CHANGE IS IN THE AIR

Change is in the air. Summer is on the wane.
Autumn and winter are fast approaching.

The dreaded school property tax bills should
arrive in the mail this week.

Taxpayers pay a lot and get little in return
for higher school taxes. The majority of school
attendees do not appreciate or value the
educational opportunities provided them.

Schools open in in Albany September 8th.
Yellow buses will clog city streets twice a
day. Students will be forced to leave their
own neighborhoods to attend schools in
other neighborhoods.

Suffice it to say, because of attitudes and
behaviors, of many attendees, Albany
schools to do present an optimal learning
environment for those who truly value
education and want to learn.

K-8 neighborhood schools are best for
kids, parents and maintaining viable
residential neighborhoods.

The condition of the city schools is a
major factor in the flight from Albany
to the suburbs, which, in turn, results
in a population drain and erosion of
the city property tax base. Those of us
who remain, face ever higher school
property taxes to support a school
system where the majority of attendees
come from households that pay little
or no property taxes to support the
school system.

About 1/3 of city households are owner-
occupied. The majority of homeowners
are aging and many are on fixed incomes.

Unless major changes are made in the
city school system, as well as necessary
attitudinal/behaviorial modifications
on the part of school attendees and
their parent(s), it will not be much longer
before the school system collapses.
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Around the Hood

1. The derelict buiding at the corner of
Whitehall and New Scotland is coming
down soon ...before the September 15
primary as we had advised.

I will continue to push for a first
class 3/4 acre pocket park named the
Daniel P O'Connell Memorial Pocket
Park. Present plans call for just seeding
the site with grass. This is not enough.

What is best is removal of the upper
level of contaminated soils, bringing
in clean fill and soil to construct a
rolling berm. Planting that berm with
a diversity of flowering trees, bushes
conifers and hardwoods. Installing
some benches, a flag pole and a small
stone and plaque honoring Dan, who
resided just down Whitehall Rd for
many years.

A quality pocket park will help sell
the 48 condos being built on the
adjacent 8- 10 acres of cleared land
by Amedore construction.

Amedore is a quality builder. I shall
be in contact with him shortly to
advocate the above action.

We did the same with the developer
of Buckingham Mews, in 1987, which
resulted in setting aside the acre green
space and planting a mature conifer
tree screen at New Scotland and Krum
Kill.

This resulted in a benefit to the entire
neighborhood and promoted sale of the
units.

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The creation of a 23 acre neighborhood
green belt bordered by Krum Kill Rd
Crescent Dr, Rte a85 & NYSTW is still on
our agenda.

See archives of
http://bpcnanews.blogspot.com/

for more details on this and other items
including major improvements to
Buckingham Pond Park.

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The government has announced that
there will be no Social Security COLA's
for the next two years.

This decision must be rescinded at
a time when seniors on fixed incomes
are facing escalating food, home heating
fuel, health care and school property
taxes.

At the same time , the federal government
is allocating billions of dollars to help
Brazil to drill for oil and funding groups
like Acorn.

Why are the Albany Common Council
and Albany County Legislature, not
passing Resolutions calling for the
reinstatement of Social Security COLA's?

Yet, the Albany Common Council can
pass Resolution by a vote of 14-0 which
in effect, would make Albany a sanctuary
city for illegal aliens. Thankfully, Mayor
Jennings has not directed the Albany
Police and public serivice workers to
follow the Council's directive.

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Political changes are afoot in Albany
in the September 15, Democratic Primaries.
Hopefully, these changes will be for the
betterment of the neighborhoods, city
and all who call these places home.

The outcomes of the primaries all hinge
on primary voter turnouts which have
declined in recent local elections, along
with declines in Democratic Party
enrollments in the city.

That's all for now.

Joe Sullivan