There Is Room At The Inn

Last evening, the Seven Argives (actually six as Ms. McBride was not present) let it be known they are not happy with the hotel, the management, or the, "marketing plan."  Sadly, no matter what council decides, the taxpayers will have a huge bill!  Trenton can keep the hotel and continue to underwrite the costs since there has never been a profit.  Also pay off the debt associated with the hotel which Trenton guaranteed.  Or the hotel can be sold for the, "best offer," which ain't gonna be much.  During the previous administration, possible sales were discussed in council but the interest was always in the parking garage which makes money.  Even if the hotel were sold, we would still have the bonds (debt) to pay off.  So, Blogolanders, accept the fact we have a very white elephant.  And council is between a rock and a hard place.

sense & nonsense

Good morning, Blogolanders!  I did not attend Tuesday Nite Live; I got caught up in book entitled OYSTER:  A WORLD HISTORY by one Drew Smith who is an English food critic/writer etc.  These bivalves are among the oldest living creatures in this world, older than, "grass."  Our very primative ancestors often dined on these creatures.  And the pearls and mother of pearl have been valued for untold generations.  So I didn't want to stop reading.  But on Monday there was even better reading.  On the front page of the Trenton Times was an article about Susan Ryan.  She's made a documentary about changing Chambersburg.  It sounds great; I'd love to see it.  But where it is, "opening."  In Trenton?  Nah.  At the College of New Jersey where Ms. Ryan is affiliated?  Nah.  It's opening in New Brunswick at Rutgers!!!  Screw New Brunswick.  I'd love to see this movie; I'd even pay full freight (ten bucks); I am not, however, driving up to New Brunswick. 

Now for the nonsense.  Are we becoming a nation of paranoids?  Last evening there was a blurb on the Six O'clock News on how to protect yourself from having your income tax refund stolen.  While I'm not worried about having my refund stolen because I usually have to write a fat check so anyone who wants to steal my IRS info and pay my taxes - go for it!!  Later, there was a commercial about identify theft.  I gather it's more common than the common cold.  And yes, I am tinged with paranoia; I always pay for gasoline with cash lest someone steal my credit card number.  There is a fellow Trentonian who will not discuss anything of interest or importance on the telephone being convinced that our phones are bugged.  Who knows, but if the Honorable Mayor and his pals have bugged my phone, I hope they enjoyed my long talk with my sister on Sunday.  We discussed our grandmother's china cabinet and some screwball relatives.  A few fellow Trentonians have also mentioned that our houses are probably bugged.  Again, if this is so, then the Honorable Mayor and his pals deserve the boring crap they hear.  One conversation went something like this, "Mom, is this laundry clean?"  To which I answered, "Yeah, it is,"  Followed by, "I'll carry it upstairs for you."  Ending with, "Thanks."

To sum up, I don't really know how we can truly protect ourselves since we can't even get a driver's license without giving up our Social Security number.  Yes, there are people who steal, lie, cheat, but is it necessary to be so concerned that we worry more than we enjoy?  I don't know.  Have a nice day.

The Positive?

Normally, I agree with L.A. Parker, but I most certainly do not agree with his recent column about a TCHS student named Rasheed Wallace.  Apparently, this young man, a member of the school basketball team broke a scoring record the other day and nobody acknowledged it.  L.A. was upset.  Blogolanders, I was not.  What I was (am) upset about is TCSH debating team.  Yes, there is such a thing and this group of kids does a damn good job.  Last evening, city council honored the team, the coach and assistant coach with a lovely ceremony.  That's what L.A. should be writing about; giving the team and the coaches lots of ink.  Hell, I would have put them on the front page of The Trentonian. 

We do have logical thinkers here in Trenton.  So to the team and the coaches, I say CONGRATULATIONS AND GO FOR IT!!

Ye Shall Know the Truth

OK, Blogolanders - here it goes.  I have a very short fuse and more often than necessary, I shoot from the hip.  I am aware of these failings.  Now, let's talk about Trenton's financial problems.  The city is broke.  The state, itself, is not far behind mostly because a Republican governor was so anxious to cut taxes, she skipped payments into the pension account which is now woefully underfunded.  Before I go onto the good stuff, Blogolanders, think about this.  I doubt anyone really knows what all the property OWNED by the state is worth.  I've heard as much 50 million dollars.  Let's say 30 million just for the hell of it.  The state probably would have trouble coming up with that money every year SO what happens?  The state raises taxes on everybody.  Maybe the sales tax goes up, or gasoline, my favorites - sin taxes.  Tobacco and alcohol!  Maybe the state will start taxing clothing.  Everybody will pay more and than includes everyone in Trenton.  So, please, before you cry to state government, think of where the money will come from. 

Next.  Toward the end of the Palmer administration, a lease was signed for property on Hermitage Avenue.  The city was going to open a new municipal court there.  The lease was crappy.  It was too much for too little too long.  The Honorable Mayor takes office and wants out of this crappy lease.  Probably the only worthy idea the man has had.  Does he go to city council, or at least council president, and say, "I want out of this lease; how much of a penalty can you stomach?"  Once he gets this information, he goes to the legal department and says, "Call their lawyers and negotiate us out this lease; kept the penalties at or below......"  No, the Honorable Mayor just stops paying rent which lands the city in court and the city is now on the hook for more millions than we can afford.  That's you and me, Blogolanders. 

As a taxpayer, what pisses me off about this, really pisses me off, is that council (and I mean the entire body) did not see the mayor was a loose cannon who had to be watched very closely.  Council failed us. 

Fast forward to January 2013 when we learn that the long empty Glen Cairn Arms will be acquired by Thomas Edison State College.  We also learn that we are freakin lucky that this taking place.  A piece of property that was acquired at a cost of somewhere between 3 and 4 million dollars will be sold to TESC for $300,000.  And we hear the same old song about why this such a wonderful deal; why we should be dancing in the streets; how it is the salvation of Trenton, etc., etc., etc.

The fact that we have heard this song before, and it always fell flat is of no importance.  Those who questioned, well they are obstructionists who get their jollies from criticizing everything.  Emotions were running high and were being fanned. 

Kevin Moriarty has done some research and found no mention of $300,000. to the city.  The sale price seems to be ONE DOLLAR.  Another citizen got a copy of the legislation, read it, and noticed that TESC could rent property.  To sum up, I have this creepy feeling that we, the taxpayers, are being screwed again.

To sum up, I am pissed at the reaction to a letter written Dan Dodson and published in the Trenton Times on January 31.  So many are insulted that Mr. Dodson  wrote that far too many of us do not think.  Do not look at things in cool dispassionate way.  Far too many become emotional immediately.  Well, he happens to right. 

The weaker argument is always an emotional one.  Believe me - when people start playing to your emotions, they are up to something - be scared.  When you are presented with a cold, logical, analysis, then listen.  Take notes.  Ask questions. 

The fact that Mr. Dodson wrote that far too many of us think with our hearts and not our brains - well that's true.  It is also one of the reasons we are in the financial mess we are in.

Let the Sun Shine In!

Blogolanders - where to begin?  I attended the TESC/GCA meeting yesterday afternoon.  First, you've heard the expression, "Politics makes for strange bedfellows."   I never thought Councilwoman McBride and I would ever be bedfellows - but politics, etc.  She also did a good job of chairing the meeting and kept all under control.  Before I continue, I support and admire TESC.  It serves a purpose does a dman good job fulfilling that purpose.  I believe that any nursing program at TESC would be A1. 

My objection to the current deal is that Trenton could have/should have negotiated better terms.  That's all.  The other problem is the promise that such a nursing school will do wonders for the neighborhood and for the city!  Most our municipal problems will be solved!  OK, Blogolanders. 
Remember back in the days of urban renewal?  When the neighborhood around Market and Warren was knocked down and state buildings put up?  Trenton traded taxpaying properties for state owned/tax free properties.  Wonderful things were going to happen.  A new day would dawn.  No such thing happened.  Remember the arena?  Same promises.  Remember the ballpark?  Same promises.  Remember the new courthouse.  Same promises.  And what did we get.  Nothing. 

The other thing I don't like is that a few years ago the Honorable Mayor formed some sort of economic development committee, board, club, who the hell knows.  No one seems to know when the group met; no one has seen minutes, AND and a member was George Pruitt, Ph.D, president of Thomas Edison State College. 

Last evening, J.R. Capasso, who is heading the city housing/economic development department, told me deals such as the TESC/GCA are conducted in secret.  And he give a number of reasons why, etc. 
While there my be some logic to this behavior, my reaction was, and is, bullshit.  You're negotiating the disposition of publically owned property (that means you and I own it) to another public institution, TESC which you and I support with our state tax dollars.  You're not planning Operation Overlord.  Maybe if these negotiations were made public sooner, there would be time to chew over the details.  And, yes, I know about the bond approval last November, etc., etc. 

Lastly, I would strongly advise Dr. Pruitt, who does not live in Trenton, to get off his high horse and stop speaking to the public as though we were a group of simple-minded children. 

As a taxpayer, I am very tired of these schemes being pulled out of a hat and being told how lucky I am that the scheme is taking place.  By the way, Blogolanders, last evening, Dr. Pruitt made at least three grammatical errors that I heard. 

This a crappy deal for Trenton and very few seem to give a damn.

Dem Bums!

In the dark ages of the nineteen-fifties when Eisenhower was president, the Boys of Summer aka the Brooklyn Dodgers, announced they needed a new stadium.  Ebbets Field was, I don't know, overgrown, outdated, too small, whatever.  The screed was, build a new ball park or we leave Brooklyn.  Believe me, Blogolanders, there were Brooklynites who screamed that if the Dodgers left Western Civilization would crumble, Coney Island would wash into the sea, the Gowanus Canal would give up its dead, Commies would buy houses on Brooklyn Heights.  OK.  You get the message.  The new ball park was also going to provide jobs, new businesses, new people, etc.  Here's what happened.  Brooklyn refused a new stadium.  The Dodgers moved to L.A.  Brooklyn pooped along as usual neither better nor worse and the Dodgers were forgotten with the rest.  The point of this posting.  TESC will not save Trenton.  If it is built, marvelous things will not happen.  If it is not built, Trenton will poop along as usual. 

The Trials of Trenton

Last evening at Thursday Nite Live, things moved along at a fair clip.  At the beginning, President Holly-Ward suggested the public not discuss the Glen Cairn Arms issue until February when the issue comes up for a second reading.  Dan Dodson was first to speak and let it be known he was not waiting till February.  Most speakers followed his lead.  Blogolanders, I have nothing against Thomas Edison State College; this institution serves a needs and does it well.  Glen Cairn is an eyesore that should be corrected.  The drawings of the new nursing school are lovely.  BUT this a bad deal for Trenton.  Any school built on that site will NOT lead us to the Promised Land.  For three houndred thousand dollars which will be spent in a month, we get another white elephant like the hotel.  Remember all the wonderful things the hotel was going to do?  And the new civil courthouse was going to revive downtown.  Yeah!  The new businesses that opened around the courthouse were lawyers and bondsmen.  Those of us who went out to eat (I was working there), went across to Gus's Restuarant or down the street to the Mill Hill.    Very, very few went toward the State Street area. 

I am also tired of the sneaky way things are done.  A week ago, Trentonians are told this scheme is in the works, but we have to move quickly because TESC has a tight schedule.  I was told last evening that TESC didn't get approved for the grants till last November. Maybe, but it still doesn't work. 

First, TESC had to write the grant proposal.  Let's say that was three before which takes us to maybe August 2012.  Before writing the grant, TESC had to scout around for sites - I'm guessing that TESC zeroed in on Glen Cairn last spring. 

Blogolanders, getting a nice piece of property for $300.000. is a sweet deal, but what if TESC had said to Trenton, "We'll give you $100,000. or even, "You Trenton, pay us, $300,000. and we'll take the property off your hands"?  How would the administration have reacted?

Now if the goal is to attract people to Trenton, increase revenue, and fix up that the property - I know let's build a casino!!!