Commercial Street TiF

Thank you Mark A. Dalton for writing half a story in the Community Free Press

“If you want an obvious example, just look at the fact that there’s no public access to the rear of the buildings on the north side of Commercial. That alone qualifies the area as blighted.” MacPherson emphasizes that TIF is for public projects only.“It’s a 23-year plan that means better roads, better lighting,and safer buildings,” he said. “There will be no eminent domain and we’re not borrowing any money for this. If we don’t have money to do project, we will bank the money until we do.“We’re not promising the moon here.We just want to see Commercial Street succeed.”

"Blighted" is a term defined and used by government agencies to allow them the availability to take something that doesn't belong to them. In the manner used above just because these buildings back up to the railroad yard and have NO access there, doesn't make them dangerous or a hazard to anyone except government.
The link on the above word will horrorify most people as they read what BLIGHT really means, such as:
3. Property which is likely to or does harbor rats or other vectors, vermin, feral pets, or other non-domesticated animal nuisances, in other words just about any building on the planet.
5. Landscaping which is inadequately maintained or which is not installed as required by city codes or any permit issued in accordance with such codes, in other words if you allow your lawn to die during the summer.
6. Matter including, but not limited to, smoke, odors, dust, dirt, debris, fumes, and sprays which is permitted to be transported by wind or otherwise upon any street, course, alley, sidewalk, yard, park, or other public or private property and which is determined to be a violation of federal, state, regional, or local air quality regulations, in other words any farmer or rancher that just happens to have been invaded by suburbanites.

Mr. Dalton fails to mention the DOUBLING of property taxes in one year then in successive years the property values are increased in value by 20%+ to generate revenue for these various projects the city would like to undertake.
You'll note many of the projects listed below are actually what the City of Springfield should be supplying anyway INFRASTRUCTURE. Now the art & radio station are something that public money shouldn't be used for, this is for private industry to supply should they decide to do so

Officials hope TIF will do what it has for other cities and municipalities across the country by not only increasing the value of existing structures, but the area surrounding them.“We already have a number of businesses that are willing or have already planned to invest a considerable amount of money,” MacPherson said.

And yet the TiF isn't approved !!! My do you think that maybe some individuals would much rather spend someone else's cash instead of their own??

“I’m looking at three projects right now that total over $4 million.” Critics of TIF fear the city will use eminent domain to acquire old buildings in need of repair.

I'm a critic and this doesn't concern me, should the city decide to use Eminent Domain there will be NO stopping them. Just ask Thompson Auto Dealers from the Jordan Park Development.

MacPherson said. “The streets are inadequate, sidewalks are damaged, and the water delivery system can’t handle a major fire should one happen.

Which part of the above isn't handled by the taxes already being generated in this area??

WAKE UP SPRINGFIELD !!!

Are you sure what you're eating

Many people believe they are getting wholesome products from the grocery store, after all our very own government protects us from harm. The F.D.A. regulates every product found on the store shelves and thus I'm protected RIGHT??
After all this is the same government agency which tells people that government approved drugs are safe to take long before the recall starts.

Are you aware that meat is gassed with carbon monoxide so the clarity of color will last longer??
Many people are not and use the color of the meat as the means to tell if the meat is fresh or not. Air tight packages also help meat retain the color longer, but that adds an expense that many Americans won't tolerate, but they would get over it.

Government regulators have tried to tackle this from a safety issue since meat being packaged is quite difficult to tell if it is fresh or NOT, even meat in the butchers cooler can't be judged on color. Most people "feel" there produce, squeeze it, and smell it to determine whether or not to purchase the orange, apple, or whatever it is they plan on eating later that day and week. This can't be done with meat so in some ways the consumer is at the mercy of the store and the meat packager.
YES I know bananas are gassed to provide the yellow color since they are picked green and shipped green, however they are gassed with banana gas and NOT exhaust fumes out of a tailpipe(emphasis added on purpose)

Meat used to be injected with red dyes to enhance the color so people would purchase it more readily and lower the throw out factor.

I will continue to purchase my meat from a local rancher where I control when the meat is butchered and how its packaged, and YES it is cheaper then buying whatever happen to be sitting in the stores freezer of cooler section

WAKE UP AMERICA

Tax the Rich, say Warren Buffett

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett wants Uncle Sam to take a big bite out of your estate when you die.

I don't proclaim to be a millionaire, but I would sure like to get there before I pass on, or at least get closer then I currently am. What I don't need is someone that is already there having guilty feelings about being successful and then trying to proclaim that he can't stop it.

Mr Buffett by donating a HUGE portion of your net assetts to the Bill & Linda Gates foundation you have dropped the assets in your holding company which will then pay less in estate taxes. Since you have these pangs of guilt since you don't pay enough taxes, please open your checkbook and write a check to Uncle Sam, there is NO law against it.

Ever hear the old saying "put your money where your mouth is" please do so and I'll commend you for be a moralist individual but until you actually do something besides try to rework a taxcode to your benefit it does nothing to help those that you proclaim to be helping.

What is veterans day?

Too many it is said to be a day of paying homage to those that came before us to defend our freedoms. So I do I pay homage to Washington, Jefferson, Adams and the many GREAT men that fought for a nation to be born where individual liberties were paramount to the rules of the collective.
Today the collective will tell us that we should pay homage to "the greatest generation", those that are currently fighting for our freedoms in the so labeled "War on Terrorism". As a former member of this nations Air Force I guess I'm also to be recognized, however in my humble opinion I have done nothing except volunteer my services to keep other nations free from tyranny while our nation seems to be slipping backward into it.
Did the "greatest generation" that ever lived repel a fighting force destined to take over the United States?? Argue away, however I don't see such evidence. What I do see is countries such as Spain, Portugal, France and some others should be thanking our vets since they don't speak German. This stands true for both World Wars.

Today we have actions in Afghanistan and Iraq, neither of these nations set a foot militarily into the United States, and we can argue samantics about the terrorist on 9/11 but that will accomplish nothing since most of them were of Saudi decent.

Let's give thanks to those that helped form our nation, the list of names for these individuals is much too long to place on these pages, but they are the heroes of this country, not people like me that volunteered for service after the fact.

paying more

We've often heard that projects and governmental affairs can only get done by raising taxes. Senator Barack Obama on the campaign trail remarked the very same when asked about funding social security

Obama says, "I think the best way to approach this is to adjust the cap on the payroll tax so that people like myself are paying a little bit more and people who are in need are protected." It's just a little bit more! And look at all the people we need to protect!

The problem here is that in the future democrats with the assistance of republicans will take a certain percentage of lower income earners and EXEMPT them from payiing into their social security. After all it just isn't fair for lower income earners to have to pay into this system since they can barely afford the food and shelter they have to provide ones self.

Obama also invoked his friend, billionaire Warren Buffett, who Obama said has expressed concern that he pays less in Social Security taxes than anyone else in his office.

Ahhhh !! Mr. Buffett nothing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING prevents you from writing a check to clear your conscience in this matter.

"And he has said, and I think a lot of us who have been fortunate are willing to pay a little bit more to make sure that a senior citizen who is struggling to deal with rising property taxes or rising heating bills, that they've got the coverage that they need," Obama said.