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Post by Clipper on Jul 7, 2011 12:41:22 GMT -5
strikeslip.blogspot.com/Strikeslip covers the subject well on his blog. Thanks for the usual in- depth coverge and insight Strike. Thursday, July 07, 2011 EDGE + Utica . . .The Worst That Could Happen! EDGE, Utica officials meet to discuss merger City Hall needs its head examined on this one! Why? Let me count the ways: 1. EDGE is controlled by private interests rather than the taxpayers. It works through a host of subsidiary organizations making it difficult to track its activities. 2. EDGE's performance has been unsatisfactory, causing Herkimer County to dump EDGE and Whitestown Business Park (Old O.C. Airport area) tenants to complain. 3. EDGE is unaccountable. 4. EDGE is incompetent. 5. EDGE is lazy. 6. EDGE encourages sprawl. 7. EDGE is dishonest. Need I say more? Posted by Strikeslip at 8:25 AM
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Post by Clipper on Jul 7, 2011 12:44:08 GMT -5
Seems to me that this could be another blunder equal to the blunder Hanna made when he turned over the water board to the county. Utica has nothing to gain and everything to lose by letting this group gain any leverage over funds allocated to economic development in Utica. EDGE projects an image of being "shady" at best. Accountability is not in the vocabulary of those running EDGE.
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Post by Swimmy on Jul 7, 2011 13:37:02 GMT -5
It is a bad idea. And no body seems willing to address the horribleness that is EDGE! But when you have your hands in more pockets than a $.50 prostitute on a Saturday night, it's easy to keep your failure of an agency open and pocket most of the $400,000 contract for yourself and your friends rather than invest it wisely to make the county grow!
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larry
French Fry
Posts: 169
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Post by larry on Jul 7, 2011 14:10:48 GMT -5
I couldn't agree with you guys more. This is why I voted against the EDGE contract every year I was on the board, and caused an uproar when I tried making Dimeo answer some questions and be held accountable. You would think I was the devil by the way everyone reacted to me. Maybe that's why no one questions them. They don't want to end up like me. Unless you have the resources of an Ed or Richard Hanna, to fight back on your own, they'll destroy you. In the end, I'd do it all again, though.
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Post by clarencebunsen on Jul 7, 2011 15:00:28 GMT -5
My experiences with our economic development people are dated, it was more than a decade ago that I started a small business in East Utica, but here is the impression I got.
The Utica people owed their appointments to political connections, I seldom received any help or even a correct answer from them. EDGE (did they have a different name when they first started?) was only interested in promoting Grifiss.
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Post by Ralph on Jul 8, 2011 1:42:56 GMT -5
Every Day they Gauge Everybody
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Post by Swimmy on Jul 8, 2011 6:38:36 GMT -5
Gouge?
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Post by dgriffin on Jul 8, 2011 7:26:42 GMT -5
I have a good friend who's a banker and heads up a group that does research on various business endeavors. She says economic development corporations for the most part are smoke and mirrors. The nano tech and chip fab facilities were waltzed all over NY State, e.g., giving each city a tantalizing vision, but they were always meant for Albany where all the money is coming from. And today they are in that area, but the thousands spent for each job does not really look promising at the moment, she says. Third grade arithmetic says all this stuff can be done cheaper off shore. EDCs make a lot of money for their organizers, but all the money comes from the taxpayers.
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Post by realist13413 on Jul 8, 2011 9:32:45 GMT -5
I think EDGE blows. On the other hand, there needs to be something done to ensure that the UED Commissioner is actually qualified for the position, as opposed to another political appointment for someone with absolutely no experience in actual development. EDGE isn't the answer. Can anyone suggest what is?
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Post by Clipper on Jul 8, 2011 10:15:05 GMT -5
Tough question Realist. Anyone with the experience that you describe is going to be of the same caliber as Randy and is going to be smart enough to run and hide if they are asked to immerse themselves in the swamp that is Utica politics. Unfortunately as long as it is a mayoral appointment, they are either not going to get someone qualified, or they are going to find someone that is qualified, but doesn't want to become part of the tangled mess that is Utica, and finds it in their better interest to pursue a different endeavor.
Looking at the way business is done around City Hall, FROM THE OUTSIDE, I can't imagine what the reality is when you actually are a part of it on the INSIDE.
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Post by strikeslip on Jul 8, 2011 17:22:33 GMT -5
Are there any consulting firms nationally which specialize in redevelopment of older urban areas? I really think the task is beyond one person AND beyond the capabilities of everyone currently in house. There are a variety of disciplines needed. Experience in the nuts and bolts of selling,leasing,putting together marketable packages is only one facet. Urban planning, landscape architecture, public administration, public relations, transportation, environmental science and law all come into play.
Had the Master Plan been better orchestrated and not controlled by the current players, we might have seen something evolve that would have drawn upon all these disciplines. Unfortunately too many involved with the process hada direct interest in the outcome.
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Post by Clipper on Jul 8, 2011 17:29:14 GMT -5
"Had the Master Plan been better orchestrated and not controlled by the current players, we might have seen something evolve that would have drawn upon all these disciplines. Unfortunately too many involved with the process hada direct interest in the outcome."
Well, truer words were never spoken Strike, and it couldn't be said any plainer than that.
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Post by Ralph on Jul 9, 2011 4:06:57 GMT -5
Right! Sorry, I was a few brews in at the time after a looooong day!  |
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Post by Swimmy on Jul 9, 2011 4:56:35 GMT -5
Not a problem, lol. Just making sure I understood what you meant. :-)
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Post by Clipper on Jul 9, 2011 9:31:15 GMT -5
Beer? Extreme fatigue? With your working hours Ralph, I am surprised that after a couple beers, even YOU understood what you meant, ROFLMAO.   Do you ever simply wake up at the keyboard with an uncompleted sentence on the monitor, and realize that you fell asleep typing, and that you probably should shut it down and go to bed??LOL I don't know how you manage that treadmill that is your life lately. God bless ya my friend. |
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Do you ever simply wake up at the keyboard with an uncompleted sentence on the monitor, and realize that you fell asleep typing, and that you probably should shut it down and go to bed??LOL