Here we go again! What’s with this guy? Apparently to get Supervisor Grace's undying devotion all you have to do is wave some plans for a big new building in his face and he’s off and running. Whoa, Mike: what’s the big rush? Are your new friends in that much of a hurry? But that’s his style. He said so himself: he likes to jump first and worry about all those pesky little details later. The problem is, he uses our money for his crazy skydiving schemes, and then expects us to pick up the tab to clean up the mess.
Last night was his latest carefree leap into the fiscal abyss: give me twenty-five grand so we can see if my developer friends can make a bundle on Depot Square.
Hmmmm. A big new development! A great idea for the town, a much needed improvement for a sadly neglected area. And watch the property values skyrocket for any landowners adjacent or nearby. Like, for example – Michael Grace and Terrence Murphy.
As for the specific questions that those of us who have to pay for this kind of extravaganza might ask, check out Susan Siegel’s excellent blog also posted here on Patch:
But there’s a much bigger question that I wish someone would look into. Did it strike anyone else as odd that our Supervisor would kick off his latest development idea under the auspices of a private group funded by out-of-town developers? Rather than at Town Hall, in a public venue (we are talking public land here, folks), there he was, in a private room at the Chamber of Commerce in front of a select group once again by invitation only, introduced and watched over by the paid spokesman for Citizens for a Progressive Yorktown.
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A group that, as they say on their own website, was created to promote Costco. But who are they, exactly? Who pays their bills? Who’s calling the tune that Grace and Murphy are dancing to?
As far as I can tell, they consist of a name, a website, and a paid spokesman.
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We’re paying the Supervisor a pretty hefty salary. Ostensibly to watch out for our interests. Save our money. Why aren’t these developers paying for their own feasibility studies? It’s Costco all over again, but this time they’ve wised up: all that due diligence can cost a bundle –especially when people start paying attention, and they have to at least try to do it right. Much better this time to get us to pay for it. And talk about the cart before the horse: it would make sense to get a good, solid plan for the new garage before going gaga over architect’s renderings for new buildings.
And, by the way, it’s a site, not just a building. When it comes to a really interesting plan, integrated with the town, John Tegeter had some great ideas. You know John – the Town Planner? The guy we pay to do this kind of thing? The man who was also instrumental in creating the Comprehensive Plan, which is what you would think we would now be using as a template for growth. In that parallel universe –the Yorktown not for sale to the highest bidder – the Supervisor would have worked with the Town Planner and the Town Board, held public hearings and then opened the process up for outside bids. First, of course, he would have done his homework and taken the time to establish that the idea was even fiscally responsible.
But not in our Yorktown. Let’s be realistic. No one is going to contribute tens of thousands to your re-election campaign for taking a hard look at what is possible and right for the town. In Grace’s Yorktown, it’s not even a small step for us, but a giant leap for his friends the developers.
