Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

Proctor's is a jewel in the crown which is Downtown Schenectady, and I have no problem supporting it with my hard earned tax dollars and ticket purchases.

Gee, wasn't Central Park the crown jewel of Schenectady?   Oh yeah, the park is ignored now.  The low income people who pay the taxes are getting a park without toilet paper, an unkempt park.   And their tax money is used to pay off political cronies.


Now, as far as suporting Proctors, do you believe that Proctors must be supported even if it means people lose their homes?   Do you believe that Proctors must be supported even though it is causing a big drop in the tax base in the city?   Do you believe Proctors must be supported and Kingf Philip has to get a quarter million dollar taxpayer-paid salary even when the people are having ever increasing taxes?


DV, what do you suppose when there are you homeowners left in the city?

Well , they were going to buy some toilet paper, maybe sweep up a little, but now those plans are on hold. They have to hand out some pay raises with the job shuffling going on. We don't have any money, but....   We're pretty broke, but....  I'm really controlling the spending, but....

Who cares what lies and distortions a bunch of idiot nayboobs make up?  No one takes these negative, nasty, no good lowlifes seriously anyway.  
Thousands of people love and support Proctor's.  Proctor's is internationally known and respected, and it has been a key part of the revitalization of Downtown and the Renaissance in Schenectady County.  

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

Who cares what lies and distortions a bunch of idiot nayboobs make up?  No one takes these negative, nasty, no good lowlifes seriously anyway.  
Thousands of people love and support Proctor's.  Proctor's is internationally known and respected, and it has been a key part of the revitalization of Downtown and the Renaissance in Schenectady County.  

How can you possibly be this delusional?
OH WAIT...you are DVOR, that's how!  The Voice of YOU and not the PEOPLE!!!!

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

Who cares what lies and distortions a bunch of idiot nayboobs make up?  No one takes these negative, nasty, no good lowlifes seriously anyway.  
Thousands of people love and support Proctor's.  Proctor's is internationally known and respected, and it has been a key part of the revitalization of Downtown and the Renaissance in Schenectady County.  

Where is your EVIDENCE, DV??????

You NEVER NEVER NEVER provide one teeny weeny shred of EVIDENCE to support what you say.  

As you NEVER provide evidence, it's obvious you tell all fairy tales.  


Rest assured---and my predictions are ALWAYS FACT, DV will NOT speak on the effect of Proctors, by providing evidence, on the tax base, property values, home sales and home sale prices, the services to the taxpayers, the condition of the neighborhoods, and the tax bills.  

Quoted from mikechristine1

Gee, wasn't Central Park the crown jewel of Schenectady?   Oh yeah, the park is ignored now.  The low income people who pay the taxes are getting a park without toilet paper, an unkept park.   And their tax money is used to pay off political cronies.Now, as far as supporting Proctors, do you believe that Proctors must be supported even if it means people lose their homes?   Do you believe that Proctors must be supported even though it is causing a big drop in the tax base in the city?   Do you believe Proctors must
be supported and Kingf Philip has to get a quarter million dollar taxpayer-paid salary even when the people are having ever increasing taxes?

Double Star Morris is worth every penny. The DEM morons should increase his salary and throw another 1,000 City homeowners on the street. It's all about keeping the DEM
machine well greased. He don't pay nuthin even on his rental properties-you pay. And then he runs around the country on the taxpayer dime telling other communities how to
screw their taxpayers. If you don't like it complain to Proctor's stooges Karen Johnson or Mayor in waiting Lisa Perazo. The park is for the sheeple Proctor's is for the elites.

Quoted from Dirt2

Well , they were going to buy some toilet paper, maybe sweep up a little, but now those plans are on hold. They have to hand out some pay raises with the job shuffling going on. We don't have any money, but....   We're pretty broke, but....  I'm really controlling the spending, but....

Fewer taxpayers are paying the freight for connected millionaire Downtown scams for never ending tax exemptions. Meanwhile, the machine hands out
raises to non residents. The County unemployment rate is the highest in the Capital District. Get ready for the slime mailers on how every DEM candidate created
"thousands" of jobs according to press releases. This should be a stuck thread with the biggest bomb yet Ghost coming to town. Had enough-YET?

I've been thinking about the Proctor's issue some more. A lot of people believe we need Proctor's, I personally feel like it is too nice to give up, it's like Central Park, it has been kind of used and abused but it is still an asset. The problem is the abusers, not the assets.
We may need Proctor's, but we don't need the bunch that has it right now. Remember, Proctor's has been around since the 1920's, my parents can remember when it was new, but Morris wasn't around then. He didn't save the theater, it was already running and bringing Broadway shows to Schenectady. Morris came here from Jamestown, where he worked his magic on an economically distressed area, only nothing happened. It was like one of those old cartoons we used to watch, a magician would wave his cape and say "hocus pocus", but nothing would happen. So anyway, despite not having succeeded in Jamestown, he comes to Schenectady. Kind of like a school superintendent, they come into an area, mess up, and go on their way unscathed. I'm not saying it was Morris' fault, I'm just saying that people seem to expect that someone who runs a theater is some kind of wizard who can change lead into gold or something, so that person should be given the keys to the city (patroon award)based on thin air.
Okay, so my point is, we have an awful lot of talented experienced people still living in this area. We have a high school with a performing arts school within. We have a local college and a community college with theater arts departments. Why have a not for profit organization that doesn't break even but pays some pretty hefty salaries to some people with dubious credentials? Why not switch to a mostly volunteer staff, drawing from the local talent pool, letting them have some hands-on experience? Why not? I'm not talking about giving anything to Union College or anything like that. Get rid of Key Hall, or have it pay taxes to compete with local business, that's just wrong. Get government out of Proctor's, take the profit away from the not for profit (people's big salaries) and see how it does. Why not? Isn't that a win-win?

I quite agree with you Madam X.

Proctors is a great theater, lots of history, etc.  I myself would not advocating jumking it, tearing the building down, etc.

But Proctors IS ABSOLUTELY 1,000% a FOR PROFIT business and as such MUST pay taxes.

Sure, they have occasional little things educational, but that NOT in any way, manner, shape or form of a true non-profit.  Heck, if that was the case then every supermarket would be considered a non-profit because they all have dieticians these days.  Stores like HD and Lowes would be non-profits because they provide educational services in home improvement (like tiling a floor, how to install a sink, etc.) and especially when you realize that there are many home improvements that are exempt from taxes.  

Proctors and it's related properties are making big bucks and not contributing to the city.   Some might say, and for sure King Philip would use this argument, that it costs money to have a show here, that he/Proctors has to pay for the show company, etc.   If the theater would otherwise operate in the red, well increse the prices.  DUH, that is what business is about.   If you are operating in the red you raise your prices or you go out of business.  And for Proctors if the issue is that of the big name shows that are costing so much, well then, eliminate them.   It is NOT the job of the taxpayers to be keeping afloat a King Philip who CHOOSES to put on expensive lavish shows.   He either must raise prices or eliminate the expensive shows.

The question that MUST have an answer is WHAT is the benefit to the city, NO, what is the benefit to the PEOPLE, the RESIDENTS of the city to have the expensive shows at Proctors?   Do these expensive shows cause people from out of the area to buy homes in and move INTO the city at prices that increase the home sale prices and thus property values of all in the city?   Sure, people may come from out of the area and eat at a restaurant downtown, but how is that benefiting the people of the city?  What are homeowners/taxpayers/residents of the city--IN THE NEIGHBORHODS--getting in exchange for largely subsidizing out-of-towners' show tickets?  Actually, since most of the restaurants downtown are also exempt from paying any property or school taxes, the taxpayers therefore are subsidizing the price of the meals.  So what are the taxpayers getting in return for subsidizing the meals that out-of-towners pay when eating downtown?

I defy, I challenge everyone and anyone to provide an answer to what is the return on this so called "investment."   What do the TAXPAYERS, the homeowners and residents of the city, get in return for paying for Proctors and the restaurants.   What has been the impact on the tax base of the city?   What has been the impact on property values?   On the numbers of home sales?  On the home sale prices?  On the tax BILLS of the taxpayers?  On the services provided by the city to the residents?  

King Phillip ought to think about what his lavish taxpayer-paid salary as well as the tax exemptions on Proctors are doing to his inability to sell his city house.   Funny he never explained why he fled the city either.

That's the thing, no one can show the dollar benefits, no one. If it is just keeping those downtown places that we pay for afloat, let them go.
If it is going to be a true NFP well then, give it back to the community, run it as an educational facility, get something out of it for what we put in. If you look at some of these entertainment venues around here, sometimes the person doing the booking is 20 years old. That part isn't that hard. If you eliminate some of the salaries, or one of them, that money would go a long way toward the upkeep of the building. We should not be putting any money into a place that gets big tax breaks and donations.
The best thing that happens at Proctor's, IMO, is the Melodies of Christmas, and that has nothing to do with the present management. I don't know, Proctor's didn't make money before, I think what bothers me is all this lavish praise and all these big salaries for certain individuals, and nobody even questions whether any of these statements like $30 million in economic activity are founded. I'm questioning it.
Another thing I'm questioning, notice all these areas that seemed to be thriving as places to live, that had no downtown to speak of? Places like Clifton Park, Niskayuna, Delmar, Loudonville, they have retail now, but not when everybody started moving there. Glenville too. Yet we poured all this money into downtown, because you gotta have a downtown, right? Maybe not. Niskayuna managed quite well with just houses and a school, didn't they?

Different day but the same @%&* coming from the nayboobs.

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

Different day but the same @%&* coming from the nayboobs.

You cheer for wild uncontrolled spending of TAXPAYER dollars on Proctors.

Yeah, negatives.   Can YOU list ANY positive effects Proctors has had on the city's tax base?  On property values in the city?   On the numbers of people buying homes in the city to live in the city?   On the home sale prices?   On tax BILLS?   On the essential services to the taxpayers and residents of the city?

Care to explain why Erie Blvd north of Liberty street is filled with potholes and the street is NOT geting fixed and after city taxpayers pay almost the highest taxes in the whole country, they STILL have to fork over money to have their cars fixed from the damage caused by Erie Blvd?      


You won't answer these questions.   Why not????    Too CHICKEN to admit that Proctors and the rest of the wild spending by the dems is ruining the city?

Every dollar that proctor's receives including the king's salary should be paid in Schenectady County bucks,
only redeemable within Schenectady County.

the city has done "center city 2x or more on my dime"  - first it was boats in canals  -flop - back in the days when proctors appealed to residents to "buy a seat" to help spruce it up

back then innovative ideas within the theatre helped the theatre's rebirth and staff worked for a nominal wage because they enjoyed the work

the but cityscape SH!T don't work  - the because   -  no one wants to have all their taxes/rents go to redistribution  - we rather things in our neighborhood's look neat and tidy then if the empty buildings get a new faced - tear the crap down let business build to the needs of the people

live where you work will eventually come on its own once the capitol district transit authority gets real and offers 3 light rail options from Albany  - Saratoga, troy and Amsterdam all passing thru the airport and with proper busing to support the rail

the automobile is heading the way of cars in Singapore either by price or cost of ownership

minimum wage goes up this jan1 electively making my paycheck worth less

all the towns around the city and the city its self have done is build one big poor house - because no one wants the lazy chinks, chiggers, wet backs or dagos( pick your racial slur) in their nice neighborhoods

now there are so many they just vote for their own handout

and we fools b**ch about it and do nothing - get off your a** and do something  - b**ch to local leaders about unkempt property- call town or city and light up the phone lines  -make the gov't jobs so undesirable the sh!theads want out

call the elected and appointed ones first  - leave long detailed messages  - fill their voice mail boxes

i'm sure the queen bees of Rotterdam - the town clerk and the deputies would just love to answer the phone - *67 355-7575 x318 - maybe if you are lucky you can get her to place a house sized political sign in front of the eyesore you are calling about
or the new assessor in the city *67 382-5075 - make this overpaid going rate fool work half the nite listening to voice mail for free  - the positions is salary!!!

- make it a challenge  - see how long you can last before you are transferred to the correct department

In Schenectady you will get switched to a department sometimes, they will usually politely take your call, but be unable to help you as they do not control budgeting and spending. No leadership is the problem. I have told Gary McCarthy to his face what my major concerns for the city are, and he has lied to my face about what he is going to do about it.
Roger Hull, my impression of him, he at least understands what a budget is, he would not accept something phony baloney being put past him, and he also understands the damage to our neighborhoods by insane taxes.
The trouble is, we get so many who for some reason thought these people are doing a fine job, probably because they don't have any real life experiencewith adult responsibility, or they just don't understand this stuff. Look how many people got caught when they believed they could get an adjustable rate mortgage on a $350,000 house and then take out an equity loan on top of that for "improvements that increased the value" even though they hadn't put anything down. People like that, they see people in Bomber's and think oh, wow, downtown is doing great! I think, who cares?