The City of Troy, New York, "Where Henry Hudson Turned Around."

Monday, August 31, 2015

Q & A PART II

Next Question:

How do you plan on continuing and growing the downtown Renaissance?

Madden: Replace the Uncle Sam statue with a giant statue of Copernicus.

Wiltshire: Hold hearings on who erected the giant statue of Copernicus and how to prevent it in the future.

Gordon: Who is Copernicus?

Cox: Make everyone wear pantaloons!

Everett: Who took my pantaloons?

In half seriousness, a synopsis:

Jack B Cox, Jr
The first thing I will do is to make Troy a more business friendly environment. Many wonderful projects have been lost due to inappropriate political and personal behavior in our planning and zoning departments.* As a student of Civil Engineering,** land development is my passion. If there is one department I will be extremely hands on with when elected, it will be planning and zoning department.

Jim Gordon
The rebirth of our downtown is at a point of being, for the most part, self staining,*** but does require support and nurturing of the government.

Rodney Wiltshire
Working with the BID and truly partnering with them for both marketing and services. We need to encourage more local entrepreneurship as well as seeking outside interest.****

Ernest Everett
I feel what's happening downtown is fantastic in many ways but we could always be better. There are a few high-crime spots that deter growth in certain sections... and I feel a safer downtown will bring in even more business. Creating a lasting and useful riverfront is also a priority as we would attract new businesses and residents who in turn, invest in our city. I'd also like to partner with the BID to use them as an example for both South Troy and Lansingburgh to foster economic growth in ALL of Troy, not just downtown.*****

Patrick Madden
The downtown renaissance is stunning. I think we are all thrilled and amazed. A resilient, vibrant and diverse downtown core is a prerequisite of any great City. This is an important and significant accomplishment. Despite the momentum, however, the City still has an important role in the continued development of the downtown. Several crucial tasks remain, including:
Development of 1 Monument Square. This is a vital location sitting on the riverfront in the heart of the downtown. Whereas a few years ago we may have been desperate to get any reasonable development on the site I think this is no longer the case. The interest in our downtown gives us the luxury of taking our time to get it right as opposed to getting it fast.****** The City should ensure that any proposed project aligns with our architecture, our desired access to the riverfront and the growing vibrancy of the neighborhood.

* Cox refers, of course, to the infamous Zoning Board purple nurple debacle.

** Is Cox an engineer or just a student of engineering?

*** Self staining but not self-cleaning

**** Outside interest includes but is not limited to stamp collecting, curling and Jarts.

***** How come I don't get an asterisk?

****** Pay attention ladies, Madden respects  foreplay.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Pantaloons. That's just funny.

Anonymous said...

Notice Jim Gordon knows what pantaloons are. I guess no surprise there.

Anonymous said...

Gordon has a point. The growth is fairly self-staining. I think we can foster an atmosphere that's friendly to the small business person, but that may be all we can do. None of the administrations have been hostile to small business so we are on the right track.

Anonymous said...

Softball question and Wiltshire can't take the time to give us more than a sentence or two.

Troy Business Owner said...

None of these candidates have participated in the Renaissance. Madden probably comes closest and even that's a stretch. It would have been nice to have a candidate who has been a part of all the great things happening in Troy, not just riding the coattails.

Troy Voter said...

I'm still not sure about any of these guys. Are they all lightweights? I'd really like to hear them state the types of people they will bring to City Hall. I know they can't start announcing who they will appoint but maybe they could drop of few names to give us an idea of the type of people they'd like to bring in with them. Will Kenny Z have a role in a Wiltshire administration? Will Harry show up in a Gordon administration? Who would Madden rely upon? This sometimes matters more than who wins.

Anonymous said...

Madden all the way. The only adult in the room.

Idjit said...

You know Harry hasn't been mayor for four years.

Anonymous said...

Rod is the Man. He will have two lines to Madden's one if he wins the primary. He is the Dems best chance.

Anonymous said...

Best chance at what?

Anonymous said...

If Rodney wins the primary, Gordon will be our next mayor. We really shouldn't let that happen, now should we?

Anonymous said...

I agree that Rodney would be the weaker candidate but I still think he can beat Gordon. I don't think it will be close. Madden might even have a harder time, though he wins, because Wiltshire will get a few votes on the WFP line. Unless, he acts like an adult and withdraws to support Madden.

Anonymous said...

His ego is far too big to withdraw. He's in this until the bitter end.

Anonymous said...

He may reap the bitter fruit he has sewn.

Velvet Librarian said...

Ibid at 7.

Blue Blazer said...

I recently saw Wiltshire's ego the other day. It took up three seats at the council meeting.

Inglorious Bastard said...

6:03 - "None of these candidates have participated in the Renaissance."

That sounds like Frenchified nonsense. Why do you hate 'Merica?