from the suburbs. 

That is wrong, and the Council is right in taking a stand that protects Utica's interests.

A New Law for a New Year?

Per the Post Standard: Proposed NY law would require documents to be made public before meetings. 

Amen to that idea!  All too often members of the public that are concerned enough to attend city or town council meetings have no idea what their representatives are discussing because proposed legislation is been distributed solely amongst the representatives.

In this day when almost any individual can publish information and make it available to the world on the web at virtually no cost, there is simply NO EXCUSE for legislative bodies to not make this material available to the public in advance of meetings by posting it on the Internet.  It is actually less time consuming and labor intensive to publish on the web than to print and physically distribute materials.

According to the article, the Governor has until today to sign this into law.  Let's hope that he does.

Drama . . . On Sunset Avenue!

By the West Utica Puppet Theatre . . . (Of Course!)

Recommended Reading . . .

A couple articles caught my eye the last few days that seemed relevant to Utica.

Mario Polèse in City-Journal: Urban-Development Legends - Grand theories do little to revive cities 

 . . . just as personal finance has yet to unlock the secret of how to get rich, no surefire government-led strategy exists that can turn around a troubled economy . . .
The history of local economic development is a story of academic fads.

See how many "fads" listed in the article have been heard around here coming from our local "Economic Development" gurus.

Alex Ihnen in Next American City: A Highway Runs Through It

As the St. Louis Arch itself neared completion in 1964, before the surrounding park became anything more than a parking lot and construction site, the area was amputated from the city by what would come to be referred to as a “crushing maze of infrastructure”. Interstate 70 was being built, resulting in a maze of sunken and elevated lanes that truncate the city’s street grid, and separate its residents from the memorial and the Mississippi River. . . .

And almost 50 years later . . .

When the public has had a chance to participate, the message has been clear: the boulevard conversion should receive full consideration, it should be studied.

There is still time for discussion about this issue; the question is: will anyone listen?

A half a continent away . . . but the same discussion that we have in Utica.

Unsustainable. . . .

House Passes Bill to Avert Government Shutdown 

With the government just hours away from running out of money for a wide range of programs, the House of Representatives approved on Friday a nearly $1 trillion spending bill. The Senate most likely will pass it on Saturday and send it to President Barack Obama to sign into law.

The House vote approving the spending bill was 296-121, with about a third of the chamber's 242 Republicans voting no.    [emphasis, link added]

Meanwhile . . .
50 Facts About The U.S. Economy That Will Shock You

1. A staggering 48 percent of all Americans are either considered to be “low income” or are living in poverty.

2. Approximately 57 percent of all children in the United States are living in homes that are either considered to be “low income” or impoverished.

3. If the number of Americans that “wanted jobs” was the same today as it was back in 2007, the “official” unemployment rate put out by the U.S. government would be up to 11 percent.

4. The average amount of time that a worker stays unemployed in the United States is now over 40 weeks.

5. One recent survey found that 77 percent of all U.S. small businesses do not plan to hire any more workers.

6. There are fewer payroll jobs in the United States today than there were back in 2000 even though we have added 30 million extra people to the population since then.

7. Since December 2007, median household income in the United States has declined by a total of 6.8 percent once you account for inflation.

8. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 16.6 million Americans were self-employed back in December 2006. Today, that number has shrunk to 14.5 million.

9. A Gallup poll from earlier this year found that approximately one out of every five Americans that do have a job consider themselves to be underemployed.

10. According to author Paul Osterman, about 20 percent of all U.S. adults are currently working jobs that pay poverty-level wages.. . . .

Rich Can Pay for It All . . . NOT

"According to Internal Revenue Service data, the entire taxable income of everyone earning over $100,000 in 2008 was about $1.582 trillion," reported the Wall Street Journal on the morning after Obama's speech. "Even if all these Americans — most of whom are far from wealthy — were taxed at 100 percent, it wouldn't cover Mr. Obama's deficit for this year."

 Unsustainable.

The Pledge of Allegiance . . . But Not at the New Hartford Town Library!

The Pledge of Allegiance was in the news this past week. In Around Central NY: Pledge of Allegiance Joe Kelly reveals that the Pledge was written by a local man, Francis Bellamy, who is buried in the Rome Cemetery. Mr. Kelly presents some little known facts about the Pledge, and about Mr. Bellamy, who wrote the words that are repeated every day in schools and government meetings throughout the nation.

One place where the Pledge is not heard, however, is at the meetings of the New Hartford Town Library Board! One trustee, Mr. Wiatr, sought to right this wrong, but here is what happened . . .

Almost the entire New Hartford Library Board believes that saying the Pledge is "for show," and "waste of time" (or at least voting on it is such because most abstained) !  New Hartford OnLine produced this video, and did a little research that shows the New Hartford Library Board as being out-of-sync with other library boards across the state. 


The Bigger Question that only New Hartfordans can answer: Is the New Hartford Town Library Board out-of-sync with its own community?

Win for Yorkville, Win for Utica Residents

Yorkville residents vote down police abolishment proposal

By a vote of 538 to 100, Yorkville residents decided they didn’t want the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office patrolling the village . . .
Shannon Conner remained concerned about the safety and response time with abolishing the department.
“The economy is bad. Crime is increasing. Things happen,” she said. “It’s nice to have police right there and not have to wait.”

I actually think that the sheriff takeover would have worked out well for Yorkville residents: More crime-fighting resources would have been available at less cost. No doubt, on a personal level, Sheriff Maciol would have been able to make this work because he came out of village police ranks, was a village mayor, and knows the territory.

However, there is always the issue of local control, and that is a biggie. In this day and age when government seems to be out of the control of those whom it supposedly serves, you cannot blame people for wanting to hold on to the little control they have left. And in that sense, yesterday's vote was a big win for the People of Yorkville.

But Why is this a Win for City Taxpayers?

The plan also included enhanced investigative and supervisory services, and the Sheriff’s Office would take on any liability costs.

The Sheriff's Office is funded by County taxpayers. County taxpayers, thus, would be picking up the liability costs resulting from Yorkville policing. Without a thorough analysis of costs including things such as overtime, pension contributions, etc., and a comparison with what Yorkville residents would have paid into the Sheriff's Office, the potential exists to shift a lot of local policing costs onto County residents -- many of whom are also City residents (Utica, Rome) or residents of Towns with their own police departments (New Hartford, Whitestown). City residents could have wound up paying for part of the cost of local policing in outlying villages taken over by the Sheriff's Office, in addition to paying for their own local policing. In that respect the Yorkville vote is a win for Utica residents (and those of N.H. and Whitestown, too) because an opportunity for cost shifting has been avoided.

No doubt this issue or others similar will come up in the future as local governments struggle to make ends meet.  "Consolidation" or "shared services" will be the buzz words for local government leaders. Every time they are used should be a "red flag" that cost-shifting from one group of taxpayers onto another group may be afoot.  "Local control" will always be the buzz word for voters. But at what cost?

At some point reform of local government will have to occur because financially what we are doing now is unsustainable.  

Can we have both consolidation AND local control?  I think we can.  All it takes is for us to look at each other and see who has similar characteristics and interests -- and then join forces for the common good.

Assaults On Utica's Streets!!!!

And I mean that literally . . . The assaults are on the streets themselves!  Everyone (all levels of government that is) wants a piece of Utica's streets!

The State hopes to close Sunset Ave. and Warren St. at the Arterial, and reroute Lincoln Ave. over Roberts St. for its Federally funded Arterial Project.

The City has approved closing a block of Charlotte St. to install a bus transfer facility of questionable need (other than to spend Federal money).

Now the County is resurrecting its "Terror from the Year 2007" to re-propose closing Park Avenue between John and Blandina Streets to create a surface parking lot.

Apparently government officials are not going to stop until Utica is in gridlock . . .

Park Avenue, a great example of 19th century urban street design,  was intended to serve as the bypass of downtown for all traffic going to and coming from the streets to the east.  Although part of this function was lost when its northern end was chopped off and incorporated into the E-W Arterial, the remainder still serves that function... which function has recently been improved by the Oneida Square Roundabout that gives an easier connection for traffic coming up Genesee St. from the south. 

The notion that streets can be closed without causing problems must go away.  As pointed out a few days ago, one cut-off can can change a simple no-turns trip into a 5-turn frustration. . . . This can affect routing decisions for traffic coming from miles away.  People will avoid coming into Utica if they feel they are being forced into a maze.

Utica needs to become more like an Apple . . . an Apple product.  Apple became a very successful company because its products are simple -- intuitive -- to use.

Utica's street system needs to be simple and intuitive to use.

Utica's old street grid used to be simple and intuitive to use.  Instead of taking more pieces out of it, maybe its time to start restoring it.  You might be surprised at some of the problems that it could solve.  

You-Tube: The N-S Arterial Story by the W Utica Puppet Theater

Many Thanks to John Ossowski for posting this on You-Tube.
Come to the Common Council Meeting Tomorrow, 12/7

The OTHER Arterial Street Cut-Off

Much has been made of the "wall" and the State's proposal to cut off Sunset Avenue and Warren Street at the Arterial so they no longer have access to or across the State's Highway.

Practically unnoticed is the OTHER street cut off that the Arterial project will cause -- a street which neither connects to nor crosses the Arterial:  The northern-most block of Lincoln Avenue will be cut off from Court Street, because the intersection has been deemed too close to the exit ramp of the proposed Court Street interchange.  Where will the traffic go?

Roberts Street

Lincoln Ave will be terminated at Roberts St., and its traffic carried over one block of Roberts St to its intersection with State St.

Have you ever been to Roberts Street?  It's a "funky" little street that you might stumble upon by accident when walking about Downtown. There are a couple interesting things there in that one block.  Someone has a garage with cool-looking orange doors which I photographed a few years ago.  Shades of Mondrian? Perhaps not.  But a pleasant surprise during a lunchtime walk.   Neptune Studio is there, too, though it might currently be undergoing some rearranging per its website.


One thing that you cannot miss, however, is that the street is exceedingly narrow. . . barely two lanes with parking limited to one side.

What makes planners think it is a good idea to reroute Lincoln Ave. over Roberts Street?

Is this fair to abutting property owners?

A Closed Club at the New Hartford Library . . .

Entertainment courtesy of the folks at New Hartford OnLine . . .

I thought it was interesting how a member of the Library Board could assert that the Library was not subject to the 2% tax cap, refuse to produce the documentation to back up her point, and then be backed up by the chair of the meeting.

I guess only "insiders" are entitled to information in New Hartford.

And this crew expects to take take their board into public elections? I can't wait for the campaigns to begin!

Meanwhile, New Hartford OnLine, as usual, documents its sources.

Arterial: Regionalism and Expertise . . .

The OD has an interview in today's paper with Mayor-elect Palmieri: City workers need more active role . His comments on the Arterial project are troubling:

He also said that while he understands the concerns from some officials and community members over the state’s proposed $62 million North-South Arterial project, he believes it will benefit the region.

"Region?" Here we go again!   I thought Mr. Palmieri was elected to be mayor of UTICA!

“Those are the professionals,” he said of the state Department of Transportation. “Those are the engineers and planners. You’ve got to have confidence in them.”

One should have confidence in DOT's engineers and planners in designing a highway . . . but they are not the experts in the lives of everyday Uticans. Decisions that may make sense from a regional perspective are horribly disruptive when taken down to the city level.

Case in point: If you were driving from S. Utica to Varick St. you would probably get on Sunset Avenue and go straight to Varick. No turns needed . . . . That's today. After the proposed Arterial project, the northern end of Sunset would be cut off from you. If you were proceeding north on Sunset, you would have to turn Right on Lincoln (where Sunset is blocked), turn Right on Roberts (because the N end of Lincoln will be blocked), turn Left on State, turn Left on Court, then Right onto Varick. Five turns required.

DOT officials tout the proposed ability to make lefts onto Court St coming off the future arterial from north or south as improving access to Varick and Downtown. Yes, that will be a good thing for people coming from New Hartford or Marcy. But S. Uticans will be seriously inconvenienced as above. N Uticans trying to reach Varick have ALREADY been inconvenienced by the State's cut-off of Whitesboro St. -- which was their most direct route to Varick St.

Simply put, the convenience of Uticans is being sacrificed for the convenience of suburban commuters. You do not need to be a traffic engineer to see this. Perhaps you need to NOT be a traffic engineer to see this because the traffic engineers don't seem to comprehend the disruptions they are causing within the city.

It's more than Uticans' convenience that is being sacrificed for suburban commuters. Utica's economic potential is also being sacrificed.

Another case in point:  Utica's economic development area on Whitesboro St. north of the Auditorium.  A beautiful piece of property, formerly the site of the Washington Courts housing project, all is now cleared, and infrastructure is in place including new sidewalks. Try getting there!  The cut-off of Whitesboro Street makes this site less accessible . . . and less likely to be developed.

Sunset Avenue will become the new Whitesboro Street after the Arterial project is completed. Existing businesses will wither . . . new businesses will be few . . . crime will increase . . . residents will suffer.


Utica leaders need to wake up!

Mayor Places the City of Utica in Jeopardy . . .

WKTV: Roefaro: "Mr. Zecca, you are putting the arterial project in jeopardy".

Utica Mayor David Roefaro says Utica Common Councilman Jim Zecca may put that project in jeopardy if he goes through with a request to get the state to reconsider the current plans.
Roefaro said Sunday, "you cannot expect to change at the 11th hour and expect you're going to keep a 60 million dollar project in Utica. That's the problem with our politicians here, is that they send the jobs packing and the money packing, and the citizens of the City of Utica lose." . . .
Mayor Roefaro says he hopes Zecca and the rest of the common council reconsider their own efforts, "this plan has been thought out by the best engineers the D.O.T. has, we have gone over the scenarios and this is the best viable plan for this area."

The mayor's implication that Mr. Zecca waited until the 11th hour to bring the arterial's design topic up for discussion is patently false. 

(1) Zecca has been calling for a Boulevard replacement for the Arterial for years - practically from when the design process was first made public.

(2) The DOT, from evidence available thus far, never properly engaged the Common Council in the design process -- DOT's obligation under the Highway Law.

The Mayor and his staff have been privy to all of DOT's plans and have supported them right from the beginning. Mayor Roefaro has been content to rely on what DOT engineers have figured out as "best"  -- but best for whom? 

The NYSDOT is going to do what it believes to be best from its perspective.  It needs to move X amount of traffic while eliminating Y amount of accidents.  It designs a road to meet these requirements. Fair, good, and understandable.

While Utica needs these things, too, it needs so much more to create an environment where people within the city are supported in their day to day activities. People LIVE here and they WORK here.  DOT can try to understand these needs, but it can never achieve the level of understanding of those who are both responsible for meeting the needs of city residents and engaged in dialogue with them. 

The residents of the "host neighborhood"  have been steadfastly opposed to this project right from the beginning.  They are going to be seriously inconvenienced -- some to the point where they will be losing their houses, businesses, or their jobs.  How are their needs being met?  Eminent domain payoffs might help some individual property owners -- but everything is part of a web.  What happens when part of the web is torn out?  DOT at least met with people in West Utica -- but where has the Mayor been?  City streets are being cut off. The Mayor is supposed to be the leader for city residents -- these people. When has the Mayor ever engaged them? 

The Common Council members are the policy makers for the City of Utica. They are both responsible for their constituents and engaged with them on a day-to-day basis. Should not the Mayor have engaged the Council, and asked the members how they felt about:

• a wall going up across West Utica
• about 2 additional street closures on top of the devastating street closures of the past (such as Whitesboro St.)
• about additional property takings on top of the devastating property takings of the past -- which properties will forever lose their potential for productive use
• about potential lost property and sales tax revenues
• about jobs ultimately being lost from a very poor neighborhood
• about businesses that likely will shut their doors due to traffic disruptions
• about potential crime increases when traffic is reduced on local streets
• about personal inconvenience and disruption to UTICA residents 

The Mayor may be worried about losing money for a highway project, but he obviously is NOT worried about how the arterial project will adversely impact city residents and businesses.  .  . 

Money isn't everything. . . .


The Mayor is placing the City of Utica in jeopardy.

More Sprawl On Tap In New Hartford . . .

More sprawl is on tap in New Hartford . . . or as the O-D titles their story: Town considering stores at business park.

Adler has submitted a proposal to the Town Board that would change the zoning for the business park to allow 20 percent of a property owner’s land to be used for retail, town Supervisor Patrick Tyksinski said.

Currently, the primary uses for the business park listed in town codes are offices, manufacturing, research laboratories, hotels and mixed-use businesses.

Hmm 20% of the land for retail? Isn't that about what it is in a shopping center . . . with the rest (80%) of the land in parking lots and landscaping?

There has been a slow motion "bait and switch" progression ever since the Business Park was proposed by the Town:  First it was to be a manufacturing site . . . then an office park . . . now more  retail. 

Per the Town's 1999 Environmental Impact Statement, the Business Park area was rezoned from a residential-retail-manufacturing mix to "Business Park District" in order to "facilitate the development of new high-technology industries that will economically benefit the area through increased revenues and jobs."  That obviously has not happened . . . and now it looks like it will never happen.

Later, when the current private developer took over the property, the Business Park became recommissioned as an office park and boundaries were altered . . . without proper review . . . and without the Environmental Impact Statement ever being formally amended to show the changes.  For Taxpayers, Payments in Lieu of Taxes are not going into Town coffers where they can be applied to the increased costs for police and fire protection and other Town functions. Rather, the PILOT is being used to finance the developer's roads. Guess the Town Taxpayer gets stuck paying this developer's share of Town expenses.  For Town Residents, Fees In Lieu of Mitigation, paid by Other Developers to mitigate the impacts of Other Projects, are being applied to this project -- meaning that the impacts of the Other projects (increased flooding along Royal Brook Lane in NYM, perhaps) aren't being addressed.  Guess Town Residents better get used to the negative impacts. For Fair-Minded people, Eminent Domain, or the threat thereof, is being used.  Guess Fair-Minded people have to live with UNfair. 

Now we have the proposed zoning change to permit retail.  Whatever happened to facilitating "the development of new high-technology industries that will economically benefit the area through increased revenues and jobs?" Guess we have to do without.

“I don’t see any harm in rezoning to have 20 percent retail,” [Town Supervisor Tyksinski] said. “To some extent, it does make sense.”        . . .


“I’d like to see growth anywhere,” [one New Hartford Resident] said.

No harm?  Growth? Quite the contrary. There IS harm and NO growth, because this is Sprawl. 

Development in New Hartford is merely Utica being turned inside out.

Office and retail functions of the local economy which used to take place at the urban core in Utica have been transferred to the outer edge of the urbanized area... N.H. retail development would not take place but for the City of Utica being next door to supply the customers, and the State's Arterial highway system making it easier for them to reach suburban greenfield developments while more difficult for them to navigate about their own city.  Taxpayers/Residents at both ends of this transfer face higher taxes (among the highest in the country) and degradation of their living environments.  Regionally, only suburban developers and government officials benefit, and their cozy relationship will keep the benefits flowing.

This zoning change should not be approved.

Utica certainly has an interest to intervene in N.H.'s development activities -- and there are plenty of irregularities in N. H.'s procedures that Utica could make points on in court.  But will Utica do so?  Past history shows probably not. It has always been "hands off" and "none of our business" what the neighbors do. 

Utica leaders need to rethink this policy.  Residents of Utica and New Hartford will both benefit by forcing New Hartford leaders to take a more regional perspective in their decision making.

[New Hartford OnLine has much more detail on this story here and here.]

No Protection From Crony Capitalism . . .

Lockport Journal: Pork Lawsuit Dismissed