Post Mortem

The Stewarts' zoning change went down to defeat, while the Brewery's zoning change was approved.  Both could be characterized as "spot zoning."  The difference?

Stewarts got buy-in from the city administration which immediately pushed for it before engaging the neighbors.

The Brewery reached out to the neighbors early-on and got a buy-in from them.

People don't like to be pushed around and will respond accordingly even after concessions are made.

Utica and Developers: Learn the lesson! 

Short & Sweet!

As seen on the N-S Arterial, Utica, this evening

MVWA's 4 Towns Permit -- An Update

The Mohawk Valley Water Authority has been granted a permit by the Department of Environmental Conservation to expand water service within the Towns of Frankfort, Schuyler, Westmoreland, and Kirkland.

The New MVWA Permit

DEC's Responses to public comments

The MVWA's responses to public comments

My comments on this development will be posted on a future date.

Stewarts: A Voice of Reason . . .

Finally someone, Jason Flemma, "gets it right" on the Stewarts issue . . . and the fact that this comes from one of Utica's newest councilpersons raises hope for Utica's future.

Mr. Flemma points out that Stewarts has scaled back its Culver Avenue proposal from 6 pumps to 4, that the entire project will be shifted toward the (commercial) Culver Ave. side, that a "green space" with plantings and privacy fence will buffer the residential area to the west, and that Stewarts will extend a fence on city property to prevent children from running out in traffic.

Isn't this how the planning process is supposed to work?  The developer listened to the public, and changed its project to meet the public's needs!

Go to Culver Avenue and see that other businesses have buffered their impacts to neighboring residents in the exact same way.

Granting a variance is not "running roughshod" over the zoning ordinance. Variances are contained in the zoning ordinance to allow worthy projects to go forward when adjusted to meet conditions on the ground.  This is a worthy project.  It will bring in property taxes and sales taxes, beautify a non-descript parcel of land, transfer ownership to a party that will be capable of dealing with any contamination that might be on site . . . and quite possibly break the stranglehold on gas prices created by the limited number of purveyors in the city.

The revised Stewarts project on Culver Avenue should be approved.

Whither the Debate Mr. Hanna? - Part 2

From Time-Warner Cable News: Hanna, Tenney Battle for Votes as Republican Primary Approaches

Time Warner Cable News invited the two candidates to a debate, Tenney accepted the invitation immediately, but it took months before Hanna's office eventually denied the request. 

"I'd rather have a straight forward debate with someone from the other party, the Democrat, it would be interesting, it would be fun actually. I've done it many of times. There's value in that, but somebody who just lies to your face, I'm not going to engage that. It's just something I'm not willing to do," Hanna said.

So let me get this straight, there is "value" in Mr. Hanna debating a Democrat, but "no value" in debating another Republican for the right to wear the party's label?

No value to whom, Mr. Hanna? Are we talking about rank-and-file Republicans who must make a difficult choice on June 24? Or are we really talking about the Republican "elite,"  such as the billionaire hedge-fund manager, Paul E. Singer, whose "American Unity PAC"  is funding some of your worst "attack" ads against Ms. Tenney.

As far as "lies," Ms. Tenney could have easily slinged that mud at you, Mr. Hanna, but she has taken the high road and refrained from doing so.  Besides, using alleged "lies" as an excuse for not debating your opponent in a Congressional race is - simply- laughable! Mr. Hanna, do you seriously expect your constituents to believe that everyone you debate in Congress is truthful?  In 2014?  Especially with the current administration? Debating "liars" would seem to be a qualification for the job!

Ms. Tenney has given the voters of the 22nd Congressional District the gift of a "choice" between two experienced politicians with records, each of whom have been tested by re-election.

Mr. Hanna, obedient to his handlers who apparently don't want to risk losing out on the gravy train, would deny rank-and-file Republicans the opportunity of a side-by-side comparison.

Side-by-side comparisons afforded by public debates usually assist voters in determining who the real "liars" are. 

Climate Cringe . . .

Here we go again . . . Big power-plant pollution cuts are ordered

In a sweeping initiative to curb pollutants blamed for global warming, the Obama administration unveiled a plan Monday aimed at cutting carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by nearly a third over the next 15 years . . . 

"This is not just about disappearing polar bears or melting ice caps," said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. "This is about protecting our health and our homes. This is about protecting local economies and jobs." . . .   

Environmental groups hailed the proposal, praising both the climate effects and the public health benefits they said would follow.

First of all why is Carbon Dioxide -- a naturally occurring gas that is exhaled by all living things (including plants at night) -- considered a "pollutant"?

Second, how does cutting back on CO2 protect our health and homes?  How does cutting back on CO2 protect our local economies and jobs?

Third, what exactly will be the environmental change we will get by cutting back our CO2 emissions by 30 %?

There are a lot of bold claims made here but little -- other than public ignorance -- to support them.

Independent Journal Review a few days ago published 25 Images Show That Climate ‘Changes’ – Whether or Not Man Does Anything About It

After reviewing the images, you have to ask yourself what will be accomplished by the latest EPA effort?

Whither the Debate, Mr. Hanna?

GOP candidates debate in north NY Congress primary

The two Republican primary candidates in the sprawling 21st Congressional District agreed on many issues, but continued to spar over their roots in northern New York during a debate Tuesday.

But to date, no debate has been scheduled between the contenders for the 22nd Congressional District. . . . According to newscasts, Mr. Hanna refuses to schedule one.

We've seen Mr. Hanna's reluctance to debate before where it appeared that Mr. Hanna was threatening to pull campaign ads from TV stations  that intended to go forward with "debates" that he did not want to participate in. . . . but we gave Mr. Hanna the benefit of the doubt then.

Unless Mr. Hanna changes his position, there is nothing to doubt now. 

Avoidance of scrutiny by a public servant should be taken as arrogance.

More on the STEM Shortage Myth . . .

From the Florida Bizpac Review: US needs better human resources directors, not foreign workers

In a 2013 article, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers suggested the United States has all the skilled workers it needs.

“[T]here are more STEM workers than suitable jobs. One study found, for example, that wages for U.S. workers in computer and math fields have largely stagnated since 2000,” institute officials wrote in an article published in its Spectrum journal. “Even as the Great Recession slowly recedes, STEM workers at every stage of the career pipeline, from freshly minted grads to mid- and late-career Ph.D.s, still struggle to find employment as many companies, including Boeing, IBM, and Symantec, continue to lay off thousands of STEM workers.” . . .

“About 15 million U.S. residents hold at least a bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline, but three-fourths of them –11.4 million — work outside of STEM,” the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers reported.

Perhaps the institute should set up a nationwide job bank to help employers find the high-tech professionals companies say don’t exist.

Will a Double Standard Be Applied?

F.X. Matt brewing official to explain expansion project to residents 

In West Utica the proposal is to change zoning from multifamily residential to industrial.

Sounds like "spot zoning"does it not?

Will the same people who opposed adding the auto overlay zone for a Stewarts in East Utica (in an area that is already commercial) now claim that the Brewery's proposal is contrary to the Master Plan and oppose it? . . . or

Will a Double Standard be applied?

Who's the Extremist?

Houma Abedin, top aide to Hillary Clinton while secretary of state, was reputed to have been the daughter and sister of members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Common Sense would tell most people that Ms. Abedin would pose a security risk, but somehow she was able to obtain a high position in this administration.

Republican Congresswoman Michelle Bachman questioned Ms. Abedin's status... but our own congressman called Ms. Bachman an "extremist" for doing so.

Who's the extremist here?

Will Syracuse Get It Right?

A Salina forum on rebuilding Interstate 81: Raw exchange on 'suffering' goes to core of debate

Tuesday, downtown developer Bob Doucette, a founder of Armory Square, gave a presentation on why he wants the interstate gone. He did it on the home court of Mark Nicotra, Salina supervisor and a principal in Save I-81, a group that calls for keeping the high-speed interstate more or less where it is.

This was much like the debate in Utica over the N-S Arterial remake. Neighbors of the highway in-town pushed for a boulevard while suburban interests wanted an expressway.  In Utica, the suburban interests prevailed.

Syracuse has something that Utica did not have:  a successful developer pushing for a boulevard. It will be interesting to see if the Syracuse project turns out differently. 

HR 2131: Increasing the Labor Supply to Keep STEM Wages Low?

HR 2131: SKILLS Visa Act, a/k/a Supplying Knowledge-based Immigrants and Lifting Levels of STEM Visas Act, co-sponsored by many prominent Republicans, including our local congressman, was promoted to

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to enhance American competitiveness through the encouragement of high-skilled immigration, and for other purposes.

From its summary the Act would

set worldwide employment-based immigration levels at: (1) 140,000 through FY2013, and (2) 235,000 beginning in FY 2014 reduced by the number of returned visas resulting from the elimination of the diversity immigrant program.

It seems that American Citizens will be getting it at both ends of the STEM: Increase the domestic supply of STEM workers by government subsidies or credits, and import more from out of the country... At a time when there IS NO SHORTAGE.

That's "free market" for ya!

STEM: Have We Been Misled?

Over a year ago our local congressman pushed a bill that he created that would provide a tax credit to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) majors.

“We have to acknowledge that this country has to step up and formally encourage people to do the things we say they should be doing,” Hanna said.

One would get the impression that there is a national shortage of STEM majors if we have to "encourage" students to do what "we say they should be doing." We previously blogged about this bill here.

The problem is, there ISN'T a STEM shortage after all: What STEM Shortage? (Steven Camarota in National Review Online)

The idea that we need to allow in more workers with science, technology, engineering, and math (“STEM”) background is an article of faith among American business and political elite.
. . . The country has well more than twice as many workers with STEM degrees as there are STEM jobs. Also consistent with other research, we find only modest levels of wage growth for such workers for more than a decade. Both employment and wage data indicate that such workers are not in short supply.

So why the push to increase STEM majors and why the push to allow easy immigration of foreign workers with STEM degrees?

The answer, put simply, is greed and politics. 

The businesses that want more immigration would get more workers to choose from, holding wages in check and increasing their bargaining power over their employees.

Read the entire article for an explanation why both political parties have colluded to perpetrate the STEM myth. And ask yourself afterward:

 "Who still represents the interests of the everyday ordinary citizen in Congress?"

School Election 2014 - A Turning Point

School elections are tomorrow.  Unless you have children in school -- or your school taxes have become unaffordable --  the motivation to vote is often not there.

But this year is different.  This is the first election since implementation of the Common Core, giving a national-issue dimension to your local school election.

Ask your candidates how they feel about Common Core.  Ask what they think they can do about implementation of Common Core.  If you get something back like "higher standards are always a good thing," ask them how they know the standards are "higher?"  If you get something back like "I have taken an oath of office to uphold the law" ask them how do they know what the law is?

If you are told that the problem is in the "implementation of the standards,"  run the other way.  You are facing someone who believes that the Common Core standards (which are a vehicle for political indoctrination) are a good thing.

The students of today will be running the government of the future.  What you choose tomorrow may define that future.

Symptoms of NY's "Malaise?" . . . or the Cause?

Per the OD today "1 Year Later, Oneida's deal showing results."  However, the problem with the OIN agreement, like the MVWA-Canal Corp. agreement, like the "StartUpNY" approach to economic development, is that they are all examples of "Crony Capitalism." In all three, the State government gives a special "deal" to a particular party while the impacts to/rights of non-participants get ignored. 

At some point, the people and businesses not on-the-take figure out that NY discounts their value, and they go elsewhere -- further undermining NY's economy.  

Utica Planning: Ripe for a New Beginning . . .

The recent coming together of ordinary citizens from West Utica and East Utica to debate the location of a Stewart's Shop is both a symptom of the Utica Master Plan's unfinished nature and a demonstration of what is needed to complete the job.  The Master Plan should have already informed prospective developers of what is wanted or not wanted in each neighborhood.  The citizens' meeting demonstrates that the public still needs and desires to be engaged with planning on a site-specific level.

The Master Plan calls for a Citizens' Committee that as yet does not exist. There is now this group of citizens ready willing and able to get involved.  Give them maps . . . give them some professional guidance (like that in the recent Rust-to-Green planning meetings for Genesee Street), and have them map their vision for their neighborhoods.

The Utica Master Plan needs a Proposed Land Use Map for each neighborhood.

Federal Overreach . . .

From CNYCentral out of Syracuse: 55 colleges, including 4 from NY, facing sex assault investigations

55 colleges are facing Title IX sexual assault investigations, and four of them are in New York, according to the Education Department.

This, just two days after the White House task force promised government transparency on sexual assault in higher education. . . . “We are making this list available in an effort to bring more transparency to our enforcement work and to foster better public awareness of civil rights,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon said. . . .

The four NY institutions are Hunter, Hobart & William Smith, Sarah Lawrence, and SUNY Binghamton. . . . But don't let that distract you from the real issue here . . .

While people talk about what it is about these institutions that gives cause to the investigations, no one seems to be asking how sexual assault -- a crime in probably every locality and state where the institutions are located -- became a FEDERAL ISSUE?

The Washington Post version of the story fills in the missing detail . . .

The [US Department of Education]’s Office for Civil Rights is examining complaints it received from individuals on campuses and those it discovered as part of its regular efforts to see if schools are in compliance with the federal law known as Title IX, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender at schools that receive federal funding.

So if a student gets sexually assaulted at a school that is NOT receiving federal funding, there is NO Title IX violation!

We have here a bureaucracy, the Dept. of Education, that is alleged to be focused on education injecting itself into what are local and/or state crime prevention/enforcement matters. No doubt there are lawyers, investigators, administrative proceedings, etc that goes with this.   Compounding this overlap with state penal authority, the US Dept. of Education is, itself, an unnecessary and Constitutionally unauthorized involvement with State's matters, because education was never made the responsibility of the Federal Government.

What allows the Federal Government to inject itself into state and local matters?  Federal Dollars!  With the taxpayers going into hock 40 cents for each dollar spent.

The Constitution gives the Federal Government specific responsibilities:  defense, border security, international trade regulation, etc. Remaining matters were reserved to the States and the People. Cutting the Federal government out of the non-essential matters will result in less debt, better focus on Federal responsibilities, non-duplication with lower levels of government, and decisions being made closer to the people affected (which hopefully will be better ones).

As Mies van der Rohe once said, "Less is more."

Griffiss International: Crash and Burn?

Per the 4/21/14 OD: Takeoffs, landings drop significantly at Griffiss 

In 2013, total operations, which include takeoffs and landings, were 33,503, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. That’s a drop of more than 21 percent from 2012’s 42,474.

It's an even bigger drop from the 60,265 operations in 2011!

The taxpayers are getting the impression they are propping up this airport for (1) aircraft maintenance companies and (2) potential drone companies.  There certainly isn't any passenger or cargo service to speak of to serve our regional needs. . . . Those needs are taken care of out of Syracuse and Albany.

At some point the County Legislature needs to step back and objectively assess whether what we get out of this albatross balances what we put into it.

The Latest RINO Meme . . .

An interesting juxtaposition of subject matter yesterday from the Republican camp . . .

First this post on Facebook from our own Congressman Hanna . . .

"Today my House Committee on Small Business subcommittee examined the impact of occupational licensing laws on business startups and the economy overall. 

For many workers and would-be entrepreneurs, licensing requirements are presenting a barrier to economic opportunity."

This was soon followed by this video from Sen. Marco Rubio on CNBC Squawkbox . . .
Both Hanna and Rubio talk about the need to get rid of burdensome regulations to foster entrepreneurship . . . and who could disagree with that? We have all seen how New York State's heavy handedness (along with high taxes) has driven out our Upstate manufacturing base over the years . . . but there seems to be something more going on here . . .

A day earlier Rep. Hanna posted a link to a video of an entrepreneur being arrested for braiding hair. It would seem to most people like a pretty outrageous situation that needs fixing. But then one has to stop and think:  Occupational licensing (such as in the cosmetology area) is generally a STATE responsibility, not one of the Federal Government.  Should it not be the STATE's responsibility to clean up its own overly burdensome regulations?

The Rubio post also seems to be targeted at STATE regulations.

While it is a valid point that States must not unduly impede interstate commerce with their own regulations, there is already a mechanism for dealing with that:  The Federal Court System.

States have a responsibility to protect the health and safety of their citizens. And, yes, some states may use their regulatory powers to protect their own resident businesses. . . . but that may be protecting small businesses.

What the RINOs seem to be doing, under the guise of protecting "small" businesses, is setting things up to have the Federal Government supplant or regulate State and local regulations on business. . . . which would favor BIG (national and multinational) businesses.

Rep. Hanna and Sen. Rubio both seem to suggest that we need increased Federal involvement in our lives.   The "one-size-fits-all" "top-down" approach is contrary to our Founding Fathers' concept of a Limited Federal Government . . . and usually hurts the average citizen.

If States want to mess themselves up with regulations, so be it . . .

We do not need the Federal government -- the level furthest from its citizens -- becoming more powerful to "fix" things.  

SUNYwhatchamacallIT . . .

Per the Rome Sentinel

State overseers have approved the merger of the SUNY Institute of Technology and the SUNY College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering. . . .
"The merger of CNSE and SUNYIT sets a high bar for what a 21st-century entrepreneurial college campus can achieve for the Capital Region, Mohawk Valley, and the entire State of New York," said Zimpher. "We are bringing together two institutions with similar missions and existing partnerships to create a high-tech academic and economic development juggernaut that does not exist anywhere else in public higher education."

"Bringing these two institutions together is exactly the type of forward thinking we need here in Upstate New York," said County Executive Anthony J. Picente Jr. . . .
State Sen. Joseph A. Griffo, R-47, Rome, said, combining the two institutions into one makes sense.
"Both recognize this growing industry needs people in the Mohawk Valley and Capital Region who are educated and trained – and they're doing their best to meet that demand," he said. I see this as a wonderful opportunity for our local university to become more attractive to prospective students, without sacrificing other disciplines that are needed in this area as well."

Assemblyman Anthony J. Brindisi , D-119, Utica, said the consolidation is a boost to economic development .

"By further positioning Utica as a dynamic economic driver for New York, the merger will prime our region to become even more competitive in global markets and further revitalize the local economy," he said.

While everyone is toasting this as a good thing . . . and it may be . . . where are the questioning voices exposing potential downsides to this?

It is important for the public to remember the original name which revealed the original purpose of that college up on that hill:  SUNY Upper Division College -- a place where students from MVCC and HCCC could continue their studies and earn Bachelors and Masters Degrees.

While the expansion to a four year institution was welcome, and the addition of engineering and contemplated PhD programs is looked forward to with anticipation,  the original mission must not be forgotten.

Where will governance of this new SUNY-XYZ be located?  What will be its focus?  If governance  is out of Albany, you can be sure that the original mission will become lost.   And that must not happen.