Zeros Matter

In a speech about the abuse of earmarks earlier today, Sen. John McCain singled out the Long Distance Running Hall of Fame in Utica.

• $16 million for display cases and interactive displays at at the National Distance Running Hall of Fame in Utica, New York.

The only problem being that the earmark, from back in 2003, was for $16,000, not $1,600,000. It was still a waste of taxpayer dollars, but not quite as monumental as Sen. McCain states.

Making Lemonade

WIBX sez:

One of Utica's mayoral candidates feels he's the victim of targeted vandalism attacks. Dan Trevasani, a democratic nominee in this September's primary, says around a dozen of his campaign signs throughout the city have been stolen or destroyed. He says the signs all depict American flags on the top, making the acts even more despicable. Trevasani says he's filed a police report with the Utica Department. A Lieutenant confirms the incidents are being investigated, but says there are no suspects at this time.

Frankly, I'm amazed that candidates haven't realized that sign vandalism is a golden political opportunity. You can buy a webcam for $10 that has full night-vision capability once you remove the plastic filter from in front of the imaging chip. Spend $20 and you can get one with night vision built in and an IR illuminator.

How much political mileage do you think you could get out of a video showing someone from an opponents campaign stealing your signs in the middle of the night?

Voting Machines And Razor Wire

For years I've been thinking our area was devoid of political power, but the New York Times says different.

A new study has found that 15 counties in New York, as well as the five that make up New York City, include inmate populations when they redistrict or apportion votes in local legislative bodies.

In five of those counties, the study concluded, the inmate population was large enough in one or more districts to dilute the political power of residents in the others. Thirteen counties that have prisons exclude inmates when drawing district lines.

“New York counties with prisons are faced with a tough choice — adjust the federal census data to ignore prison populations, or rely on the census and draw districts where some citizens are granted extra political clout because they happen to live next to a prison,” said the report, by the Prison Policy Initiative, an advocacy group that favors alternatives to prison sentences and urges that inmates be counted in their real hometowns.

And guess what? We're number two on the list, with 34% of some district's population being made up of prisoners. It's another Big Win(TM) for Oneida County!

Boom!

Here's something to help you sleep at night.

If you're a Google Maps user you may have noticed that a large stretch of Utica around the harbor/Kitty's area has the blur effect Google uses for "sensitive" areas. You'll find the same blur applied to the chunk of Marcy around the electrical switching station that controls most of New York's power supply.

My Paranoid Friend(TM) says the reason the blur is in place is because of the high toxin levels of the area from the old gasworks. Set off a conventional explosive of sufficient size and the detonation would spray a cloud of contaminated dust across North Utica and, more importantly, shut down the Thruway, the canal, and a major rail route for days.

Sounds iffy to me, but fear mongering is always entertaining.

Troopergate Rolls On

And it just keeps getting better.

Cuomo's probers, who eventually produced an explosive report showing top Spitzer aides used the State Police in a plot to destroy the career of Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Rensselaer), allowed the governor's legal counsels to decide what "relevant" e-mails would be turned over as part of the investigation.

Those lawyers - who instructed top Spitzer aides, including the governor's chief of staff, Richard Baum, and communications director, Darren Dopp, not to cooperate with Cuomo's investigators - turned over a small number of scandal-related e-mails from official state e-mail addresses, not personal ones, sources said.

However, Baum, linked to the scandal by e-mails sent to his official state address, has repeatedly used at least one private e-mail address to communicate with other administration officials in recent months, sources with ties to the administration told The Post. One source provided The Post with a private e-mail address containing Baum's name, saying it was the address Baum often used for official communications.

In the immortal words of Casey Kasem, the hits keep comin' and the countdown continues.

Just A Little More Time

The Hotel Utica saga continues.

Hotel Utica co-owner Joseph R. Carucci said Monday the taxes and loans he and his partner owe to Oneida County, Utica and the federal government will be paid.

He would not commit to a timeframe, however.

"Sometimes it just takes time to catch up," Carucci said.

Yeah, sometimes you just need a little time. How unreasonable of everyone to insist Mssrs. Carucci and Gaetano actually pay back their debt on any kind of schedule. Of course, Mr. Carucci leaves out the somewhat important detail that he's not just a slow pay, he's in default. If this were you or I our creditors would be dunning us on a daily basis after we missed a single payment. 30 days past due? Off to collections.

The Hotel Utica? Their loan is 1897 days past due, and counting, according to my back of the envelope calculations.

He spoke on the same day that the region's congressman said that Carucci and hotel co-owner Charles N. Gaetano must meet their obligations to taxpayers.

Those obligations include repaying the $5 million U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development loan that helped the historic hotel reopen more than six years ago, U.S. Rep. Michael Arcuri, D-Utica, said.

"It was never meant to be a gift," Arcuri said of the hotel loan. "It is inexcusable for them not to be paying any of the money they owe us."

We can only hope that Congressman Arcuri will take this opportunity to send a strongly worded letter of condemnation.

Utica is diverting a half-million dollars per year in community revitalization funds to cover the federal loan payments the hotel hasn't making on any kind of regular basis.

Carucci said the hotel's owners are working on keeping up on the payments.
"Of course, we're trying to restructure things and reorganize," he said. "We're working on it on a daily basis to make sure we keep up with things."

Despite several attempts since 2002 to rework the taxpayer-backed loan, the owners of the hotel are still struggling to make regular loan payments, records show.

They've now been using the "we just need a little more time" excuse for seven years.

Seven. Freakin'. Years.

Really, does anyone even believe they're serious anymore? Well, other than Ed Hanna and Tim Julian?

None were made between August 2006 and May of this year, records show. Hotel Utica also fell behind on its county, city and city school district taxes, a July 29 O-D report found. Four days after the O-D revealed the situation, the hotel hand-delivered a check for more than $130,000 to cover its 2006-07 school taxes.

The hotel claims an occupancy rate of 70 percent, which is above the nationwide average of 63 percent.

So the Hotel has a stellar occupancy rate, a nearly booked up events calendar, a constant stream of meetings and conferences...and it's still not paying up? One doesn't have to be a CPA to wonder where, exactly, the money is going.

The hotel is constantly booked during large events, and there is no reason it shouldn't be paying its bills, Arcuri said.

In the future, Arcuri said he'd like to look more carefully at how federal money is loaned to private facilities such as Hotel Utica.

"We don't want it closing, but we want to make sure the people there are being responsible," he said.

Yes, you certainly want the recipients of taxpayer dollars to be responsible. Speaking of which, I seem to remember that the Players of Utica presented Mr. Arcuri with a detailed plan for the completion of their currently abandoned shell of a building. A plan that, sadly, no one but the Player's inner-circle and Mr. Arcuri seem to have seen.

Arcuri said the Players have submitted to him a detailed plan outlining the theater's construction completion. Details of the plan could not be learned Monday.

The Players have raised about $800,000 so far to cover the cost of the building's shell, foundation and infrastructure. Workers have yet to begin phases 2 and 3, which include plumbing, electrical work, lighting and carpeting, Players' past President Michele O'Neil said Monday.

O'Neil said fundraising efforts are ongoing but would not elaborate. She also would not comment on the potential federal funding.

This would seem to be the ideal time for everyone to learn how that fine organization plans on spending the $100,000 of taxpayer money Mr. Arcuri procured for them.

Not So Public After All

Guess what? Oneida County's land records are coming back online, but not for you! No, only lawyers and abstract companies will be able to access them. You know, the same folks that were complaining last year about the impact making those records available on the internet would have on their business. Why should you be able to do something yourself when you can pay them a few bills to do it instead?

Go read Strikeslip's take on this, since he hits all the high spots with his coverage.

And keep on eye on New Hartford Online, because this is just the kind of issue they specialize in.

Update: Hmmmm. It took me about five minutes to find at least one member of the Oneida County Bar Association with an unsecured wi-fi connection. How...reassuring.

Yeah, I Got It Tough

The next time I get into a "poor pitiful me" mood I'm going to remember this guy.

Hajric lost his sight while on duty during a mine explosion in 1993. He was 26.

Chess has been a tradition in his family and before the accident he was a frequent player. After he became blind he lost the drive to play. It was a good friend who was able to bring his motivation back.

"I didn't believe in myself," he said "He told me 'You got to try.' And I really tried. I did very well. He believed in me."

His family came to the Untied States in December 2000. Since he has been in the country, he participated in a string of tournaments. In 2002, he competed and won the New York State Chess Championship, playing against people with sight. Also, in 2005 he placed third in the United States Blind Chess Championship.

Now 39, Hajric not only excels at chess, but he works and cares for his 6-year-old son who is disabled. His son is in a wheelchair and Hajric sometimes has to carry him down a set of stairs when leaving the house.

Lets run down the challenges Mr. Hajric has in his life:

1. Veteran of one of the most god-awful conflicts in history.
2. Blinded in the prime of life by a mine.
3. Leaves his homeland and travels thousands of miles to start a new life.
4. Cares for a disabled son.

And he not only deals with all those challenges, but kicks ass in one of the most competitive games in the world. Most native-born Americans, myself included, would have just given up.

The Canary In The Mine

If you're an opponent of NYRI, or one of the people in the path of the proposed powerlines, you might want to keep a close eye on Congressman Arcuri's housing situation. Oh, and it wouldn't hurt to pay attention to the real estate listings to see if a slew of homes along the proposed route suddenly go up for sale.

Just sayin'.

What's Up With Christian Garramone: Part Deux

Last month I noticed I was getting an insane number of hits from people searching for "Christian Garramone" and "Utica". A backtrack from one of today's hits on that subject led to the comments page for an underground hip-hop site. You might want to turn down the volume if you click through- the embedded video interview drops a few F-bombs.

Name: christian garramone (6/14/2007 3:25:00 PM)
Location: utica, ny usa
Comment: white people are oppressed too!!!! I am not immune to harrassment from cops because I am white....the gov't takes my money and uses it to wage war....this is a fascist country, and black and white people should leave the past in the past and unite to fight the real war.....the fascist regime that has always ruled this country/corporation!!!!!

The usual disclaimers about internet identities apply, but I thought it was amusing.

A Cry For Help

Both RoAnn Destito and Joe Griffo have op-eds in today's OD bemoaning the state's failure to site the promised data center at SUNY-IT. Both pieces feature a lot of talk about economic growth, high-tech development, and how hard they're both going to fight to make sure it ends up here, yesirree. I could spend a lot of time writing an insightful deconstruction of their respective works, but I'm lazy so I'll cut to the chase.

The state data center is never, ever coming to Oneida County. Nothing they do, from dropping even more money into the "UltraMega Nano-Center" black hole to putting together yet another economic advisory team, can possibly alter that fact.

Why?

Because the state public employee unions have already said they don't want it here, and what they say goes.

Urk! That's Greek For "This Is Terrible"

I dropped by at Symeon's with a few friends this week and was really looking forward to some great food.

By the time I left I was still looking forward to some great food, but I knew I wouldn't be finding it at Symeon's.

What the hell happened to that place? It used to have phenomenally good meals, but I felt like I'd ended up at the Bizarro world version of the restaurant I remembered.

Speaking Of Empire Zones

A terrible, terrible mistake has been made.

"I met the full requirement of my commitment," said Giotto, president of Fiber Instrument Sales, on Wednesday.

Empire State Development sent letters to about 3,000 businesses, including 157 in Oneida and Herkimer counties, notifying them that they are in danger of being decertified from the Empire Zone program because they failed to meet the requirements. The state based its information on 2005 annual business reports, but will make a final determination based on an audit of 2006 business reports.

Oriskany-based Fiber Instrument Sales had estimated a total investment of $4.37 million, including $3 million to construct a 40,000-square-foot building and $875,000 to develop products, when it was certified in the Oneida County Empire Zone in June 2002.

The company had only invested $1.3 million, or 29.8 percent, of its projected amount by the end of 2005, according to Empire State Development.

Empire State Development failed to include the $3 million that had been invested in the construction project by Aug. 1, 2001, nearly a year before the company was Empire Zone certified, Giotto said.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to remember that the Fiber Instrument Sales building wasn't in an Empire Zone in 2001 and most of 2002. The borders of the zone, and "border" is a pretty meaningless term when it comes to how these absurd zones are configured, weren't revised to include that property until August of 2002.

It's not just an Empire Zone, it's a retroactively magical Empire Zone!

Update: An email asks "Isn't this the kind of basic fact-checking the reporter should have done while writing the article in the first place?" It does seem like the timeline of events would be pretty important to understanding what happened, and the validity of the actual Empire Zone credit, now that he/she mentions it.

Update: This would seem to support the idea that the Fiber Instrument Sales building was outside of the Zone when it was built.

Call The Waaaaahmbulance

Sen. Joe Griffo is upset with the revelation that the Empire Zone program is filled with failure.

State Sen. Joseph A. Griffo, R-Rome, wrote Gov. Eliot Spitzer's top Upstate New York economic-development official Friday questioning the state's tactics in enforcing Empire Zone standards...

In his letter to agency's Upstate chairman, Daniel Gunderson, Griffo asked what publicize the names of those companies is supposed to accomplish.

"I strongly believe that companies who accept Empire Zone benefits should live up to their end of the bargain," Griffo said. "However, (the state) went and posted a list of people they deemed to be not in compliance, without telling the whole story."

The O-D story neatly summarizes Sen. Griffo's press release, but why settle for the quick and dirty version when we can critique the real thing?

Dear Chairman Gundersen:

I have been in contact with a number of our local business leaders who were listed as not being in compliance with the standards set for accepting Empire Zone Benefits in the local media. While I strongly believe that companies that accept these benefits should fulfill their obligations, I take issue with the manner in which the report was released and the validity of the report’s findings.

Sen. Griffo's concerns about the release of the information are absurd. Once these companies agreed to reap the benefits of the Empire Zone program it became a matter of vital public interest if they were actually meeting their obligations. It's a bit disingenuous to suck at the public teat and then complain that someone is watching you slurp up that sweet, sweet milk.

On the other hand, it's a fair cop that there may be problems with the accuracy of the data.

Oh, and what do you want to bet that those "local business leaders" upset about being on the deadbeat list are also listed as making significant political contributions during the same time frame?

In particular, I disagree with the tactic of releasing the information to the press before contacting the business owners directly to work with them to discuss their status.

I disagree with the tactic of giving companies preferential tax treatment and then letting them skip out on their obligations. If shaming them gets them to live up to the agreement then so be it.

Publicly rapping companies that are on the road to compliance is not productive.

"On the road to compliance"? That's politician-speak for "not in compliance". As in "Sorry for not paying my video porn-on-demand bill, but I'm on the road to compliance. You can't cut me off now!" Sadly, I won't be able to watch Video Vixens 12: The Snake is Awake until I actually, you know, pay the bill.

It also does not present the image that New York wants to help industry flourish. It give the impression that your organization is just out to get them. That type of perception has dogged New York for many years.

Expecting companies to meet their obligations isn't a bug, it's a feature. See also: Hotel Utica.

I also disagree with the way that the report based its findings on old statistics dating back to 2005. As an Economic Development expert, I am sure you are aware that business ebbs and flows. A fluid program like Empire Zones should be designed to allow companies to adjust to changing environments. They should also be given the courtesy of using the most up to date statistics available. I am confident that a review of performance in 2006 would paint a much different picture of compliance.

Ebb. Flow. Whatever. If they took the tax break in 2005 they need to meet 2005's goals. In the private sector we call meeting 2005's goals in 2006 "Failure".

Finally, I want to stress the need for a Mohawk Valley Regional Empire State Development Director. We have been without this important official in our community since the Spitzer Administration took over. I wonder, if any of the companies who were rapped so publicly in your report, might have had a better chance of meeting their standards, if a local ESD director were in place?

I can answer that: no. A local ESD director isn't going to hire a single worker or spend a single dollar in investment. That's the responsibility of the company, not a highly-paid government errand-boy.

Filling this position is a vital component of the region’s economic growth and it would be a signal to our local business leaders that the Spitzer Administration is serious about improving the business climate in Central New York.

Yeah, that's just what we need. Christ, half the jobs in our area are in government or government-sponsored non-profits already. That's a disaster, not a "business climate".

I understand that your organization is evaluating all of the programs that were instituted by prior administrations and discussing the merits of keeping them going. I believe that is a needed exercise. However, while you are evaluating, our community still has important needs that must be met. We need a vision for the future of Empire State Development and when we can expect anticipated changes to these important programs.

Here's an idea- get rid of Empire Zones. Make the whole state an Empire Zone and give every single company the same benefits without any of the bureaucratic friction. Unfortunately, that would mean politicians would lose the ability to take credit for economic growth as well as the power to extract fealty from companies looking for favorable tax treatment.

And really, that's what the Empire Zone program is all about. Political power. As a great man once said, "The power to tax is the power to destroy." Empire Zones are just a dandified way of codifying tax favoritism based on patronage instead of letting the free market decide who succeeds and who fails. Maybe that's why companies that take a good, hard look at the state's horrific business climate decide that the real Empire Zones are "anywhere but New York".

With all due respect Mr. Gundersen, we are well past Day One and we have no clear idea of what this administration plans to do to improve our economic future. I think the time for action is now.

Okay, this part I can agree with. Speaking of pressing economic needs Sen. Griffo, there's this little sewer problem you might have heard about...

Up, Up, And Away

A little piece of the Mohawk Valley is bound for the Red Planet.

The CTM Corporation of Frankfort is going to Mars - not the whole company, but at least one of the items the company built is.

It is referred to as “the scoop” and it is primarily made out of aluminum and titanium and has an 8-foot-long arm attached to it. It also has a very small motor inside of it that is used to make it move. The scoop is used to dig trenches and dig up soil for analysis...

NASA refers to the whole item as the Phoenix Mars Lander. It will blast off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., aboard a Delta II rocket on a 423-million-mile trip. The three-week launch window opens today.

The lander is expected to arrive at Mars 10 months after it launches and is planned for a three-month mission.

Congratulations to CTM.

As an aside, I always thought it would be awesome if someone started an orbital cremation service. There are companies that will launch your ashes into orbit today, but I'd like to have my ashes dropped back to earth in a canister that would burn up as it re-entered the atmosphere. Could there be anything more romantic than having your friends and family watch you streak across the sky as a falling star?