SPEAK OUT NOW AGAINST THE CASINO
Heidi Zimmer-Meyer of the Rochester Downtown Development
Corporation is both a good friend and a professional colleague of mine, but I
have to take issue with her claim that RDDC is taking a neutral stance regarding
the proposed casino and hotel development downtown. Although your article
doesn’t mention it, both Home Properties (managers of MidtownPlaza) and Wilmorite
are members of RDDC, and a representative of Wilmorite
sits on their executive board. While this doesn’t mean they cannot be neutral,
Heidi’s responses to your interview betray, in my opinion, the belief that the
casino is going to happen and that we need to start spinning this in a positive
light.
I am a
resident of a recent loft development within yards of both the proposed
Renaissance Square project and the two casino-related properties. While I
cautiously approve of the Renaissance project, I am firmly against the casino
and the perception that we have no choice in this matter, for the following
reasons:
• Take a
walk through the SibleyCenter.
Under Wilmorite’s management the building is over $11
million in arrears, dollars our city government desperately needs for basic
services like schools that are vital our region’s prosperity. The building is
filthy, with elevators and escalators that do not appear to have been cleaned
in years. Wilmorite’s management strategy for
properties that are underperforming (such as the recently sold Irondequoit Mall) appears to be one of benign neglect. What
if this hotel-casino operation fails?
• Knocking
down Midtown is not as easy as everyone assumes. It is a complex of buildings
housing many tenants beyond the remaining few retail operations. The building
is also a significant example of the Sixties Modern school of architecture,
which is drawing interest from historic preservationists nationally and
throughout Europe. We shouldn’t assume that because
we’re inured to its charms that they are not historically significant.
• Take a
walk into another downtown institution, World Wide News on St.
Paul Street, and look at their dedicated lottery
gambling area. Those who spend their days here may well be representative of
those who will populate our casino and spend their days mindlessly feeding
money into video terminals. I suspect they will not be paying for luxury hotel
rooms. This is a destructive addiction, and I don’t believe our community
should be enabling it in the name of economic development.”
• Regarding
the economic-development aspects of this project: I’ve seen no evidence of any
benefit other than the creation of a limited number of low-paying service jobs.
We would lose significant tax-generating real estate to eminent-domain actions
by the state, and there are no concrete indications that the tribes owning the
casino would be under any obligation to share proceeds with the community. As
they are not even New York
residents, there are few community-driven motivations to do so.
Finally, I
agree with Heidi strongly on one of her main points: our downtown is in a
strong growth phase driven by private developments from people like the Costanzas in the Temple Building, Buckingham Properties
(Michael Stern, Old Rochesterville), Mark IV (Corn
Hill), the Sterns (East End Lofts), Home Properties (Chevy Place), Crista Construction (Sagamore on
East), and others.
Collectively,
they are building or have built over the past few years over 250 units of high
market-value housing within downtown. As a result, the entire environment is in
a state of positive change. People are on the street with money in their
pockets, restaurants and entertainment venues are thriving (at least in areas
with residential growth), and service businesses are starting to appear
downtown again, including retail. I simply can’t see how flooding the Greater
Rochester area’s fastest-growing upscale residential neighborhood (downtown)
with gamblers and pawn shops is beneficial.
So what do
we do? Collectively stand up and actively protest this undemocratic intrusion
on our local decision-making process. Politicians are primarily sensitive to
one issue: getting re-elected. Let them know that your vote won’t support those
who support this short-sighted “solution” to downtown revitalization.
Martin Edic, The
Lofts at Michaels Stern, Pleasant Street, Rochester
Thanks for Chad Oliveiri’s article
and interview with Heidi Zimmer-Meyer. She puts things into interesting and
thoughtful perspective. The bottom line, however, is still local rights. For
the governor and Tom Wilmot to shove this down the community’s throat bespeaks
the most foul politics and personal aggrandizement.
And as the
project is to be located in the city, why was the mayor’s address eliminated
from the “Wait just a damn minute!” article? He needs our
encouragement now more than ever.
Deanne Molinari,
Fairport
When reading about the covert plans for a casino in Rochester
in (“Big Gamble?” June 23), I can’t help but conjure up the image of
George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life as he stumbles into Pottersville after his encounter
with Clarence on Christmas Eve.
George
finds that the tranquil town of Bedford
Falls he once knew has gone awry, with houses of misadventure and corruption.
It is easy to draw a parallel, with Wilmorite
chairman Tom Wilmot as the Potteresque landlord who
manipulates the city for his own interests.
Let’s not
fall into the mold of yet another Northeast city with a casino to draw those
who seek the thrills of fortune-hunting. It may be alluring to anticipate a
monetary windfall that may arise from such an enterprise. But there is no
assurance that the quality of life in Rochester
will be more appealing than what we have enjoyed over many years with the
venues of music, theater, and art that have enriched our lives culturally.
Should we
awake one morning in the near future to find that this nightmare is a reality,
it will be because we waited too long for a guardian angel, when we should have
been earning our own wings by getting involved in the decision-making process.
Philip Katzman, Tarrytown Road, Brighton
THERE IS A GOP PRO-CHOICE MAJORITY!
Regarding “GOP chooses choice?” (June 23): The local
Republican Party leadership needs to wake up!
The poll
cited in the article is not the first to confirm that most Republicans believe
government should stay out of people’s private lives. That includes their
doctors’ offices. Reproductive health care is a basic human-rights issue.
And exactly
who is “infiltrating” the Republican Party, as your quote from Tracy Logel insinuated? I’m still a registered Republican,
despite recent events, because the party was founded to advance social
improvement and human rights. How soon we forget that a Republican president
signed the legislation creating Title X, America’s
Family Planning Program.
Most
life-long Republicans are fiscally conservative and socially liberal. Amo Houghton is a perfect example of a dedicated Republican
who is staunchly pro-choice. It’s these recent, reactionary zealots that have
“infiltrated” the party and are turning it into a haven for fiscal
irresponsibility, unconscionable debt, abridgement of civil rights, and social
deterioration. (Are they the folks who recently claimed Amo
“wasn’t a real Republican”?)
I am part
of the very real, pro-choice Republican majority, living in the Town of Henrietta,
where my town supervisor doesn’t think we exist. Pro-choice Republicans believe
in less government, more personal freedom, and the right to privacy. When I
vote, candidates’ stands on these traditional Republican values are more
important to me than the party they happen to belong to.
And as for
Mr. Tannous’s comment about tree hugging, a
Republican president also signed the law creating the EPA. Civil rights? A
Republican-appointed chief justice led the Supreme Court in striking down
school segregation. Let’s not let political prejudices cloud our thinking —
in either direction.
Jaye Fish, Woodleaf,
Henrietta
Thank you for an article that provides information for
voters to evaluate the issue of choice within the Republican party framework.
It is unfortunate that there were no quotes from any of the pro-choice
politicians along with those from the anti-choice politicians.
In the
article, Henrietta Supervisor Jim Breese notes how long he has been around
Republican politics and that the party is “strongly pro-life.” As a
life-long conservative Republican who favors choice and who, incidentally,
considers herself also “pro-life” (I resent any other implication), I
would remind Mr. Breese that the Republican Party did not have any anti-choice
language in the platform until 1980.
Many, many
Republicans, such as my parents, remember the movement by the anti-choice
factions to integrate local caucuses and the like to push their agenda. Mr.
Breese’s experience in the party fails to recognize that fact. When I chose to
support the Republican ideology, the issues of individual liberty were
paramount to the party. I don’t know how he can forget or deny that.
Susan Bevan, Greenwich, Connecticut
It seems to me the Republican Pro-choice Majority’s question
was unambiguous and straight-forward, and the survey was done by a reputable
national polling firm — a conservative one at that — and the national
sample was statistically valid. Please
tell me what’s “propaganda,” “insidious infiltration,” “sheer
fantasy,” and “deceptive” about that.
Polls are
done all the time by political groups. Just because some people don’t like what
the results say doesn’t make the results any less valid. Maybe it’s time for
the Republican leadership to start listening to some new voices, and your
newspaper might ask questions of the “rank and file” members of the party as
well as its leaders to get a balanced opinion.
I am a
strongly Pro-choice Republican who votes accordingly, and I know many who think
the same way. We are not used to publicly voicing our opinions, especially on
an issue that is so personal. But we are there, and the time has come to speak
and be heard.
Betsy Webster, Wood Creek Drive, Pittsford
Pro-choice Republicans do not promote abortion but believe
that women should have access to the full spectrum of reproductive options:
education, prevention, motherhood, abstinence, adoption and safe and legal
abortion. All Republicans share the
common goal of reducing the number of abortions performed each year.
Therefore,
it is very much in accordance with these ideals that traditional Republicans
believe that the ultimate decision on abortion, or any other health issue,
should be left up to the woman and her doctor and not the government.
We are the
“Big Tent” Party, and we need to start acting like it. There is
certainly room for all social views under our big tent, and there should be
tolerance, and not hostility, between Party members.
Maisie Houghton, Spencer Hill Road, Corning
SOLDIERS’ V
OICES
The debate over Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 misses the most important points. It is not Moore’s
voice but the voices of the ordinary Americans he interviews that have haunted
me since I left the theater.
I hear the
words of Michael Pedersen, who wondered — in the last letter he wrote home
before his helicopter was shot down — whether there was any purpose at all to
his presence there.
I remember
the soldier who, unable to look at the camera, said that a part of him died
each time he killed someone. And I think about the Marine who, having served in
Iraq already,
said he would do anything not to return.
In
discussions about the movie, I have yet to hear anyone suggest a response to
these soldiers. It is devastating to imagine American soldiers risking their
lives without understanding why. How will we help soldiers recover? What does
it mean if soldiers are willing to risk court martial not to return to this
war? What can we tell the families of the 852 soldiers who have lost their
lives?
These are
the questions I’d like to hear answered.
Elaine Wright, Williamsville
TAXED OUT
Thanks to the budget approval by City Council on June 22, my
total property tax has gone up approximately 13 percent.
First there
was the increase in assessed valuation, based on what I believe to be a false
premise, resulting in a 4 percent increase in taxes for the city. Since the
county also uses the valuation made by the city assessor, I will have to pay an
additional 4 percent in county taxes. And now there is City Council’s 4.8
percent increase on top of that. So my total property tax bill has gone up
about $200.
Thanks a
lot, Mayor Johnson and City Council. You’ve made it a bit more difficult for
homeowners like me and for the supposed goal of increasing home ownership
within the city.
Wayne Dillenback,
Cedarwood Terrace, Rochester
WE AREN’T SAVAGES
We shouldn’t be surprised at increased violence against
Americans in the Middle East. GW Bush encouraged it with
his “bring it on” attitude. That thoughtless remark endangered Americans
everywhere.
The
hypocrisy of our killing and torturing Iraqis in order to capture a man accused
of killing and torturing is obvious to the rest of the world. Bush has too much
power at his disposal, given his lack of common sense and poor intelligence
sources.
A democracy
is only as good as its voters are wise. The future of our country depends upon
everyone voting this year to rid the White House of the self-serving,
trigger-happy dolts there now.
Thomas
Edison, an American genius, said: “Non-violence leads to the highest ethics,
the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we
are still savages.” The Bush administration’s declaration that the Geneva
Convention is “quaint and obsolete” set American humanity back a century and
opens the door to all imaginable mistreatments of our citizens.
The world
is watching our election closely to see if Americans condone Bush’s war. Let’s
remind him that his position was the result of a “faulty” election and that
Americans are not savages.
Carolyn Swanton, Sackett Road, Avon
SPORTS MINDED
Mike Doser’s column “Sports
are Beneath You” (June 16) might be the most closed-minded article I have ever
read in City, of which I am a great
fan. Doser allowed his own biases and stereotypes to
overshadow any point he tried to make.
First,
sports are not the most important thing in the world. I am plagued daily by the
thought of how far our country might fall if the tyrannical Bush administration
is able to strong-arm its way into another four-year term. Doser
is being short-sighted to think that the average reader cares only about the
injustices of the world, though. The average reader is an independent person,
and independent people have a range of activities and ideas and events that
pique their interests. You don’t have to be pedestrian to like sports; you
don’t have to be high-minded to care about what goes on the world.
Sport is
entertainment that is uncorrupted. I despise the majority of
entertainment-based television, sit-coms being the most dumbed-down
form. Reality TV is visual crack that mystifies people and addicts them.
Sports are
real. You don’t know who is going to win. No Nike representative can go on the
court and say, “I need Kobe Bryant to hit the last shot so that we can
expand the influence of Nike-sponsored athletes”. What happens in play is
organic. Everything around it might be manipulated, but the play itself is
natural, and that’s what captivates me.
Furthermore,
anyone who has ever played a sport can appreciate what the athlete is doing.
You know that no matter how hard you tried, you could never replicate that
feat.
Sports are
one of many opiates of the people. The downfall of every empire has been
complacency. People do not worry about things unless they are forced to. Those
living in suburban mansions and throwing away more food than they consume do
not worry about the people sleeping in the subway and eating at soup kitchens.
Eliminate sports, and people will find another vice to maintain their
ignorance, so long as they are comfortable. It is human nature.
Evan Lynch-Throne, VickPark B, Rochester
THANKS TO FANS
I want to thank the jazz-listening public for their
outpouring of support. I truly miss sharing my passion for this American art
form via radio with people who share this same passion. I look forward to
getting back on the air in the not too distant future. I know that’s where I
belong.
In
particular, I was very moved during the jazz festival when many people came up
to me and mentioned how much they missed my program. Many of you I had never
met until the festival.
Your kind
and supportive comments did not go unnoticed and were very uplifting to this
“not so old jazzer”!
Tom Pethic, Tall Tree Drive, Penfield (Pethic
hosted “Artistry In Jazz” on WGMC.)
WRITING TO CITY
We welcome and encourage readers’ letters for publication.
Send them to: themail@rochester-citynews.com or The Mail, City Newspaper, 250
North Goodman Street, Rochester14607.
Our
guidelines: We don’t publish anonymous letters — and we ask that you include
your street name and city/town/village. We don’t publish letters that have been
sent to other media. While we don’t restrict length, letters of under 350 words
have a greater chance of being published. We do edit letters for clarity and
brevity. And in general we don’t publish letters (or longer “op-ed” pieces)
from the same writer more often than about once every two months.
This article appears in Jul 7-13, 2004.
