Pure ... Unadulterated ... Hype

After a while, you become sensitive to certain language ... certain words and phrases that are intended to make the reader feel good about his or her lot in life ... about his or her government or governmental leaders and what they are doing ... certain words intended to build regional "self-esteem"... certain words and phrases that have been repeated so often with nothing substantive that follows, that they now become red flags for "more of the same," and a warning to "Watch out ! You are going to be taken to the cleaners again!"

That is the impression I got this morning when I read the editorial by Messrs. Simpson and DiMeo in today's OD, about Central New York being at the the core of an emerging green economy -- an impression that was strongly reinforced when I visited their flashy, pretty -- but devoid of content -- website. (Paris Hilton immediately came to mind: nice form, no substance.)

The last time we heard this level of rhetoric was when the "world-class" research facility, the Griffiss Institute for Information Assurance, was invented. We now all know what happened there. Interestingly, many of the same institutions listed in today's article were participants in the Griffiss Institute fiasco. We heard similar rhetoric with our allegedly "shovel ready" chip fab site, and the Center for Brownfield Studies before that.

We seem to get at lot of pure, unadulterated, hype. No substance. However, we do not need a marketing campaign to make us feel good. Nothing will build our self esteem more than real, solid, success: when businesses and people come here because they WANT to be here, not because they have been paid (in cash or goods or services or tax breaks) to do so.

Yes, this region has a lot of pluses. It is the best place in the world to live (my hype) -- as long as you have a good job. All the slick, glitzy marketing in the world will not make up for a defective product. Fixing what is wrong is what we need to be focused on. Then and only then will our region experience true success.

Moratorium Remains

The State Department of Environmental Conservation is not backing down on Oneida County 's sewer overflow fiasco: the connection moratorium remains ... as well as the fines. [An updated story is here.]

GOOD !

"The county plans to meet with state environmental officials within the next 10 days to discuss the order further."

There is nothing to discuss. . . The problem needs to be solved ASAP.

If the county does not like the consent order, it can always ask the agency for a adjudicatory hearing. . . . It would be interesting to see how the county would fare then.

Brain Drain Boondoggle . . .

According to the Times-Union, Mrs. Spitzer is going to lead an initiative to keep young workers from leaving Upstate New York. Mrs. Spitzer is probably a nice lady, but . . . really . . . a "summit" of the governor, his staff, community leaders, business and academic officials, etc. ? . . . to figure out "what's driving out young people and to identify public and private programs to reverse the flow" ?

If these people need a 'summit' to figure out why young people are leaving the state in droves, then we've been giving them far too much credit as leaders.

"Abraham Lackman, president of the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities, said Wall Spitzer is doing "important due diligence." He predicts 40 good ideas will surface at the summit, a few of which will end up in the governor's next budget plan."

Of course . . . There it is right there in black and white . . . more government spending!

"One idea, he said, is to improve postings of internships and job opportunities for college students."

We already have Monster.com, CentralNewYorkHelpWanted.com, and a myriad of other job sites. We also have Working Solutions. Anyone remotely interested in finding a job already has plenty of tools to discover what is available. And this guy thinks we need to improve postings to fix things! (Sounds like another Genesis project.) This is a perfect example of the "brilliant" thinking we've had in New York for too many years . . . thinking from people already heavily feeding at the public trough . . . thinking up new ways to take even more of our money.

Improving the posting of jobs does not mean a whit if jobs are not plentiful, do not pay a living wage, and do not come with a meaningful career path attached. No studies are needed to figure that out -- just ask ANYONE. And young people will stay here if they can have a meaningful career here -- just ask ANYONE.

And jobs and careers will NEVER be plentiful if we have to depend on the government to create/subsidize them. Just look at the pathetic economies that were produced by the centrally planned Soviet bloc countries. That's what NYS is becoming.

The answer to keeping young people here is the opposite of what the governor now proposes. Stop spending taxpayer money to create another program to solve a problem that the government created. The problem is too much government and unneeded government. If businesses had fewer government created expenses and less red tape, and if people had fewer taxes and fees, we would have more good jobs, a higher standard of living, and fewer "goodbyes" to our children.

Uh Oh . . .

A short story out of the Big Apple indicates that their hybrid buses are breaking down. This cannot be good news for local Orion employees.

A Terminal Case of Economic Deficiency Anemia

The Sentinel calls our attention to another informative Brookings Institute report, "Restoring Prosperity - The State Role in Revitalizing America's Older Industrial Cities." [Entire report in .pdf format is here. ] The New York State information and statistics [here], reveal that virtually every Upstate metropolitan area is economically deficient when compared with other parts of the country. In spite of the bleak Upstate NY statistics, The Sentinel quotes the Rome C of C president that "Rome already is demonstrating plenty of signs that it is rebounding, based on various examples of development and employment growth."

Let's not confuse the heavily subsidized (by Oneida County and others) "development" and "growth" with the genuine items. New York's approach to economic development is to give ever bigger taxpayer supported incentives and special benefits to businesses to partially offset the higher cost of doing business here. A recent example is the Beachnut announcement last week, that its national headquarters will move to near Amsterdam, while one of its major plants in nearby Canajoharie will be closed. Dan at Upstream reported that vast sums are going to be spent by tax payers and even National Grid ratepayers to pull off this transaction -- so much so that it might be better just to give the money away. This "band aid" approach masks the region's underlying problems rather than solving them.

There is so much information in the Brookings report that it will take a while to digest. The following statement caught my attention, however:

Throughout older industrial states such as Pennsylvania (2,633 general governments), Ohio (2,338 general governments), Michigan (1,858 general governments), and New York (1,602 general governments) an enormous number of artificial municipal boundaries require what are otherwise interrelated communities to provide their own set of largely duplicative services to their residents, and at the same time force them to compete for revenue generating development. And it is the central cities that usually lose out: Businesses and residents can locate within a few miles of the core, pay fewer taxes, receive better services, and enjoy all the amenities and benefits the city has to offer, giving them little incentive to actually locate there." (p30 of 84, emphasis supplied).

This is exactly what has happened in the Utica area, is part of the reason why local taxes are so high, and is why this region cannot compete with other regions in the country. Our local interrelated municipalities are spending taxpayer resources duplicating each other and competing with each other. In other parts of the country, they would be one.

Until New York restructures its system of local governments, all the special economic development programs will just be throwing more good money after bad.

Big Money . . . Bah!

News 10 Now report that the "Republicans propose big money solution to struggling economy."

Sorry, Republicans, especially Mr. Bruno . . . You have lost all credibility as to your ability to straighten out the Upstate Economy. What exactly did you accomplish in the last 12 years for attracting jobs while you controlled both the Senate and the Governor's Office? In CNY alone in just the last 5 years: Ethan Allen, Oneida Ltd., Carrier, Union Fork, LaSalle Labs . . . . . gone or severely downsized.

"Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno and other members of the Republican Conference introduced the ten-point plan that includes business tax credits, infrastructure improvements, and low-cost power for manufacturers."

In other words, they propose more subsidies by taxpayers and ratepayers -- more people and businesses reliant on the politicians for their survival -- more of the same old same old that got us here.

No one ever seems to think that less (government) may mean more.

Rudy Awakenings . . .

We thought we knew Rudy Giuliani . . . the capable and brave mayor of New York . . . who took a crime-ridden city and made it safe . . . who guided that city steadily in its darkest hour . . . someone who could get things done.

As Upstaters, our first concern over how he would be as a potential president surfaced with Canadian owned NYRI because Giuliani's firm is one of NYRI's chief lobbyists. This was a surprise because Giuliani always seemed to me a man of the people, not special interests. Of course, lawyers don't always control who their clients are, and it would be unfair to paint them with the same brush.

But today there are more disturbing revelations in World Net Daily. The Giuliani firm is involved with Spanish and Australian investors taking over U.S. highways . . . including participation with the so-called "NAFTA Superhighway." (There are fears in some quarters that the highway is part of a scheme to meld the US, Canada and Mexico into a European-Style Union.) There is also a link to an old Michele Malkin article describing how NYC during Giuliani's reign continued even after 9/11 to be a safe haven for illegal immigrants.

Rudy Giuliani: Man of the People, or Man of Special Interests?

Time will tell.

School Board Votes Today

Today is Super Tuesday for school boards across NYS. There are hotly contested races in Utica and New Hartford to make it worthwhile for voters to get out of bed and get down to the polls. New Hartford Online has the scoop on what is happening in Utica's largest suburb: some grass-roots challenges to the status quo. It will be interesting to see if New Hartfordites are interested in the out-of-the-box thinkers, or more of the same old same old.

Get out and vote!

Down and Up

We all just knew that this was coming. The famously high Oneida County sales tax will be brought down only for the property tax to go up.

"In order to get us stable, we will probably have to raise property taxes," Picente said. "It's not going to be zero — I can tell you that. That's why we're in the mess we're in."

Everyone knows that our high level of taxation is one of the top reasons why we're in the mess we're in -- why people and jobs are leaving the region in droves. So, what is being accomplished? The county is merely switching the pockets it wishes to pick from. It is just more of the "same old, same old" government we've been forced to live under for the last 30 years or so. Where will it get us: the poorhouse.

Again, "The Statistic:" Oneida County has lost 26+% of its population since 1970 -- about 85,000 people.

However, you don't need statistics to know that county government has significantly grown. Its building expansions are plain evidence: A new county law library building in Utica. New County offices at Union Station. The Rome campus of MVCC. Etc. It would be interesting to compare the county's building inventory when it served 320,000 residents in 1970 compared with serving under 235,000 now in 2007. Remember 1970? Life here was comparatively good.

With a declining population, government should be contracting. It should be spending less.

But that, apparently, is not something Mr. Picente wants to talk about. Instead he wants to reward his friends in New Hartford with a $150,000 check -- a "small token of the County’s appreciation in recognition that the Town is the economic engine that drives Oneida County" according to Leg. D'Onofrio. Giving money to New Hartford is like bringing coal to Newcastle. This is cheer leading the expansion of infrastructure that we all are going to have to pay for.

Don't go telling the taxpayers that spending cuts cannot be made.

Spring has (finally) Sprung ...

Photographed yesterday at F. T. Proctor Park, Utica.

Dealing with Distractions . . .

At least one CNY school district has come to its senses about distractions in the classroom, and is saying Goodbye to its student laptop computers. We can only hope that more districts start to think about how to best attend to their tasks. CNY Circus has the scoop.

Throwing Good Money After Bad . . .

The Griffiss Institute is now doubling in size, morphing from what was supposed to be a "world class" center of cybersecurity scientific research into a business incubator. . . . Talk about throwing good money after bad!

What We Were Thinking . . .

CNY Political Insider was thinking what we were thinking when we opened the O-D yesterday.

"Is there really NO ONE ELSE?"

Julian vs Meola for Utica Mayor, both with questionable pasts. It's probably not going to make any difference given the party politics in this area, but at least the O-D brought these issues to light for public discussion and consideration . . . unlike other races in the past.

Maybe the blogosphere had something to do with this story being published, since CNYSnakepit beat O-D to the punch.

Kernan Kidz at Kollege

More distractions for the students at Kernan School in Utica -- more money-wasting for the taxpayers of Utica. Now 3rd, 4th and 5th graders are taking all-day field trips to Utica College, to "learn" about college - visiting dorm rooms, the library, talking with college students, etc. What have they learned?

"If we had a swimming pool in our gym, that would be cool," said third-grader Dionicio Colombo, 9.

Cool . . . Maybe swimming pools in all the elementary schools will be part of Utica's profligate capital construction spend fest.

As previously blogged about, Kernan School seems to have a problem with attending to its task of teaching the 3 Rs. Just add this latest adventure to the yoga classes (by a social worker) and the conferences at the Radisson with "community leaders."

While the organizers of the trip may be well intended, it really is just a "fun" event for the instructors and students -- at the expense of time that should have been spent giving the students a thorough grounding in reading, grammar, spelling, computation, etc. etc. . . . the things that they will be assumed to know by the time they reach college. Days on field trips break the continuity and reinforcement of academic lessons. The students are being deprived of a day of school. The taxpayers are being deprived of the day of school that they paid for.

And we also read today how Utica will be getting a federal physical education grant. Physical education lessons that are going to be "blended with core academic subjects." Wonderful! PE is important, but we should not be doing hand springs to blend PE in with, for example, New York State geography. Academic subjects have been watered-down enough.

Hopefully the students got a good look at college, because many will never have the opportunity of actually attending one. Doesn't anyone on the school board connect these distractions with Utica's dismal graduation rate?

* * *

11PM Update: A reader wrote that New Hartford was introducing Spanish at the elementary level and Mandarin in high school and asked what I thought of it. Here's my take: In general, I like languages. Being multi-lingual is common place in Europe and in parts of Canada, and will be increasingly useful in a global economy. There is also a rigor and discipline to learning a foreign language that may even help students understand the structure of English. With all the distractions in schools these days, however, you have to be careful that Spanish does not become another one. Introducing Spanish in the elementary grades may be a good idea as long as it does not hurt "core academic subjects." New Hartford is probably a good place to try this out because its academic house seems in order. Mandarin in High School? Of course, especially with China becoming an economic power house ... Just make sure there are enough students to make it cost effective to hire an instructor. If there are not, teaming up with other districts through BOCES with a distance-learning setup could make it possible.

Oh - Here are more distractions: here (the annual Law Day confabs) and here (the mock crime scene).

Don't Tread on Us . . .

Sometimes "what goes around comes around," as someone astutely pointed out on Story Chat referring to Mr. Picente's complaint that the Federal National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor designation for Oneida County is unconstitutional. Just like Oneida County shoved a huge garbage dump onto the small (in population) Town of Ava, the Federal Government may be about to shove the NYRI power line onto politically insignificant Oneida County.

Shame, shame on us for thinking it was OK for someone else to sacrifice their environment for our needs . . . and dismissing their complaints as "NIMBY" sentiments . . . or merely standing mute while it all happened. . . NOW we will know how it feels. Maybe we will learn a lesson from the experience, and change our ways.

If we were somehow forced to become our brother's keeper, our decisions would be different. People would still find ways of accommodating their needs, but the negative impacts would be kept at home. For example, if Oneida County could not dump on Ava, it might have retained its incinerator in Rome and improved on it, keeping the negative impacts within the region receiving the benefits. If Downstate was unable to force Upstate to supply it with power, the Shoreham nuclear plant would be operating, there would be less opposition to offshore wind farms, or there would be controls on local growth . . . again keeping the negative impacts in the area receiving the benefits. We would be good neighbors to other regions.

While there are always winners and losers in government decision making, we seem to have lost the ability to accommodate each other's needs . . . We've become selfish . . . Or maybe it is simply that we do not have to look out for others' needs any more. People in population centers can simply use the government that they control to bludgeon their less populous neighbors into taking their garbage, or generating their power. It was not always that way. Our government has changed.

Congressman Hinchey also calls the federal move "unconstitutional." Maybe it is. But the conversation needs to be much broader than federal power corridors. It needs to address what is meant by "equal protection of laws," and, ultimately, it may require the Supreme Court to revisit some old decisions.

School-Based Health Clinics: So Much is Wrong

The OD reported this week that St. Elizabeth's and Upstate Cerebral Palsy's health clinics have finally opened at Kernan Elementary and Donovan Middle Schools.

"We are very, very thrilled," [Kernan] Principal Andrew Rudd said.

No consolidation here . . 'the clinic will not replace the school's nurse's office.'

No wonder why Principal Rudd is "thrilled": The principal has no reduction in his staff, has another distraction to learning (providing another reason to hire more remedial staff) -- and another step toward government (and the politically connected "elite's") control of every aspect of our lives.

If this isn't enough to get you riled, here is something else to consider:

Health Insurance.

Visit St. E's or St. Luke's campuses and you will see vast expansions taking place. The expansions are so obvious and well known that there is even a rumor (and it is only a rumor) that St. Luke's is interested in the property occupied by Our Lady of the Rosary Church on Burrstone Rd., perhaps influencing the R.C. Diocese's decision to require OLR parish (which is growing) to discuss a potential merger with another parish (i.e., the OLR property will be easy to sell). Regardless, school based health clinics are another form of expansion.

It makes it accessible for the parents," said Melanie Padmanabhan, the family nurse practitioner at the clinic. "If there is an emergency, like if they have an asthma attack, we can treat them here. It's just like a regular doctor's office.

Baloney! We no longer have neighborhood schools so school clinics are not more accessible to parents. And emergencies can be handled by the school nurse (as usual) or by 911. While the parent of a child without transportation is cited as an example of the kind of person the clinic would serve, this would seem to be the exception rather than the rule. After all, how many parents who are really concerned about their child's health situation would send their child to the doctor without accompanying the child themselves?

According to "The Statistic," Oneida County's population has dropped by about 85,000 -- over 26% -- since 1970. In the face of such a precipitously declining population how are our health care providers able to continue the expansions? Health Insurance . . . the next best way to suck money out of your (or your employer's) wallet after taxes.

Students' insurance will be charged for services. If the child does not have health insurance, then the social worker at the clinic will help families get health insurance and other services.

Janine Carzo, administrative director for the St. Elizabeth Family Medicine Center, said the clinic is required by the health department to enroll 80 percent of the student population by the end of the year.

This is just another way for St. E's and UCP to "ding" health insurance and ensure a revenue stream to themselves . . . a way to keep revenue coming in while the population declines. Kids have a hangnail or a paper-cut ? . . Why send them to the school nurse when you can send them to a professionally staffed ("like a regular doctor's office") school-based health clinic - - as long as they have insurance. The school nurse gets some time off, and St E's and UCP get to ding the students' insurance policies. This is greed, plain and simple.

In a companion article OD raises potential disruptions in a child's continuity of care as an issue of concern. Unfortunately, the article seems to imply that the independent practitioners are the bad guys.

The school clinics are not about serving students -- they are a marketing tool : a way to grab "market share" from other medical service providers.

Health insurance rates in the Greater Utica-Rome area were at one time among the lowest in New York State. Now they are among the highest. This is no surprise because we are paying for all the expansions. School based health clinics will only drive rates higher.

This is Just Silly . . .

Looks like Utica is buying into the Kyoto Protocol! I won't bore you with a dissertation on why I think this is nonsense . . . just direct you to previous posts here and here and here.

Utica Rising ... Bagg's Square Edition

Signs of Utica Rising at Bagg's Square!

There are a lot of old neighborhoods in Utica that just need an infusion of cash, imagination, and a "critical mass" of activity to come back to life. Varick Street seems to be approaching that critical mass state where it is starting to generate its own momentum. Oneida Square with the new Nolita Apartments is just getting underway. Now it is time for Bagg's Square, where Utica began, to begin again. It's good to hear that a developer, Stuart Bannatyne, is planning on taking over the old Doyle Hardware Building for loft apartments and shops . . . and across the street is an area just begging to be turned into, perhaps, a farmer's market. Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo came back to life . . . these Utica areas can too . . . and be so much more interesting to visit than suburban malls and shopping centers. We wish Mr. Bannatyne the best of luck.

Our Schools: How Bad Can They Get?

New Statistics are in and they don't look good. In Herkimer County, the high school graduation rate is about 75%. In Rome, the RFA graduation rate is only 65%, and at Utica's Proctor it's about the same at 66%. But don't worry . . . it could be worse . . .

In the Big Apple it's 50%, in Syracuse (Dan Lowengard's new home) it's only 47%, in Rochester (at one time known for high teacher pay) it's 39%.

Perhaps it is fitting that one of the worst performing school districts is in State Education Commissioner Mills' backyard in Albany at 38%.

* * *

The Rome paper fittingly tells us about a little distraction from the 3Rs. If students have to go to SUNYIT for a special "STOP-DWI Program" program, then they must be missing at least a half day of school. It seems like every special interest wants to make their pitches to schools -- and gets the "air-time" to do it. Nothing against "STOP-DWI," but the students have basic academic subjects that are not getting learned. Maybe with fewer distractions, some of those graduation rates will come up.

Mixing Mills and Monasteries in Herkimer County

Maintaining silence until now, monks at the Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Monastery have finally voiced opposition to the proposed Jordanville Wind Farm and its armada of 75 turbines.

"The few-hundred acre spiritual retreat settled where it did because of the area's isolation and beautiful landscape ... said the Rev. Luke Murianka, deputy abbot of the monastery."

In essence, the wind farm is expected to interfere with this particular community's use of its own land . . . making it less conducive to contemplation and meditation. "Community Character" will forever be changed.

Interestingly, some of the commenters on "Story Chat" accuse the monks of being selfish.

"Carole Kowall" paints the monks as outsiders who "came to America in search of freedom to practice their beliefs," herself as one of those who gave them this chance, and implies that the monks are applying a double standard. Of course, the obvious difference is that the monks' community has been here for years and they will have to either give up their way of life or go elsewhere, leaving behind decades of crafts and tradition. Their community will be disrupted. The wind mill promoters, however, are the real "outsiders" who are not interested in a way of life but in making a profit (with with all sorts of taxpayer subsidies). They could go elsewhere with disruption of only plans.

"Jon Tinsdale" proclaims that "we all need to go green" and preaches "The monks should realize it is for the betterment of the whole instead of the few that really count." There's that "selfish" accusation again.

Let's look at some facts:

1) The wind farm project is seeking a PILOT and will not build without it. That means that wind power is currently not economically viable without the local taxpayers' granting the promoters special privileges. We already know that certain provisions of state law already require everyone to subsidize these operations with special guaranteed minimum electric rates -- which is one factor in NYS having some of the highest electric rates in the country, making us uncompetitive for jobs.

2) There is no local need for the electric power the wind farm will generate. In fact, the "excess" of electric power upstate is cited as the justification for NYRI.

3) Unlike conventional coal or nuclear power plants, which could potentially be located away from people and screened, this project will have a footprint of FIVE THOUSAND ACRES. That is significantly larger than the stone quarry that "Ms. Kowall" complains about. And while "Mr. Tinsdale" thinks the windmills are "not bad" to look at, the novelty will surely wear off when we are inundated with them. (Refineries look beautiful at night, too, but I wouldn't want to live next to one.)

4) The monks are probably one of the "greenest" communities on the continent regarding the lifestyle that they lead. Why should they be expected to sacrifice that so that someone else in a far off city can indulge their creature comforts with a little less guilt?

"Community Character" is an important factor to be considered when weighing the environmental impact of a project, and whether or not a project should be allowed. The Jordanville Monastery is quite unique in North America and is a local treasure. (See the excellent photo presentation on the OD site). It is one of those things that contributes to the cultural diversity of the entire region. At one time it attracted the famous conductor Rostropovich to reside in the area. Surely, the wind farm will destroy the character of the monastic community at Jordanville. While some may "pooh pooh" visual impacts, such have and can provide the basis for denying a project.

Herkimer County has to make a decision on what is more important to its future: the money that will flow to local government and landowners from the project, or preservation of its character. While windmills will become commonplace, destruction Jordanville's character, once done, will never be replaced.