Wal-Mart Increases Tax Base; Taxes Local Law Enforcement
You know by now that I despise Wal-Mart. In fact, I hate virtually all forms of big box retail. It's ugly, it's wasteful, it's soulless, it's ubiquitous, and it's all but useless for anything other than more big box retail. But like many patriotic Americans, I save my most vitriolic emotions for the world's largest retailer. Whether it's because of the poor pay and benefits they give to their employees, their disregard for local zoning laws when siting a new store, their devastating effect on locally-owned small businesses, or the selfish and greedy nature of their founding family, Wal-Mart deserves all of the opposition they receive. Now there is a new wrinkle in the war on Wal-Mart and this one is a doozy.
An article in today's Albany Times-Union describes the effect a new Wal-Mart has had on the time and budget of a small town police force in Bethlehem, New York. That particular store has averaged roughly 392 police calls a year ranging from people locked out of their cars to brawls involving gang members. While the Police Chief denies that the Wal-Mart has had a significant impact on his department, the numbers themselves are undeniable. The vast majority of these calls, of which there are more than one daily, would not occur without the presence of the Wal-Mart. Remember too that Bethlehem is a growing affluent suburban area with existing retail plazas. What would the impact be on the Town of Lima should they approve a Wal-Mart in that humble little burg? My guess is that, beyond the influx of traffic that would drastically change the character of that community, the growth in crime would necessitate an expansion of the police force - which would certainly have an impact on property taxes, not to mention the quality of life.
The article also cited a union-backed group that studies the various aspects of crime at Wal-Marts in this great nation. Check out their site for more information and, as always, buy local!
First, I'd like to apologize for the lull in posts. I've been very busy with personal matters which did not allow me the time to write. And now on to the incendiary post of the day...
The Rochester Business Journal recently ran a poll to gauge the public's opinion on Mayor Duffy's first year in office. Incredibly, the poll showed that 91% of respondents approved of his job so far. Are nine out of ten people in this area that dumb? No, just nine out of ten who happen to read the RBJ. I happily am among the one out of ten RBJ readers that see the glaring ineptness of this administration. Not that the RBJ readership should be seen as a reliable cross-section of Monroe County, let alone the City of Rochester. Like the folks who contributed to Duffy's campaign, most RBJ readers are wealthy white suburbanites. To them, having a malleable, aloof white man in the office of Mayor is far better than an educated, opinionated black man.
The fact is, Duffy has zero to show for his first year in office. Even his well-heeled supporters can't come up with a single thing to show as proof of his great work. Just look at the comments from the RBJ poll. There are heapings of praise for Mayor Duffy, yet not a single comment pointed to something tangible that he has done. This one quote summed up how completely wrong Duffy is for Rochester:
Duffy is doing a tremendous job. He’s accomplished more for Rochester in less than a year than Mayor Johnson did during his entire term. Another Rudy Giuliani! —Tamara Finch, KPMG LLP
Well Tamara, what exactly has he done? Crime is up, jobs are down, the ferry is still at the Port, the Broad Street Tunnel and Aqueduct projects are going nowhere fast, there has been no progress on the Inner Loop, etc. Mayor Johnson, on the other hand, oversaw the successful development of the East End and the turnaround of High Falls from a derelict wasteland into a successful office and (to a lesser extent) entertainment destination. Crime decreased significantly, population loss slowed to a trickle, innovative programs were introduced, and Rochester and its Mayor were nationally heralded for its turnaround. And your reference to Giuliani? Give me a break! Giuliani was and remains a complete fool; on second thought, maybe you're dead-on with that analogy.
I admit, it's only been a year and it is unfair to base judgment of a Mayor's competence on such a short moment in time. Truthfully though, I fear what the next few years will bring. I am very bullish on Rochester's future, but I am not so blissfully ignorant as to have a high opinion of this man at this time. Some of these nutjobs are even calling for Duffy to run for County Executive!?!!?!? Hopefully, Mayor Duffy will prove me wrong. But the only way he can do that is by appointing me to his inner circle. Somehow I don't see that happening anytime soon.
Having grown up a huge rap fan, even going so far as to have my own posse known as Six Feet Deep (sorry folks, there are no recordings in existence), I was constantly reminded of the struggles of life in the inner city. More often than not however, those struggles were limited to the big cities where the majority of old school hip-hoppers hailed from; mainly NYC, LA/Compton, Oakland, Philly, Chicago, Miami, and Houston. Despite the undeniable allure of Tre-Z's "A Chip Off the ROC", Rochester never did make it to the big time of the rap game. Sadly, rap is all but dead today, dominated by untalented buffoons babbling on about money, drugs, and booty, instead of politics, crime, and the lost art of storytelling. But as usual, I digress...
Back in the day, a common phrase from the West Coast referred to the "Ghetto Bird". Ice Cube even had a popular hit by that same name. Being an ignorant white suburbanite at the time, I wasn't sure exactly what Cube, Dre, Ice-T, and others were talking about. The video for "It Was a Good Day" made it pretty clear, the Ghetto Bird is the police helicopter commonly employed in LA and other large West Coast locales, but rarely used in East Coast cities and certainly not in Rochester. That is, until this week. As Channel 13 reports, Chief Moore has partnered with the NYS Police to begin using their helicopters to patrol our city from above. This explains the helicopter-like noise I heard over my neighborhood earlier this week. I'm not sure how I feel about the institution of this intrusive form of policing. Sure, I want criminals on the loose to be caught, but what about my right to privacy on my own property? Hopefully this technique will have a positive effect on our city's crime rate, because it certainly will have a negative impact on the quality of life. Regardless, while Rochester may never have hit the big time in rap, we have finally arrived in the era of big city law enforcement.
