I would encourage those who support the position of tabling the legislation to increase the bond cap and lengthen the charter of the Metroplex until such time that the results of the State Comptroller's audit are released to write letters to the editor of their local newspaper, to call in to radio talk shows on which this topic is discussed, and to post to web forums your support for the elected representatives who place public interest ahead of their own, that of their political party, and that of their campaign donors.
You can be sure that the Schenectady oligarchy is working overtime to line up supporters of the Metroplex (most of whom are funding recipients or politicians who have benefitted) to write letters and to give testament to the leadership of the Metroplex and the Democratic controlled county and city governments.
The Metroplex presently has ~$8M of the $50M bond cap and 20 years of charter remaining. There should be no reason to rush through passage of the increase in bonding or the lengthening of mission of this public authority during this legislative session. To do so, before the Comptroller's audit is released, is fiscally irresponsible and seemingly politically motivated.
I believe Patrick Saccocio is a rep. And I would have to guess that since these editorials are not displaying the 'penned' name of it's author on this article, one can only assume that the Gazette is STILL in bed with the dictatorship.
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
Ray Gillen has done a commendable job running Metroplex. He has also made some mistakes and done some equivocating about them. But for every Van Dyck or Big House failure, there have been several much-larger accomplishments — e.g. the Bowtie Cinema, Proctors, Hampton Inn, MVP garage, Villa Italia, facade improvements, etc.
My question is, what is the return on the taxpayer's investment through the Metroplex/Empire Zone. We don't particularly need to hear of the failures and accomplishments. I believe we are all well aware of who and what they are. We would like to see the Balance Sheet. Monies spent/invested vs Monies earned/return investment. And until the taxpayers have that information revealed from the State Audit, the increase on the bond limit should be tabled.
I also suggest including the local Spotlight News for writing letters to the editor. It is actually read more than the Gazette and is NOT bias.
Gazette too willing to look the other way for Metroplex
A May 13 Gazette editorial [“Stratton plays with numbers on police OT”] correctly criticized Mayor Stratton for obfuscating the true cost of overtime in the city police department. The editorial argued for transparency and accountability in government. Gazette editorialists took a substantially different position regarding Metroplex by suggesting that one only needed to drive down State Street to know that both county and state should extend Metroplex’s life for five years, through 2033, with sales tax receipts in the range of $7 million a year through 2033 and an increase in its bonding authority [April 3 Gazette]. A subsequent editorial suggested that those favoring open bidding when Metroplex awards contracts, gives zero-interest loans or makes land sales were anti-Metroplex [May 1 editorial]. Apparently this openness and transparency in government can be taken too far. And how many jobs have been created by Metroplex when each project is reviewed? How many no-interest loans and payments in lieu of taxes have been awarded, with what outcome? Which projects are lagging or have failed altogether and at what cost? How are job creation claims monitored and verified? What is done when job targets aren’t achieved? Just driving down State Street isn’t enough. ELMER BERTSCH Niskayuna
Mr. Bertsch, these are the questions WE ALL would like answered!! Great article!!
Quoted Text
And how many jobs have been created by Metroplex when each project is reviewed? How many no-interest loans and payments in lieu of taxes have been awarded, with what outcome? Which projects are lagging or have failed altogether and at what cost? How are job creation claims monitored and verified? What is done when job targets aren’t achieved?
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
Posting a Letter to the Editor of the Daily Gazette that I submitted on Saturday. I don't know if it will be published.
Call to table legislation requesting Metroplex bond cap increase the correct one
Re: the May 17th editorial “Tedisco Should Keep Out of Metroplex Affairs”, I support elected officials like State Assemblyman Tedisco, State Assemblyman Amedore, Schenectady County Legislator Suhrada, and Schenectady County Legislator Santabarbara who place the public interests above personal and professional gain, party advancement, and the benefit of campaign donors.
The haste exhibited by the Schenectady County Legislature and the Metroplex Authority to rush passage of legislation to increase by 50% to $75 million the bond cap and to extend the charter of the public authority by five years, while an independent audit by the New York State Comptroller’s Office, is fiscally irresponsible.
The fact that both bodies are Democratic-controlled and that action on the recommendation of a Republican candidate for inclusion on the Metroplex Board of Directors was delayed for months due to the failure of the Legislative Chair to allow the nomination to come to a vote, suggests that it is Ms. Savage, not Mr. Tedisco, who is “playing politics with the future of economic development in Schenectady County”.
The editorial cited several of the Metroplex mistakes; failures that have resulted in a loss of public revenues that should have been more wisely and securely invested. According to the minutes of the Metroplex Board of Director meetings, there are other projects for which the loan terms have been restructured to extend the terms and delay dates when balloon payments were due and payable. At least one recipient of funding that discontinued loan repayments, was awarded by the Board of Directors with the forgiveness of a large portion of the loan to “entice” the borrower to recommence payments. The Metroplex leadership has issued unsecured loans and has agreed to being repositioned to a subordinate position on a loan. These practices compromise the security of and jeopardize the return on investment of public (tax) revenues.
In consideration of the recent report by the State Comptroller’s office regarding the ineffectiveness of the Empire Zone Grant program through which $7 million dollars of state taxpayer money was invested in Schenectady County resulting in a mere 31 jobs being created and calls by New York State Governor Paterson and Attorney General Cuomo to audit the hundreds of public authorities that exist in NY state and to investigate and identify fraud, waste, and abuse of public revenues, Assemblyman Tedisco and Legislator Suhrada are right in calling for the legislation to be tabled. Action should not be taken during this legislative session, but should await the results of the state audit.
The Daily Gazette article “Tedisco unsure on Metroplex cap” that appeared on May 15th failed to disclose that the initial legislation that established the public authority provides for the operations of the Metroplex to continue through 2028. Further, $8 million of the current bond cap of $50 million remains available for future investment. Thus, there is no reason to expedite the legislation. The public revenues paid by the hard working and oppressed county taxpayers must be managed more responsibly.
I received a call from the Gazette asking me to take some of my language regarding the Metroplex out of my letter regarding the finances of the city of Schenectady. Since I don't think that I will be seeing it in print in the Gazette (and I will give them until Friday), I plan on posting my letter IN IT'S ENTIRETY here when I don't see it.
I received a call from the Gazette asking me to take some of my language regarding the Metroplex out of my letter regarding the finances of the city of Schenectady. Since I don't think that I will be seeing it in print in the Gazette (and I will give them until Friday), I plan on posting my letter IN IT'S ENTIRETY here when I don't see it.
Kevin, send your letter also to the Spotlight News.
I received a call from the Gazette asking me to take some of my language regarding the Metroplex out of my letter regarding the finances of the city of Schenectady. Since I don't think that I will be seeing it in print in the Gazette (and I will give them until Friday), I plan on posting my letter IN IT'S ENTIRETY here when I don't see it.
The Gazette is asking you to edit your opinion letter because it was critical of Metroplex or the city???
Kevin post it here. We really want to see what the Gazette didn't like about it. And send it off to the TU and Spotlight!
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
Don't worry. I sent them another letter regarding the fact of the conversation that I had with them yesterday afternoon. And I will state clearly one thing that I stated there. I did tell them that if I do not see it posted, either in the newspaper, or as an on-line editorial (they have 1 per day that they don't put in the hardcopy), that I would be posting it to several places and letting the public know the reason that I was told that it would not be published in the Gazette. Maybe I will send it on to other papers also. IDK...we'll see. I did give them a deadline of Friday evening, so we'll see.
Don't worry. I sent them another letter regarding the fact of the conversation that I had with them yesterday afternoon. And I will state clearly one thing that I stated there. I did tell them that if I do not see it posted, either in the newspaper, or as an on-line editorial (they have 1 per day that they don't put in the hardcopy), that I would be posting it to several places and letting the public know the reason that I was told that it would not be published in the Gazette. Maybe I will send it on to other papers also. IDK...we'll see. I did give them a deadline of Friday evening, so we'll see.
I also wrote a letter. I'm just tweaking it. But I will send it tomorrow to the Gazette and the Spotlight News. We'll be looking for yours and Brad's.
I sent my letter out today to the Gazette, TU and Spotlight. Now we will see who will publish it. I know that there have been letters sent into the Gazette regarding the Metroplex bonding increase, but I haven't seen them as of yet.
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