Race For Mayor In Elmira Is Set

[MsKreed 1,186]

59 minutes ago, Elizabeth Whitehouse said:

If Elmira has such a law, it is keeping very quiet about it.

I did notice on his campaign site that he encourages transparency and raises concerns of “secrecy”.

When you say that “Elmira” is keeping quiet, can we surmise that your council member, the mayor, Mr. McCracken and/or the City Manager have been asked about these things directly and failed to respond? 

45 minutes ago, Elizabeth Whitehouse said:

That said, maintaining properties is not rewarding the landlord; it is enhancing the neighborhood, which is good for everyone.

We’ll have to agree to disagree on this.

If a property owner refuses to responsibly maintain their property themselves, and the result is that they get “free” services that may improve their capital value (at the expense of other taxpayers), then they are indeed being rewarded for neglecting their property.

[Jim 13]

For those of you who want more details about my platform, let me outline a few items:
I am a fiscal conservative and will not put the city in debt.

I will also do my best to reduce wasteful spending, like the $2,000,000 outlay for the golf course sprinkler system–with proper planning, it could have been avoided and might have permitted the use of the Covid grant money to help those who truly needed it–and avoid irresponsible, wasteful practices and behind closed door dealings, like selling the Maxwell Place fire station for $1. Instead of reading a pop-up on our city’s webpage that says: “Honoring the past and building the future,” let’s be honest and post what’s really going on: “Dishonoring (or destroying) the past and impoverishing the future.”

I believe in stewardship. The city will take care of its property. That includes our buildings and our parks, etc. Have a look at the playground at Brand Park, the clock tower, Brand Park pool, if you want a few of the many examples of neglect and waste.

In May, 2022, we eliminated our shelter for the homeless and started paying what has amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars to house the homeless in motels. That outlay continues today. By the way, many municipalities in the U.S. chose to use Covid dollars to establish shelters. We chose a sprinkler system. Do you approve?

We need to find ways to reduce the tax burden on the taxpayers. For example, we must stop allowing our neighborhoods and homes to be torn down to allow for parking lots that take the property off the tax rolls, contribute to urban blight and increase the tax burden on you and me. The most recent case of this poor policy took place on N. Main in August. Likewise, we should negotiate payments from our non-taxpaying institutions to contribute to services they receive from the city. Right now, that burden is also on you and me, as is the unconscionable practice of landlords who allow their properties to decay and thus lower your property values–thank you, MsKreed, for your wise observation. And we need to rebuild our tax base in the downtown. Is what I have outlined the way you want it? And there are other policies we can examine that may help reduce the tax burden on individuals.

In addition, our city planning is based on ad hoc decisions and shows no comprehensive view of policies that need to be put in place to allow us to revitalize our city in an attractive and disciplined way. We must reverse the trend that is leading our downtown to become another mall. Among our policies, we should expand entrepreneurship programs and develop and incentivize small businesses to occupy our downtown. I'll be glad to elaborate, if you wish.

The museum of the fire industry that I propose will not only celebrate a glorious past and bring pride and grandeur to our city, it will provide a stimulus and support to both the 4th and 5th districts to improve and will attract tourists. We will have to repossess the fire station, of course...

These are a few of my agenda items. There are many more. I ask you to look at my webpage for more information, and if you have specific questions or want further clarifications, please ask. You can send emails to my campaign address listed on my website, and you can also attend the Candidate Forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters and the NAACP Thursday, Oct. 26th, 6 p.m., at the EOP.
 

[Elizabeth Whitehouse 18]

6 hours ago, MsKreed said:

I did notice on his campaign site that he encourages transparency and raises concerns of “secrecy”.

When you say that “Elmira” is keeping quiet, can we surmise that your council member, the mayor, Mr. McCracken and/or the City Manager have been asked about these things directly and failed to respond? 

We’ll have to agree to disagree on this.

If a property owner refuses to responsibly maintain their property themselves, and the result is that they get “free” services that may improve their capital value (at the expense of other taxpayers), then they are indeed being rewarded for neglecting their property.

No one gets free services. The home owner is charged - fairly exorbitantly - for services provided by the city.

[Elizabeth Whitehouse 18]

6 hours ago, MsKreed said:

I did notice on his campaign site that he encourages transparency and raises concerns of “secrecy”.

When you say that “Elmira” is keeping quiet, can we surmise that your council member, the mayor, Mr. McCracken and/or the City Manager have been asked about these things directly and failed to respond? 

We’ll have to agree to disagree on this.

If a property owner refuses to responsibly maintain their property themselves, and the result is that they get “free” services that may improve their capital value (at the expense of other taxpayers), then they are indeed being rewarded for neglecting their property.

When I say that Elmira is keeping quiet, I mean that their website makes absolutely no mention of code issues.  I live in Corning.

[MsKreed 1,186]

If you're now supporting charging the property owners to fix their own neglected property, then we agree now.  

Nice to see you come around  from your earlier nonsense:

 

21 hours ago, Elizabeth Whitehouse said:

The City needs to add a budget line to help homeowners keep their homes up to code - at least as far as safety is concerned. Over the past few years, I have climbed many unsafe steps and knocked on many doors that need help.

 

 

[Elizabeth Whitehouse 18]

19 minutes ago, MsKreed said:

Nice to see you come around  from your earlier nonsense:

What nonsense?

[Adam 375]

43 minutes ago, Elizabeth Whitehouse said:

No one gets free services. The home owner is charged - fairly exorbitantly - for services provided by the city.

while I don't disagree with the premise, i need to offer clarification. the cost of any remediation done by the municipality or its subcontractors IS initially paid by that municipality, which then places a lien on the property and is  expected to be paid back but isn't necessarily guaranteed.

[Elizabeth Whitehouse 18]

That is right.

[Elizabeth Whitehouse 18]

47 minutes ago, Adam said:

while I don't disagree with the premise, i need to offer clarification. the cost of any remediation done by the municipality or its subcontractors IS initially paid by that municipality, which then places a lien on the property and is  expected to be paid back but isn't necessarily guaranteed.

do you have a better solution?

[Elizabeth Whitehouse 18]

10 hours ago, MsKreed said:

If you're now supporting charging the property owners to fix their own neglected property, then we agree now.  

Nice to see you come around  from your earlier nonsense:

I don't think  that I have posted any nonsense

Edited October 24, 2023 by Chris
Fixed quote vs response for clarity

[Adam 375]

On 10/23/2023 at 9:48 PM, Elizabeth Whitehouse said:

do you have a better solution?

didnt say it was a bad solution, just educating you that the initial outlay is from the municipality( taxpayer), re-payment is not guaranteed, or if it is, not always in timely fashion...so where does that money come from to cover?

[Elizabeth Whitehouse 18]

On 10/18/2023 at 2:58 PM, Chris said:

For curiosity's sake, can you provide those numbers?

Registered voters: Dems 5067; 4330 unaffiliated; 3564 republicans.

 

[Jim 13]

More neglect/waste in Elmira:

https://www.wskg.org/news/2023-10-26/after-year-of-neglect-elmiras-city-hall-clock-tower-gets-3-5-million-facelift

[Chris 2,182]

Quote

 

According to Kyle Sullivan, the director of Buildings and Grounds for Elmira, in 2016, the city noticed the clock was not keeping time and weed growth had caused brick and mortar issues that allowed water to leak into the building.

It sat awaiting repair for years due to funding issues.

 

I'd be curious to know what the cost would have been then vs now. If I had to hazard a guess, it would have still been a pretty steep price tag. 

[Elizabeth Whitehouse 18]

54 minutes ago, Chris said:

I'd be curious to know what the cost would have been then vs now. If I had to hazard a guess, it would have still been a pretty steep price tag. 

Just a few months ago, the price was $2 million. The sudden increase has been attributed to inflation and COVID supply chain problems.  So, seven years ago it might not have been that bad.

[KarenK 384]

I'm curious why the uproar over saving the "historic" clock but a complete flip when it comes to preserving Brand Park Pool (into something other than a pool) for "historic" reasons.

[Elizabeth Whitehouse 18]

2 minutes ago, KarenK said:

I'm curious why the uproar over saving the "historic" clock but a complete flip when it comes to preserving Brand Park Pool (into something other than a pool) for "historic" reasons.

It's not a flip. Of course the clock tower needs to be saved. The point is that if this project had been started 10 or 15 years ago, it would not have been so expensive. The City of Elmira seems to have two coping mechanisms: ignore the problem until it is too late to save the building, then tear it down, or wait until you can find a grant to do the work. Personally, I don't see why other entities should pay for what the City needs to do.

[Adam 375]

7 hours ago, KarenK said:

I'm curious why the uproar over saving the "historic" clock but a complete flip when it comes to preserving Brand Park Pool (into something other than a pool) for "historic" reasons.

i would guess that 3.5 million( up a cool mill in a year) is ridiculous to spend on a clock that wont even chime? likely also it is symbolic of past/current administrations that dont seem to care to keep up on upkeep/maintenance issues in order to make themselves look good by "saving money", though i dont think the pool is anywhere near worth investing in at this point, it would have seen more use by the public than the clock tower will

 

[Elizabeth Whitehouse 18]

1 minute ago, Adam said:

i would guess that 3.5 million( up a cool mill in a year) is ridiculous to spend on a clock that wont even chime? likely also it is symbolic of past/current administrations that dont seem to care to keep up on upkeep/maintenance issues in order to make themselves look good by "saving money", though i dont think the pool is anywhere near worth investing in at this point, it would have seen more use by the public than the clock tower will

 

I think I agree with you. Saving the clock tower looks good. So what if 2.7 million came from COVID relief funds.  (Hardly the intent of the bill.) This is one case where dismantling might be the better solution. But save City Hall, whatever the cost! 

For 3.5 million one could rebuild Brand Park pool and provide a much-needed recreational outlet for the Southside.  That would probably be enough money to put in the equipment necessary to turn it into an ice rink in winter.

[Zapp Brannigan 139]

19 hours ago, Adam said:

i would guess that 3.5 million( up a cool mill in a year) is ridiculous to spend on a clock that wont even chime? likely also it is symbolic of past/current administrations that dont seem to care to keep up on upkeep/maintenance issues in order to make themselves look good by "saving money", though i dont think the pool is anywhere near worth investing in at this point, it would have seen more use by the public than the clock tower will

 

Just makes you wonder whose buddy is fixing the clock tower so many better ways to spend that 3.5 million. Most people can only read digital clocks these days anyways 

[Elizabeth Whitehouse 18]

8 hours ago, Zapp Brannigan said:

Just makes you wonder whose buddy is fixing the clock tower so many better ways to spend that 3.5 million. Most people can only read digital clocks these days anyways 

Ha, ha. You are right about teaching children to tell time.

I don't know who the buddy is, and I don't know how the contractor was selected. So much we don't know about the workings of the City.

[Jim 13]

Interviews with the 2 mayoral candidates will be aired tonight on WENY news.

[Jim 13]

[Jim 13]

On 10/31/2023 at 1:48 PM, KarenK said:

I'm curious why the uproar over saving the "historic" clock but a complete flip when it comes to preserving Brand Park Pool (into something other than a pool) for "historic" reasons.

Thanks Karen, I agree. The clock is on city hall, of course. But the issue of neglect and a lack of care for the historic value of our past monuments is especially disgraceful.

[Chris 2,182]

I’ll give Jim credit, he put up better numbers than I expected. Ultimately though it wasn’t quite enough: