When The Government Become Thieves
The continuing saga of bad moves and poor decisions by Rochester, New York government officials continue to pile up.
In the fall it was announced that the first mall in the nation, Midtown Mall, is coming down to make way for the new headquarters of an area business, PaeTec Communication. While the announcement came as a surprise to many people, the move does seem to have many benefits to help revitalize downtown Rochester.
But, now poor decisions and bully tactics could cast the whole project in a bad light leaving many with a sour taste in their mouth.
First off, as already mentioned, the announcement caught many people by surprise, including the tenants of the mall and many Rochester governmental officials. Then, New York State Governor Eliot Spitzer shows up on the scene and tosses 50 million dollars at the project to help tear the building down. His announcement caught many New York State legislators by surprise who knew nothing about the so-called grant. Of course the big question is, where will the Governor get the money from. The man can’t even balance the State budget! Where is the money coming from in a budget that’s already billions of dollars in the red.
Now it appears the Rochester City Council could turn into thieves. At the annual lighting of the Christmas Tree in Midtown Plaza over the weekend Mayor Bob Duffy said this is probably the last year for Christmas at the mall. When asked what the time-line was, he could give no answer as the city of Rochester doesn’t even own the Mall yet. The Mayor did say they’re currently in negotiations with the owner to buy the Mall. However, not to worry says Mayor Duffy, if the owner doesn’t sell, the city will simply condemn the building, and then take it.
Huh? Someone needs to take a Dale Carnage class and figure out that’s not the way to “Win friends and influence people.”
Just my two cents,
Dr. Rus
