TIFs, etc.

JP had this post on this article. I was posting to his comments until I realized that I got a little... ahem.. verbose. So here's what I was thinking:

The important point in the article comes from former Fort Worth City Councilman Clyde Picht:

The original concept of TIFs was to help blighted areas come out of the doldrums and get some economic development they wouldn’t [otherwise] have a chance of getting...

Local areas such as, say, Robinson Township fail the "but for" test cited with Chicago: with rising property values and a demand for development, the TIF is just a political ploy to an areas that doesn't really need it. My opinion: Pittsburgh should have TIFs, the Mon Valley should have TIFs... but that's about it. Sorry South Fayette.

Further, the value of the TIF, ideally, is to bring some competive advantage (or at least leveling) to truly blighted areas in which development is truly difficult (for physical reasons). If East Bloodynowhere, WI starts using TIFs, the value of the incentive decreases to the point where development in the blighted areas is no longer competitive to the "blighted" areas. And we're back in the same position as where we started.

The result is a bidding war is an escalating game of chicken, in which rational actors make themselves worse off than if they did nothing.

Now, the question becomes: how do you make everyone happy within, at least a region, and end the insanity.

The only solution I can see is sort of what they did at The Waterfront, in which three municipalities (Homestead, West Homestead, and Munhall) agreed to revenue and service sharing. Basically, if development happened on the West Homestead portion of the site, Munhall would share in the revenues. This idea works in small areas, but not at the regional scale... and someone smarter than I needs to think about it hard, before the competition overwhelms us all and we pour zillions of dollars into developments that are just going to cancel each other out.

Pointless Milestones

Those of you who pay attention to these things may have realized that this is the one year anniversary of The Angry Drunk Bureaucrat.  If you are not one of those people, well, shame on you, but thanks for reading anyway. 

 

Although, perhaps you are one of those people that look at hit counters and realized that we are rapidly approaching 10,000 visitors... like really rapidly... like by the time you finish reading this post, I hope.  So call your friends/neighbors/fellow bloggers/Jerry Lewis, and help push us to 10K! 

 

I'd like to thank all the people that made this possible and all the people (both real and virtual) that encouraged this little excursion into the seedy underworld that is The Bureaucracy. Without all of your emails, postings, rants, raves, and so forth, I wouldn't have had the will to carry on... and would have been in some virtual gutter somewhere soaked in virtual gin and tonic. 

 

Here's what I've learned so far from this blog: 

(1) The actual workings of government are enigmas to most people.  

(2) People, nevertheless, have very strong feelings about the way things ought to be, and will freely and loudly offer them to you. 

(3) Blogging while drunk, while not recommended, is highly entertaining to read.

(4) "Commiseration" has two m's.

(5) The distance between the people in charge of this City and the people reading this blog is smaller than you think. 

(6) Blogger doesn't like Apple's Safari browser.  

(7) There is no "I" in "Team," but there is an "Eat Me."

(8) Never go back to read old posts; yes, they are as bad as you remember.

(9) No pooftas?

(10) Writing using dependent, independent, and subjunctive clauses is a lost art form, as are sentences using semi-colons.

(11) Lists are good ways of extending short posts into lengthy ones.

 

So that's it from here!  I'm off to celebrate in my own particular way, which, as you may have guessed, involves liquor and paperwork. 

 

Thanks again everybody. 

 -"O"

Do Not Read This Post!

Don't say I didn't warn you. You're going to be disappointed, seriously. There's nothing good in this post at all; I'm fresh out of ideas today.

I was thinking about writing about the change of the proposed election date to more suit the needs of Pitt students, until I realized that (1) this is not my council district and (2) I don't really care what Pitt students think anyway. And before anyone says it, yes, I am part of the problem; I'm comfortable with that.

I was thinking on commenting about how absolutely gushing the Trib article on the proposed PNC Skyscraper sounded... well, gushing for the Trib, anyway. Then, I realized that was all the comment I had.

I was thinking on commenting that the fact that Jim Ferlo and Jane Orie agree on anything, let alone a plan for a new arena, is the greatest accomplishment in recent SWPA political history. Then I realized that they both once threatened to kick me in the crotch, so I suppose this isn't the first time they've agreed on something.

I was thinking of ranting about the Kabuki show that is the Alito confirmation hearings, but it's far too difficult to raise my hackles on a man who currently has unformed every opinion that he's ever had.

I was going to ask who's the black private dick that's the sex machine to all the chicks... and then it turned out to be Shaft. I can dig it.

I was going to lend my comiserations to Charles Kennedy, who was ousted by the LibDems this week for, what was purported to be a drinking problem. Instead, I realized that no one reading this blog would know who I was talking about. So I had a shot of Jack instead.

I was going to check to see if I spelled "comiserations" correctly; I decided not to.

See, now aren't you disappointed? I totally wasted your time. You should stop reading right now. There's nothing more. It's pointless to go on further. Don't even bother scrolling down. There's nothing down there.
























































































So, was this really worth scrolling this far? I didn't think so.

ED U?

Coincidence or not, you decide:

(1) I was in Phillie a few weeks ago, on various sundry missions, and happened to be in and around the U. Penn Campus. I remarked to my traveling companion that "the neighborhood looked better than I remembered."

(2) A while back, I had written about the contraversy between Pitt and the Residents of the Allequippa Housing Project.

(3) In what had to be a fever induced delerium, I found myself wandering around downtown and noticed rubble where there hadn't been rubble before. Turns out that Point Park University is building new dance studios. This sounds similar to what Duquesne University proposed about a year ago.

(4) Yesterday, the WaPo did this article on the transformation of the area around Penn's campus from industrial wasteland to vital retail neighborhood.

This means something... this is important.

Kinda got me thinking: there's a lot of discussion surrounding tech transfer and the ability of the universities to bring products developed to the open market (all of which is good and I'm not criticizing), but aside from the downtown housing component, there has been little discussion, it seems, about the role of universities when it comes to traditional economic development activities.

Of course, it's not the job of the universities to be developers... but it is their job to ensure that the appeal of their environs remain a net positive to students. As Penn discovered, it's hard to attract students when your perceived to be in the ghetto.

[And of course, at least two of the major universities around here have schools that purport to be interested in Public Affairs; you'd think that they'd be able to create a less theoretical and more practicable impact on the economic development community 'round here. Public service? Bollocks! We need more lawyers and consultants!]

So, I guess the question, viz the article on Penn, is the following: how can Pittsburgh Universities be economic development generators with respect to the neighborhoods in which they are located? And, as a follow up, if they are impacting their surrounding neighborhoods, are any of them currently doing it correctly and with respect to the existing conditions?

Off the cuff, I can think of several opportunities:
(1) University employees need housing and receive certain savings in time and transportation costs.
(2) Employees that live nearby will need services.
(3) Captive students need services.
(4) Start up spinoffs need a physical, off campus but nearby, location with adjacent related facilities.
(5) Well travelled public space provides certain security advantages to Universities.

But that's off the top of my head... I'm rusty on my Jane Jacobs. Perhaps I need to go back to University for Economic Development.

We Appologize for the Inconvenience

I'm currently suffering from a mild form of death.  Symptoms include: coughing, aching, sneezing, runny nose, light-headedness, incoherence, vomiting, a burning sensation when I pee, and the loss of my left lung.  I think it could be Rockin' Pneumonia or the Boogey-Woogey Flu.

 

We hope to resume real postings when my condition improves.  Until then... 

Fun with Federal Fraud

Word of advice to Tom Cousar, don't f' with the Pentagon. Voila:

A prominent McKeesport contractor who worked on the Pentagon rebuilding project, PNC Park and the Petersen Events Center at the University of Pittsburgh has been charged with 39 federal counts of defrauding all three projects by padding bills and labor costs for more than $1 million.

Named in the indictment were Capco Contracting owner Thomas J. Cousar and two top employees, Catherine L. Bradica, who oversaw the company's finances, and Daniel D. Monte, project supervisor. Also indicted was Joseph Arena Jr., senior project manager for AMEC, the Maryland-based main contractor on the Pentagon project.

I remember Capco from this article and this announcement.

Seriously, what the f' were they thinking trying to defraud the Pentagon? This people have GUNS! MISSLES! HATS! LOOK WHAT THEY DID TO IRAQ! DON'T THINK THEY WON'T FUCK YOU THE SAME WAY!!

Second word of advice to Mr. Cousar: cover your cornhole in federal prison.

Don't Drink the Kool-Ade at the 700 Club

Wow... wow...

Robertson suggests God smote Sharon
Evangelist links Israeli leader's stroke to 'dividing God's land'
(CNN) -- Television evangelist Pat Robertson suggested Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was divine retribution for the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, which Robertson opposed.

Of course, Robertson only wants Israel to exist at its biblical borders so that the Fnal Judgement (tm) can be brought about and Christ can reign supreme... unfortunately, this also means the eradication of the Jews. So, bad luck there for Sharon either way.

Obviously Pat is crazy... everyone knows that Lesbians and Abortionists caused the Gaza withdrawl! Duh! IT'S IN EZEKIEL PEOPLE!

Swann Song

Allow me to add my voice to those that are unimpressed by Lynn Swann's candidacy for Governor.  [Yawn]

 

Swann's credentials are as follows: Inductee into the Pro-Football Hall of Fame, which, to be fair, reads better than Bill Scranton's credentials.  Sure he was Lt. Governor, but how many receptions did he make? 

 

But on the other hand, Swann's candidacy kinda pisses me off...

Jesse Ventura

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Fred Thompson

Sony Bono

Ronald Reagan

That Dude from "Love Boat"... I think that we should just make it obligatory that you have to first be famous to run for anything. 

 

City Councilman? Not a chance.

Political Scientist?  No thank you.

Bureaucrat?  Fuck off!

Movie Star?  Congratulations Congressman!

 

Think of the millions of dollars campaigns could save in advertising alone!  No need anymore to "get your name out there."  Now all you need is some 8mm, a shitty soundtrack, and some Indie Director willing to let you expose a nipple on camera and you are a CANDIDATE, BABY!  No boring positions, no platforms, no issues, or ideas... just a good face or name, and probably some weird sex tape.

 

While we're at it, why don't we just write it into the frickin' Constitution?

Article 28: No candidate for elected office may serve if he has a Q-Rating of less than 5 or has appeared on E! less than 25 times. 

On the plus side, however, this would allow me to capitalize on my, well documented, tawdry escapades with Tara Reid.   I hope to pull at least 336 E!-lectorial votes. 

The Blistering Speed of teh Intarweb

Back on January 21, 2003, I happend to be on the Commonwealth's website at around 10 AM and noticed that Mark What's-His-Name was pictured as Governor of Pennsylvania... which was fair, as he was Governor at that time. That made me wonder when they would update the site and put Eddie's picture up.

Upon reload, they replaced the photo at noon... just as Eddie was being sworn in.

So I did the same with the City of Pittsburgh this morning, to see when Tommy-boy's picture would be replaced.

Imagine my shock when I logged in at around 10 AM and saw this:



Obviously someone was really, really anxious to bump Mr. Murphy out.

Although, the joke's on them: as of 5PM Tom Cox was still listed as Deputy Mayor for Policy & Development.

It's Morning in Pittsburgh

Did go down to see the O'Connor swearing at... er.. in.   Here are some reflections:  

• Prior to getting downstairs, I heard the choir warming up, but because of the echo downtown, it sounded like the "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite" sequence from 2001.  Very, very strange and eerie.   
• I'm tired of the "bridge" metaphor for Bob O'Connor; even the Bishop used it.  Everything is a damned "bridge" over something, across something, or through something... although I suppose in that last case it would be a "tunnel," but whatever. 
• Dang! Murphy got a cold reception.  I could feel my nipples perk up.  It sounded like O'Connor was Tommy's only friend in the crowd.   
• I appreciate Bob's optimism; I can only hope he has follow through.  He does seem motivated to "get things done," but I wonder how long it will take before he hits a major road block.  
• He seemed to stumble over the math analogy: "suppose you have to manage your household with $100... and $30 of that goes to public safety and firefighting."  I don't know about Bob's personal household budget, but I spend way less than $30 on public safety and firefighting at my house.   
• The new mayor launched into a litany of all the people he was going to work with (Governor, Oversight Board, Act 47 Committee, Onorato, etc.), which may be indicative of some of the problems he's going to face in the coming four years.  
• Bob wants to motivate city employees.  Here's a free hint: pay them better. 
• Bob wants more talent in city government.  Here's another free hint: pay employees better. 
• I fucking hate the expression "redd up" to describe cleaning.  Makes us yinzers sound like morons.     
• Rendell came out swinging like he was at a fundraiser.  When's Eddie running for Governor again...?  Anyone?  Anyone?  Bueller?
• There are advantages to working in and around local government.  Primary among them is that you know where all the shortcuts and secret passages are... specifically when it involves getting to the front of the free food line. 

So... it's Bob's baby now.  He's the big man.  The top gun.  The numero uno. The big cheese.  The head honcho... etc.    

 

Five hours in so far, and not much has changed, but I'm waiting for the pink slip to come in.

 

To be continued...