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The following letter in last week's Gazette from Mark Franzoso is re-printed below.
The following letter in last week's Gazette from Mark Franzoso is re-printed below.
October 13, 2015 - Dear Editor,
I love when election time rolls around how the local community is bombarded with letters to the editor every week. The current Mayor and Village Board are doing a very good job this time touting their accomplishments while their opponents are campaigning for change and a better future for Croton. Question: Where have the Mayor and Village Board been all year and why are they surfacing now? I think it's great that Village Officials keep us informed but I find the recent bombardment more than a little suspect. I guess they feel they need to pen letters so that voters know they are still here.
I'd like to take this opportunity to respond to Croton Trustee Ann Gallelli's letter to the editor this past week in the Gazette. While I agree that Harmon has perked up a little since Dom's moved into the old Croton Dodge building, I disagree with her smokescreen and spin comment that credits the village for spending $500,000 on litigation to institute a zoning change that made that happen. New businesses are coming in because the economy is improving, not because of expensive and litigated zoning changes.
I also find it unbelievable that Trustee Gallelli declared she was happy to be part of the group that pushed for the rezoning, because it was not long ago that she drove the lawsuit against the Exxon Mobil station, fighting over a canopy, which is now common place among gas stations. The reason she gave for fighting the oil giant in court was because it would block the views of the residences on Young Avenue. From memory, I believe that lawsuit cost Village taxpayers over $100,000. Now Gallelli believes it's OK to block views with this new half-million dollar zoning change which allows small commercial buildings like Sonny Abbot's, Eatalia, and Croton Podiatry to build two-story additions on top of existing buildings. Where's everyone going to park?
And as memory continues to serve me, if that same Village Board had its way at the time, there would be plenty of empty stores and 100 vacant “affordable” housing units in Harmon because no one was going to spend $2,000 a month on a rental apartment on a busy main street and live above a commercial business. This group had a distorted “vision” of placing 15 to 20 storefronts with two stories of apartments on top that stretched from the corner of Oneida to the corner of Benedict. With all the consultants and architectural renderings, I wonder what the cost to taxpayers was for this grandiose project especially since the Village hadn't even spoken to the property owners about their plans—everything was done on spec. On spec? That's no way to run the Village.
But the craziness didn't stop there. That same board also wanted to install a parking garage at a cost of millions of dollars to Village taxpayers even when the new blacktop hadn't cured yet from the parking lot reconstruction. Yes, dig up the parking lot and spend millions on a parking garage. Where's the logical thought process there? Along with this unrealistic vision of the future, they wanted to add retail stores at a time when not only The Harmon district had many vacancies but storefronts in the Upper Village were dark as well.
Yes, fellow Croton residents, election time is here and as a businessman, homeowner, taxpayer and real estate investor in the Village of Croton-on-Hudson, I'm ready for a change. I'd like to make a personal notation that I think Leo, Maria and Andy are nice people, I just don't think they have the business acumen to effectively run a municipality like Croton.
I'll be voting for change this coming November, I hope you will too. I am voting for Croton United Candidates Greg Schmidt for Mayor and Bob Anderson and Ken Walsh for Trustee.
Sincerely,
Mark Franzoso
Croton businessman, homeowner, taxpayer and real estate investor
I love when election time rolls around how the local community is bombarded with letters to the editor every week. The current Mayor and Village Board are doing a very good job this time touting their accomplishments while their opponents are campaigning for change and a better future for Croton. Question: Where have the Mayor and Village Board been all year and why are they surfacing now? I think it's great that Village Officials keep us informed but I find the recent bombardment more than a little suspect. I guess they feel they need to pen letters so that voters know they are still here.
I'd like to take this opportunity to respond to Croton Trustee Ann Gallelli's letter to the editor this past week in the Gazette. While I agree that Harmon has perked up a little since Dom's moved into the old Croton Dodge building, I disagree with her smokescreen and spin comment that credits the village for spending $500,000 on litigation to institute a zoning change that made that happen. New businesses are coming in because the economy is improving, not because of expensive and litigated zoning changes.
I also find it unbelievable that Trustee Gallelli declared she was happy to be part of the group that pushed for the rezoning, because it was not long ago that she drove the lawsuit against the Exxon Mobil station, fighting over a canopy, which is now common place among gas stations. The reason she gave for fighting the oil giant in court was because it would block the views of the residences on Young Avenue. From memory, I believe that lawsuit cost Village taxpayers over $100,000. Now Gallelli believes it's OK to block views with this new half-million dollar zoning change which allows small commercial buildings like Sonny Abbot's, Eatalia, and Croton Podiatry to build two-story additions on top of existing buildings. Where's everyone going to park?
And as memory continues to serve me, if that same Village Board had its way at the time, there would be plenty of empty stores and 100 vacant “affordable” housing units in Harmon because no one was going to spend $2,000 a month on a rental apartment on a busy main street and live above a commercial business. This group had a distorted “vision” of placing 15 to 20 storefronts with two stories of apartments on top that stretched from the corner of Oneida to the corner of Benedict. With all the consultants and architectural renderings, I wonder what the cost to taxpayers was for this grandiose project especially since the Village hadn't even spoken to the property owners about their plans—everything was done on spec. On spec? That's no way to run the Village.
But the craziness didn't stop there. That same board also wanted to install a parking garage at a cost of millions of dollars to Village taxpayers even when the new blacktop hadn't cured yet from the parking lot reconstruction. Yes, dig up the parking lot and spend millions on a parking garage. Where's the logical thought process there? Along with this unrealistic vision of the future, they wanted to add retail stores at a time when not only The Harmon district had many vacancies but storefronts in the Upper Village were dark as well.
Yes, fellow Croton residents, election time is here and as a businessman, homeowner, taxpayer and real estate investor in the Village of Croton-on-Hudson, I'm ready for a change. I'd like to make a personal notation that I think Leo, Maria and Andy are nice people, I just don't think they have the business acumen to effectively run a municipality like Croton.
I'll be voting for change this coming November, I hope you will too. I am voting for Croton United Candidates Greg Schmidt for Mayor and Bob Anderson and Ken Walsh for Trustee.
Sincerely,
Mark Franzoso
Croton businessman, homeowner, taxpayer and real estate investor
Thanks for your letter Mark F. Taking credit for new business that has nothing to do with them at all is the hallmark of every election season. That's why one business owner in particular has told them don't even think of dropping off a sign this year. By the way, thank you for your quick response to my siding situation. Given that you didn't install it, I thought it was damn nice to you to give me such immediate attention. Pat
ReplyDeleteHi D, I'm glad it worked out for you with the repair. BTW I got a note from someone about the sudden surge of numbers we discussed, they're all out of towners mean to boost their page's image. We'll talk at P's next week with one of the defectors, lol.
DeleteMark tells it like it is. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteStill a great letter and relevant to today.
ReplyDelete