Their minds are made up. Shields wanted to act before the referendum and stated he has no interest in how it comes out. They will schedule two workshops on Saturday mornings, the 14th and 28th, to discuss among themselves the results, which Ms Rush is still colating, of the workshops. We will need to see what these colated results state, as I think we have already seen them and also all the questions. Trustee Shields says people are asking him to act and he will - he would vote for it today. Probably all the others will do the same. My view is they will do this in early May, regardless of the referendum. I tried to point up that people who spend a lot on a project are often rluctant to rcognize the reality that is not the right course to follow, but that was derided. We are a republic, not a democracy was their theme, and they are elected to make this decision and they will. They believe they have been fair and just and all the rest... Trustee Shields says this is to restore and rejuvenate (or words to that effect) the CBD. I told them that the Village itself is probably the worst landlord in the village (because they have let the Youth Center deteriorate) and that people don't want more condos like the VC but these people, except Smith, really think that monster is an asset. Smith also voted against giving Kane McKenna the $3K but it passed with all the rest voting for it.
Riverside Info » About Riverside
COW Tuesday, April 3, 7:30 !!!
(109 posts)-
Posted Tuesday Apr 3, 2007 21:37 #
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This is disheartening. This is another degree towards boiling the frog in the pot. In English, this is one of those small events that lead to the inexorable conclusion of the ill conceived, non-community endorsed TIF that will have significant negative impact on this town for decades to come.
We have to go to the polls en masse to tell these guys what we think. Certainly do not vote for SCULLY. Let him rely on his own vote to get in. He voted to give another $3,000 to Kane McKenna to attend a school board meeting, even while we were in a pause. He voted to adopt the TDO and to do a tif in the first place.
While Smith correctly honored the pause in the TIF, he also said that 'the referendum results would not be valid' if a majority of voters did not cast a ballot on 4-17.
I saw on this website numbers that indicated that he, and the other trustees, were elected on a lot less than a majority of voters. By his rationale, these Trustees are invalid! +
Further, I heard tonight that Mr Shields said that this referendum is 'an abuse of the vehicle'. The will of the people is an abuse? When he said this, I could not believe what I was hearing and in my mind I had that image of the presidential candidate, Martin Sheen, holding the baby in front of his face to protect himself from a sniper in the The Dead Zone movie. Mr Shields is the same person who said he was 'disappointed' that we did not remove the stop signs on Delaplaine so that we can save the town money on a project we did not even need.
A referendum, this referendum, is right, and is as American as apple pie. JBT has said so, too.++ It is very indicated for this sickness, I mean this TIF proposal, to use medical terms.
Twenty... Three... years,
Riverside ruining, congestion making, uncontrolled spending, schools screwing, private property stealing, indirect tax increase,
directionless, wrong direction,
invalid TIF.This TIF is a blanking thing out of Communism.
VOTE ! -
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.+ trustees elected on less than 20 pct of voters
http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic.php?id=43&page&replies=14++jbt says listen to the referendum
http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic.php?id=198&page&replies=5- let's get a majority of voters out there on 4-17. Anyone: What is the number of Riverside voters?
Posted Tuesday Apr 3, 2007 22:47 # -
I thank and congratulate all of you who are able and willing to sit through these sickening displays of arrogance. Referendum an abuse of the process, indeed. What is an abuse of the process is eminent domaining people's homes not for highways and true public works, but for the benefit of private developers in hopes of tax scraps from the table. The only people that are for this process are developers and rinky dink local governments. So much for the sanctity of one's home and the right to the unmolested enjoyment of one's property. I am afraid to even pay down my mortgage now. I might let my national bank fight it out with them. Even slaves, as Abraham Lincoln pointed out, are entitled to the fruits of the sweat of their brows.
Who are these "people" that are always "urging" them to implement the TIF. Do we ever hear from anyone but the EDC? Do they write letters to the editor?
The VC could have been an asset but for the ordinance that allowed the gargantuan size and cheap, ugly materials.
When it turns out to be a flop and costing the people of Riverside great multiples of what is now intended, they won't be on the board to take the heat.
Posted Wednesday Apr 4, 2007 09:04 # -
Is a 100% voter turnout really required to vote on a referendum before it can accurately reflect the choice or will of the citizens?
2005:
Total voter turnout in the village of Riverside in 2005 was 20.26%
Smith 785 votes cast
11.11% voter turnout
54.86% of votes castGrace 803 votes cast
11.37% voter turnout
56.11% of votes castShields 789 votes cast
11.17% voter turnout
55.14% of votes cast2003:
Total voter turnout in the village of Riverside was 32.31% in 2003.
Scully 1217 votes cast
18.97% of voter turnout
58.71% of votes castScanlon 1217 votes cast
18.97% of voter turnout
58.71% of votes castGustafson 1245 votes cast
19.41% voter turnout
60.06% of votes castHEY, I never heard about any of these elections! Guess lots of other people didn't either. Looks like lot of people who went to the polls did not cast any votes for trustees; perhaps they didn't know anything about them or felt they had no alternatives, I don't know.
In politics, there is danger here of what they call "overstepping the mandate."
Posted Wednesday Apr 4, 2007 09:27 # -
"Looks like lot of people who went to the polls did not cast any votes for trustees; perhaps they didn't know anything about them or felt they had no alternatives,"
Perhaps they ran unopposed, so people didn't see any reason to bother voting...
Posted Wednesday Apr 4, 2007 10:27 # -
Yes, CuriousResident. Initially I wrote above, Vote NO for Scully, then I realized there is no NO box (unlike the referendum). All one can do if one is against a candidate who is running unopposed it to NOT vote for the candidate. So a non vote could very well be a no vote - peu le français (non).
The end result? Trustees ruling us on 600 or so votes. Talk about minority rule.
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mea culpa I did not go to the TDO workshops.YOU DOZE, YOU GET 'DOZED.
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We get the gov't we deserve.http://kirbanita.typepad.com/take_joy/2007/02/we_get_the_gove.html
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.Posted Wednesday Apr 4, 2007 10:37 # -
I think the main reason people don't vote is that they don't even know there is an election going on. It's not like the Caucus or the administration broadcasts the issue. They just want their little clique to show up so they can keep running Riverside like a fiefdom.
Posted Wednesday Apr 4, 2007 11:55 # -
It would be a major mistake for the trustees to act against the will of the majority of the voters, in my opinion.
Posted Wednesday Apr 4, 2007 14:08 # -
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Quoted with permission from a private correspondence:
Let me keep it straight forward.....THERE IS NO FREE MONEY. I don't care when the TIF would begin taking in cash, any TIF is wrong for Riverside.
As Trustee Shields said last night (it might have been before you arrived), he said that the water tower is a good example. If we had a TIF..BINGO..we would have used TIF funds and the village would not have had to use village (taxpayers) funds. He went on to tout other uses of TIF money to "make the CBD look better", rather then using village (taxpayer) money.
THERE IS NO FREE MONEY. Every dollar comes AT THE EXPENSE OF ANOTHER TAXING DISTRICT (SCHOOLS, POLICE, VILLAGE,ETC.)
And more importantly to my own personal point of view, EVERY TAXPAYER'S REAL ESTATE TAXES WILL INCREASE!!!!! When the taxing bodies are capped out, the capped levy is spread against a smaller EVA since the TIF incremental EVA is excluded for 23 years. YOUR REAL ESTATE TAXES WILL INCREASE (above what they would have been without a TIF) FOR 23 YEARS.
It's really pretty straight forward. The Trustees have used the consultants to confuse and double talk the public into the sham that a TIF is a magical source of money. FREE MONEY. So, if I say it's really pretty simple, then why are the Trustees not seeing it the same way? That's the proverial $20 million dollar question.
Please induldge my ranting (AND CAPITAL LETTERS). I am just very frustrated after last night's Trustees Meeting. And to make matters worse, everyone on this email is like preaching to the converted. We are not being heard.
Posted Wednesday Apr 4, 2007 15:37 # -
Welcome to Belarus! That's where the regime decided to have an election, so you get Democracy. But regardless of the results, the Boss stays in power and does what he wants. So I guess that makes it a Republic. Anyway, our present government is probably illegal because it wasn't decided by a majority of the registered voters. Come to think of it, I don't think any of them have been since Roosevelt. Maybe Washington.
Riverside is unique. It's not the curvilinear streets, it's not the Olmsted heritage, it's because we have a one-party system where the guys in power can do what they want. They can put items on a ballot, and then when it looks like they might not win they can say, "The results of that election mean nothing to me." They can vote money for consultant fees before they even do anything, and then we can't hear what the numbers are they have developed until after the election. Hmmmmm. Anybody got the cell phone number for the Founding Fathers? And for all those residents that flock to the train station just to ride with and congratulate Tommy on his stand against the 'lunatic fringe" maybe we could provide some copies of the flow charts that the village made that show the authority flowing from the residnts to the Board, not the other way around. And maybe a copy of The Constitution thrown in.
Posted Wednesday Apr 4, 2007 16:26 #
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