Democracy In Albany

Albany Home Invasions | 28 comments (28 topical, 0 hidden)

If police lived in the city (none / 0) (#15)
by mailer daemon on Fri Apr 18, 2008 at 11:23:45 AM EST

that they were forced to protect and serve, there would be far less crime in the city of Albany.

Not only that, the poor are the responsibility of the COUNTY by charter. They are treated like vermin by many of those who are charged to help them.

I am not saying that the Mayor should not put more money into the neighborhoods that need it, he absolutely should. But explain how you can force an absentee landlord to fix up his crappy apartments?

Interesting story on CNN where they have been faced with a HUGE increase in vacant buildings. I would love to hear others take on it.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/08/real_estate/radical_city_plan/index.htm?cnn=yes

: Thanks for the link, mailer (none / 0) (#17)
by FedUp on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 09:29:27 AM EST

I believe there are many things that can be done to restore hope to Albany; the article points to just one good suggestion that can be used along with programs like Habitat for Humanity.
I firmly believe that the Albany leaders think only they know best what's good for the people of Albany. There are many good ideas available in communities outside of Albany and by tapping into local community leaders/some of the highly-regarded urban researchers at the local colleges and universities / other communities like in the article.
It's such an incestuous relationship - Jennings and Tuffey only promote like-minded individuals who support their positions. Money is wasted on political patronage jobs (ie - Mayor's PR person and driver) instead of spending it in the community / researching other options from other communities.
The only way to break this cycle is to appoint people from outside of Albany to some (not all) of these positions. Tuffey and Jennings don't get it that you want people in key positions who can present different points of view about what works/what does not - in the PD, in the schools, in the community.
Albany desperately needs to appoint a police chief from outside as a start..someone without a hidden agenda; someone who does not have long-standing family ties and friendships within the department; someone who really IS accountable, transparent and ethical. The community AND the 97% of the honest APD members deserve nothing less.

[ Parent ]
: Interesting story (none / 0) (#21)
by AlfredMoisiu on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 08:03:20 PM EST

The decaying Midwest city is a different animal than old cities like Albany. Places like Youngstown were all about the middle class -- hardworking skilled laborers in big industry. The jobs and people went south and west, leaving a vacuum.
Here it's different, as you have lots of poor people who need a place to go. You also have lots of delusional people who'll fight the razing of any derilict building.
I think in the long run, Albany needs to look into the benefit from the Youngstown/Detroit approach. We probably need some sort of way to allow business to utilize abandoned commercial and industrial buildings without taking on the liability brownfields.
The real key to the Youngstown approach isn't the bulldozer -- it's reducing services. They're ripping up streets and shutting off sewers. Albany needs to close schools, liquidate the IDA, reduce the public safety headcount and consolidate other functions with other municipal governments.

[ Parent ]

Albany Home Invasions | 28 comments (28 topical, 0 hidden)

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