Chenango River - Key to revitalization?

[The West Sider]

How about this:

 

1) Fix roads

2) Fix or demolish buildings that are falling apart in downtown area; fix parking ramps

3) Enforce codes that are ALREADY on the books

4) Allow police department do their jobs; let them ENFORCE the law (maybe the crime statistics would improve)

5) Stop 'giving away' property to non-profits (as they don't pay taxes).

6) Collect delinquent taxes and delinquent water/sewer bills (or shut off water)

7) Stop raising taxes and water/sewer bills at astronomical rates

8) Decrease size of city government (NYS governor Paterson even stopped hiring/expansion)

9) Follow through on something (anything)

 

Most importantly -

 

10) Have more parades, fireworks, and have meetings about commissions about making a plan to form an advisory board to make a decision about making decisions.

 

TWS

[Guest Guest]

The key to revitalization is to make this area and this state the lowest taxed in the nation. The entreprenuers will come and take care of the rest.

[Guest Guest]

How about this:

 

1) Fix roads

2) Fix or demolish buildings that are falling apart in downtown area; fix parking ramps

3) Enforce codes that are ALREADY on the books

4) Allow police department do their jobs; let them ENFORCE the law (maybe the crime statistics would improve)

5) Stop 'giving away' property to non-profits (as they don't pay taxes).

6) Collect delinquent taxes and delinquent water/sewer bills (or shut off water)

7) Stop raising taxes and water/sewer bills at astronomical rates

8) Decrease size of city government (NYS governor Paterson even stopped hiring/expansion)

9) Follow through on something (anything)

 

Most importantly -

 

10) Have more parades, fireworks, and have meetings about commissions about making a plan to form an advisory board to make a decision about making decisions.

 

TWS

Pretty basic ideas you listed. Ideas that a reasonable person would of thought would be done in the normal process of a city government in the normal operation of business. Still the local governments are modeled after the states. I noticed in the news tonight that the state of Florida has just finished their state budget. Their state is scheduled to surpass the population of NYS this year and their budget came in at 66 billion dollars. Now since Florida has the same or higher population why is their state budget half of ours??? I understand that they do it with out a wage tax and their sales tax is 2 points lower then ours here in Broome. Remember what our budget was passed at? 122 billion wasn't it?

 

[The West Sider]

 

 

We're not basic, we're PROGRESSIVE.

 

TWS

[Guest City Taxpayer]

The key to revitalization is to make this area and this state the lowest taxed in the nation. The entreprenuers will come and take care of the rest.

 

Correct!

Stop complicating the cure and simply start locally by looking honestly at the municipal budget with the intention to reduce it each and every year. We now have a City of roughly 40,000. The Mayor's primary duty is to provide basic services in the most effective and efficient manner to those 40,000! It is not the time for feel good nonsense like river trails, traffic roundabouts, community gardens, WiFi, and Columbus Park block parties. These fringe issues do absolutely nothing to stabilize the economic health of our City.

 

Ryan and Abdelazim have disregarded this primary duty. And nowhere is this more evidenced than by their blown opportunity to effect a tremendous tax savings by "negotiating" such a lucrative and unnecessary deal with the Fire Fighters Union. A deal that it even stunned the firefighters. This type of continued irresponsible fiscal behavior will eventually bankrupt the City. It cannot continue and if we had real leaders it wouldn't.

 

The Mayor and City Council need to start thinking about those dwindling few who stay to pay the bills. LOWER TAXES and create an environment that will attract business, which will then provide real jobs, which will then create more owner-occupied homeownership, better neighborhoods, etc..etc. Then and only then will the City be in a position to afford this Burlington feel good BS.

 

 

[Guest Guest]

But that would mean having the same people who make the rules to start giving up their jobs. Government never gets smaller.

[Guest Guest]

You mean to tell me with all the population that this area has lost that the cities,villages,and schools didn't cut back on employees?

 

 

@

[Couch Potato]

. . . . Now since Florida has the same or higher population why is their state budget half of ours???

They have a kinder, gentler climate, so they don't have to have a Dept. of Transportation equipped to plow snow, salt, etc. Nor do their roads need to be reconstructed at the rate ours do.

 

Plus, they seem to save a lot of money by not having the means to have fair elections where every vote counts equally.

[Guest Broke NY Stater]

 

 

And our NYS voting system works and where has that gotten us? What the percentage of incumbency re-election?

A horrifically broken down system and we keep re-electing the same greedy dinosaurs year in and year out. See: Joe Bruno, Sheldon Silver, Tom Libous, etc, etc. We'd still have Pataki if he could've run again.

 

Florida also must not possess an entirely inept self serving upstate- down state government that can't get a budget in on time or out of control state "authorities" running without oversight to rob in perpetuity, or excessive social welfare policies attracting low enders from everywhere else to the point where many of our cities are beginning to resemble those of the 3rd world.

 

NYS is over regulated and over taxed because our state government leaders are so easily corrupted by the special interest lobbyists from both ends of the societal spectrum. From the the insurance industry and the utility interests to the civil service unions, the bleeding heart not-for-profits, and teachers union. And they keep being influenced because it works for THEM not us.

 

And don't let this get out but Floridians are also reaping the cost saving benefits from implementing consolidation of local governments. See: The Greater Jacksonville Area.

 

 

@

[Guest Guest]

Correct!

Stop complicating the cure and simply start locally by looking honestly at the municipal budget with the intention to reduce it each and every year. We now have a City of roughly 40,000. The Mayor's primary duty is to provide basic services in the most effective and efficient manner to those 40,000! It is not the time for feel good nonsense like river trails, traffic roundabouts, community gardens, WiFi, and Columbus Park block parties. These fringe issues do absolutely nothing to stabilize the economic health of our City.

 

Ryan and Abdelazim have disregarded this primary duty. And nowhere is this more evidenced than by their blown opportunity to effect a tremendous tax savings by "negotiating" such a lucrative and unnecessary deal with the Fire Fighters Union. A deal that it even stunned the firefighters. This type of continued irresponsible fiscal behavior will eventually bankrupt the City. It cannot continue and if we had real leaders it wouldn't.

 

The Mayor and City Council need to start thinking about those dwindling few who stay to pay the bills. LOWER TAXES and create an environment that will attract business, which will then provide real jobs, which will then create more owner-occupied homeownership, better neighborhoods, etc..etc. Then and only then will the City be in a position to afford this Burlington feel good BS.

 

It's nice to see that at least one person out there agrees with me. The solution isn't all that complicated.

[Guest Consultant]

How about this:

 

1) Fix roads

2) Fix or demolish buildings that are falling apart in downtown area; fix parking ramps

3) Enforce codes that are ALREADY on the books

4) Allow police department do their jobs; let them ENFORCE the law (maybe the crime statistics would improve)

5) Stop 'giving away' property to non-profits (as they don't pay taxes).

6) Collect delinquent taxes and delinquent water/sewer bills (or shut off water)

7) Stop raising taxes and water/sewer bills at astronomical rates

8) Decrease size of city government (NYS governor Paterson even stopped hiring/expansion)

9) Follow through on something (anything)

 

Most importantly -

 

10) Have more parades, fireworks, and have meetings about commissions about making a plan to form an advisory board to make a decision about making decisions.

 

TWS

 

No one will follow your common sense advice unless you charge $250,000 and have a nice powerpoint presentation.

 

 

@

[tom]

You mean to tell me with all the population that this area has lost that the cities,villages,and schools didn't cut back on employees?

 

 

@

 

Exactly!!! The major problem with the current administration is the word "conservative" isn't used in their socialist agenda. That's the reason NYS is in the crapper, not Bush like some would say.

 

The only way to deal with this problem is to vote for true conservatives, whether they are republicans or democrats. We must offer our own candidates and not let the establishment do this for us.

 

 

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[The West Sider]

No one will follow your common sense advice unless you charge $250,000 and have a nice powerpoint presentation.

 

 

@

Now that is an idea!!!!!!

 

TWS

 

 

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