Epic Email on #TroyCrazy Fake Planners

From: "Robert rhirsch@nycap.rr.com [downtowntroy]" <downtowntroy@yahoogroups.com>
Date: September 16, 2014 at 10:50:55 PM EDT
To: downtowntroy@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [downtowntroy] Fwd: Troy's Planning Process and Public Open House Wed, 9.24 @ 6:30 PM at ...
Reply-To: downtowntroy@yahoogroups.com


I dislike being cynical but: This is going to be different from all the other Troy planning groups I’ve seen over the years with other consulting groups…in what way? Decade after decade, same thing:

	develop the waterfront
	Bike path along water front
	Bring RPI down into the City
	rehabilitate this historic building or that other one
	redevelop the park
	Proctors

And those who went to Troy2020 and the bazillion other “planning groups” could probably list a dozen more of these ‘visionary' projects that should be done. Instead, we get a jail on the river, we get City hole, we get a boring, uncared for park, we get bickering and moving City hall over and over again. We get rejections of people who want to improve their buildings based the the look of materials no one will see (Im not speaking of myself here), we have the city requiring things of property owners they do not require of themselves.

Meanwhile we hire consultants. Then other consultants. We reject developing excellent promotional platforms like “Enjoy Troy” that were offered for free and then pay more consultants 150 thousand dollars to come up with a logo that says, wait for it, “Troy, NY”.

Troy government hasn't historically shown much execution on vision, regardless of administration (this is a bipartisan problem, I've been here since 1986). I hate to sound all republican and stuff, but I feel like we would be better served at this point by focusing on cutting fat and letting troy residents have some of their money back. Businesses have provided the great majority of the progress Troy has made (dramatic improvement in our food and drink selection, more independent events), even the things that have been essentially taken over by the city (i.e. everything the BID does that the a troy downtown collaborative used to do, farmer’s market, etc) could be run voluntarily by businesses or business groups instead of forcing people to pay for them through taxes.

I’m glad the city has mostly gotten out of the way for Vic, Bonacio, and Buell, myself and such, so we can do good work, and the other business owners, developers and residents that are trying to bring good things to Troy. Am I truly the only one who doesn’t believe any administration is capable of executing an actual plan, especially without raising taxes even more? Lets see something impossible in troy. Lets see taxes go down. Lets keep staying out of the way of the businesses that have shown good work.

Flame away. Help me discard this cynicism. What will be different this time? Because I honestly feel like that the Press Release below is a carbon copy of one I've seen a half dozen times over the years.



P.S. I do think the BID has helped the business climate in downtown. But it certainly has not benefited all the businesses and landlords and I don’t see why those folks should be forced to pay for it, however little it is.


Begin forwarded message:

From: Hilary Lamishaw <Hilary@triponline.org>
Date: September 16, 2014 11:07:09 AM EDT
To: Hilary Lamishaw <Hilary@triponline.org>
Subject: Troy's Planning Process and Public Open House Wed, 9.24 @ 6:30 PM at ...

… the Bush Memorial Auditorium on Sage Campus from 6.30 – 9 PM.
FYI
Mayor Rosamilia announces name for Comprehensive Plan; dates established for Working Sessions and Community Stakeholder Interviews
September 11, 2014

TROY, NY – On Wednesday, Mayor Lou Rosamilia announced that the City of Troy’s first comprehensive plan in over 50 years has been named Realize Troy: A new comprehensive plan. Rosamilia also announced that, as an early step in the initiative, a series of meetings with community stakeholder groups will be taking place on Wednesday, September 24 and lasting through Friday, September 26.

“The goal of Realize Troy is to position our City to be able to continue and expand upon the success we have experienced over recent years,” said Mayor Rosamilia. “As I have said from the beginning, I believe the public’s input will help us to formulate this plan by providing us with a sense of where we are at the current time, where we would like to be and how we can get there.”

As an early step in the process, Urban Strategies, the consulting firm hired to guide the City through the formulation of the Realize Troy: A new comprehensive plan, will be conducting interviews with community stakeholders and hold the first open house.

The public open house will be held at the Bush Memorial Auditorium on the Sage Campus on Wednesday, September 24 from 6:30 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. At the event, community members will have the opportunity to learn more about the comprehensive plan and attendees will receive an overview of the plan’s ten city-wide overarching themes: Economy, Housing, Mobility, Open Space Recreation & Culture, Social Wellbeing, Environment, Land Use/Policy, Education, the Downtown, the Waterfront.

Urban Strategies will also conduct stakeholder meetings on September 25th and 26th with Troy community leaders, including but not limited to, City Council members, local business owners, religious leaders, non-profits, and neighborhood groups.

The Realize Troy: A new comprehensive plan is a broad based community planning initiative that will develop a roadmap for the future through significant public consultation and that will establish a clear community based vision and set of strategies to address current and future needs for the City of Troy for the next 20 years. The plan, which is expected to be finalized by the end of 2015, will establish goals, objectives and policies and will take into consideration land use, development, zoning, demographics, population, housing needs, resources, infrastructure and other areas significant to Troy.

Prior work done by Urban Strategies has resulted in over 80 awards from local, national and international organizations. The group’s clients are comprised of numerous local governments, agencies, institutions, development companies and private corporations in the US, Canada and abroad including Brooklyn, Rochester, Buffalo, Youngstown, OH, Toronto, ONT, and the London Docklands, United Kingdo



Hilary Lamishaw
Director of Community Affairs
Troy Rehabilitation & Improvement Program (TRIP), Inc.
415 River Street
Troy, NY  12180
(518) 272-8289 x214 o
(518) 527-1474 c
(518) 272-1950 fax
Hilary@triponline.org
www.triponline.org