We just want the city to obey the law. The city charter states that upon the mayor vacancy, council SHALL appointment a mayor! The respondents, city council & Lovely Warren, ignore the meaning and significance of the charter's use of the word "shall." "Fails to appoint" is not equal to "choose not to appoint." In legalese, "shall" mean you MUST! On December 29, 2010, City Council President Lovely Warren stated in official documents,a "Resolution Establishing The Date For The Special Election Of The Mayor," even BEFORE Mayor Duffy resigned, that the date of the special election will be March 29, 2011. So the dog & pony show at the city council meeting in January where many people expressed their displeasure with a special election, was all for naught!
The die had been cast by Lovely Warren & her powers, Gantt, Duffy, Richards, I believe, to make Lovely Warren, who I have personally know for many years, even before she sat on city council, to be the next Mayor of Rochester after Tom Richards! This is just not fair! Our voting rights are being stolen by our government!! Let's hope Judge Ark makes the correct decision next week.
@ Art. No local lawyers are brave enough to do this.
Hosni Mubarak this week! Rochester's Acting Mayor Carlos Carballada next week! Long Live Democracy in Rochester & Around the World! :)
A City needs to have a simple, straightforward plan in place when a Mayor resigns before the end of his or her term in office. The City of Rochester has such a plan. It was approved by Rochester's voters as part of the City Charter in a referendum held in November 1984.
The mechanism approved by the voters is clear. When a vacancy in the office of Mayor occurs for any reason other than expiration of term, the City Council must appoint a new Mayor to fill the position. The obligation to appoint a person to the mayoral vacancy is explicit, and contains only one condition. In the words of the City Charter, the Council SHALL fill a vacancy in the office arising otherwise than by expiration of term by appointing by a majority vote a person who is a member of registered in the same party as the person who vacated the office.
According to the plan approved by Rochester's voters, the person appointed to the office of Mayor is to hold the office until January 1st when the winner of the annual November election takes over as Mayor for the remainder of the unexpired term. Had Rochester's City Council met its obligation and appointed a Mayor following Mayor Duffy's resignation, there wouldn't be the current confusion and the need to turn to the courts for clarification. There would be no questions regarding Acting Mayor Carballada's authority to exercise the powers and duties of the Mayor's office. There would be no uncertainty regarding the legality of the special election scheduled for March 29, 2011. There would be a person, perhaps Mr. Carballada, perhaps Mr. Richards, perhaps a member of the City Council, unquestionably holding the office of Mayor, with an election to take place in November.
Unfortunately, a majority of the City Council decided to let politics dictate their actions, rather than following the voice of the People as expressed in the City Charter. They decided to give former Mayor Richards the political advantage of an election for Mayor in March rather in November. Potential contenders for the mayoral position would have less time to organize, less time to obtain signatures on petitions, and less time to effectively campaign. So instead of appointing Mr. Richards Mayor and letting him serve in that post for the remainder of the year, with an election in November, the City Council has distorted the language and intent of "emergency" provisions and insisted that Mr. Carballada is "Acting Mayor."
The City Council can end the confusion and waste of taxpayer money fighting the pending lawsuit. It can follow the will of the voters and appoint a Mayor as mandated by the City Charter.
On Alex White taking the Green Party nomination:
"Now we have two candidates advocating the Green Party platform. Unfortunately, the green support vote will now be split in two as we continue our campaign on much needed transportation reform and development issues such as high speed rail, housing and stopping the Mortimer Street Bus Barn Boondoggle. We will continue to the MCDC convention this weekend and collect enough signatures to be on the ballot on March 29."
Where does Alex White stand on the Mortimer Street Bus Barn boondoggle?
Remember, back in 2003, Mayor Johnson said in private to me that he was against the underground bus barn at Main & Clinton which became ren square which became the Mortimer Street Bus Barn Boondoggle. But he said there was nothing he could do to stop it. It was Jack Doyle's deal, not his even though it was in the heart of his city, Johnson said. At the time, city council said they could do nothing also. Back then, Johnson told me to go after Bill Nojay who was then the CEO of the RGRTA. What abut YOU, Bill? You were running for County Exec. Poor politicians and the lack of planning and not having a strong core of beliefs that make sense for a city to grow. Do we want more of this? PAETEC will spend $55million for it's Vanity Building at Main & Clinton. The City of Rochester will spend $80 million on it. This kind of money COULD pay for 6-7 miles of streetcars in Rochester, as Howard Decker said last night.
When I am Mayor of Rochester, this kind of poor planning will not occur. We will have strong development around the high speed rail coming to Rochester. We will have solid REGIONAL planning for Rochester & Monroe County. Have you ever heard of strong walkable communities like Manhattan or Washington, DC offering subsidies to big companies to move in? No. Growing communities invest in infrastructure, not tax breaks for big companies. They make the "sense of place" strong so more people & business WANT to be there! We need to invest in transit oriented development....And buses...as Christopher Leinberger said last night, have you ever seen even one dollar's worth of business happen at a bus stop (aside from a drug deal?) No. But there have billions of dollars in commerce at a well planned transit centers. When you enter a bus, you pass through an imaginary sign that says: "Only The Poor Can Enter". Look, transportation DRIVES development. First build transportation, then the region will grow. The land value will grow and the increase in property values will subsidize the high speed rail.
With anymore of this insider/elitist "stability" Mary Anna, Morelle, Lovely, Tom, Carlos, Lois Geiss and all of their sympathisers will all be so "stable" under the crushing weight of the collapse of the entire city, they will not be able to move a single muscle from all the rubble above them.
How about those new parking meters designed to make more money for the city while creating more reason for people to not want to drive into the city? But fear not, apparently the solar panels meant to power them do not work so without the sunlight, we can park free! Let's get rid of this entire gang that can't shoot straight!
The current fluidity in the Rochester mayoral situation provides an opportunity for the working people to challenge today’s managerial elitist domination of our city politics.
Our City logo proclaims Rochester as “One City” ― but it is one city for the bosses calling the shots, and one city for the working folks.
We see this in policies and rhetoric that blame working people for the city’s problems:
• City employees’s salaries too big a budget item? Blame the working folks, not the
manager salaries.
• Teacher salaries take too much budget funding? Blame the teachers, not the
superintendents.
• Pension budget line too high? Don’t blame management, who have today the highest pensions. Instead, blame the unions.
• Worker health costs too high a budget item? Trim them, even though the workers
need them.
• “Even better,” privatize the jobs and cut them from the city personnel budget, so that
workers will not reap the benefits of laws that protect the interests of workers in the public sector.
What else could we expect from a City power structure that rigs the election process to favor a multimillionaire former utility executive as Rochester’s Mayor?
We need a Mayor who makes policy decisions not just by handing them down, but by actually collaborating with the workers “in the trenches.”
Let us not allow a system where the Mayor usurps power and authority from an elected school board, for example, and controls our city’s education system from the third floor of City Hall.
Elsewhere, that “Mayoral Control” system shuts out teacher and parental input into policies which govern school operations. We need a Mayor who collaborates with the grass roots.
As we watch the City budget being prepared and presented for the next fiscal year, we can expect to see workers faulted for the high cost of government and unions blamed for such “excesses.”
This is demagogic and just plain wrong.
Rochester needs good jobs, with fair pay and fair benefits, where workers are not treated as scapegoats for all sorts of government problems.
We need a good climate for entrepreneurs to create new businesses in Rochester. Our biggest employers are all home-grown. We need to focus on the factors that encourage and facilitate the origin and development of such job-producing engines right here in River City.
One such factor is the creation of jobs related to the trends of sustainability that represent the future of the market for new jobs.
We must maintain essential services at a good level for the community.
We need to see Rochester as truly “One City” ― and not one city for the elitist bosses and then one city for the rest of us.
How does a full legislative body legally hold a secret session --- closed to the public --- to debate and decide a legislative matter not statutorily exempt from the state Open Meetings Law?
Mr. Begely, your "expertise" recognized, I fail to see how placing hundreds of chemicals into our earth, near or in our water, is any different than blowing thousands of man-made pollutants into our air. Pollution is pollution. No hydrofracking anywhere anytime.
Pay off time for the Building Trades Union!
What interest does the Building Trades Union have bin edumacating our kids? Simple. Money. Now we see how. Remember Joe Morelle's Birthday Party last spring in Pittsford? The BTU sponsored the out-front push at this $500 per plate dinner with big support for Duffy's mayoral control. Now we see the pay-off with new construction for this union with such passionate feelings for teaching.
Say "good bye" to the Finger Lakes as we know them.
Me to, Dan. I am not overwhelmed by this design. Mr. Eastman's original designs are sitting in an office near Rochester. I wonder why they were not used to foster historical continuity? Just more of the same missed opportunties here, I guess.
I wonder if Chief Moore's resignation has anything to do with Rachel Barnhardt's story about Paul Vasconcellos and the shift change at the RPD, possibly delaying RPD help to save Mr. Vasconcellos' life, because of overtime pay issues? A sad coincidence, Mr. Vasconcellos' photo was on my good friend's FB page sitting with his three year old son on October 18, 3 days before his murder.
@Andrew Howie Hawkins is not a fool.
Mary Anna. Then why don't you endorse Howie? He is for a ban on hydro-fracking,not the useless "moritorium" that the rest of the candidates call for. Come January 1, 2011, it will be "Drill, Baby, Drill"
Vote 4 Howie Hawkins!
Ban Hydrofracking for Natural Gas
http://www.howiehawkins.com/2010/ban-hydrofracking.html
Discussion at last night's city council meeting centered around how the city has money for demolition but not for preservation, as they chose not to look for it.
Oh, no! Does Mayor Duffy know yet? I am so scared! Uncontrollable chaos looms. Mary Anna Towler told me so. What are we going to do? Call President Obama right now and see if he can take a break from DC and come here for a few weeks till Joe Morelle can figure out what to do. Did anybody tell Tom Richards yet?
Mr. Richards was tasked by Mayor Duffy to get the ill-fated Mortimer bus barn through city hall last June. It was not necessary to move ahead with Mortimer. Mr. Richards was told by me that he could save the $52million and use that fed money for inter-modal at the Amtrak station, thereby saving a ton of cash. Mr. Richards told me he tried to do this but failed. I disagree. My sources tell me it is STILL possible to not build Mortimer and save the $52 million for inter-modal.
Why do we let these people keep making such disastorous financial decisions?
The only holiday music to be heard around Midtown this year will be 'Wreck the Halls with Balls of Folly.'
And this city council and Mayor Duffy wants us to trust them with the Mortimer Street bus barn just because the RGRTA told them to? I saw the $52 million price tag on the Palumbo Bus Barn. Did you see how much they are asking for the Brooklyn Bridge? Come to the next city council & find out the details. (or not)
"Stop Mortimer Street Bus Barn/Create Amtrak Inter-Modal"
http://bit.ly/bgUGuy
Where does Harry Bronson stand on hydrfracking?
Mr. Bronson has been quoted as saying he wants to wait & see about hydrofracking. We don't need another one of these "leaders." Hydrofracking places huge amounts of chemicals into our drinking water. It can destroy the Finger Lakes. I spent summers growing up very near Dimock, PA. We actually used spring water from the same water table. It was pure. Dimock, PA=Love Canal today from natural gas wells.
Hydrofracking is an issue that can destroy our environment, our water. Mr. Bronson needs to stand up. If he doesn't, he should not serve. We do need to go there!
The St. Paul Quarter will be destroyed by the Mortimer Street bus barn.
WHY DO WE LET OUR GOVERNMENT GET AWAY WITH THIS WASTE OF OUR TAX MONEY $$ ?? | Harry Davis: "Give 'em Hell, Harry!"
http://t.co/Cq8nOhr
Carla Palumbo didn't even show up.
Why do we encourage them?
This planned "public design" meeting arranged by the Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority (RGRTA) and Rochester City Council Member Carla Palumbo is nothing more than a set up to further shut down efforts towards an inter-modal transportation system at the Amtrak station location. Such a system would locate in one area with multiple transportation options (bus, light rail, fast speed rail, bicycles) including a terminal shelter. Such a system would make it possible to meet the needs of a variety riders seeking transportation and do so in a more environmentally sustainable and energy saving manner.
It was made clear that the bus barn was not wanted by over 200 community speakers and voted against by the official Planning Commission. The inter-modal approach we are advocating serves as part of a nationwide effort to serve the goal of environmental sustainability and more liveable communities.
Instead of the listening to the RGRTA, we should talk about the misuse of the process and turn it into a public effort rather than allowing the Rochester public to be hoodwinked again by RGRTA.
Did you know that the RGRTA Commissioner's terms have expired? Are 8 of 13 Commissioners serving illegally?
According to the RGRTA web site, 8 of the 13 RGRTA Commissioners terms have expired. Some as long ago as 2006.
see: Expired Terms!
http://www.rgrta.com/About/BoardOfDirectors.aspx
We wonder if the RGRTA's by laws and the NYS law establishing authorities says anything about the continuation of Commissioners' appointments if the NYS Senate fails to approve such appointments. We assume the Senate has to approve the Governor's appointments.
Interesting, if the Commissioners voted for the bus terminal and their term expired then is such a vote valid no less legal?
Should we sue over such a legality? Should the NYS Attorney General become involved? The current Attorney General does not need support to win his candidacy for Governor but those running for Attorney General might need the backing of the electorate in Monroe County. We suspect both economically middle class (the majority of voters) and economically working class residents of Monroe County are against this terminal. In particular, property owners are against the terminal. They see it as another increase in their tax bill (even though we know the terminal's funding comes primarily from Federal & State funds and will not affect their county or city taxes.)
We are calling for the following:
1) An inter-modal transportation system with high speed rail at the Amtrack site.
2) A series of public meetings located throughout Rochester's neighborhoods to discuss and be informed about sustainable transportation.
3) Development of a City wide transportation plan encouraging the use of public transportation including bicycling and walking that is both environmentally and community friendly.
4) A transportation system that focuses strongly on the needs of riders who are most dependent on it.
5) Using the $52 million for re-designing the routing of RGRTA buses to end dependence on the hub and spook system which adds hours to routine bus trips.
6) Add transportation planning as a mandatory part of all neighborhood re-design and re-development outcomes.
7) Development of citizen transportation advocates to represent the interest of riders.
8) Require City Council members to use public transportation (buses) to conduct all their Council business.
"Stop Mortimer Street Bus Barn/Create Amtrak Inter-Modal"
http://bit.ly/bgUGuy
~ACTIVISTS FOR SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION
http://www.harrydavis2010.com/node/450
The Monroe County Board of Elections Democratic Election Commissioner Tom Ferrarese served as Treasurer for Harry Bronson’s State Assembly campaign. Ferrarese is currently the only commissioner in the entire State of New York who serves the dual role of ensuring elections are conducted properly while also being closely involved in the day-to-day operations of a campaign for State office.
How can any candidate who ran in the 131st Assembly District feel comfortable with this set of circumstances given that all candidates rely on Board of Elections staff on a variety of issues ranging from petition help and assistance with campaign finance disclosure reports?
The fact that the candidate supported by Ferrarese was involved in a Democratic primary makes the situation that much more complicated.
Commissioner Ferrarese is listed on the New York State Board of Elections website as Treasurer of “Friends of Harry Bronson”. When individuals visit Bronson’s campaign website, they are prompted to mail their campaign donations directly to Ferrarese.
This was a poor decision on Commissioner Ferrarese’s part to accept the position and it was a poor decision on Mr. Bronson’s part to offer a key campaign position to the Commissioner of the Board of Elections in the first place.
It sure is the anti-democratic elites that control Rochester. No question about it. Just this past July, the Board of Elections denied our petitions for the Democratic primary for the New York State Assembly. They threw out our petitions but I suppose we deserve this as I relied upon correct information from the BOE. If Linda Martinez, the secretary to the Democratic commissioner of the BOE, Mr. Tom Ferrarese, had given us the correct information on the telephone about one of our petition workers when I asked her for it, we would have been in the primary this week.
details may be found here:
Tammy Moody
http://www.harrydavis2010.com/node/376
For your information, according to the RGRTA web site, 8 of the 13 RGRTA Commissioners' terms have expired. Some as long ago as 2006.
I wonder if the RGRTA's by laws and the NYS law establishing authorities says anything about the continuation of Commissioners' appointments if the NYS Senate fails to approve such appointments. I assume the Senate has to approve the Governor's appointments.
Interesting, if the Commissioners voted for the bus terminal and their term expired then is such a vote valid no less legal?
Maybe we should sue?
Should the NYS Attorney General become involved? The current Attorney General does not need support to win his candadicy for Governor but those running for Attorney General might need the backing of the electorate in Monroe County. I suspect both economically middle class (the majority of voters) and economically working class residents of Monroe County are against this terminal. In particular, property owners are against the terminal. They see it as another increase in their tax bill (even though we know the terminal's funding comes primarily from Federal & State funds and will not affect their county or city taxes.)
Harry Davis
Press conference Wednesday, Sept 15, 5:15PM in front of the Hyatt-Regency Hotel on Main Street to inform about the RGRTA's Mortimer bus barn.
Did anybody watch the program last night on PBS, "Make No Little Plans: Daniel Burnham and the American City" thearchimediaworkshop.org/burnhamfilm/clips.html which also featured Rochester architect Howard Decker who writes the blog "A Town Square"?
http://heckeranddecker.wordpress.com/
In this program, it was reveled that even Rochester had a master "plan" in the early 1900's to have large green spaces and sensible transportation alternatives. The theme of this show was we need to PLAN for our city's future. Today, we have the Palumbo/Duffy Mortimer bus barn.
The Mortimer bus barn only appeases the politically connected and narrow financial interests of a few.
Nobody who cares about downtown should participate in this charade. It only encourages them.
We should talk about the misuse of the process and turn it into a public effort, a press conference rather than allowing Carla Palumbo to hoodwink the public once again!
"Security - how much, what kind, and who pays - has perhaps been the biggest unresolved issue with the bus station. City Council created a security task force to oversee that element of the project."
Excuse me! Security is not the biggest unresolved issue! The development of downtown into a LIVABLE downtown is the biggest unresolved problem! One which Duffy, Palumbo and the RGRTA have absolutely no concept of. How will this bus barn interact with inter-modal connectivity at the Amtrak? Answer. It won't.
If you care about this issue, do not participate in this charade. Protest it!
74 people now belong to this group:"Stop Mortimer Street Bus Barn/Create Amtrak Inter-Modal"
http://bit.ly/bgUGuy
Maybe you want to join!
btw, I forgot to mention in the above. When I was hit by the car on Monroe Ave I was in the crosswalk on my bicycle at Highland Ave.
On May 28, 2009, I was bike riding on the sidewalk on Monroe Ave going toward Brighton. I was there for my safety. When I crossed the intersection at Monroe & Highland, Cobb's Hill, I was hit by a car when the lady who was also headed to Brighton, turned left onto Highland Ave. I went down real hard and I now have a fractured L-1 vertebrae which will cause me pain forever.
Mattar is handling the case. Anybody know the legalities of this?
We Must Oppose Rochester's Arrogance!
Rochester City Council Member Carla Palumbo says:
"Palumbo says RGRTA and her task force are working to set up a number of public design workshops from mid September through December. RGRTA will also be meeting with cyclists, downtown development representatives, people from the disabled community, project neighbors, and others."
For ANY of city organizations/developers/bicyclists/disabled or neighbors (read: Warner Building residents who still remain) to participate in this "public design workshop" is falling into the un-democratic trap that the city of Rochester has used so often! Participation by any of these groups, or ANYBODY, just goes to validate the closed minded arrogance of our city government and only validates the city council & RGRTA's attempt to shut down any hopes of inter-modal transportation in Rochester, thereby dooming residential, commercial and retail development of downtown Rochester.
Are we going to let Mark Aesch dictate our future? Carla Palumbo is now asking key players to come back to her to validate this disaster.
Our participation in any of their meetings would imply that we allow the city council to give the public the impression that they are doing something to better the bus barn itself.
Earlier this year, over 200 people spoke out forcefully against this boondoggle. Indeed, we have made it clear that this bus barn is not what we want. We want inter-modal transportation at the Amtrak station with high-speed rail!
If they are willing to talk about that change then we could have a public meeting to discuss this. Otherwise, participation with these people only bows to the powers that be.
We should talk about the misuse of the process and turn it into a public effort, a press conference rather than allowing Carla Palumbo, Lovely Warren and others to hoodwink the public once again!
In order to make this happen, we need key players and others to come together and take advantage of this opportunity.
By saying nothing, a lack of action would likely be seen as approval.
In addition, we must organize to defeat three members of our city council who are up for re-election in 2011. Their names are: Carla Palumbo, Adam McFadden, and Elaine Spaull. All three voted to approve this bus barn.
The worst thing that could happen would be for those mentioned above to do their bidding and stamp approval on this Fast Ferry 2 nightmare!
"Stop Mortimer Street Bus Barn/Create Amtrak Inter-Modal"
http://bit.ly/bgUGuy
~Harry Davis
Rochester, New York
September 3, 2010
This is good news that New York State and CSX have worked out their differences. However, we must figure out a way to build the necessary transit station at the Amtrak & Old Post Office and NOT build Duffy's fast ferry 2 on Mortimer Street!
As Council Member Conklin said:
“I do not support the proposed transit center on Mortimer St. for the following reasons:
“We’ll lose $52 million if we don’t pass Mortimer St.” I don’t believe, with the recent emphasis of the federal government on rail service and inter-modal services, that if RGRTA, the Mayor, City Council and our Federal representatives went to the FTA and requested that the monies be diverted to an inter-modal center we would lose any of the S2 million.”
http://www.harrydavis2010.com/node/228
Conklin is right. We CAN find the necessary $ to build on Central Ave, not Mortimer St, and we MUST find it. Maybe with Mayor Duffy soon to leave Rochester for Albany,
LG Duffy may find that implementing the concept of high-speed rail and inter modality of transit connections makes much more sense, in a statewide perspective, than having one of the cities on the statewide railroad system construct a $52 million bus barn that will subsequently be given as the reason why Rochester cannot have an inter modal transportation center. Let's hope that the statewide perspective alters the Mayor's analysis of this issue.
Recently, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden went to Florida for a town hall. At that town hall, they unveiled the recipients of high speed rail funding throughout the country.
Of the $8 billion doled out to several states, New York only received a small sliver of that. While the $151 million New York received is better than nothing, it is not as good as it should be and is a far cry from the almost $600 million requested.
"The awarding of high-speed rail money by the federal government in February turned into a test of which state officials could transcend partisan bickering and agree to pony up a bit of their precious local resources -- and which couldn't. States along the Northeast corridor failed to get much funding, despite their overwhelming objective need."
from: How Florida Cashed In On High Speed Rail www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/10/how-florida-cashed-in-on_n_454467.html
In other words, the current mess in Albany caused Rochester to lose the $116 million that Governor Paterson requested for Rochester's share of high speed rail money! That means our representatives in Albany, and in Washington, DC, failed to secure much needed, high paying JOBS for Rochester!
High speed rail can be the Erie Canal of the 21st century. With high speed rail comes many benefits:
(1) Economic development. One of the obstacles to development in upstate New York and in the Rochester area is accessibility. Rochester has an airport, bus station and train station, but high speed rail would offer greater accessibility. Having HSR coming through Rochester would attract businesses looking to start up or move to Rochester.
(2) Job creation. In order to construct high speed rail lines, you need the manpower. That is where jobs come in. Also, as mentioned in the economic development point, businesses would bring jobs to the area. So while construction jobs are good paying jobs, they will only last for as long as the project. Once the lines are constructed, the appeal of HSR will bring businesses to the area and, thus, create jobs.
(3) Transportation. Right now, rail service is mediocre at best. High speed rail would change that. High speed rail would enable tourists to travel from New York City, Albany, Buffalo or anywhere in the state to Rochester. Likewise, tourists from Rochester would be able to venture elsewhere.
So why is New York lagging behind?
The failure to get more money from the federal government to fund high speed rail lies with state leaders who have not invested in high speed rail. Many leaders, whether they are in the Assembly, Senate or Congress, have endorsed the idea of high speed rail in New York and believe, as I do, that it would be a boon for our economy. But these same leaders have not fought for the funding we need and the infrastructure we need to make high speed rail a reality.
New York isn't the only one lagging behind. As evidenced in a recent New York Times article, China and other international nations have been far ahead the U.S. in high speed rail construction. According to that article, China will have 42 high speed rail lines by 2012. The United States will have their first high speed rail line in 2014 - a line connecting Orlando and Tampa, Florida.
We need someone in Albany who will advocate and demand more funding for high speed rail. While our state's fiscal situation is dire, we can afford to invest in areas that will have a good return on our investment. We need to invest in high speed rail and we need it now. China and other countries have shown that high speed rail leads to increased tourism, job creation and economic growth. The quicker we get on board with the idea and invest more in high speed rail, the quicker we will see the benefits.
High speed rail is potentially the biggest economic development for upstate New York in 150 years, since the Erie Canal.
It can and will be our generation's Erie Canal. Let's get on board with this effort NOW!
Harry Davis
Rochester, NY
I congratulate Mayor Duffy in his nomination today by Andrew Cuomo and I wish him success in Albany.
Implementing the concept of high-speed rail and inter modality of transit connections makes much more sense, in a statewide perspective, than having one of the cities on the statewide railroad system construct a $52 million bus barn that will subsequently be given as the reason why Rochester cannot have an inter modal transportation center. Let's hope that the statewide perspective alters the Mayor's analysis of this issue.
If people support mayoral control of the school system because they trust Bob Duffy to do well with it, then they should realize that no one really knows WHO would be implementing it when Bob Duffy leaves Rochester for Albany. They would just be buying a pig in a poke. Policies like that are only as good as the people implementing them, which leaves a great unknown.
Mayor Duffy's nomination can be a positive thing for Rochester in 2010, as it gives a yardstick to measure the true value of his projects, both from a statewide perspective and from the perspective of knowing that he himself would not be implementing the programs and can we trust programs when we do not know WHO will implement them?
As far as downtown development goes, Mayor Duffy ran in 2005 to to "dust off the jewel that is Rochester." However, he has yet to fulfill that promise. Kids riot in downtown. Mayor Duffy has not followed sensible plans of experts who know how to develop a city, people like Roger Brown of the Rochester Regional Community Design Center. Mr. Anthony Dimarzo has invested millions of dollars in downtown. The City enticed him to invest millions for downtown residential and he did just that. Then the City Council votes to allow RGRTA to take away most of that residence's parking for the bus barn which will park dozens of buses next door to the Warner Building blowing fumes into the homes.
I ask: Why should any developer invest in downtown housing when the City will turn around and stab them in the back?
The City piously says they want downtown housing, and simultaneously acts to undercut their ostensible goal. I believe that it is all the downtown financial interests, the same people who have run downtown into the ground.
Duffy's plans to dust off the jewel will now have to succeed or fail without their cheerleader. Can his plans succeed? Is there anything to Duffy's plans to develop Rochester?
Aaron Wicks doesnt think so.
"All of this has happened in deep background, though -- the Duffy polish has provided cover for insider machinations. But with Duffy gone, one can be sure that pols will continue to act the same way. The only difference will be that they will not have Duffy's clean image to hide behind."
Now the hard work begins.
http://www.smugtownbeacon.com/news.php?viewStory=508
Jon, you are so correct, as usual. This was the point I was trying to make on the Bob Smith 1370 Connection Show with Malik Evans last week. Why are the Building Trades union so eager to support Mayor Control? I never heard of any BT scholarships. Why? It is all about privatization and takeover so the Building Trades can build schools from the $1.2 Facilities Maintenance Plan and then hedge funds in NYC will come in to buy up the schools Duffy has privatized, made into charter schools.
As Dr. Cala told me recently, "Follow the money."
"Wealthy investors and major banks have been making windfall profits by using a little-known federal tax break to finance new charter-school construction," Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzalez write in the New York Daily News. "The program, the New Markets Tax Credit, is so lucrative that a lender who uses it can almost double his money in seven years."
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/5/7/juan_gonzalez_big_banks_making_a
http://www.harrydavis2010.com/node/23
Put a park there that can be use for outdoor concerts.
Ever try to walk to the store and encounter areas where there is no sidewalk, leading to you walking in the road and placing yourself in a dangerous situation with cars zooming by?
Or do you use your bike as a mode of transportation, only to find that some (if not most) streets in the city are not suitable for bikes?
This is a problem faced not only by those in the city of Rochester, but by those who live in villages and towns of Monroe County and all over the USA. These can be described as so-called "walk ability" issues. Meaning, you could live within walking distance to a store or venue, but riding your bike and walking aren't safe modes of travel.
Just how unsafe is it? I am living proof. Last year, I was hit while riding my bike and suffered a fractured vertebrae as a result.
Earlier this year, we asked for and received bike lanes on the new Broad Street project. But we need to advocate for more of these projects.
Whenever a renovation occurs, especially on a major avenue or street, we should install sidewalks and bike lanes for those who walk to complete errands or for those who ride a bike to do the same. And we can bring this to rural and suburban areas as well, where some main roads or streets lack bike lanes or sidewalks that would assist bicyclists and walkers with their safe transport.
So why is this important? Other than safety, it also helps promote green transportation. Instead of getting in your car and driving to the store that might be a block away, you can walk or bike there. Why waste gas (and money) and why pollute the air with car exhaust just to go to the store for bread and milk? If you are guaranteed safe travel because of sidewalks and bike lanes, that is a much cleaner option.
This is all part of President Obama's "Livability Initiative" www.harrydavis2010.com/node/232 with an emphasis on sustainable transportation. I have talked about high speed rail before, but bike lanes and sidewalks play into this too. We need to provide more than just streets for cars. We need to look at other options. That is why if we are going to rebuild a street, we should make that street has a bike lane. And if we are going to widen streets, sidewalks should be installed for walkers.
Earlier this year, I, along with others, asked the Rochester City Council to give up their automobiles for a few days to see what it like to use public tranportation as a sole means of getting around. That question fell flat. Some of those members acted as if giving up their car for one week would be a huge inconvenience. The tables have turned. Maybe they can realize that not all of us can afford to drive our cars everywhere and we need to ride a bike or walk to go to the Post Office or pick up something at the store. While they might live a life of convenience, sometimes bikes are actually more convenient! Maybe if they gave up their cars and used alternative means of transportation, they would understand this.
Our goal is to make Broad Street a starting point. From there, we will fight for bike lanes and other means of sustainable transportation every time a new project arises to renovate an already existing street.
Harry Davis
Rochester, NY
http://www.harrydavis2010.com/node/24
Just because you watch/listen to Mayor Duffy and/or city council everyday does not mean you know what you're talking about concerning downtown Rochester development & the bus garage situation, or an inter-modal transit option!
Too often these days people simply hear something on tv/radio/internet or from our Mayor or city council and:
1. Accept it as fact at face value
2. Fail to do any research of their own on the topic
3. Form their entire political opinion around it, leading to opinion based entirely on misinformation
4. Use what they hear to argue their point thinking they now have an understanding of the issue even though they know nothing about it!
5. Fail to listen to or consider the opposite side of the argument
6. Trust Mayor Duffy and/or our city council which voted 8-1 this week to build fast ferry2, and the like, as dependable sources of information.
The importance of sustainable and efficient transportation cannot be overstated.
I spoke to a resident of the Warner Building today. He spoke with you, city council, yesterday about the bus garage that you are planning to build next door to him. He said: “There must be a lot of money burning a hole in your pockets.”
He told me he believes the bus garage is coming and that it will kill development north of Main Street. He said he is now planning to sell his Warner loft and move.
Politicians and/or engineers should not do City planning. City Council and Mayor Duffy have ignored the advice of the Rochester Regional Community Development Center (RRCDC) and Roger Brown for years.
Just because there is $52 million left over from ren square does not mean you have to waste it.
I ride the bus frequently with my bicycle. Often times, because of the stupid, wasteful hub & spoke system it takes 1.5 hours to ride a ten-minute drive.
This is the Yo-Yo effect. Why don’t you spend the $52 million that you have left over from ren square and fix how the busses actually operate? i.e. Improve Service!
Why don’t you create an inter-modal system at the Amtrak or IBM building?
Lovely, (Warren, City Council President) your mentor, David Gantt, known as Mr. Transportation, and our other Albany reps, FAILED to acquire the $600 million of President Obama’s High Speed Rail initiative that Governor Paterson applied for. We only got $151 million.
If we had more, we could have rebuilt the Amtrak station into an inter-modal station right now! Because our legislators in Albany being a part of a dysfunctional system, Rochester suffered.
We just spent over $20 million on ren square and have nothing to show for it, except $800,000 in Maggie’s pockets!
Now you are trying to repackage Mark Aesch’s RGRTA bus garage from ren square and call it something “new & improved.”
Come on! Spend the $52 million in a sustainable, green manner and keep the bus fumes out of the Warner Building!
Harry Davis
Recently, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden went to Florida for a town hall. At that town hall, they unveiled the recipients of high speed rail funding throughout the country.
Of the $8 billion doled out to several states, New York only received a small sliver of that. While the $151 million New York received is better than nothing, it is not as good as it should be and is a far cry from the almost $600 million requested.
"The awarding of high-speed rail money by the federal government in February turned into a test of which state officials could transcend partisan bickering and agree to pony up a bit of their precious local resources -- and which couldn't. States along the Northeast corridor failed to get much funding, despite their overwhelming objective need."
http://www.harrydavis2010.com/node/5
Monday, 8:08 PM:
btw, I am a candidate for the New York State Assembly, 131st District. I hope others will follow and out vote Gantt & Morelle!
I just got back from the bus to Albany. Today, 29 of us talked to dozens of legislators & staff in Albany. The takeaway is they thought Duffy & Gantt & Morelle spoke for all of Rochester on the theft of voting rights. Now, they know better! :) It might take another trip or two but we will get the job done! btw, there will be a march on March 4 from the Liberty Pole to city hall to protest Mayor Duffy's school takeover. Watch tonight's 11PM news. I think CH 10. They got me departing the bus
with my T_Shirt that says: "Just say no to drugs & Mayoral
Control"
I am opposed to mayoral control of Rochester city schools. What mayoral control in cities like New York and Washington D.C. has taught us is that allowing the mayors to run these school districts hurts, not helps, the system. In these cities, the student performance among minority groups is poor and the gap is widening. And as Dr. William Cala pointed out in his op-ed in the City Newspaper, spending by cities on these school districts has increased. As an example, he cites New York City, where mayoral control under Mayor Michael Bloomberg increase from $12.5 billion in 2002 to $21 billion in 2009.
If we are going to invest more money in education, it had better be working. Taxpayers, and more importantly, our students deserve the best. And in Rochester, they deserve better.
That is why mayoral control is not the answer.
In his op-ed in the Democrat and Chronicle, former Mayor Bill Johnson asked several important questions. One of those questions was:
"Since urban districts with concentrated poverty generally require more, and not less, resources, what guarantees can be extracted in advance from state government to insure a successful takeover?"
The truth is Albany can�t make guarantees. New York City is in a different position. They have more money they can invest in their city�s education while also receiving state funds. But for Rochester, we are dependent on state help. And during these tough fiscal times for the state and Governor David Paterson proposing cuts to education, that help from the state won�t happen.
To answer Mayor Johnson�s question, there are no guarantees. The state government can�t help. If anything, our education funding will be cut by Albany and we must do more with less.
One of the great crimes we have seen with mayoral control is its negative impact on minority students. In a city like Chicago, test scores for Black and Latino students are improving, but very slowly. And that improvement in many cases means moving out of single-digit percentiles into the teens. Going from eight percent proficient in a certain subject area (i.e Math) to 12 percent might be considered an improvement, but it�s still a disappointment. Combine that with the test scores of white students that aren�t any better and mayoral control is an experiment that has failed.
Rochester should not make its students part of that experiment. It has been proven in other cities to be a failure. It only gives more powers to mayors who believe they need to take the reins from school boards and school administrators and run the schools themselves. The problem is, as history has taught us, they aren�t doing any better.
In New York City, the Board of Education was replaced by a panel set up by the mayor and those individuals, instead of serving on behalf of voters, serve at the pleasure of the mayor. That is not what we need. We need independent thinkers who oversee our education system. We do not need people who will be beholden to the mayor, whether that�s Mayor Robert Duffy or anyone else down the road.
We need a board of education who was accountable to taxpayers and responsible for achieving the best possible education for all of our students. And it must be free of mayoral influence.
I oppose mayoral control and will continue my opposition against running our city�s educational system through City Hall. The future of our students should not rest with one solitary individual, but rather a classroom of competent teachers working with our bright minds to raise test scores and to increase student performance.
Harry Davis
Rochester, NY
www.HarryDavis2010.com
Bike Lanes in Vancouver & Copenhagen.
http://www.examiner.com/x-34336-Vancouver-Nonpartisan-Examiner~y2010m2d20-Vancouver-becoming-a-bit-more-like-Copenhagen
Hi, Mat, Thank you. Yes, I can see what I wrote might be a bit confusing but Broad Street is a city project. The city presented it to the public on December 17 at the library and the city presenters clearly stated when asked that day that "NO." there will be no bike lanes. I do understand that the bridge will be a mall area but the rest of Broad Street does need bike lanes & the city engineer, Mr. McIntosh & Mayor Duffy told me this will happen. I am not sure what Monroe County has to do with is but Mr. McIntosh assured me that even if New York State does not agree, the bike lanes will go forward on the city's watch.
Better Bikeways: Turning a City Street Into a Bike Corridor
http://www.good.is/post/better-bikeways-turning-a-city-street-into-a-bike-corridor/
A Los Angeles dream of turning 4th Street into a bike-friendly thoroughfare.
This is the second entry in our miniseries "Better Bikeways."
Dear hiwayman, yes, those "bike lanes" in front of MCC are a total joke!
But we did accomplish having the City of Rochester agree to
placing a bike lane on the Broad Street Bridge when it is reconstructed
later this year. Hopefully the City will mark the Broad Street bike
lane clearly with, recently approved by ASHTO chevrons & a bicycle
sharrows, as well as lane lines. The Broad Street Bridge is very wide. This will be a definite improvement. Now the City should improve the entire length of Broad Street, within the Inner Loop, from South Union Street to Brown Street by creating
dedicated and well marked (with the aforementioned sharrows) bike
lanes. Proper (min. 6 ft./2 m. width bike lanes really are simply a
matter of paint and the will to provide for citizens who do not have a
motor vehicle and use a bicycle to commute to work or do everyday
errands efficiently.
The Rochester Cycling Alliance said they will monitor the city's promise to make the bike lanes.
This is a small step, but a start.
Matt, I think there are several persons in Mayor Duffy's administration "in charge" of "urban planning" but really, the person responsible is Mayor Duffy. As you know, I asked Mayor Duffy to hire me to help organize these issues. He did not. There does need to be a plan for downtown. I am against urban planning being done by politicians. This will not get the job done correctly. While I applaud Mayor Duffy for working with us this week to get bicycle lanes on Broad Street, if we had a real green plan for downtown, this issue would never have conme up!
It is incomprehensible to me that downtown Rochester, the Main & Clinton area, still remains a total wasteland after so many years. It is so bad, the city & Mayor Duffy are apparently unable to prevent riots from breaking out which is exactly what happened a few weeks ago!
When Bob Duffy campaigned for Mayor in 2005, he promised he would �dust off the jewel that is Rochester.� Well, Mayor Duffy has been re-elected, in an election that unfortunately saw no opposition to his candidacy and a lot of dusting off remains if we are to have a livable downtown.
I have been advocating since 2003 for a green downtown without the pork barrel spending that ren square was. If our government listened to me & the others, we would not have the mess we still have in the core of our city.
I personally have seen two Mayors and countless city council members go by in the past seven years but the root of our city still needs a root canal! When I left Rochester in 1980 it was because I saw the lack of opportunity here and the future of decay was apparent. It is as infected now as it was when I returned to Rochester in 2001. But all politicians were collecting campaign cash to keep the smell of ren square wafting into our noses. mayor Duffy even received campaign cash from the unions last year after he killed ren square! But our campaign for city council did not. Go figure.
It is incomprehensible to me how a city in the 21st century can plan a major development with out the basics of now standard �green development�
Harry Davis
www.HarryDavis2010.com
Howard says:
"Once we accomplish the above stated goal, in my humble opinion, (in order to increase the likelihood of significantly increased participation) --- we need to turn our attention to reforming Rochester’s corrupt, rigged, political and electoral process, which is completely controlled by the same Democrat Party bosses who are attempting to stuff mayoral control down our collective throats."
I say:
Is it time for Joe Morelle, David Gantt & Susan John to go this year???
http://www.harry2009.com/node/522
"By closing out the process in the committees the way it did, Morelle insured a low turn-out in the City, which hurt the County-wide races."
"Once candidates are under the wing of MCDC, original ideas are replaced by generic blandness. Candidates should be about ideas and plans. If they aren't, they shouldn't be running."
In April, just before I decided to run for Rochester City Council, I was told by a Democratic leader that this would be a futile task for me, as all of the decisions had already been made. I was then, and am now, attempting to get a job with the Obama administration in the Health and Human Services Department in Washington to help get stem cell & regenerative medicine resources out to where they are needed. This leader told me to stay focused on the DC possibility and forget playing local politics, because I had no chance with it, i.e. the fix was in.
Obviously, I did not follow this man's advice! I am happy that when I began this course in April that I was one of 20 candidates for five City Council seats. In the end, I was one of 6 candidates for five city council seats thanks to my nomination and endorsement by the Working Families Party. And I thank very much the 1,694 of you who voted for me!
I still want to bring CHANGE to Rochester. I want a downtown that is civilized, where one can live; not the wasteland it is today. The way this will happen is when we have a true democracy in Rochester. Less than 10% of the voters actually chose our leaders this election, in the sense that very few people were involved in the Democratic Party endorsement and nomination process. This process was a travesty as we know from Tom Brennan's experience running for Commissioner of Schools, where in three of the City’s LD committees, he came in third place. But like all the other candidates who did not get 50% of the committee vote, Tom had to enter a run-off at Party convention with the convoluted rule that committee votes for the run-off candidates were entirely up to the LD leader, all of which gave all their votes to David Gantt’s darling Cynthia Elliott, in spite of the fact that she received no more than a few votes from the original committee caucuses while Tom received the third highest in each. Word on the street has it that this was the result of a deal struck with Gantt to endorse her (almost assuring the nomination as well); and in return he would not run another City Council candidate to oppose the others.
Joe Morelle, who presided over this process fixing, either needs to resign immediately or allow the fresh candidates who want to run for office to actually speak for themselves. Once candidates are under the wing of MCDC, original ideas are replaced by generic blandness. Candidates should be about ideas and plans. If they aren't, they shouldn't be running.
An example of this was evident when I and the other City Council candidates presented ourselves in caucus to the committee that David Gantt controls. We all made speeches presenting our case in hopes of a real vote. Mr. Gantt did not even bother to stay in the room to listen to what I had to say, about Renaissance Square, about high tech possibilities with stem cell research for jobs in our area, and for high speed rail. Mr. Gantt was not even in the room when all of us spoke to his committee! Mr. Gannt was outside, seen through the glass window, smoking a cigarette during the entire process! And, when the votes were tallied for David's committee, it was unanimous. EVERYBODY David chose had EXACTLY the same amount of votes!! And who was the leader of the MCDC when this happened? Joe Morelle, that's who.
By closing out the process in the committees the way it did, it insured a low turn-out in the City, which hurt the County-wide races.
We are holding meetings now to have a better look at where we are all going politically. We have Green Party members, Working Family members, and all of you who have no political affiliation. If the Democratic Party in Monroe County wants to succeed, I think it is time we all looked at where it's leadership has taken it and decide if we want to continue in the same direction.
Harry Davis
Rochester, New York
November 7, 2009
Listen to Harry Davis speak on the Bob Smith Show, 1370 Connection, about the lack of bicyle lanes on the new Broad Street in Rochester.
http://www.harry2009.com/node/517
NO BICYCLE LANES!
I am sorry to say but on Dec 17, last Thursday, the "Broad Street Tunnel Improvement Project" held another one of the "open, public discussions" ala ren square style with no real discussion, only a "This Is The Way It Is" presentation to tell us how the tunnel will be filled in. What is completely inappropriate is that they are building a new road WITHOUT informed planning, only engineers & construction people! A whole new road is being built!
When audience members asked if a bicycle lane will be included on the road that will connect to Main Street downtown, the answer was "NO"!
No bicycle lanes for a new road in Rochester.
I asked Mayor Duffy to hire me so that this type of situation can be avoided. We have been having meetings since the election and more will be heard from our group in January
btw, I ride my bicycle every day.
Right on, Doug!
btw, research has shown an abundant amount of cash at the Genesee Transportation Council. (GTC) Billions. This is money that can easily be use to facilitate development at the Amtrak station, or, at the IBM building of High Speed Rail! Think of it, inter-modal transporation in Rochester if we can neutralized Mark & Maggie! No more hub& spoke. Instead of wasting the money as Maggie & the GTC does, why not improve our mass transportation system in Rochester?
On November 3, you can write my name in for mayor so Mayor Duffy will hire me to lend some vision & creativity to development of downtown Rochester. But a must is a vote on Row 9E for Harry Davis for city council, Working Families Party line. I am not controled by dem $, repub $ or Frank Wirt Trade union $. Remember, in the long history of the AFL_CIO, it was the trades that were the conservative force. In the Viet Nam War era, it was the Trade Union hardhats who bashed Viet War protestors, physically!
read the letter from Frank Wirt on who stopped ren square:
http://www.box.net/shared/e5c0spt34o
Layoffs at Monroe Community Hospital (MCH)?
What, are you crazy?
I spent 9 months there!
Try this to ease the $$ deficit:
medical pot
http://www.harry2009.com/node/422
This February, the City Council passed Local Law 3, which allows City officials to obtain "inspection warrants" against YOUR house simply because you are not related to your landlord. Local law 3 allows the City to throw you in jail for "contempt of court" if you don't open the door to City inspectors with an "inspection warrant." If you don't think the City should be able to throw you in jail for asserting your constitutional right to privacy, don't vote for the City Council incumbents.
Mayor Duffy: “meeting is closed to the media and public”
1,000 fast ferries again!
http://harry2009.com/node/54
Mayor Duffy has ignored the will & common sense of the people of Rochester in the aftermath of ren square by not inviting Rochesters's own talent, i.e. Evan Lowenstein, Roger Brown & Joni Monoe to his developer's meeting to be held on Monday, August 18.
While I praise Mayor Duffy for eventually arriving at the correct outcome for ren square, without citizen participation right now, Mayor Duffy risks the same fate as Maggie Brooks and her 1,000 fast ferries at Main & Clinton.
We must anticipate the money that will probably be soon coming from President Obama's High Speed Rail stimulus money ($8 billion) and plan for smart development that includes an inter-modal transportation depot at the Amtrak station with a high speed rail from Albany to Buffalo stopping in Rochester.
High speed rail is the biggest economic development for upstate New York in 150 years, since the Erie Canal.
The whole city must be involved in planning our future if Mayor Duffy wants to avoid another reincarnatition of 1,000 fast ferries. Say no to a meeting of hand picked "developers". Say yes to a city wide charette.
Correction:
sorry for the typos...
We must also incorporate the beautiful, almost unnoticed Falls Fields on the east side of the river. This view actually almost rivals Niagara Falls in beauty.
A city wide charrette as I have been proposing with Evan Lowenstein & others is needed. Why is Mayor Duffy ignoring us with his August 17 meeting of 'developers'?
Didn't he learn anything from ren square?
The fact that ren square is dead is good. The process stunk and it needed to be put out of our misery. Now we must begin to deal with the politics of what is next. Neil Bauman is not happy. I am not happy. Neil feels he cannot build on his property at Main & Clinton without the MCC student base. Neil was not pleased with the behavior of city council. Tony Dimarzo is not happy with the prospect of bus fumes filling his new Warner Lofts.
We must all come together soon to figure out: 1) The politics of our current situation. 2) We must consider what is the best way to bring Rochester into the 21st Century with a state-of-the-art, green, LEED certified, comprehensive development for downtown that we all will feel is our "place". Moving a bus garage 30 feet north and making it 20 feet shorter is not the way to develop a city. We must build on our history & current needs. We can romance the wonderful past Rochester once had, the RKO, a junior Grand Central station for our train depot, but we must use our young people now with their honed skills to build a better tomorow. I strongly think we need all of our transportation based at the current Amtrak station, an inter-modal design, with a high speed rail stopping in Rochester on it's way to Buffalo or Albany or NYC.
Specifically, on my web site, Harry 2009, I posted a letter I wrote to Mayor Duffy in May. The Mayor called on city council to hire a consultant & I feel we must use the talents of local experts such as Evan Lowenstein, Roger Brown, Heidi, Joni Monroe and my pick, Bill Reed to hold a city wide charette with everybody's input to help figure out the politics and the green, sustainablity prospects of what we build, if we can build anything at this point.
It must be "Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design" (LEED) certified. http://tiny.cc/WVntG Bill Reed is a longtime associate of mine who helped create the LEED principals back in the mid-1990's. He is currently at work in Dubai.
I want to bring my life long high school friend Don Jeffries of the Rochester Broadway Theatre League (RBTL) in to lend his input. Just this past weekend, Don & I were together again for our high school reunion. If we can get together in mutual support, then the rest of Rochester should be able to come together.
I also think it is time for a CHANGE in the make-up of our current city council.
High speed rail is the biggest economic development for upstate New York in 150 years, since the Erie Canal.
Mr. ITALO SAVELLA of GREECE should list his academic qualifications if he wants to go after Dr. Noble, a world-wide leader for in his field of CNS discovery for decades.
He says: "Embryonic stem-cell research is NOT illegal." Right, but what are you going to do if there is no money for it, as Bush did? Try to rent an apartment with no money and see how far you get. Same difference.
Uof R welfare queen for research? Give a break. Stem cell research favoring abortion arguement?
I wonder why City Newspaper prints this dribble so freely and yet edits some of my comments so quickly?
I am NOT happy. I remember the RKO Theatre. I remember my Father taking me to Midtown Plaza to see Duke Ellington play beneath the clock. I remember a REAL transit system in Rochester that included a subway as well as the Lehigh Railroad. I remember the beautiful train station that reminds us of Grand Central Station in New York City. Let's restore Rochester to the great city she once was.
Move on.....
Of coure it's dead with this week's drawing of ren square looking just like a McDonald's with drive through for a bus!
That does not surprise me in the least. I did not even bother to listen to the show when I saw the guest list. Totally predictable.
Harry
The people have spoken loud & clear that they do not want ren square. Mayor Duffy's call for a design consultant is the best thing to come out of yesterday's raucous city council /Main & Clinton meeting. As Bill Reed said: "Piecemeal approaches create higher costs, sub-optimal results and even unintended negative consequences..."
I do not support real estate development done through a patchwork of government agencies. The Mayor, City Council, the Monroe County Executive and certainly not the wonderful people of the theatre are not qualified to develop a city. They do not have the expertise to do this job. If you need heart surgery, you would not hire a person who has not been trained in heart surgery. Rochester needs a qualified team of creative people to to tell & develop it's story.
Yes, Mayor Duffy's call today to reduce the size of the transit facility is CHANGE, as Maggie Brooks said today. But change is what is needed when what you have is completely unacceptable. We do not need a smaller bus garage. We must have an inter-modal transportation facility at the Amtrak station with High Speed Rail (HSR). Mayor Duffy publically supported HSR at the Amtrak today. I heard Mayor Duffy say today after the meeting that he thinks in 5 years all of the transportation will be where the Amtrak is today. But Mayor Duffy tried to compromise with a plan that has it's deadline only 5 days from July 15 in order to "save" $24 million. It is time to forget all of the artificial deadlines and begin to truly make plans for our future with only one deadline, the welfare of all of us.
The time is ripe, right now, for a real consultant such as Bill Reed to come to Rochester, as Mayor Duffy suggested yesterday, and bring all of Rochester together in several charretes with our own very qualified local experts to create an approach that "Engages the community in a process of rediscovery of the attributes that have formed the City is a very powerful and effective way to address the best potential for the use and design of the Renaissance Square site. It can be done in a way that unites people around common ideas rather than compromise and argue over ideas that do not have the generative power of meaningful purpose." (Bill Reed) harry2009.com/node/102
Harry Davis
Harry2009.com
Candidate for Rochester City Council
Please come to city hall today and voice your opposition to this 10 year old abomination! Let today be the last day of ren square!
Thank you everyboy for all the hard work collecting the thousands of signatures to be on the ballot for the September 15 Democratic Primary. This just goes to show that all of you, no matter what your situation, can participate in our democracy. On the anniversary of Bastille Day, yesterday, July 14, we showed the "regulars" that a process still exists for challengers to the status quo. If I can help get 1,000 signatures with two severe physical disabilities, then anyone can. We even had Kenyatta go out & collect signatures. Kenyatta D'Costa has only one form of transportation - a wheelchair, yet he asked for & received signatures from many Dem voters in Rochester!
Bastille Day, July 14 was a day when the people pushed away a powerful king in France. Today, we must push away Maggie Brooks and all of the undemocratic proposals for ren square, including government manipulated "real estate development". Why should any government become a real estate developer when they are not experts in this field? Would you want a mayor, or city council or county govenment to do heart surgery on you? Why not use experts to do what they do best?
For Rochester, Regarding plans for Renaissance Square
http://harry2009.com/node/102
Today, Wednesday, July 15, our Bastille Day happens at 3PM in city council chambers on Church Street. Please attend if you can.
ren square city council meeting, protest
http://harry2009.com/node/115
thank you,
Harry Davis
The D&C said today:
"But the reality is that project leaders face a big hurdle: convincing the mayor and city council that Renaissance Square is the right project for a blighted part of Main Street."
Council must vote this month on the project to leave time to meet requirements before the federal government can release $24 million in September."
Our campaign says "forget the $24 million. Why use it to build a Frankenstein's Monster?" Why should we do 1960's Urban Renewal again? Rememer how good it turned out when we bull dozed Corn Hill to build the expressway? ren square is another expressway through Corn Hill.
ren square is 1,000 fast ferries on top of each other.
With President Obama's $8 billion stimulus for High Speed Rail nearing its summer release, we thought we would offer a few links and docs to bring you up to date on what High Speed Rail means to Rochester, NY & the USA.
read more....
http://www.harry2009.com/node/
Again, City Council President Lovely Warren, in a document filed with this lawsuit, stated she held a council meeting at Council Member Elaine Spaull's home, an illegal meeting in violation of the Open Meetings Law, www.dos.state.ny.us/coog/openmeetlaw.html
on December 29, 2010. At this illegal city council meeting, another illegal act was performed. City Council decided on this date, BEFORE Mayor Duffy even resigned, that they would say to heck with the word, the law, SHALL, as in "shall appoint a Mayor." They set the date of the "Special Election" on March 29, 2011. City Council should have been debateing every day since the end of December and voting every day to find a replacement for Duffy. That is the law, plain & simple. Read it at the public library if you want. The law states: "The Council SHALL fill a vacancy in the office of Mayor arising otherwise than by expiration of the term by appointing by a majority vote a person who is registered in the same political party as the person who vacated the office." Period. In legalese, the word "SHALL" mean you will do this. It is the law.
Rather than do the heavy work, Ms. Warren & her cronies, Gantt & Richards, aided by this media, made a resolution on December 29, 2010: "Resolution Establishing The Date For The Special Election Of The Mayor." ..."The date of the special election will be March 29, 2011. This date allows for the full 90 days to be utilzed in order for the community to prepare and educate themselves on the candidates that will be running to fill the seat." The reason for this illegal act is to make Tom Richards Mayor without a full campaign or the 6 weeks normally allowed for a candidate such as myself to collect petitons. Lovely Warren wants to be Mayor after Tom Richards. She is telling us the law be damned. btw, in court yesterday, Judge Ark suggested that Ms. Warren have a city coucil meeting ASAP to appoint a Mayor. Ms. Warren said it will occur today at a committee meeting. I have called city council today and there is no meeting scheduled. Maybe it is at Elaine's house and they can't be bothered with the law.