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Kudos to the newly formed Airport Authority with moving forward on this badly needed redesign of its web-site, plus privatizing airport security and attracting Allegiant Airlines!
Last edited by urbanplanner; 08-28-2013 at 10:41 AM..
The owners says it hopes to open on the corner of East Washington and South Salina streets – the old home of Wise Guys Comedy Club - by January 2014.
The Syracuse New Times interviewed Mayor Stephanie Miner. She describes the city's economy as "doing very well" and jobs are being created. When asked about companies leaving the city, she says "no companies are leaving, just the opposite." I would love to drink the Koolaid or try the drugs Ms. Miner is snorting. Has there been progress in some areas? Absolutely, but speaking in absolutes by stating there are "no companies" leaving and job growth is robust is nothing short of being intellectually dishonest. She is a smart woman, which makes many of her statements downright insulting. The only net new job growth has been in low wage retail positions at outlet stores at the former Carousel Center and "green jobs" cleaning environmental friendly toilets at St. Joe's. These are not the kinds of opportunities that will retain middle class families and college graduates. I often hear Miner reference Syracuse as a "21st century city." I was under the impression that a "21st century city" retained its best and brightest, offered high paying jobs, supported cutting-edge tech companies with growth aspirations, employed top notch government professionals instead of unqualified hacks, and believed in first impressions like well maintained highways.
As some others have suggested, I suspect Miner will run for congress in 2016 or get a job working for the DNC in Washington.
The Syracuse New Times interviewed Mayor Stephanie Miner. She describes the city's economy as "doing very well" and jobs are being created. When asked about companies leaving the city, she says "no companies are leaving, just the opposite." I would love to drink the Koolaid or try the drugs Ms. Miner is snorting. Has there been progress in some areas? Absolutely, but speaking in absolutes by stating there are "no companies" leaving and job growth is robust is nothing short of being intellectually dishonest. She is a smart woman, which makes many of her statements downright insulting. The only net new job growth has been in low wage retail positions at outlet stores at the former Carousel Center and "green jobs" cleaning environmental friendly toilets at St. Joe's. These are not the kinds of opportunities that will retain middle class families and college graduates. I often hear Miner reference Syracuse as a "21st century city." I was under the impression that a "21st century city" retained its best and brightest, offered high paying jobs, supported cutting-edge tech companies with growth aspirations, employed top notch government professionals instead of unqualified hacks, and believed in first impressions like well maintained highways.
As some others have suggested, I suspect Miner will run for congress in 2016 or get a job working for the DNC in Washington.
I watched the debate on WCNY and what surprised me is that she didn't know what a metropolitan government was when that question was asked. Out of the three, I was surprised that Davis was the only one that talked about outreach to companies/corporations and trying to market the city to attract companies/corporations. While I don't know if anything will come out it, I wonder if the people will consider a change.
I watched the debate on WCNY and what surprised me is that she didn't know what a metropolitan government was when that question was asked. Out of the three, I was surprised that Davis was the only one that talked about outreach to companies/corporations and trying to market the city to attract companies/corporations. While I don't know if anything will come out it, I wonder if the people will consider a change.
I couldn't watch it on my iphone and The Post-Standard will not provide a transcript. I did read the Twitter coverage (which was laughable) and three poorly written articles discussing major highlights. Seeing these candidates so poorly grasp the issues and what it takes to revive this city makes me want to cry. Miner's failure to acknowledge any responsibility for problems like crime and jobs is reckless. Hogan is basically an older version of Driscoll. I like that Davis would attempt to attract companies to the city, however on the other hand he says he wants to focus somewhat exclusively on small businesses. The city needs both, but politically Davis and all of the other candidates score points by castigating "big corporations." These big corporations have done incredible damage to Syracuse over the years with massive layoffs, but some of that was the result of bad business conditions created by the city and state, repeated strikes, and high utility rates.
The problem is small businesses need support, mentoring, and a well run city that provides the proper environment for growth. Money will determine if such an initiative will take off and with the city broke, Davis would need to secure funding elsewhere, something that he criticizes Miner for doing. During his previous run and current campaign, Mr. Davis has not articulated any specifics for growth and instead has proposed all kinds of new taxes and regulations which seems at the high level to be counterproductive. A tax on municipal city workers who live in the suburbs, such as firefighters, cops, and teachers may have some merit. The problem is once such a tax is implemented and the projected revenue has not materialized, the mayor and Common Council will face pressure to expand the tax to cover all workers which would be devastating to efforts to attract and retain private businesses. Miner has failed at creating an attractive business environment, however the way I see it, the Common Council does far more damage at repelling developers, companies and investors than the mayor. Passing all sorts of arcane laws, engaging in well choreographed protests and generally failing make tough decisions on fiscal issues sends a dangerous message to existing employers and prospective ones.
Davis said he was angry because the new WCNY Broadcast Center was not built by residents of the Near West Side. Does Mr. Davis plan to force companies to hire only people who live within a few block radius of a proposed project do the construction work? Would be he upset if someone from say, the 900 block of Midland was hired because technically that neighborhood is outside of the immediate Near West Side? Does he realize that a considerable segment of the population in that immediate area is unable to work in construction for a myriad of reasons (disability, chemical dependency, question of residency, age, lack of interest)? As a former member of the UAW, Davis is being intellectually dishonest because he knows that most people who work on many of these projects are members of the local trade unions and live all over the area. All of these projects are subject to Project Labor Agreements that Davis has most certainly championed. If a contractor went door to door on Gifford Street asking if anyone wanted to work on the project, all of the trades unions would have a conniption alleging that "unskilled" and perhaps "illegal" people (as had been alleged by union political hacks like Greg Lancette on a Solvay project) were working on projects. All kinds of challenges and allegations of inferior work, labor law violations, and the like would be leveled from those who claim to support opportunity and access to work.
I support the development of apprenticeship programs, especially in the inner city. It may be difficult tailor an apprenticeship program to a small 1 square mile area and expect to hire all workers and complete what is most likely a rigorous and timely program. You can target specific census tracts with high poverty and unemployment, but that obviously isn't limited to just the Near West Side and the allegation leveled by Davis was overly simplistic and not based on fact. Hogan practiced similar tactics during his ad.
Yeah, I noticed that there weren't any specific ideas given and I agree that while having people from the Near West Side work on some of the area projects would be nice, there would be issues with it from people in other neighborhoods and unions.
I wish that there was more talk about consolidation of services and looking for ways to reduce costs. I think that is the big issue that people wanted to hear more about.
Yeah, I noticed that there weren't any specific ideas given and I agree that while having people from the Near West Side work on some of the area projects would be nice, there would be issues with it from people in other neighborhoods and unions.
I wish that there was more talk about consolidation of services and looking for ways to reduce costs. I think that is the big issue that people wanted to hear more about.
That's the problem: No one wants to discuss the hard decisions that need to be made out of fear of angering voters. While not optimal, I don't think a control board is such a bad idea. Buffalo, which is under the management of a financial control board is now generating surpluses. The only benefit to the board is to give the city the ability to change compensation for new employees and re-open union contracts, including pensions. I'm not sure if that occurred in Buffalo and it wouldn't surprise me if Cuomo has watered town the structure and capabilities of a control board to appease many of his supporters. I would hate to see retirees who worked for many years get slighted, however the pension and health benefits, if left unaddressed will bankrupt most municipalities in the coming years. Taxpayers and current residents should not and cannot shoulder these costs alone.
Significant cuts to police and fire, which are some of the most costly services is not the answer either. For the police department, could the city hire more civilians or non-officers for tactical, analytical and crime prevention activities? These new hires could also provide intelligence to the County Sheriff's office which could share the pro-rata cost. As it stands now, the PBA would file a grievance preventing this option. Things such as analyzing crime trends, providing recommendations for deploying or redeploying units, and other tactical decisions could be greatly supported by non-officers with training in criminal justice, psychology, mathematics and other specialties. These employees would not be part of the police union and while potentially subject to overtime could be less expensive. Trenton, NJ, a city much smaller than Syracuse has had more than 30 homicides this year after recently cutting police. Similar problems have occurred in Fresno or Bakersfield (can't remember which).
Having police stationed at the airport, in a low crime suburban area is another colossal waste of money and limited resources. I'm aware that federal regulations have increased following 9-11 that requires a certain minimum of uniformed police. The decision to hire lower paid security from a private company was a good move, but will this practice be sustained in light of the grievance filed by the PBA? The Post-Standard never follows up on these stories. I can imagine it's a very cushy job for 20 year veteran Kevin Six Pack from North Syracuse to have a 1 mile commute from home to his shift at the airport and avoid working on city streets. Since the city will continue to own the property at the airport (even though it is in the process of privatizing the airport operation), I wonder if its possible to have the County Sheriff's takeover that beat. Technically, the terminal area and most of the public areas are located in Town of Salina which is under the jurisdiction of the Onondaga County Sheriff's office. Slivers of the airport property also fall within the towns of DeWitt and Cicero, but to my knowledge these are not large public areas where city police are stationed.
That's the problem: No one wants to discuss the hard decisions that need to be made out of fear of angering voters. While not optimal, I don't think a control board is such a bad idea. Buffalo, which is under the management of a financial control board is now generating surpluses. The only benefit to the board is to give the city the ability to change compensation for new employees and re-open union contracts, including pensions. I'm not sure if that occurred in Buffalo and it wouldn't surprise me if Cuomo has watered town the structure and capabilities of a control board to appease many of his supporters. I would hate to see retirees who worked for many years get slighted, however the pension and health benefits, if left unaddressed will bankrupt most municipalities in the coming years. Taxpayers and current residents should not and cannot shoulder these costs alone.
Significant cuts to police and fire, which are some of the most costly services is not the answer either. For the police department, could the city hire more civilians or non-officers for tactical, analytical and crime prevention activities? These new hires could also provide intelligence to the County Sheriff's office which could share the pro-rata cost. As it stands now, the PBA would file a grievance preventing this option. Things such as analyzing crime trends, providing recommendations for deploying or redeploying units, and other tactical decisions could be greatly supported by non-officers with training in criminal justice, psychology, mathematics and other specialties. These employees would not be part of the police union and while potentially subject to overtime could be less expensive. Trenton, NJ, a city much smaller than Syracuse has had more than 30 homicides this year after recently cutting police. Similar problems have occurred in Fresno or Bakersfield (can't remember which).
Having police stationed at the airport, in a low crime suburban area is another colossal waste of money and limited resources. I'm aware that federal regulations have increased following 9-11 that requires a certain minimum of uniformed police. The decision to hire lower paid security from a private company was a good move, but will this practice be sustained in light of the grievance filed by the PBA? The Post-Standard never follows up on these stories. I can imagine it's a very cushy job for 20 year veteran Kevin Six Pack from North Syracuse to have a 1 mile commute from home to his shift at the airport and avoid working on city streets. Since the city will continue to own the property at the airport (even though it is in the process of privatizing the airport operation), I wonder if its possible to have the County Sheriff's takeover that beat. Technically, the terminal area and most of the public areas are located in Town of Salina which is under the jurisdiction of the Onondaga County Sheriff's office. Slivers of the airport property also fall within the towns of DeWitt and Cicero, but to my knowledge these are not large public areas where city police are stationed.
This is why I'm surprised that there hasn't been more talks about a consolidated Syracuse-Onondaga County police department. It is just one example of how consolidation or even a shifting of services could help to cut costs.
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