The City of New Britain is dire
trouble in a number of ways, all of which contribute to a very difficult
economic situation facing taxpayers and none of which can be said to be the
fault of any one particular person or political group. The fault (s) lie (s) in
the accumulation of mistakes made in reading economical trends and poorly
thought out solutions to trying to
fix mistakes.
New Britain is land poor, only 13.4
square miles; as such there is precious little space to offer businesses in the
way of developers looking to open businesses.There is a plethora of multifamily
housing built up around the major factories in the center of town and in the
center of all that, what was once a thriving, vibrant and bustling Central
Business District (CBD).The factories and the CBD are gone for the most part,
leaving all the multifamily housing loaded with people that have few places to
employ them, people with little disposable income to spend and fewer places
close by at which to buy things. The city’s grand list decreases, people move out of
town and what is left is a city that does not have the wherewithal to support
ever growing educational mandates, ever growing infrastructure problems ever
growing public safety problems, health problems, etc, in other words, a dying
city.
What to do? A huge company (COSTCO)
comes to town with a proposal to build a huge store. But we have no place to
offer for such a huge store; they ask for permission to use a portion of the
Stanley Golf Course for their store; they will replace the golf course land
with adjacent state-Town of Newington land and reconfigure the golf course.
Briefly, after four years of planning and after all the approvals are in place,
and after the Common Council votes 12-3 to approve the plan, along comes Elaine
Lechowicz and says this is all wrong, we must not violate the Stanley Trust - a
Trust that has been violated many times in the past - and rape park land. She
files one “injunction/appeal/reconsideration after another to satisfy
what? The park land has been replaced, the golfers are satisfied, the
city is satisfied and the non resident college professors at CCSU are not
objecting. However, Elaine wants her way.
The state and the city lose
potential, direly needed jobs, the city loses tax income the potential
employees lose pay checks. But, Elaine Lechowicz is smug and happy. I find it
hard to imagine that Alex Stanley would have agreed with Elaine Lechowicz. In
my opinion, this action by Elaine Lechowicz does not promote the general
welfare, is selfish and punitive.
Louis Salvio, Alderman
Hooray for Mrs. Lechowicz for stopping this incredible nonsense!
ReplyDeleteLou talks about this desperate lack of space for businesses, but what about the empty buildings all over town?
ReplyDeleteA perfect example would be the former Walmart store on Farmington Avenue which has been sitting empty for several years--ever since the company abandoned it because of the radical protests held in front of their business by mostly members of the council and state elected officials like the state representative at the time or the attorney general and all organized by the mayor's deputy chief of staff. As I recall at that time they were demanding that the company only hire Puerto Ricans for managers because they said it wasn't fair for a Puerto Rican to have to work for a manager that didn't speak Spanish.
Now not only do they not have the Puerto Rican managers these loons were demanding the company hire, but they lost the 150 or so jobs the company was providing and the tens of thousands of dollars per year in tax revenue the company was paying to the city.
Now the world's largest retailer who also happens to be the world's largest employer with 1.5 million employees has absolutely no presence in New Britain and you can thank the Democrats that were in office at the time for driving them out of town!
When I read that there is no place for a business to develop in New Britain I was rolling on the floor laughing since the number one business in New Britain is "FOR RENT" followed by "FOR LEASE" followed by "AVAILABLE" and they can't seem to give the space away.
ReplyDeleteTo the Moron, Racist a@shole, with the #2 comment": I see that you dislike for Puerto Ricans and Latinos, is noticeable, not sure where you get your information from but I suggest that once you get the information right come back, no don't come back instead climb under a rock!
ReplyDeletePeople need to understand that businesses such as Costco and Walmart don't go where you think they should, They go where there they want to go and where they can make a sure profit.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDeletePeople need to understand that businesses such as Costco and Walmart don't go where you think they should, They go where there they want to go and where they can make a sure profit.
YOU MEAN THEY DON'T GO WHERE RADICAL EXTREMISTS DEMAND TO DICTATE WHAT RACE OR ETHNICITY THE MANAGERS MUST BE?????
Wal-Mart Picket with State Rep. Tim O'Brien- Smith Photo
ReplyDeleteFRANKSMITHSAYSNB EDITORIAL:
If O'Brien is going to take credit for things that happened before he was mayor, then he should have included how he, by following his handler and paid agitator Sherwood like a little puppet as he usually does, formed radical protests in front of the Walmart store until the owners had enough and closed their New Britain store completely. This was about 4 years ago, and still the building that once housed Walmart on Farmington Avenue sits there empty. They managed to drive this employer out of the city taking their 170 jobs and the taxes they once generated to the city with them. The parking lot that still sits there empty with weeds growing out of the pavement should be considered a monument to the monumental stupidity of these two buffoons.
This all may have happened while O'Brien was still a state representative and Sherwood was still a paid agitator for a private organization, but if he is going to take credit for things that happened before he was mayor that he had nothing whatsoever to do with and even things he opposed simply because he didn't want former mayor Stewart to get credit for those accomplishments, then he needs to take credit for the harmful things he and his personal handler did to the city too.
Where's the beef Mr. O'Brien?
I guess someone is getting to Landslide Lou!
ReplyDeleteFriday, August 20, 2010
ReplyDeleteWhat the company won't tell you is that they most likely closed the store in response to the radical protests held in front of their store, led by individuals who were elected to represent them (Walmart) as a New Britain taxpayer, and instead their elected representatives were protesting and demanding Walmart hire Spanish speaking managers at their store. Phil Sherwood was even quoted as saying: "the lack of Spanish-speaking managers" could be a problem. "It breeds an atmosphere of insensitivity."
I did my grocery shopping at Walmart just yesterday and I can't wait to visit Connecticut's first Chik-Fil-A. That should make some of you liberal extremists come unglued!
ReplyDeleteMaybe there should be a demand that Costco hire only Polish speaking managers? Oh, that's right Polish people are not a group that Democrats are likely to support.
ReplyDeleteI would never shop at Costco because I don't frequent union businesses. I only shop at non-union stores and buy non-union products.
ReplyDeleteMrs Lechowicz should run for the council. She would have my vote!
ReplyDelete