DVOR you seem to be yawning alot lately, losing sleep ? Insomnia is a bi**h.

The Story Teller

http://blog.syracuse.com/entertainment/2011/06/cultural_arts_expert_brings_le.html

He has publicly proposed eliminating the New York State Council on the Arts in favor of allocating 1/2 of 1 percent of every state agency’s budget to the arts. Morris envisions justice, social services departments, Canal Corporation, Thruway Authority and others integrating the arts into the delivery of their services, design of buildings, public art installations and more.

“I think it would be empowering. It would bring home the reality art is what all people do,” Morris said.

“We interpret our moments, our lives in lots of ways, from making beautiful pots to expressing agony on cave walls. We’re storytellers. The arts are the act of storytelling. Storytelling is what kind of saves people. It connects them to one another. Saves them. Passes on history. Good storytelling is what a good society is about.”

What the he** does this guy smoke to have the visions of how to get more taxpayer money.

Instead of dreaming up news ways to rip off the taxpayers Mercury Morris should think of one way to repay them. It's absolutely disgusting that Proctor's is the only major non profit to contribute NOTHING to the City pool fund. "It's all about the kids" until it's time to write a check.

Sounds like it isn't just Harry Buffardi's jail guards that should have gotten drug testing.

Proctor's is a national treasure ....  and has played a great role in the Renaissance of Schenectady.

(no one gives a crap what the naysayers have to say anymore .. so just ignore the idiots)

Then where is the (unconstitutional) federal funding to keep it up so the county taxpayers don't have to foot the entire bill?

Coming from a registered democrat, myself,  I must say DVR's yawn pretty much echoes the party's response to the problems facing the city.
That's one reason I'm voting for new people, we'll see what happens.

Quoted from Dirt2

Coming from a registered democrat, myself,  I must say DVR's yawn pretty much echoes the party's response to the problems facing the city.
That's one reason I'm voting for new people, we'll see what happens.

Serious question...  As a registered democrat, what problems concern you?

I ask because as I age, I become more and more pragmatic, which in my mind means conservative.  At least from a fiscal sense.  

I'm not going to insult DV - but he does seem to think everything is going just great.  So I'm curious since so many on this board seem to be either republican, conservative, or truly independent...  What an average Democrat thinks.

Thanks.

Yawn="we have the votes so fu(k off since we don't care."

Quoted Text

My statement to the Schenectady City Council, Monday August 8, 2011
August 9, 2011

Good evening, my name is Pat Zollinger.

On July 18th I came to this podium to inform this council and the residents in our city of the unfairness in the County Sales Tax distribution back to the city. That unfairness shifts the burden of running the city onto city residents; whether by increases in our property taxes or increases in the fees and fines that we have to pay.

Another area of unfairness is in the assessments of several very large properties in comparison to peoples’ homes. I will use my home as an example.

My home is a three bedroom ranch located in Woodlawn. I have no heated sidewalks; in fact I don’t have sidewalks at all. I do not have a power generating station on my property and so I pay more taxes through my nimo bill. I cannot operate a coffee shop out of my house, nor can I give free air-conditioning to the various residents in my neighborhoods or the passersby on the street. Neither do I have a fifty-foot wide screen to which I can give out free shows. I have about 1200 square feet of living space. My back yard is average for the neighborhood and I don’t have parking for hundreds of cars.

My home is assessed at $128,000 and I pay nearly $6000 in taxes; School taxes, City taxes, Unfunded Mandate taxes, Election taxes, trash fee taxes, water fee taxes and sewer fee taxes.

Proctors Theater is considered a not-for-profit whose CEO is paid over $200,000 a year in salary and benefits. Proctors is a great theater; I’ve been there hundreds of times over my lifetime. But the corporate makeup of Proctors has changed. It’s no longer a group of dedicated citizens wanting to save the theatre.

There are now several for-profit corporations included in the proctors mix as well as seven separate buildings.

Proctors has been given property, property that has been taken off the tax rolls and sold by Proctor’s for a profit; the bank for example. Proctors has taken control of functions that used to be taxpaying businesses. The Muddy Cup now known as the Apostrophe is the example I use.

And the old Carl Company building, that too is a taxable property; all 50,000 plus square feet of it, three floors and much more. That building is assessed at One Hundred Dollars.

The power-generating building, also owned by a Proctors for-profit subsidiary is a taxable property. It too is assessed at One Hundred Dollars.

I strongly believe that these are two instances of obvious fraud. So I appeal to this council body to begin an investigation into these assessments. You may start with the State Comptrollers Office and carbon copy the State Attorney Generals office as well as the Department of State.

For the sake of the taxpayers in this city, the highest taxed city in New York State, you must look into this.

I thank you for this time.

http://patzollinger.us/2011/08/09/my-statement-to-the-schenectady-city-council-monday-august-8-2011/