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Journal Developer Upset
Friday, July 6, 2012
Journal:Developer upset with city, shuts down projects
Journal Developer Upset
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Journal Developer Upset
Journal Developer Upset
26 comments:
The Ogdensburg Planning Board made the decision to turn Gil down because he decided to build his shore line building without applying for a building permit, filing a site plan or following any of the other rules that every one else in the city has to follow. I think everyone in Ogdensburg wants to see Gil go through with his project and have it be very successful, but he knew he needed a building permit and he also knew he needed undergo a site plan review.
He intentionally avoided all of those things so he could come in after the fact and try to blackmail the city into approving his plans by threatening to close the movie theater and abandoning his project.
Gil has a long history of these kind of antics. The city has provided him with all kinds of financial assistance, but the moment they ask him to comply with the same rules that someone building a garage addition has to follow, he cries foul and throws a fit.
He may have a long history butr so does this city and their employees.. Sciorra, Krol at times have been overbearing and dictator like with taxpayers. Mallette has been cocky with people also and now it looks like Ms.Smith might be following in the footsteps of Justin Woods thinking they are pope like...
When all the smoke clears the city is the one who must step up.. I dont believe its Jones place to do such... I hope this has nothing to do with the concession the city owns....
The city has manipulated good private citizens like Mr. Jones for a long time. It is no secret that the whole mess last fall that the Journal got suckered into was an orchestrated coup by Mallette, Jacobs and the Badlams to get rid of Arthur Sciorra, Justin Woods and everyone else 'not from Ogdensburg'.
Ogdensburg citizens are intolerant against people who aren't from the city, and it drives away anyone who might want to bring their knowledge and expertise to help the city dig itself out of the miserable hole it has been sitting in for the last few decades.
Another problem with the city was found by NYS and in their audit of our growth fund they made a strong reccomendation that Bill Nelson not be the chairman of the committee.. We hear so much about the State mandates and state audits and committees giving advise but DO WE LISTEN.. Is Nelson off the committee or do we only listen when convenient as a city...
This city under the watch of people like Chuck Kelly slowly decayed and disappeared..
The first thing to go was the Ferry Boat tyo downtown... Then the Arterial around the city then came urban renewal.. They built a mall but the mall owners had to sign an agreement not to compete with local merchants.. Some deny this but its a proven fact.. Once the rich, people who lived on proctor ave retired and sold their businesses the Mall was let open up but it was too late.. The late Dan Duprey and Gil Jones came up with the idea of an outlet center located near the Bridge and Port but the City helped shoot that down..
Then come the prisons and the scum that followed.. Fort drum drove the scum from Gouverneur area towards the Burg for cheaper rent from slumloards who have not been made abide by any ordinances for ages.. Then came another prison and more scum.. Then the psyc center cut way back on services letting peo-ple who had been confined roam the streets of the Burg at will.. NRC then opened single room occupancy for such people and those with diseases that only they would take.. Then the Pervert unit was welcomed with all of its great cliental... All of this led to the state Ogdensburg is in now.. Now someone wants to do something good and the staff wants to play games and strut their stuff..
NOt getting along with taxpayers is not the way to go.. They allowed a person with to say the leas6t a shady past run the concession in competition with local businesses who pay taxes but they play games with Mr Jones who is authentic.. If Mr jones does what he has threatened then I think Ms Smith should be sent packing right away...
Smith never should have been given the job in the first place. She is too young and naive and liberal.
And she is very inexperienced and rude to taxpayer's they should appoint someone with more experience before she ruins the little bit of a business district we have left she needs to go...
You keep ignoring ther facts. Gil did not get a building permit. Gil did not get a site plan review.
That's not Andrea Smith's fault.
Gil deliberately created this controversy. He caused these problems for himself.
Sometimes people have to accept responsibility for their actions.
I know it's fun to try to make this into the city's fault, but it's Gil's fault.
IF in fact THAT statement is TRUE , Mr Jones needs to Comply and act within the regutions. END of Story -- no excuses, NO deals , No Nonsense .
NO One is above the regs, i don't care WHO they are. Act professionally and within the guidelines or MOVE elsewhere !
NO more LONE RANGERS who get Special deals for ANYBODY
Ogdensburg hates good people who try to do right for the community and the world - just look at the Fort Association, The Roethels, Gil Jones, Justin Woods, the OBPA and Chris Robbins - Ogdensburg runs smart, hard working people out of town on a rail so they can glorify their home-born drugged-out losers.
Robbins left on his own accord as the Journal is finished.. Woods was worthless and needed to go. The Fort association or pretend a fort is OK but they are getting pushy , The Rothels havnt been bothered by the City its the State and its understandable.. Many other businesses have been driven out by State wanting cleanup.. If we had a real Senator she would be attempting to present legislation to help local people. Instead she is protecting the interests of the rich and the corporate rich...
We as a population allow these things to happen as we allow people like Bill Nelson to run the city as he sees fit and the council rubberstamps him.. We had a chance last election but as usual the upperty half of the city wins again....
Gil Jones needs to abide by the rules, but the city can't let development stop on that site. Ms. Smith shouldn't play favorites, but she needs to realize there's a political component to her job. It's too bad that Ogdensburg is stuck relying on people like Gil to do development, but perhaps a more proactive approach to working with him might have yielded mutually beneficial results. That's why being director is tough: to get things done you have to weigh principle against outcomes. I fear Ms. Smith, who's very smart, is remembering classroom lessons without necessarily having the real world experience and know how to get things done.
So you want her to be a sleazy politician and make back room deals , play favorites and sell out to sleezeballs who refuse to play by the rules ?
No we have had that way too much here .
No deals , no favorites,bring back ethics and integrity and if people refus ego be forthright then we do NOT need them period. A zebra never changes it's stripes.
8:34
Integrity is ESSENTIAL. However, while it's a shame that Ogdensburg has to work with people like Gil, that's where the city is. Gil can't go around building without permits or site review, but an issue that small cannot be allowed to derail a major project.
There aren't easy answers here, but that's why there's a director. Ms. Smith's job is to stay ahead of these problems, to anticipate issues with Gil, and to work with him to keep things going and to avoid bad press. I'm sure Gil isn't an easy guy to work with.
But I also know the city isn't easy to work with. Maybe there aren't enough hours in the day, but in a neighborhood so important to Ogdensburg's future, Ms. Smith should be working with Gil on a regular basis to make sure he understands the process.
C'mon now ! That's a stretch. He understands the system , he wasn't born yesterday . This ain't his first rodeo . Play by the rules
Should rephrase...to make sure he follows the rules. Gil will take every inch he gets. Makes Ms. Smith's job tougher, but she's still supposed to stay out front. Tough having a rookie run the show, especially with the clowns like Mallete downstairs.
BOTTOM LINE IS ANDREA SMITH IS A RUDW,ARROGANT,EGOTISTICAL,SNOB WHO THINK'S HER CRAP DOESN'T STINK AND SHE IS INEXPERIENCED THE COUNCIL SHOULD HAVE DONE A BETTER JOB FINDING A REPLACEMENT FOR WOODS AND YES GIL IS IN THE WRONG BUT DID SHE TRY TO MEET WITH GIL TO RECTIFY THE SITUATION BEFORE IT GOT OUT OF CONTROL WHY IS THE CITY STAFF SO ANTI-BUSINESS I HATE LIVING IN THIS CITY AND THE SOONER OUR HOUSE SELL'S THE BETTER AND I ADVISE OTHER'S TO DO THE SAME THE CITY SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF THEMSELVE'S.
She is young and inexperienced no doubt and frankly i agree that perhaps a more "seasoned" planner should have been retained if even on a temp basis until a more extensive search could produce the desired results.
BUT this man is no rookie. He has a track record , knows exactly what is and isn't required as far as dealing with the city , program regs and procedures . So it appears to be gamesmanship
FWIW this certainly APPEARS to circumvent the system and gain advantage.
THAT kind of nonsense has to STOP ! Play fair or don't play at all . Taxpayers want their interests protected. The prisons , perv resorts m the mall , urban renewal are all incidents of things gone wrong that have come home to haunt the city .
Go for QUALITY and quality players with real potential not just "hype"
If this developer can adapt and color within the lines fine if not then he'll do whatever he wants but not at our expense .
Ogdensburg is lucky to have a developer such as Gil Jones to invest a dollar into this city, work with the man! The city is at fault for sitting back and waiting until the stain was dry on the building before acting on this whole thing. Wouldn't this smaller building be incorporated into and fall under his permit for the ongoing renovations of the hotel? I've been watching the construction of this building from the beginning, what's Andrea & Greg doing, sitting in the A/C twittering their thumbs?, if they'd get out and walk around and make some site visits of what few progressive projects this city has, maybe this whole thing wouldn't have happend. Do your jobs! Better yet, review your job descriptions and follow your own rules! It's all about working together to make SOMETHING work for progress in this city, not shut it down or run it out of this GHOST town!
I think the real problem is the code enforcement office and the fire chief. Ogdensburg needs a change there, they are stirring up trouble and manipulating voters, the media and the government. I think they're still angry over what happened with the planning office 5-6 years ago.
Andrea can't be blamed, she is extremely smart and talented but young and naive. This is really a fight between Gil and the code enforcement people, who are jockeying to take Andrea and whoever else down so that certain people might be restored to their former responsibilities in City Hall.
If that is true the city mgr needs to call a come to Jesus session with all involved and get to the bottom of this . there simply is no place for any Priam donnas anymore .
the new mgr schooled set the tone with the entire staff With a new mantra : Work cooperatively as a team OR Work Elsewhere
Actually Andrea tried to talk to Gil about his problems two weeks ago, but Gil, always the brilliant diplomat, ordered her off his property and ignored stop work orders from the city.
Gil creates these problems. Luckily for him, the city's staff is bending over backwards to try to get him to comply with the same rules everyone else has to follow.
Now that the city has his attention, Gil is agreeing to follow the rules.
He threw his public tantrum like he always does and a lot of you bought his act and immediately blamed the city, even though Gil created his problems.
Mayve some of you should give the current city staff a break instead of immediately blaming them.
Considering how utterly incompetent the city has been over the past 5-10 years, can you really blame anyone?
Glad to see the issue is solved now. The business should be fine and we wish it well.
Let's get someone with the education and credentials in the driver's seat, i.e. the city manager's position, someone who can real these fools in, especially Cosmo, he's obviously not the one for the job, he can't even do his job right! Anyone who "robo-signs" checks for C.W.Augustine until the taxpayer well runs dry, shouldn't have that much authority and responsibility. When can we expect a new city manager? Don't drag your feet on this one boys, or we'll all wind up in the sewage treatment plant, with no one to pay the taxes.
Ogdensburg should hire this guy and do it again
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/17/2899491/city-managers-ouster-could-cost.html
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