I received a phone call this morning from the New York State Comptroller's Office of Local Government Services and School Accountability in response to my inquiry made yesterday re: the availability of information pertaining to state audits of the Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority.
To my surprise, I was told that the State Comptroller's Office has never audited the Metroplex Authority since its inception. I was directed to the Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority website ( http://www.schenectadymetroplex.org/ ) from which the reports of annual audits are available under the "About Us" link at the bottom of the page ( http://www.schenectadymetroplex.org/ContentManager/index.cfm?Step=Display&ContentID=2 ). When I visited the site, I found that the most recent report of the CPA audits is from 2004.
I asked the individual (Principle Examiner) with whom I spoke if the Comptroller's Office has plans to audit the Metroplex. I was informed that there is no audit scheduled. I stated that I have no claims of impropriety or fraud by the organization, but would be interested in the results of a state audit of the organization as I believe that it would be more comprehensive. The Principle Examiner stated that I should request an audit to be performed by writing to the address below. He stated that a petition of those with interest would increase the likelihood that the audit would be considered and performed.
Ken Madej Chief Examiner New York State Comptroller's Office Office of Local Government Services and School Accountability 22 Computer Drive West Albany, NY 12205
If there are others who have interest in seeing that the audit is performed, I would suggest that we either write and send individual letters or that we collect signatures on a petition to accompany a single letter. Anyone have interest in seeing that an independent audit be performed?
Whatever you think Brad, I am on board. I will sign a petition or send a personal letter. Just let me know. Great idea. And thanks for working at getting to this point.
Jeweler to open store by Proctors BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter
Northeastern Fine Jewelry owner Ray Bleser plans to open his State Street store in December, two years after the initial target date and with a fresh squirt of local economic development cash. Bleser will open the store at 432 State St., which is part of the former Carl Co. building. Proctors owns the structure. Bleser will lease the 350-square-foot space and four people will work there. The store will be Bleser’s fourth in the Capital Region. It will feature his finest jewelry lines, he said, in a setting to simulate Proctors’ lavish interior. It will contain Swiss pear wood cabinets, plush carpeting, fine paneling and ornate decorations. The Metroplex Development Authority on Monday agreed to provide Bleser with a second grant worth $20,000 for the project, bringing its total investment to $80,000. Metroplex Chairman Ray Gillen said the $20,000 covers costs to upgrade the floor and establish an entrance to the store from the GE Theater. Bleser is investing $250,000 in inventory, working capital, equipment and interior renovations, he has stated. The total cost of the project is $325,000. Bleser announced plans to open the State Street store in 2004 and had hoped to open it in late 2005. Gillen said Bleser could not open his store independent of the renovation to the Carl Co. building, which was completed this year. “It takes time to renovate an entire building,” he said. The renovation was part of Proctors’ four-year, $30 million rehabilitation. Bleser had not planned to open a store in downtown Schenectady, but changed his mind.
I do like NE Jewelers, but look at the money here. The Metroplex is giving him $80,000 (to this point). And they make it look like Bleser is investing $250,000...NOT! It is mostly $250,000 in inventory he plans to sell and make a profit, which he should since that is what he is in business for. The bulk of Bleser's contribution is in JEWELRY!
And I would NOT go to state street to buy jewelry from NE jewelers. I will go to Union St.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
True entrepreneurs do not require government grants to launch businesses. A low interest loan, perhaps. How much more public revenue will be redistributed to private businesses by the Metroplex Development Authority in the guise of job creation? The Metroplex Board of Directors exhibits its shortsightness, naivety, and incompetence by giving away tax revenues to business owners rather than using the funds to install, enhance and maintain infrastructure and create shovel ready sites.
What have we received in return for the massive "investment" of tax revenues by the Metroplex?
A handful of minimum wage and temporary jobs in the service and retail industries.
Drinking holes that will, no doubt, have to cater to underage college students to stay in business.
A lot of businesses that have either closed up or that are currently for sale due to lack of business.
What has the Metroplex Development Authority and the City & County Government received from the business owners in exchange for the taxpayers money? I'll leave that list to your imaginations.
It doesn't take a panel of rocket scientists to understand that if you offer people free money, they will come ... but, their stays may be short.
I refuse to support with my (after tax) money any of these businesses that have received a handout from the Metroplex. I will continue to support those business owners who have taken a risk and invested of their own money and labor to set up operations.
I refuse to support with my (after tax) money any of these businesses that have received a handout from the Metroplex. I will continue to support those business owners who have taken a risk and invested of their own money and labor to set up operations.
Bravo! and Ditto!
And how is the audit coming? Any information you can share?
I refuse to support with my (after tax) money any of these businesses that have received a handout from the Metroplex. I will continue to support those business owners who have taken a risk and invested of their own money and labor to set up operations.
Bravo! and Ditto!
And how is the audit coming? Any information you can share?
As far as that goes, would say that we also do our best to say we're not going to patronize Proctors after all the money tha has been pumped into it from the County.
Quoted from JoAnn: And how is the audit coming? Any information you can share?
I have had several telephone conversations with individuals employed at the New York State Office of the State Controller. They have provided information and directions to request an audit of the Metroplex.
I am working on the letter this evening. Should have it completed and reviewed (by me) in the next few days. I will then send it to several on this forum and request your feedback. Once the letter has been refined, there is a large number of people, including many on this forum and Pat Zollinger's Schenectady forum, who have offered to lend their support of the cause.
I think that the best approach is to post the letter, when completed, and ask all who are in agreement, to cut and paste the content into a Word (or other) document, revise accordingly, and send individually. This will eliminate the need to circulate a petition for signatures and should expedite the process.
Time Warner Cable - The 80,000 square foot office building, call center and broadcast studio involved the relocation and addition of 375 employees. The $13,000,000 project was aided by Metroplex's $1,900,200.
I want to share an experience that I recently had with Time Warner in requesting that service be installed at my home in Duanesburg. I was told that a field survey would be conducted to determine serviceability. Currently, the cable line ends 1.25 miles from my home. There are 8 houses, including mine, that are located in that 1.25 mile distance.
Nearly two months after I requested service, I received a letter in the mail stating that a field survey had been conducted. The letter said that the "line extension provision, which was implemented in the Town of Duanesburg formula" would result in each of my neighbors and I being required to pay $1859.38 in a "one-time aid-in-construction charge" if service is to be supplied to our homes. I have heard from several of my neighbors of required charges as high as $2300+. being required to deliver service to their homes. This practice is apparently common in areas in which service doesn't exist.
While I don't expect something for nothing, this requirement for funding of the installation of Time Warner owned infrastructure is in addition to the nearly $100 per month for the All-In-One package (internet, cable, and phone) that I would be paying if I subscribed.
Over $1.9 million of public revenue was redistributed to Time Warner by the Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority to construct their new building in Rotterdam. Is due consideration being given to taxpayers for their "investment"? Is Time Warner allocating/spending funds to enhance their infrastructure throughout the county or to decrease the cost of internet connectivity and cable service? What did we, the taxpayers, receive for the $1.9+ giveaway of public revenues?
For the record, I have entered into a two year agreement with HughesNet for satellite connectivity. I will not change my subscription during that period should Time Warner decide to extend their service to my area.
Good point Brad. And now we know how Time Warner makes the big profits!
And I'd be screaming about this to the Metroplex beast! Has the Metroplex forgotten about Duanesburg? Funny, they surely know Duanesburg is there when they want to collect their tax money. But they clearly forget about Duanesburg when it comes to services provided...NONE!!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
the infrastructure of TimeWarner or anyother company that 'lays cable' is paramount to the Nations communications network which is of utmost importance to the government FCC.....
Think of the soon to be RealID,GPS,ATM etc......there is a much bigger picture than what we see---
I'm pissed about the Thursday football game being only on pay service(although folks can watch it on the computer-if ya have one)--that is Mofia mentallity by the NFL/Verizon......where are the stockholders and their outrage, they only care about their portfolio.....
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
SCHENECTADY IDA selling 2 undeveloped parcels Two city businesses will pay $135,000 for sites BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter
The city of Schenectady IDA will sell two undeveloped parcels it has owned for years to two local businesses for $135,000, officials announced. The IDA will sell a one-third acre lot on State Street to Mohawk Ambulance for $45,000 and a 2-acre lot in the Riverside Technology Park to Liedkie Moving and Storage for $90,000. Both parcels will be put back on the tax rolls, said Ray Gillen, chairman of the Metroplex Development Authority, which administers the city and county IDAs. Liedkie Moving and Storage plans to construct a 7,000-squarefoot facility at Lot No. 6 on Technology Drive. The facility will be used to support the company’s growing moving and storage business, Gillen said. Liedkie is a family-owned business that opened in 1917. It operates a major facility on Curry Road in Rotterdam. The company is a major moving and storage firm in upstate New York, Gillen said. Mohawk will use the adjacent State Street parcel, which is undeveloped, for employee parking. Mohawk, which has been in business since 1964, employs 180 and is headquartered in Schenectady with locations in Albany and Troy. Gillen said the sale of the lots continues reforms of the IDAs undertaken by Metroplex since it took over their operations several years ago. “Both these parcels have their own stories,” Gillen said. The city IDA, then under administration by George Robertson, former executive director of the Schenectady Economic Development Corp., bought the State Street parcel, thereby taking it off the tax rolls, with the intent of using it for a future center for Schenectady Family Health, he said. Hometown Health eventually built its new headquarters several blocks away on State Street. “The IDA had to maintain the lot and insure it,” Gillen said. He said the city and county IDAs never should have gotten into the property-owning business. At one time, they owned property on Peek Street, now part of College Park, and the former Campbell Plastics site in Rotterdam, now being used for business and housing. “The IDAs constantly bought up properties, took them off the tax rolls and never delivered on the project,” Gillen said. “The IDAs shouldn’t be buying property and taking it off tax rolls; they should be helping businesses to expand.” Gillen said Lot No. 6, the fi nal empty lot in technology park, remained undeveloped for years because it contained contaminated soil. The city IDA used a $439,515 grant from the state in 2004 to remove 7,000 tons of contaminants from the site. Lot No. 6 contained the former Sousa Petroleum Bulk Storage Facility, which was decommissioned in the early 1970s and demolished in 1990. State environmental officials investigated site in 2000 and discovered under ground petroleum contamination had seeped into the groundwater Metroplex spent another $20, to remove “contaminated soil was dumped on the site by the pre vious IDA administrator — this dirt that was dumped there when another building was built on Tech nology Drive,” Gillen said. In other reforms, the city has repaid more than $200,000 borrowed from the city but never repaid. An additional $150,000 be repaid in the next two years, Gil len said. In addition, five buildings and one site formerly owned by the IDA have been returned to the tax rolls. Reach Gazette reporter Michael Lamendola at 395-3114 or lamend@dailygazette.com
2-acre lot in the Riverside Technology Park to Liedkie Moving and Storage for $90,000. Liedkie Moving and Storage plans to construct a 7,000-squarefoot facility at Lot No. 6 on Technology Drive. The facility will be used to support the company’s growing moving and storage business, Gillen said. Liedkie is a family-owned business that opened in 1917. It operates a major facility on Curry Road in Rotterdam. The company is a major moving and storage firm in upstate New York, Gillen said.
Does anybody read into this that Schenectady, through the IDA, is again stealing ANOTHER business from Rotterdam? Liedkie eventually leaving the place they have right now on Curry Road near I-890? Hopefully, with it stating "used to SUPPORT the company's growing..." means that something will stay in Rotterdam.
Sounds like another steal like Price Chopper's HQ.
In case anybody's wondering where Technology Drive is, I found it. It's off of Maxon Road, down towards Freeman Bridge Road.
Quoted Text
Metroplex spent another $20, to remove “contaminated soil was dumped on the site by the pre vious IDA administrator — this dirt that was dumped there when another building was built on Tech nology Drive,” Gillen said.
My guess is that they didn't do this for $20, but for $20,000 of our tax dollars.
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