Thursday, January 31, 2013

SHOW ME THE MONEY


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  • Albany New York, today Albany democrat Brian Scavo said   DONATE HERE 
    " Can we really afford another walkway to nowhere in the city of
    Albany, to build a convention center that the Jennings said himself
    was "UNREALISTIC " is madness, with this double digit tax increase's
    this year from McCoy and Jennings and the Albany school district is
    just too much too bear , where will the money come from?


    The county of Albany will face another major tax increase this year,
    forget about the state, being 1 billion in debt, i do agree on tech
    part of the speech , but this is too little too late."


    Hon.Brian Scavo    DONATE HERE
    518-4658915
    http://www.brianscavoalbanyny.blogspot.com

    Jennings repeated his call for swift action on a scaled-back downtown
    convention center Tuesday as he used his annual State of the City
    address to cast Albany's future as a proving ground for emerging
    technologies that will improve quality of life in communities across
    the globe.

    "While I believe it is unrealistic to believe that we can expect New
    York state to fund a nearly $300 million facility," Jennings told the
    standing-room-only crowd of well over 200, "I believe it is totally
    realistic to move forward in collaboration with the state and with
    Albany County to improve existing facilities at the Times Union Center
    and at the Empire State Plaza and to include the construction of a new
    ballroom and hotel that will connect into these facilities via the
    existing walkway."

    Jennings' remarks built on a concept he first floated publicly in
    October, when he voiced skepticism that the state would foot the bill
    for the existing plan calling for a $220 million complex to rise on
    about six acres between Broadway, Hudson Avenue and the South Mall
    Arterial. That concept, around in various forms for at least a decade,
    also involved a hotel and parking garage.

    There has been no public discussion of the scaled-down plans since and
    it's not clear whether support for the proposal is universal among the
    project's key players, some of whom — including Gavin Donohue,
    chairman of the Albany Convention Center Authority Board, former
    Assemblyman Jack McEneny and County Executive Dan McCoy — were absent
    from Jennings' speech.

    "I'm going to be making sure that we have not dropped that," he said
    of the project, of which he has long been a supporter. "I have
    committed to moving it forward."

    The backdrop of Jennings' address — and in many ways the center of it
    — was historic Kiernan Plaza on Broadway, the former Union Station
    train depot-turned-bank-headquarters that fell vacant when Bank of
    America pulled its offices out in 2010. The speech is typically held
    at City Hall.

    With a boost from a previously announced $4 million state grant, the
    turn-of-the-20th-century building is now slated to be transformed into
    a high-tech incubator overseen by the University at Albany's College
    of Nanoscale Science and Engineering.

    The plan, branded SCiTI for Smart Cities Technology and Innovation,
    calls for high-tech firms to commercialize research done at the
    college's uptown campus off Washington Avenue into technologies that
    can make cities more efficient — and then test them in Albany, said
    Michael Francher, the college's vice president for business
    development and economic outreach.

    Jennings said the total investment in the technology hub, which will
    include training to steer at-risk city kids toward jobs in high-tech
    fields, is expected to hit $25 million.

    "Tonight I commit to you that from this location not only will we
    continue the work of building a better city, but we will begin the
    work of building a better world," Jennings said. "It is a bold
    promise, but we have put into place, with the strategic partnerships
    we have established, the framework to make the new Smart Cities center
    the epicenter for technological innovation for our region and beyond."

    Jennings also revealed that new University at Albany President Robert
    Jones, who joined the campus earlier this month, will fill the vacancy
    left by the resignation of RPI President Shirley Ann Jackson as
    co-chair of the Capital Region Economic Development Council, which
    secured the $4 million incubator grant and is one of 10 councils that
    Gov. Andrew Cuomo has competing for hundreds of millions of dollars in
    state economic development money. Jones will work alongside James
    Barba, CEO of Albany Medical Center.

    Those among the standing-room-only crowd who came hoping Jennings, a
    19-year incumbent Democrat, would reveal whether he plans to seek a
    sixth term later this year left unsatisfied. But Jennings, 64,
    concluded his 40-minute speech — titled "Commitment — with remarks
    that left several party insiders saying they were all but certain he
    will.

    "So long as any child still lives in poverty, so long as any part of
    our community still struggles, so long as any individual still
    suffers, the effort must go on," Jennings said. "So, for me, the
    commitment endures — a commitment that I have literally dedicated my
    life to as a teacher, as a school administrator and for nearly 20
    years as the mayor of our great city. It is a commitment born out of
    my love for Albany and its people. And it is a commitment that is as
    strong and as passionate today as it was on that first day in office."

    Asked after his speech whether he wanted to elaborate, Jennings smiled
    and said: "Print what I said." say what jerry?

    SHOW ME THE MONEY!   brianscavo.com     DONATE HERE   DONATE HERE
    www.democratsforbrianscavo.blogspot.com

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  • LegislatorBrianScavo is based in Albany, New York, United States of America, and is a Stringer for Allvoices.