MsKreed

9 hours ago, Adam said:

due to the margin being so tight, an automatic hand re-count has been triggered for my primary, should have results certified one way or the other by the 12th

No matter the outcome...just keep your foot on the gas going into the general, and keep talking to everyone and encouraging turnout from supporters.

It doesn’t look like Baldwin ever has big turnouts for primaries, even in the larger election years.  There was lower turnout for last years (legislator) primary:

I'm doubtful that any human is reading 6,000 tweets a day.  That's four tweets per minute -- around the clock. 

I think he may be onto something.  From the start, Musk questioned the number of twitter "users" that were bot accounts, because large numbers of AI accounts falsely inflate the "reach" for advertisers (and also create a fake sense that "people" are interacting with other "people").

31 minutes ago, Elmira Telegram said:

In addition to the above case, the Supreme Court also ruled on other issues:

Source

Very happy about the Student Loan decision.

From the time it was proposed everyone knew it's not within POTUS power. 

I really don't understand why we seldom (never) heard the side against Biden's plan point out that, for anyone willing to work for 10 years in public service (in any capacity, whether related to their college studies or not) can already have their Student Loans forgiven. 

So Biden's proposal was only going to apply to students who make a choice to work in the private for-profit sector. 

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) was passed in 2007 through the legal process of Congressional legislation. 

Also......They also handed down a unanimous ruling last month that local governments cannot retain the equity beyond what is owed when property is seized and sold at auction:

Quote

In 2016, a Minnesota county sold 94-year-old Geraldine Tyler’s condo at auction after she failed to pay her property taxes for several years. The sale yielded $40,000; Hennepin County kept not only the $15,000 in taxes, penalties, and costs that Tyler owed it, but also the $25,000 that was left over. The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the county’s actions violated the Fifth Amendment’s takings clause, which bars the government from taking private property for public use without adequately compensating the property owner.

More HERE

Agreed.

Just as I agreed when the wedding cake baker won his case years ago, and frankly didn’t understand why SCOTUS declined to hear the florist case a few years late (that was essentially the same premise).

A private individual or business shouldn’t be compelled to support anything they disagree with, and free to their own expression and only offer products/merchandise that align with their beliefs.  A Christian owned magazine stand should not be required to sell girly magazines, and I wouldn’t expect a Muslim or Jewish restaurateur to be forced to serve pork.

This is very different than a government representative, like the county clerk refusing to issue a marriage license as part of their sworn duties.

I was referring to my understanding of the way the individual statutes read......that BAC is more of a primary factor for DWI than DWAI. Not necessarily the DA and Defense Attorney's deal-making negotiations. 

Quote

Source

So, aside from any plea bargaining and charges being reduced.....it's possible for someone with a 0.04 BAC to be not guilty of DWI, but still guilty of DWAI.

3 hours ago, Chris said:

Quite a difference from:

To, "Yep, I'm guilty."

I think both can potentially be true when the distinction between the charge (DWI) and the plea (DWAI) is considered. 

It seems like DWAI (infraction) has a much lower BAC threshold....so I believe someone lower than the DWI (criminal) standard of 0.08% can be considered "ability impaired" even if they aren't legally "intoxicated.  And Court/prosecutor's premise is that when an incident occurs (even with other factors like visibility, weather, etc) a driver with no "impairment" at 0.0% BAC could likely have averted the incident.....but for the presence of 1-2 drinks that may be far under the "intoxicated" limit of 0.08% for DWI.

One of the public comments on Monday was from Steve Hoover (Chemung County Budget Director), who spoke on his own behalf as a resident and taxpayer. 

He noted that economically, his “suspicion” is that the sales tax and payments in lieu of taxes will be quite small and will probably ask to have those figures quantified and made available to the public.

Of course, Hoover’s concerns were ignored the last time he made comments discouraging the Legislature from pulling 5 million from the Fund Balance to give a one-time reduction in property taxes. So perhaps financial "expertise" is only valid when it comes from IDA members.

I’m sure there are probably some people who won’t be happy with anything. 

Personally, I’d rather see development that brings better jobs than a retail gas plaza will.  More like what is in the industrial park across the highway on Daniel Zenker.  The traffic created by that would be shift changes and lunch breaks from employees. Or even an Amazon location like Bath has. 

When Consumer Square was built, instead of generating jobs and sales tax, a lot was just shifted from the Mall and Grand Central Plaza, leaving vacant buildings. I think this would have a similar effect.

On a side note, when IDA/STEG persuade developers to bring “manufacturing jobs” to the area I think they should set better expectations than some of the Zenker employers they have brought in.  

I think it would be better for the County to have more full-time jobs with benefits than those who rely heavily on Manpower, Addecco and other temp agencies.

We regularly have Moss and Legislators signing “resolutions” and “proclamations” to bemoan the increasing Medicaid share that Albany is forcing on us. Isn’t it ridiculous that we give tax incentives to places like Demets and CemeCon to “create” jobs where the workforce needs Medicaid?

We would better served to encourage businesses that take as many people off those rolls as possible.

22 minutes ago, Kevin said:

Anyone opposed to the travel center is welcome to buy the land so it gets back on the tax roles. Right now it is owned by the county. 

That’s a good point.

I’m not sure how or why the County came to own that land (that used to be the Rose Farm), and I agree that we have far too much tax exempt property in Chemung County.

Currently, it belongs to the County taxpayers. So, in a sense, the people opposing it already “purchased” it (indirectly through their elected representatives). And if they (as owners) have a strong argument for how it should or shouldn’t be developed, then their representatives should take that into consideration, and weigh it against the arguments from taxpayers who support the proposal. 

At this point, I've seen few voicing support for that particular use of that parcel.....other than Joe Roman and the prospective buyer (who is not a local taxpayer as far as I know).

I wonder when we will hear whether the "New Team" Margeson mentioned will have any more actual community members than the above listed "Community" Advisory Board named in 2006 (heluva job they did, huh?).

From the the way he spoke of it, I'm sort of expecting the same....but fewer movers and shakers from this area.  Someone with connections to the Bills and Sabers was referenced, as well as an "entertainment" expert (maybe someone located Tadross?? LOL). 

The public has been told that CCIDA is comprised of “smart” and “effective” and “capable” people.  In fact, they have been granted so much influence, that we should assume that the judgement and business acumen of those few individuals is superior to the entire rest of the county.....combined.  

We’ve also been told (by the brain trust mentioned above) that both Nichols/CAN-USA and Tadross-Donner/Mammoth were “smart” and “effective” and “capable” business people before the CCIDA entered into leases with them.

If that were true, then these tenants would have been aware of the condition of the Arena, the costs involved in rehabbing it to run successfully. Any “capable” businessperson understands startup and operating costs and does research to determine that projected revenue will cover those costs.

I’m not sure which business decision would be considered more foolish and incompetent.

A Tenant signing a lease without bothering to find out any details or cost projections on a multimillion dollar endeavor?

Or a Landlord actually believing that anyone could be successful at multimillion dollar endeavor....without bothering to find out any details or cost projections?

I watched it later on the Video archive link (HERE)

I really should have gone to bed earlier, but listened to the end. Comments took up nearly 1:15 of the 1:30 meeting, and every one of them articulated their thoughts very well.

There was a well-rounded group of people, with an equally well-rounded list of concerns.

From the Audubon Society and others voicing environmental concerns, to parents of small children and walkers, bikers and others of all ages who utilize the park......as well as friends and associates of Trooper Sperr.  

4 hours ago, LocalSportsGuy said:

Well I think the best thing the IDA and the county can do is just be honest with the people. Be upfront, be accountable, and just tell us what's going on. The people should know what's going on if their tax dollars are going toward operating the place. 

Unfortunately, it seems that transparency is not something they are offering voluntarily. 

From when the Donner deal was first announced in November 2021, the IDA's clandestine deal with Donner was kept from the public until it was signed. This is in violation of State Law: the final meeting was "accidentally" not recorded, but there was no explanation for why no previous meeting minutes or recordings ever mentioned the deal either. (See pages 2-4 of this topic for links and references to that). 

 At this point, the only way for the people to find out what's happening behind the IDA's doors will be if the media diligently pursues answers, and submits FOIL requests for information that is not willingly being shared.......liek Nick Dubina did when City officials refused to discuss why the Chief was fired. 

And can someone do a welfare check on Mike Tadross?  One of the big selling points of this deal was that he was the" Hollywood producer" who was going to bring entertainment in......but he mysteriously disappeared by the time teh IDA finalized teh lease with Donner. 

5 minutes ago, JustAGuy said:

Are any of these people still on this said board? Does it still exist???

I'm sure it disbanded at some point (probably when the IDA "purchased" the Arena several years later, largely with huge chunks of taxpayer funds).

6 minutes ago, JustAGuy said:

That board is all snakes all the time though. 

And I expect whatever "new" board of experts that Margeson mentioned in the interview will be a similar crowd....adding in a few out of town parasites.

Public Comments can be made at the beginning of tonight's Legislature Meeting:

On 6/10/2023 at 2:27 PM, MsKreed said:

EDIT:  A quick search of past Legislature meetings, Strange and Sonsire both did vote on CCIDA funding.  So, I guess I'm recalling some other organizations that where she recused herself due to perceived conflict of being on a Board.  Maybe Cooperative Extension or something like that 

Which still makes me question whether Legislators should ever be voting on Resolutions that benefit any Board they sit on, or when it becomes a conflict?

I guess I'm not the only person who has pondered this.....

The NYS Senate passed  BILL NUMBER: S1716 (HERE) in May, and it's been sent to the Assembly  (Bill A255 HERE)

Quote

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section 1: Repeals the existing subdivision 4 of section 856 of the general municipal law which deals with elected officials serving as members of IDA boards and replaces it with a new subdivision 4 that

prohibits any elected official serving at the county, town, city, or village level from serving as member of the board of any industrial development agency (IDA) located within the county. Any IDA board member who would now be ineligible to serve may serve until the expiration of his or her term as a member of the IDA, at which time new board members must be selected using the existing process established by each IDA. The enabling legislation for certain county and municipal IDAs specifically requires certain elected positions to be represented on the IDA's board. This bill would not apply to any elected officials required by the terms of the enabling legislation for a particular IDA to serve on the board of that IDA. Section 2: Sets Effective Date.   JUSTIFICATION: Each year, local industrial development agencies grant millions of dollars of financial assistance in the form of tax incentives, payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreements, and others, to projects seeking assistance. The members of IDA boards make decisions on which projects will receive assistance and how much assistance to offer. Allowing elected officials to serve as IDA board members opens obvious opportu- nities for corruption and conflicts of interest. For instance, a company (or its officers) seeking financial assistance from a county or munici- pal IDA could contribute to the campaign of an elected official who serves on the IDA board and that elected official could then vote to confer millions of dollars in taxpayer incentives on the company. Despite this clear potential for corruption, elected officials currently serve on IDA boards all around the state, making this bill a vitally needed anti-corruption measure.

8 minutes ago, Chris said:

Ok, so since it’s obvious the county wants to ignore the wishes of the majority of the people and their opinions, it’s a forgone conclusion that they are gonna steamroll ahead and go into the business of running an arena.

So the question is, what can they do in order to perhaps make it a profitable and successful endeavor for a change?

I think there is a certain number of people who don't care at all whether or not it even is a profitable and successful endeavor.  

I don't know who the new "diverse" group of advisors that Margeson mentioned will be. But the idea of a appointing a group of"experts" from varying backgrounds of expertise to  collaborate on Arena plan is not new. We did this the first time the place failed. 

January 3, 2006

Lucky for us that these bastions of the business world were there to right the ship before it became a burden.  The Legislature ought to issue a Proclamation to Honor these guys for rescuing the Arena. Many of them are still "moving and shaking" in Chemung County and some have advanced to higher aspirations, new titles and positions. 

16 hours ago, Chris said:

And to say they’re hopeful the county can get on board, support, or whatever? Shouldn’t be too hard since Margeson chairs both the legislature and the CCIDA 

It seems like back when Sonsire was streaming meetings, she was on the CCIDA board and abstained from certain votes that involved the CCIDA. It never occurred to me.....but now I almost want to research and see how often other Legislators who sit on the CCIDA abstained from voting to throw money at the CCIDA.

EDIT:  A quick search of past Legislature meetings, Strange and Sonsire both did vote on CCIDA funding.  So, I guess I'm recalling some other organizations that where she recused herself due to perceived conflict of being on a Board.  Maybe Cooperative Extension or something like that 

Which still makes me question whether Legislators should ever be voting on Resolutions that benefit any Board they sit on, or when it becomes a conflict?

16 hours ago, Chris said:

Let’s see how many millions of dollars they can waste on it for a couple hundred hockey fans and families before it gets through their heads that this is not a hockey town.

Amen!

Is Youth Hockey a valuable pastime? Yes - absolutely.

But it certainly is not the only sport or recreational activity that Chemung County parents choose to involve their kids in....and not the only sport/activity that has facilities in the county that have struggled. 

We have a skating rink and three bowling alleys that have always been expected to pay taxes and pay for their own maintenance and operating costs. As those expenses and maintenance costs have risen over the years, those facilities suffered in silence without stealing Casella grants or ARP funds. 

On 6/5/2023 at 3:51 PM, KarenK said:

Not particularly surprising since as usual NY can't get out of it's own way. 

This!!!

It seems to be the SOP for any state project. If they had just used alcohol production and sales as a template, it would probably be running pretty smoothly by now.

From growing, to production, to sales.....it shouldn’t be any more convoluted than what wineries have been doing forever. The market forces would have kicked in to make it flourish like alcohol production and sales.

But nope.....they had to tack on some vague “social justice” concept to issuing permits and licenses at every stage.  That just frustrates the "eligible" businesses that sit and wait for the system to work, and encourages under-the-table options. 

12 hours ago, LocalSportsGuy said:

Another nail in the coffin. Sad what has happened with the paper and couldn't make a move to a more digital platform. 

They're paywall for the digital version is pretty affordable.....except it lacks much real content just like the print version. 

Sadly, this isn’t terribly surprising to me....considering the Star-Gazette is almost exclusively National and State news that is gathered at least a day before. Or generic "regional" lifestyle (tourism and home/garden, etc) stories that might contain mildly interesting “magazine” type content – but no hard news about anything happening here. I bet the Binghamton and Ithaca Gannett papers have 98% of the same content. 

For local content, it rarely carries much more than obituaries and sports scores.  

And the majority of “news” articles for this area seem to be just a few transitional segue sentences stringing together reprints of Press Releases and public statements (as with the recent Arena/IDA news and the County Exec’s emergency order, etc).

Past archives (available at Steel Memorial Library and on newspapers.com) show multi-faceted in-depth reporting that was a result of “man on the beat” chasing down facts and sources. I’m not sure how many “local” reporters the paper has even had in recent years.

48 minutes ago, KarenK said:

I heard they were talking a travel plaza in Big Flats but for some reason I though closer to the hospital.  It would be a good addition but proximity to that park is a definite concern.

I agree....North side of I-86 like toward the hospital or Daniel Zenker makes sense. 

But, aside from the Park and walking trail, the CoRt 64 side is a lot of wetland and habitat that would seem questionable to bury diesel/gas tanks, add tractor trailer traffic, and all the resulting pavement runoff. 

Quote

 

The proposal was introduced by Joe Roman, the Executive Director of the Chemung County Industrial Development Agency. Onvo, the Scranton-based company that would build the new 24-hour plaza, says it would include a drive-through restaurant, indoor food options, a gas station, electric vehicle chargers, and showers. Onvo says its plazas typically serve up to 1,300 cars and trucks per day.

Lawana Morse, Chemung County Legislator for District 1, was the only legislator to raise a question about the proposed plaza’s proximity to Sperr Park.

“Joe, have you talked to the community to get feedback regarding a truck stop across from a park that is well used by kids and community members?” Morse asked Chemung IDA Executive Joe Roman. Mr. Roman said there have been no public meetings so far, but there will be. He said the County has been trying to develop that plot of land for 15 years.

 

Read More HERE

1 hour ago, Chris said:

Places can do it all they want, doesn’t mean I’m buying into it. 

I think the concept of spontaneous hours is more tenable in a metro area where there is sufficient traffic at any given time that they may be open (food trucks and carts also do better in high traffic areas, unless they have good social media and advertising to alert customers - like FireHouse subs, etc).

 In an area like this, with lots of rural folks......knowing someplace has regular hours of operation is a much bigger factor instead of “wandering on down” to see if it’s open.

7 hours ago, JustAGuy said:

I'm not sure if there's a legit fiscal answer to the woes of this joint other then you need someone with deep pockets who is willing to take the blows fiscally but I doubt anyone like that lives near these parts.

I honestly think the IDA has been too eager when seeking tenants. Too many deals, incentives and freebees are a magnet for pipe dreams and shysters without the means to get it off the ground.

They don’t seem to care about the consequences as long as they get a deal signed.

“Will you pay a dollar rent? Please??” ....

”I swear just one dollar and no taxes” ....

“We’ll fix everything that we’ve let fall apart....we promise!!”....

“Just a dollar....and we’ll chip in for your marketing expenses.”

“Will you take it? Will you take it? Huh, huh??? Will you take it....PLEASE???”

“Did we mention there’s no taxes???”

They’re like a crack ho’ so desperate for a hit that she’s offering to do anything and everything imaginable for a dollar.

7 hours ago, JustAGuy said:

That place has likely never turned a profit even in the Jackals golden years but the local government didn't care about that back then....

This is true.

There seems to be some (too many) people suffering from false, idealized nostalgia of how wonderful they remember the Arena being for the area. A review of newspaper archives shows a way different picture.

The truth is every time someone leaves the Arena (from Afr to Donner and everyone in between), they leave behind unpaid bills and taxes that we end up paying because there’s some mistaken notion that “the community” has to save it. Since it’s too big to fail because its success is so freakin’ important for the area.

From the beginning when the Jackals games were supposedly sold out and they were "revitalizing" the City.....the original operators never paid basic bills like sewer usage, outside debtors and utilities, and weren’t maintaining facility and equipment. And that's on top of the tax breaks and cash “investment” from the county.

It also played in more theaters than the competitors:

And it other Disney movies have had better releases in recent years....

Quote

By 2023 standards, it's a hot start for the film, but the numbers lose a bit of their sheen when you look at the results compared to the other major live-action remakes Disney has produced in the last few years – particularly those based on the animated hits that were released in the late 1980s and 1990s. The Little Mermaid had a better opening than Guy Ritchie's Aladdin from 2019, but Jon Favreau's The Lion King made $191.8 million domestically in its first three days, and Bill Condon's Beauty And The Beast scored $175.8 million.

1 hour ago, KarenK said:

IF no one wants the job, appointing people won't help since they can just decline.  They couldn't get anyone to express interest so they could appoint them.  Awful lot of folks with opinions but no one wants the job.

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see my name show up as a write in anyway.  I would decline it.

Yeah....that's the Catch 22.  They can't conscript an unwilling individual. 

Appointing someone needs to be someone willing to accept the job.  Someone unwilling to run isn't likely going to accept appointment.