Where’s hard data on the bus station?
Less
than a year ago, the president of the US sold the
country on a war with Iraq, justifying
it on the basis of questionable data, indicating that oil would pay for it, and
intimating that anyone who opposed the idea was, in essence, a traitor. Now it
is becoming clear that the data was questionable, that the oil will not pay for
it, that we have a colossal mess on our hands, and that maybe those who
questioned it were right. And the blame game has begun.
           It is not hard to draw a parallel
between the Iraq quagmire and
the effort to force a bus station on the City of Rochester. Once again,
the data supporting the need for the station, particularly one as elaborate as
Mr. Nojay wants, is questionable. In this case, the
oil that is supposed to pay for its operation is the tenants, but it is
certainly not clear that this will be sufficient. Anyone who questions the
wisdom of the current approach or dares suggests an alternative is branded as turning
down $30 million — in essence, a traitor to the city and county.
           Fortunately, we still have time to
avoid the blame game. Let us not keep making the same mistakes. If a bus
station is to be built, let us make sure that its need is justified by hard
data. Let us make sure we know exactly what it will cost us to operate once it
is built. Let us encourage as much input as possible and as many alternative
proposals as possible and then come up with a proposal that is economically
viable, that will be a true asset to the city and that
can win broad support.
           Robert
Keck, Selden
Street, Rochester
Flatiron
praise
The
renovated FlatironBuilding at the corner
of University and Atlantic Avenues is a magnificent centerpiece of a city
success story, the ArtWalk neighborhood.
           Paul Kramer, the owner of the
Flatiron and other property in the neighborhood, has demonstrated, through his
stewardship of the historic building, the profound effect that caring,
responsible property owners can have on a community and neighborhoods.
           Kramer recently received a richly
deserved award from the Arts & Cultural Council for Greater Rochester for
championing ArtWalk and the Neighborhood of the Arts.
Kramer and his hard work deserve to be held up for all to see. We are richer
for having a neighbor, and property owner, of such high quality in our
community.
           Richard
Zitrin, Rochester
Super pipes
Did anyone else hear the esteemed director of our Rochester
Philharmonic Orchestra on a recent Saturday night praising electronic organs as
being better than pipe organs? He must have been drinking something more potent
than apple cider.
           I have
always regarded every word from Christopher Seaman as the word of God from MountOlympus, as during the recent
Symphony 101 concert at Hochstein. Now we know that Christopher Seaman will
fortunately be with us for a long time, because he is human and subject to an
occasional human frailty.
           Electronic
organs are not “better than pipe organs” when the organ is in tune.
           Watch out,
woodwinds; your voices too can be synthesized and made “better.”
           John O. Brostrup,
East Avenue, Rochester
Ho Halloween?
I noticed a bar advertisement in a biweekly activities
magazine for a “Pimp ‘n Ho Party” on Halloween. Pimping and whoring is all
about using people for money and being used for money. Doesn’t the bar realize
how dehumanizing (not to mention immoral) these two professions are? They are
part of what’s wrong with Rochester,
and to have a party with these professions as a theme is disgusting.
           Dan Quilty, Kosciusko Street, Rochester
Ambassador mayor
Why is it we can’t recognize and appreciate a great and
capable person like Mayor Johnson? Yes, he goes around the country attending
legislature meetings, promoting the city and northern New
York, and speaking at big affairs. We benefit from
this capable ambassador. The mayor knows how to delegate and keeps up to date
even when he is away.
           We need
Mayor Johnson as our county leader. It would be foolish to pass up this
opportunity to benefit from his experience, knowledge, and wisdom. He is a
likeable gentleman who listens.
           The mayor’s
opponent is a capable lady. It’s a great pity she could not keep the
auto-license bureau in a permanent location downtown.
           Peter A. Plummer, Buell Drive, Rochester
Costs of reform
Many people have been made to fear that a vote for Bill
Johnson will bring the city’s problems to their door. The hard news is that
those problems are already there.
           The
Republican administration, in a desperate attempt to balance the county’s
budget, has truncated the Department of Social Services. This
“welfare reform” only means pushing the poor further out into the cold,
literally freezing the homeless.
           Nearly any
of us could, through loss of job, spouse, health, or health insurance, be
thrust into the ranks of those needing social services. Beyond that, there is
the ultimate social cost of abandoning the poor: prisons. The last figures I
read indicated that it costs about $50,000 to build a prison cell and $20,000 a
year to keep someone in it. With the federal and state governments in financial
disarray, who is going to pay these costs?
           Some US
cities are already closing hospitals, schools, and fire stations. Will we be
forced to choose between prisons and garbage collection?
           We need
someone who will bring the county together to seriously address our problems.
Bill Johnson has been doing just that since 1993. Please take a minute to think
about what “united we stand” really means.
           John Kastner, Ericsson Street, Rochester
Experience counts
In the MonroeCounty
executive race, comparing Rochester Mayor Bill Johnson and County Clerk Maggie
Brooks is like comparing apples and oranges.
           Bill
Johnson has been Rochester mayor
for the past nine years. Under his leadership, there has been the development
of HighFalls,
the Rochester MusicFest, and new housing on the east
end of the city, and the fast ferry is becoming a reality. The city has a
balanced budget and sound fiscal management.
           Bill
Johnson has used his position as mayor to network with national government
officials and members of the corporate sector across the United
States. His stature has benefited the city.
He is admired and respected by many because of his ability to govern. In 1999, Governing Magazine named him one of the
Top 10 Public Officials in America.
           Maggie
Brooks has been a television personality and a MonroeCounty legislator and currently is
county clerk. She has not had the political experience to allow her to
effectively govern the county. Being in charge of the clerk’s office is not in
the same league as managing the county.
           Francine Conwell,
Morven Road, Rochester
Caring for veterans
The VeteransAdministrationHospital in Canandaigua must not be
closed. Rather, it must be kept open to care for the psychological problems of
veterans of past wars and the veterans-to-be who now serve our country in Iraq.
Many of the latter will need post-traumatic stress treatment when, and if, they
come home from that war. I applaud Senators Clinton and Schumer for promising
legislation to derail the proposed shutdown.
           The
Canandaigua VA Hospital is needed in addition to the possibility of reusing the
GeneseeHospital
in Rochester as a full-service VA
hospital. Rochester is the only
major city in New YorkState
without a full-fledged VA facility. The clinic on Westfall
Road is inadequate, especially given the advancing
age and ills of World War II veterans. We need to add more VA facilities, not
less, in New YorkState.
           As part of
my platform as a candidate for the Rochester City Council, South District, I
propose creating dual community-veteran use of GeneseeHospital. Part could be used as a
biotechnology research facility. Stem-cell research and tissue engineering
could work side by side in a marriage of veterans’ care and state-of-the-art
research. Veterans have asked many times for a VA hospital on the GeneseeHospital site. They deserve our
best support, not a decrease.
           The closing
of GeneseeHospital
in 2001 and the shutdown of St. Mary’s emergency room in 1999 has stressed the
local health-care system. Now Park RidgeHospital is asking for $27 million
for expansion of its emergency services. Let us seek to rehire those who were
laid off due to the unfortunate demise of the GeneseeHospital and put them to work
creating new possibilities for all of those around us.
           Harry Davis, South Avenue, Rochester (Davis
is an independent write-in candidate for Rochester City Council, South
District.)
Writing to City
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This article appears in Oct 29 – Nov 4, 2003.
