Terry Tate Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 Your paper is much needed in these parts. Does that have anything to do with the toilet paper shortage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SD Jarhead Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 Chevy- As someone who moved out of the area in the mid-eighties when I joined the Marine Corps, I have constantly thought about moving back to my 'home' when I retire from the Corps. Because of this interest, I keep a close eye on the area. My observations are from actually living somewhere else and observing how other municipalities are run. I'm very sad to say, but Buffalo puts the funk in dysfunction. I also have most of my family still living in Erie Cty, and in my weekly talks with my Dad, I've opined to him over the years that your system is broken and that the area was rotting from the inside out. He and my brother, lifelong Democrats, countered regularly that I didn't know what I was talking about, etc. Unfortunately, my prediction to them has become the reality. I'm actually proud to say that my Dad has started to come around and sees what is going on there... One of the benefits of having spent 20 years in the military is that I've been conditioned to have a solution when I identify a problem. In another thread within the last few weeks I wrote of a personal story regarding my wife's family as an example of one way Buffalo could begin to help itself (if you're interested). You mentioned in one of your posts that Buffalo has dug itself into a deep hole. We have a saying here in the Corps that when you've dug yourself into a hole the best way to begin to get out is to stop digging. The tax raise you advocate is just more of the same. As far as tourism is concerned, 1st one must understand that Buffalo will NEVER become a major tourist destination. The whole casino fantasy that was circulating for years was just another bad idea by the idiots running the place. Man I could go on forever... I simply ask you what your solution to the mess is. Complaining how citizens from ANOTHER COUNTY may have to pay more than an Erie County resident to golf is but another example of the entitlement mentality that exists there. Until the entitlement mentality changes, the city will continue to decay. Ask yourself this...clearly the local government cannot afford all the workers on it's roles, so how do you lure employers into the county to replace the lost jobs? Tax increases? Not a good idea in my opinion... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmac17 Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 Great post SD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChevyVanMiller Posted March 28, 2005 Author Share Posted March 28, 2005 Chevy- As someone who moved out of the area in the mid-eighties when I joined the Marine Corps, I have constantly thought about moving back to my 'home' when I retire from the Corps. Because of this interest, I keep a close eye on the area. My observations are from actually living somewhere else and observing how other municipalities are run. I'm very sad to say, but Buffalo puts the funk in dysfunction. I also have most of my family still living in Erie Cty, and in my weekly talks with my Dad, I've opined to him over the years that your system is broken and that the area was rotting from the inside out. He and my brother, lifelong Democrats, countered regularly that I didn't know what I was talking about, etc. Unfortunately, my prediction to them has become the reality. I'm actually proud to say that my Dad has started to come around and sees what is going on there... One of the benefits of having spent 20 years in the military is that I've been conditioned to have a solution when I identify a problem. In another thread within the last few weeks I wrote of a personal story regarding my wife's family as an example of one way Buffalo could begin to help itself (if you're interested). You mentioned in one of your posts that Buffalo has dug itself into a deep hole. We have a saying here in the Corps that when you've dug yourself into a hole the best way to begin to get out is to stop digging. The tax raise you advocate is just more of the same. As far as tourism is concerned, 1st one must understand that Buffalo will NEVER become a major tourist destination. The whole casino fantasy that was circulating for years was just another bad idea by the idiots running the place. Man I could go on forever... I simply ask you what your solution to the mess is. Complaining how citizens from ANOTHER COUNTY may have to pay more than an Erie County resident to golf is but another example of the entitlement mentality that exists there. Until the entitlement mentality changes, the city will continue to decay. Ask yourself this...clearly the local government cannot afford all the workers on it's roles, so how do you lure employers into the county to replace the lost jobs? Tax increases? Not a good idea in my opinion... 285465[/snapback] I agree with GMAC, great post. First let me say that I would indeed be interested in hearing the story concerning your wife's family. To answer your question, I'll say something that most of the politicians embroiled in this mess won't, I don't have the answer - at least not all of them. What I do know is that one good to come out of this is the lopping of many patronage jobs - like the County Executive's driver. I manage to drive myself to work and so do you, so there's no reason why Giambra can't do the same. One thing that I think could and should be a logical step taken is to privatize many services, such as the parks department. Thias has been done elsewhere and in many cases the same services are had at much lower (non-union) costs. Also, the practice of Sheriff Deputys working scads of OT in their final two years of service to dramatically drive-up their retirement payouts has got to stop. As I have stated before some sort of tax increase, be it on the sales tax or on property taxes, must take place before the county's bond rating drops again. Also, the State must take on a much larger chunk of the cost of Medicaid. As a final note, the real problem is the loss of industry and, by proxy, the loss of the region's smart, young people (like you). The State needs to find a way to offer a competitive tax base to industry so that we can effectively compete with other states for high tech and new technology jobs. Maybe then, many of the bright people that left the area for employment opportunities will make the choice to come back to WNY. I hope that this is a fair jumping off point in the discussion to begin curing what ails us. I'd love to hear any ideas that other posters may have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdelma Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 NOTHING WILL EVER CHANGE THERE. THE PLACE IS A MESS AND WON'T GET ANY BETTER BECAUSE OF THE MORONS WHO RUN THE PLACE. BEST IDEA IS TO RELOCATE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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