You've heard that "Freedom to assemble" is a Constitutional Right... right? This is what freedom of assembly looks like in the United States. Thank God we don't live in some oppressive country where our basic liberties aren't protected! Is this the Democracy we are fighting to protect overseas? I welcome your comments.
The D&C today has a great article that addresses this crisis and paints a clear picture of the problem. This excerpt about a
But he's not coming home. The reason: property taxes.
"If the taxes were close to similar, we'd be back," he said. "It would be a no-brainer."
Here's the math: His present 2,600-square-foot house is worth about $525,000. Taxes are about $4,400 a year.He could buy a similar house in a Rochester suburb for $300,000 to $350,000. But the taxes in, say, Canandaigua would be about $9,100. They would be even more in Webster — closer to $12,000, he figured.
"We're staying put," he said.
This is by no means an isolated case. In fact, one of my best friends moved to the
Comparing the proportion of the average home's value that is paid in taxes annually,
We need to fix our property tax problem, or face economic collapse. The city schools are the first place to look for efficiency. Too bad Spitzer has decided to not ask for spending caps from schools... Must be that Teacher's Union endorsement has him out of crusader mode. Go Figure.
To compliment our previous post about demanding LEED Platinum Certification for Renaissance Square we wanted to provide you with some additional information about the project.
The last link is a great report that studied the whole project lifecycle of over 30 building projects and has loads of information. Here's two of the graphs from that report illustrating the savings:
Sorry to change the look and feel of the site on you, but I have had some serious problems with the site displaying correctly on Internet Explorer. The new site now scales to the size of your window for a more user-friendly experience. The new site also allows for a number of additional improvements that will be installed over the next few weeks and months. If you have any questions or suggestions you can email me at rochesterjunto@gmail.com.
In his controversial speech this week, Joe Klein fingered unions as one of the causes of Rochester's woes. Are unions really that bad, and how does an organization of employees hurt us? Let's do a brief recap of American unions.
During the 1800's and early 1900's employees as young as 5 worked 18 hours a day in conditions so horrendous that is was not uncommon to see bodies carried out of the jobsite with some regularity. If you were injured, you were fired and likely starved to death. By the 1970's labor unions had made tremendous contributions to America's working class and had won 8 hour work says, workers comp for injured employees, a minimum working age and numerous other worthy benefits. This rich history of fighting for the little guy was hijacked in the mid 19th century by the mafia. Corrupt union leaders and politicians realized the massive voting power of these labor groups. If you disagree I have two words: Jimmy Hoffa. Hoffa was a corrupt union leader whose mafia connections netted him a pair of cement shoes in the 70’s.
In the year 2006 we find the working world very transparent and employers are frequently honored for their working conditions. Employers who treat employees like crap can't keep good employees in this new fluid information age. Barriers to switching employers are almost nonexistent. Now unions seem to function primarily as voting blocks that politicians will sell their soul to win the support of, and as a tool to extort employers to the point of financial collapse. This is not to implicate that every union is corrupt or detrimental to business, but that it is a pervasive problem. One of my first encounters with a union employee was at the MCC automotive school in Henrietta. Much to my RIT College of Business colleagues’ amusement I elected to take a brakes and welding class. There I met a 25 year old guy we’ll call Steve.
Steve and I talked often about his job as a union employee at Delphi. Steve told me about the first few weeks on the job when the more senior employees demanded he slow down his productivity so as not to make the others look bad. His production in his first few weeks on the job far outpaced guys who had been there for years. On more than one occasion, while showing off his brand new red Corvette, Steve bragged about having only changed a few tires all day on the job. Needless to say, this pissed me off. I was paying $25,000 a year to get a degree that would land me a finance job that I drove to in a car that barely functioned. The job started at $28,000. Steve, 25 years old with no degree, was making $52,000 and shared with me that in short order he would be making nearly $90,000 as a journeyman. Clearly the union was working, employees were excellently represented. But then something happened. They priced themselves right out of a job.
A recent D&C article read, “Delphi Corp.'s bankruptcy could change the U.S. auto industry, experts say, ratcheting up pressure to produce cheaper parts overseas and forcing deep cuts in union wages and benefits and manufacturing employment. Delphi, the largest U.S. auto supplier, expects to close many of its 31 domestic plants as part of its reorganization.” The airlines are dominated by unions and are constantly going back to the taxpayer trough to get bailed out because they can’t make the business decisions needed to stay profitable. Soon GM will be in bankruptcy because of management’s blind allegiance to the internal combustion engine, inability to innovate, and the labor union’s crushing influence over tactical business decisions. UAW workers will scream about layoffs of their employees being paid $60,000+ to sit next to a robot and ensure it keeps chugging along, blind the real cause of their plight. To be sure I will investigate and discuss the platforms and impacts of our local labor organizations in future entries.
Today I learned that the Rochester City School district announced a deal that basically gives all the schools (voice over internet protocol) VOIP phone service. Basically, the data lines for your computer's internet connection also carry the phone signal. The great part about this is that the district will save $1M a year. Great thinking... but with $3M what could we do in the IT world. For starters, consider the fact that a crafty school IT department might have realized that you can get those phones free. Go to Vonage.com and sign up for VOIP service and you can get a free phone. I realize that large networks take a bit more than a free phone, but hear me out.
My dream is that one day we will have visionary people making the big decisions for this community and make
If anyone who can make a purchasing decision from the school district is reading this, I would implore you to seek unbiased council on this matter with the
An article in today's Democrat & Chronicle highlighted the RBA Small Business Council's Businessperson of the Year, award winner Joe Klein. Mr. Klein is a native Rochesterian who has built a customized steel manufacturing company here, Klein Steel, which employs about 135 people. During his acceptance speech he criticized specific legislators, union officials and companies doing business with state government whom he felt made New York, "not a fair, honorable state to live in." Amen!
New York has been hijacked by a bunch of power hungry, self righteous, pork barreling goons. They have managed to turn the state completely upside down. We are currently rated as having among the worst state governments, sales tax rates, property tax rates, income tax rates, highest, workers comp rates, and overall business climate. Why the heck is everyone else in the business community taking this lying down? I don't know Mr. Klein well, but I did have the privilege of serving with him on Bob Duffy's Economic Development Transition Team. Joe Klein loves this community and has been fighting hard for years to keep a business growing despite the obstacles of doing business in this state. I applaud Joe for standing up and making the case that New York is on its knees and unless more people stand up against the status quo, we're in for some serious hard times.
The Rochester Business Alliance and the Small Business Council president, Thomas Ioele, both distanced themselves from Mr. Klein and his remarks after it became clear that feathers were ruffled. It is a shame to see an organization created to help businesses thrive in Rochester, NY pass on the opportunity to build support around Joe Klein's comments.
Admittedly I have not yet heard the full content of the speech and will be making every effort to find it and make it available to you.
This is a 1963 promotional video highlighting Midtown Plaza & Rochester
Here is a spoof someone recently made using that video to illustrate what poor stewards of the city we have been for the past 40 years.
Hopefully this reminds you of Rochester's historic optimism and contrasts it with our current "woe is me" attitude. The community's attitude towards the city's future needs to be more in line with the attitudes of 40 years ago if we are going to turn this city around. There's a lot that needs doing, but there's nothing we can't do.
One of the primary goals of this blog is to identify critical problems that keep our region stifled from its true potential. It is no mystery that
Former Mayor Bill Johnson was a lot of things, and nearly all of them left me wanting more from
· 932 towns
· 554 villages
· 62 cities
· 57 counties
· 700 school districts
· 867 fire districts
· More than 1,000 special-purpose local
How is it possible that we need 1500 different town and village governing bodies in one state? Consider that the town of
Frank Caliendo Doing an Amazing George Bush Impersonation
List of the top 100 websites in the United States
Ever Wonder What a Depth Charge Detonation is Like?
A Farewell to Habeas Corpus
I have been watching these videos for the past few weeks off and on. They are a series of 20 minute talks by some of the most gifted and innovative people of our time. Each one has the opportunity to speak for 20 minutes about anything they desire to share that has, or could possibly, benefit society. TEDTalks is the name of the video section but be sure to look into TED.com. They are a group with an amazing mission.
The big story in the paper today reads, "Snows close down 105 miles of I-90, leaves 350,000 without power." In our part of the world we are spared from the torment of hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis and nearly every other form of natural disaster. The exception being Rochester's notorious winter storms that have been known to leave people without power for up to several weeks. Googling around for a few minutes led me to a fantastic technology called Combined Cooling, Heating, and Power (CCHP) that delivers distributed generation of energy, heating, and cooling. The basic premise of distributed generation is that nearly 50% of all the energy in the US is lost to production losses at the plant and transmission losses over our huge, antiquated, grid.
Home CCHP systems have the chance of freeing us from the notoriouisly abusive pricing of New York energy companies. In a nutshell CCHP systems are onsite gas fired turbine generators that use the waste heat to heat and - believe it or not - cool your home. Power generation is often over 90% efficient, has no transmission losses and you don't need to pay for it to be delivered to your home. The result is a clean efficient generator/furnace/air conditioner in a box located in your basement. When the power goes out in your neighborhood, you will only notice when your neighbors show up at your door to enjoy your heat and functional appliances!
This technology is also the kind of thing we should be integrating into the Renaissance Square LEED Platinum building design. The Transamerica Pyramid building in the financial district of San Francisco is in the process of installing a 1.1 MW CHP system. Some interesting savings they expect to see that we should demand of RenSquare are:
RenSquare, as it has come to be known, has the potential to be a huge money pit that drives smaller theatre venues out of business and sinks like our last major experiment. It is also just as likely to serve as a beacon in the middle of downtown showing the resolve, commitment, and compassion that city residents feel deep down for our embattled city center. The difference is in the management and high-level decision making that will be ongoing until its completion some time in 2010.
Let's be honest, the business plan that preceded the fast ferry would not have gotten me a passing grade in my
Now we find ourselves, as a community, at the brink of putting nearly a quarter of a billion dollars into Renaissance Square. Believe it or not, I am all for it and I am going to do everything in my power to ensure we knock this one out of the park.
Last night I attended the fifth public workshop for the project along with a pitifully small group of other interested onlookers and members of the media. While listening to the lead architect, Moshe Safdie, I realized that we had a very talented man at the helm of this project. Further research revealed that we have one of the most prolific architects in the world designing a complex for us that embodies more than a building. Safdie is a brilliant man who sees his creations as tools to improve the very substance of urban living. Late last night while watching video clips of Safdie discussing projects he completed in Toronto, Israel, Vancouver and Montreal it occurred to me that he seemed more alive than he did discussing Renaissance Square. Why?
I don't think that we, as a community, have demanded enough of this facility. Safdie has been described as a "maverick" and is undoubtedly one of the most innovative architects around. Our project may be huge by measure of dollars invested, but it is the innovators equivalent of being asked to design you a paperweight. We’ve invested millions of dollars in a very capable architect. Let’s make sure he invests his full attention and skill set in us. Safdie has a soft spot for cleaner, greener urban living and we are poised to become one of the leading alternative energy economies in
The U.S. Green Building Council has created the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ as the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. The four levels of certification are Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Amazingly there are only 15 Platinum certified buildings in the
The notion of having a more efficient building in our city is not just some treehugger’s pipedream, but a commonsense solution for a number of our problems.
For a building that tax payers will be paying operating costs for over the next century or so, I would say that Platinum LEED certification should be as high a priority as where to locate the bus terminal.
Let's make a stand, and demand more for our city. There aren't too many opportunities for the community to direct $230 Million in development downtown. We can't afford another fast ferry, and we really need a homerun to bring back some desperately needed civic pride. Mr. Safdie, please consider this a personal and professional challenge to deliver to
Rochester, NY was once well on its way to becoming a major city in the American landscape. Some of the most significant inventions of our time in photography, xerography, and optics have been developed in our city. Despite this rich history of innovation and entrepreneurship, Rochester's population has decreased to its lowest level since the census of 1900. What were the public and private sector successes that led to our becoming America's first boomtown? Where have we gone wrong since? Like you, I have plenty of opinions about our politicians, laws, taxes and local business policies. My hope is that we can come together to use this blog as a forum to learn, share, debate and innovate.
This year marks my first full year back in Rochester since moving away in 2000 after getting my Bachelors in Finance from RIT. I see opportunity all around me. When I left, I never wanted to come back to Rochester. My family had moved away in 1997, my friends had all taken jobs in big cities, and I saw no potential for me here. Having since spent time in Boston, Richmond, Philadelphia, NYC, and Atlanta as well as getting some international travel under my belt I began to see the true value in Rochester. In 2005 I purchased two multifamily homes in the city, quit my six figure consulting job and moved back to my hometown.
I have been blessed with an amazing network of friends and colleagues who are every bit as dedicated to turning this city around as I am. In December I was lucky enough to be called upon by Bob Duffy to be a member of his Economic Development Transition Team. The discussions we engaged in there opened my eyes to the wealth of possibilities that lie within our reach. Currently, I am neck deep in starting a website with business partner, Daniel Mooney. We hope it will be a major victory for local small business. Please, help me engage our community members and leaders in meaningful discussions by contributing heartfelt productive commentary on this blog.
As this effort evolves I will try to make the format more interactive with forums and increased user interaction. Stay tuned.
