Another $1,000 a day we don't have to spend

Congratulations, residents of Schenectady County. As a county resident, the debt that the county owes is owed by you also. So, up to this point, the county has found that it has a $16 MILLION debt. Now, instead of cutting costs at all corners, our County Legislature is spending money hand over fist on patronage jobs and unneeded services.

First, I'll start with the newest. This came from an article in the Daily Gazette today.

http://www.dailygazette.com/

Special gear is awaited for park
Playground aims for certification as disabled-friendly
BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter

Now, I go through this article and see that it is a park improvement that is in Central Park. The part of this that really gets to me is how the entire article goes and states that this is something the city is doing...

The city is awaiting arrival of specialized equipment to finish the Capital Region’s first playground that meets a national gold standard of full accessibility by children with disabilities, a Schenectady official said.

The city is converting the traditional Central Park children’s play area into a new playground to serve all children up to age 12.

Delores Inzero, who is disabled, questioned why the city is taking so long to complete the project.

Olsen said the city is awaiting the arrival of 82 pieces of playground equipment, costing around $262,000, to complete the project,

Olsen said the city first had to make the area around the playground handicapped-accessible.

The city needed to make major improvements to the park as part of the project, Olsen said.

The city also installed new lighting and had to upgrade the park’s electrical service, Olsen said.

Now, you'll notice that in total, it is remarked by Mr. Lamendola 7 times (4 times quoting Mr. Olsen from the city) that this is a project being done by the city. OK, no problem. The park is located in the city and is used mainly (as I see) by people from the city. That is not meant to say that people from other areas of the county don't use it, but the majority of the use of the park is by residents of the city.

So, we get to the final sentance in the last paragraph of the article...

The county contributed $365,000 to the project, the city $200,000 and the state $440,000.

If this is so much for the city, then why is the city paying less than the county? Why is it that $365,000, which would come out of 1 years budget at the county level, has to be paid by ALL the residents of the county? Why not have this as part of the City of Schenectady's budget? They will be the ones that profit from this, not just bringing people in to use the park, but to also possibly bring people to shop in the city.

Well, it is ONLY $1,000 a day. Since we're cutting so much at the state level (as if that's actually happening), why not get more of the money from there? EVERYBODY is tightening their belts. Why can't our representatives at the County level?

Was this even brought up to all at the county level? Not all of the last appointments were, they weren't even brought up to all the members of the Democratic Majority!

Enough is enough. We can't afford it anymore.

A link to this full article can be found at the following link: http://www.rotterdamny.info/m-1216118577/