right if the clerk would read the first item for original consideration i don't number one a resolution supporting a new york state department of state local government efficiency grant application to implemented a shared regional code enforcement repository pilot project for cost saving and efficiency measures this is discussed in committee without objection on consent item number two item number two were resolution supporting a grant application to new york state for improvement again discussed in committee without objection on consent item number four resolution in the city of schenectady in support of an application to develop an operating gaming facility in the city of schenectady a this is a regular city council meeting if you insist on this kind of behavior we will ask that you be removed so i just ask your cooperation please all right i assume this when we want to roll call  number five a resolution authorizing the city of schenectady to settle a claim by metlife a s l mellon discussed in claims committee without objection on consent item number six item number six a resolution authorizing the settlement of a tax or sure wary brought by low pay and deborah rodriguez eight thirty five plymouth avenue also discussed in claims committee without objection on consent item number seven item number seven a resolution authorizing the settlement of attacks or were brought by c t w realty for thirty five to thirty nine states three again discussed in claims committee without objection on consent item number eight item number eight a resolution author rising the city of schenectady to settle a claim by wilson discussed in claims without objection i'm consent item number nine item number nine a resolution authorizing the settlement of attacks are surely brought by stockade apartments l l c six thirteen union street also discussed in claims without objection on consent item number ten item number ten a resolution recognizing girl circle at mount pleasant middle school the site and will be taken out of order miss porterfield will present item number eleven item number eleven under contract and supplier resolution authorizing the award of a contract for the twenty fourteen waterline replacement this was discussed in committee without objection on consent item number twelve item number of the city of schenectady in support of using host municipality revenues from a proposed gaming facility for property tax relief this is an item that we are going to amend sideline again a motion to move it to the agenda ok mr considered language in the fifth paragraph wanted to change the very end of it where we have is the best location the capitol region for gaming facility to read is the proposed location in the city of schenectady for gaming facility and then in the seventh paragraph  proposed construction operation of the gaming facility on the site presents an opportunity to advance and then remove the purposes of the gaming act including so that it would read presents an opportunity to advance to increase tourism economic development educational funding and so on so those two changes were something that we all discussed input from every member of the council was was there and so  authorizing the mayor to execute a home rule message requesting enactment of assembly bill a ninety eight forty four of two thousand and fourteen and senate bill s seventy five eighteen of two thousand and fourteen continuing the tax exempt status of shiloh church located at nine fifty seven congress story this was discussed in the claims committee meeting tonight without objection on consent i don't number fourteen item number fourteen a resolution authorizing the transfer of title to two forty two brandywine avenue consisting of s p l forty nine point four three point two dash nineteen also discussed in claims without objection on consent and i remember fifteen item number fifteen a fourteen granting retroactive membership with your two status in the new york state and local police and fire retirement system to vincent this is also discussed in claims committee tonight without objection on consent all right if there is nothing else to come before the city council caucus meeting i will declare entertain a motion to adjourn mr cocksure seconded by mr erickson all in favor i and i will now call the city council meeting to order for june ninth tw let us pray the money never loving god schenectady and bombay help us to understand a larger perspective of your grace help us to understand the common good in its broadest reach you with our deliberations collaboration we began ten years ago in focus is local working together to put a spotlight on girls facilitates programs on their behalf to educate the community about their needs challenges and successes and where as one of the program is girl circles which seeks to build self esteem and self respect expand their commitment to their education encourage thoughtful decision making and expand their vision of their options whereas in april two thousand and fourteen an eighth grade girl circle at mt pleasant middle school heard a presentation from the giving circle a local all volunteer nonprofit organization with a mission to connect communities to those in need with the resources to help whereas after hearing the and where is taking on this project speaks to the character in each of these young ladies shows the leadership qualities they continue to develop and help them to realize how fortunate they are to have access to a quality education and now therefore be resolved that the city council and the mayor of the city of schenectady pause in their deliberations to recognize the circle for mt pleasant middle school for their care and compassion towards girls from other countries from another country they have never met but after hearing their i have two people to speak to this the first patricia and i'm having trouble with the last name here from five twenty four kings road ok i own an r v i own an r v i live over in kings road we can't even park cars on our street because of the eighteen wheelers because i own the r v and i do spend big bucks to store it off market and it was also to be able to eliminate some of the developers and the contractors that were trying to do to isolate and segregate the population and so i mean basically this piece here needs to be pulled back and hopefully not be supported by the city council i heard a rumor that the from several the city council members that the was saying that they would shut down the local city schenectady would shut down well if they shut down then that means hud buffalo or down in new york city would come in and run the place so there shouldn't be any fear from that point of that there's going to be none there and also  the county for the last ten years of allowed developers and contractors to build small housing and non affordable housing and use federal money in order to do it like to restore new york grants and use pilot programs and so forth so we need to move back from that and be able to move towards affordable and accessible housing and we need to have a housing plan also to use the county did not in their budget for twelve thirteen and fourteen did not reallocate communications presented to the city council for monday june ninth two thousand and fourteen from the mayor of appointments dated june ninth two thousand and fourteen a letter from paul of on director of water and wastewater recommending the award of the contract of the twenty fourteen water line replacement project to carver construction inc of new york under the category of general there are several letters for and against the casino proposal there is also a letter from business owners and a statement on casino gambling and all are included in the packets that are available at the at the rail thank you i also just  maybe a couple of you who are by the doors if there are any older people outside who may have trouble standing we've got a few seats right here ok all right we live on t just prior to the council meeting regarding the amendments they made to the legislation so everyone and most the people that are here are you know waiting for the public comments on the casino and there are clearly people who are for against it this talking about casino and there's two sides of it right so there's a lot of people who are against the casino but we're not voting on a casino that that vote occurred last year at election time right so there was a referendum at the state level of where we put a casino and so we're going to get a casino someplace it's just the determination of where that casino is going and it will be in the capital region it will be twenty minutes from our house so this legislation that  hear that we we put on the consent agenda that is want to explain is more of a commitment of we're that revenue would go if the city is going to actually got a casino so this is not a endorsement of a casino specifically it's and thank you any other committee reports right if not then we will move to the floor related to the legislative agenda to make a few comments before i start calling on people first of all i want to remind everyone that i number four on the agenda is simply a resolution of court for the proposal for a casino it is not an ordinance it is not changing anything in the city and as a result of that it does not require a public hearing who have signed up to speak i would ask that you respect the three minute time limit that you respect one another and that if your comments are the same as an earlier speaker please consider just stating that rather than repeating what has already been said and i would also remind you that your comments need to focus on the issue of a casino this is not a vehicle for personal attacks on anyone who has been associated with this process i will also ask that you refrain from applause i probably have close to eighty people signed up to speak and if you want to applaud after everyone we are going to be here very very late before we start i'm going to invite dave to step forward just to introduce our guests and just give a very brief recap of this whole process madam president mr mayor council representatives as well as city staff and the public what a great turnout and i'm glad the public is very interested in this project i like to introduce our guests here today from rush gaming neil blum the chairman of rush gaming and greg carlin the c e o of rush gaming schenectady in support of an application to develop and operate a gaming console o t in the city of schenectady i am asking city council to vote no on item number four i do not support the resolution i have had a great deal of experiences with  on one of his trips we lived on the upper floor of the casino along the sunset strip and up served the gaming seeing approximately thirty there prostitution is wide open the woman o the evening is aggressive and in your face i've seen that happen regarding employment the pretty sanders did not mention the incidence is up on people i e theft surrounded by all that money every day the temptation is carry so threaten the casino workers steal from the house at the consequences are great nov chomp lost the tips are put into a common pot and distributed among the workers at the end of the pay period my sisters were still worse at the casino in atlantic city harbor a premier entertainment destination next to the store from the chamber board of directors voted unanimously to pass a resolution in support of the glassy group rush treat gaming partnership in the development of the mohawk harbor which includes development and the building of the casino the board looked at three major considerations first the chamber board of directors nor there will be a casino in the capital fees the project will also help in to diminish the escalation of the largest tax to make the county businesses pay property taxes and by providing a significant increase to property tax revenue from the casino add to that the increased revenue from sales tax and the increased hotel occupancy taxes due to due to the two hundred seventy five new hotel rooms this project will have a significant significant and positive financial impact for schools municipal services and the community quality of life programs for both schematic the city and county residents and businesses to job creation the chamber board believes that this project will create a thousand new permanent jobs and connect to the county we look at the three communities gaming as other casinos united states and are confident that the projection of a thousand jobs surrealistic each of the three other casinos in the united states have provided a thousand plus jobs significantly we're happy to know the jobs or for a living wage with a minimum annual salary of forty two thousand dollars per year the philadelphia business journal the business tribune the local rush to game because you know there's one of the top work places several years running the third major reason for the chamber support is that rush street gaming and the glassy group supports the fair game coalition which proctor is the founding member of connect the county community college gaming management programs will also benefit greatly providing a good evening i'm a resident of a city employers typically use a number to calculate annual income for prospective employees it's number twenty eighty what it means is forty hours a week times fifty two weeks the recession diminished a lot of  jobs throughout the entire country and it certainly hit the capital district each month new jobs are being added at both the federal and local level who have all but many are not  working at a living wage a worker at a fast food establishment if they make the eight hour or eight dollars an hour minimum wage will apply and the twenty eighty rule earn sixteen thousand six hundred forty dollars that is if you've got your only major source of income and you're devoting your an trained jobs that really fit a broad spectrum of the population of schenectady there are many very talented capable people who are not necessarily tool to to some of the specialty trades of the capital district however if they are successful in getting a job at the casino if you apply the twenty eighty rule to a twenty dollar an hour job that is forty one thousand six hundred if you up the the hourly rate because of x extra capabilities or talents or education or personable minus the twenty eighty rule who were  just about fifty thousand dollars these are living wages and there are a lot being offered by what seems to be a very very reputable established company so it's good economic development and it's fits very very well with what's happening in the city in terms of entertainment and hospitality and i endorse it thank you and the clerk was also asked if any of you are reading from prepared remarks that he would consider asking them to one of the council members of the clerk will have them for the record joe rodriguez we approve it or it is the fact that the hope the state chooses schenectady because this is what's going to improve this city because of the people that are saying no all those wars are going to sit here and blame the politicians here's an opportunity well maybe the city can start having some extra revenue for especially for education which is very important and to move a lot of the neighborhoods i see what in any city transformed into and over the twenty five years that i've been going there personally i also see that the people that are going against him say no he's saying they don't want to take a chance or gamble how many of them receive something in the mail they say scratch off here  winner and a scratch or say well i won but they gamble on that but they don't want to gamble on the future of the city of schenectady which is really important because you have to look at the future and  plaza we always complain and personally myself i do too but here's an opportunity to receive i don't know three million dollars whatever it is a year i think and a perspective for the citizens and more of a citizen of the city of schenectady i hope and good conscious not just the consul but this state chooses schenectady thank you thank you steve me sick economic development which in turn drives more jobs ok like you said the median income is forty thousand dollars that's life changing money to some people here in this area and i mean for i hope you guys are full support of this resolution and  good evening james stan are twenty seven cuter driver ladies and gentlemen the council i am for you i was a representative of carpenters local to ninety one and albany we have two hundred plus residents and members of the local who would benefit greatly from this project not only just the short term construction jobs but the long long term hospitality jobs and tax relief that would bring to the county we desperately need thank you good evening my name is mark mentioned i'm a business representative for the operating engineers local one fifty eight this project will provide employment opportunities for our members and not only use the program for the casino for internships and as a resource moving forward in our career but as mr ms own had mentioned it does create it over a thousand jobs and a lot of people look at that as all gaming jobs but it's much more widespread than that it's going to be jobs in hotels restaurants but further than that travel and tourism marketing human resources  advertising and not only that a big problem that i hear is graduates in this area don't want to stay in this area because the opportunities are here so you know it was mentioned earlier that a casino is com  to the area anyway why not have it be schenectady where you have the resources from the school for employment we also  sorry offer me this pursue my dreams staying close with a local family and friends i strongly say yes and i hope you support us on this thank you company which was established in the one nine hundred twenty s i have watched the years of productive city neglected to be ended and literally fade away my generation inherited a declining decaying city where one today we are now embracing a downtown where i was enjoying restaurants of different ethnic fairs and businesses of many different facets dotting state street and the surrounding areas that once quiet streets are no active filled with people just like the prior years of my youth i encourage the council to approve the casino at mohawk harbor please give our use the opportunities they so deserve let's offer them exciting scholarships apprenticeships internships let's see what was other local institutions jumpstart their careers in retail restaurant hotel and casino management through mohawk harbor and rush street gambling members another student graduating disappeared to our large cities as some of my family and friends children have done so seeking out job careers and more exciting positive lifestyles we need to afford our youth the same challenges purchasing homes and role in their kids in the school districts serving our local communities and charitable organizations and that's where the council members that's now it's connected a dark again vote yes for the sake of our children and for the next generation thanks thank you peter stern's good evening managers peter business manager of labor's local one fifty seven out of schenectady and this job means a lot of jobs for our members and that's one good thing not only that i've been in this job for eight to nine years and i can see what's connect become already and with this job is not only what it will do now what it will do in the future i think it'll bring a lot more opportunities in the future to schenectady and a lot of times you hear at these debates that what's a good short term job is tempered with the construction jobs are temporary and that's because everything we build gets build we move on to something else so every job we have is tough but the one thing that is permanent with our guys is the benefits that we obtained today when we were tired that one or two years work while we build that specific project goes to our pension plans and we don't have to be on public assistance is retire reason we actually don't take off the system which is a good thing and i feel bad for people that don't have toughly so to have good jobs coming to any community is a good thing and i state's gambling the tickets are the highest in the nation and yet it hasn't done a thing for us for our schools were stalled looking for more money in new york state and yet it's the highest  standing historical area thank you phyllis small flow to the council my husband and i raise three children three college grants with they all left and went to other states and when i go to another state they now have their children of course they are two who are attending college my husband and i we're still here but our taxes continue to rise so that we're not really sure if we can continue to maintain our property taxes and the future because we're both aging and the population in schenectady is aging people who have college graduates or high school graduates but almost children leave here because they are seeking other places for a livable wage that they can bring up families and then leaving for other states and places because we need so many other things in the city we need our roads to be repaired our sidewalks these are quality of life issues we cannot afford them unless we can attract young families into this city who will be able to establish their own homes raise their families and have a live living a livable wage to live off of they're not coming here to schenectady no longer provides those jobs that once were here the surrounding areas no longer provide those jobs and i'm saying yes to this proposal because we have to look to the future and our families we want them to be able to stay in schenectady schenectady is a beautiful beautiful city it can still be a beautiful city maintained legislation has to be put in place that the revenues that will be coming in from this project will be used in certain areas that really need the money to go to such as roads and sidewalks and fixing our parks and having places where young people can go and i'm urging the council to please voice has a right to be heard and you need to hear me i choose to be proud of my city and then i'm proud of the historical fact and all hardworking small business owners i believe a gambling casino will just ed to more crime and feed it to taking advantage of poor citizens you know as well as i do that this will not lower our taxes but just transfer money around putting money into richer packets while continuing to bleed taxpayers and feeding others addiction in the long run it will bring more crime and higher our taxes to fighting even more crime off tax payers hardworking business owners and even community volunteers truly care about this city and will not for one minute it be canned in just supporting a casino in this city we will not be silenced there are many many fail and concerns point in after edition against this please evening thank you rudy grant madam president mayor and city council i'm representing the business people of the city of schenectady we moved here we opened our first store in nineteen ninety eight we were in the old center city building downtown schenectady at that time it was before the revitalization had started and the downtown was in very bad shape we had very few customers coming in and it was it was very scary downtown at the time we did have the opportunity to move over to union street where we have been since two thousand our business is doing well we would like to see more retail in schenectady the metroplex authority has done a magnificent job in bringing new buildings revitalizing before forty eighth street and now we're going to be doing lower state street they brought in restaurants which has brought people the last phase of the formula is retail the casino is going to bring a thousand new members new people living in the city shopping in the city this will make our business thrive it will make more businesses come to the city so more people will go downtown we are in support of this motion and we have really recommend that you pass it thank you thank you m hello my name is michael escobar i'm a thirty two year old resident of schenectady born and raised i'm here to share with you the importance of the rivers casino and why it should be built in schenectady i have been in the hospitality industry for about five years and i will always be in favor of an amazing attraction of leisure gaming and hospitality having an attraction such as the rivers casino will gain the attraction of tourists gas and possibly celebrities this kind of facility will be able to host certain events of importance such as gallows giveaways fundraisers you know who knows it's pretty much endless what it could provide with all these outstanding factors of business and tourism there's no doubt that this will boost our economy job growth and opportunity are very important facets of our economy and having the rivers casino will provide so much opportunity and i am a hard working individual and i've seen people fail trying to get good jobs and i know it's hard for families nowadays to pull things together and i really do believe that this is the next step for schenectady to improve and grow the economy and i just think it's a really smart idea you know so i'm in favor of it thank you thank you  connect to be in the flood plain i live in fishkill new york but i've been here in the city for some over seventy two years and one way or the other i'm not opposed to the casino but i believe that the development of property will affect my property adversely from the point of view of flooding right now i don't know enough about but i want it but i would like to have this i have this pick this opportunity to quieten the city th good evening all my name is marianne recital and i live in east front street i'm up here because i want to clarify a few things that have been said about me in a past week number one i do not have a degree in a gambling i have a degree in full tilt restaurant management and i am very excited about this project because i think it gives the students of s c c an opportunity to stay home with their parents in our city and get a good job number two is it's been said that is front street is desperate and that's why they want this development this is not true fronts or it is excited about this development we see the vision and we are so grateful to david boco and to rush city candling and mr gleason for seeing this site and in wanting to build this great project in our city and i i really hope that you will pass this and i think you know thank you there's this is a copy each for each of the members of the council and for the mayor here and there there are one hundred eighty seven in signatures here but to give you an idea of how many people you don't know about you want to do this i've got sixty more signatures since i've been here tonight and these are people who you really didn't give a chance to say anything in  public hearing in a public hearing if you have one isn't just for venting it's for telling you of honest concerns so that you will look into them and i really don't think that there's been enough thought given to the of research and experience about the things that are negative that come with a scene oh and i think if you did you decide that we're not desperate enough to take that risk the two worst schenectady shoots your lot of businesses are going to have trouble and they may not be the ones that are that are fancy in and are in indebted to metroplex sure anything but there was ones that  provide all sorts of leisure landlords the other day and every single one of them was against this and mostly it was for more philosophical reasons but a lot of them know that an awful lot of their renters are not going to have rent and a lot of months because of  no there is no doubt no dispute either side of this that problem gambling doubles within a ten mile radius of the casino very quickly so i wish that you guys have given going to have lots of traffic and crime that doesn't now have but if they read more it became clear to me that there are so many other reasons that i couldn't just keep my focus on the gate that the whole city is going to be poorer for i in the casino anyone coming to schenectady today to gamble is not interested in anything but they do not want to go to practice or any of our restaurants it has been stated that the economic growth the fact is there is a history of economic decline where casinos are built there is only devastation and poverty the jobs will not be the jobs will be only to build not to maintain the maintenance of the casino make anyone economically economically stable i ask you do we want this for our residents to be involved with getting liens on their houses in two thousand and six was placed on forty five clark road the home of carter he was eighty years old healed thirty six thousand dollars in gambling debts his per month was six hundred forty dollars from social security facts woods put a lien in two thousand and seven for repayment of thirty thousand six hundred on carter's house the casinos extended credit to mr carter above and beyond what he what was at all reasonable mr carter declared bankruptcy he had very few personal assets and how sad is it that what is a multimillion dollar business for someone to take advantage of an eighty year old man who had an addiction and not the means to support that addiction he died at eighty four years old with nothing are you telling me the casino here will be like it will not be like that are you telling me that was just one isolated instance incident miss murphy any good to summarize please i will thank you there are many more such cases this is not just one case in connecticut there are many many more both in connecticut and massachusetts i thank you for your time and i hope this proposal will be voted down by our city council leader good evening mr mayor city council member i'm here to ask you to vote no for the casino proposal why because studies have shown that the benefits of the benefit of a casino to the host community are short term citing the council on casinos report it was it was published by so many college professors a couple of years ago living and working close to a casino increases the chance of youth becoming problem gamblers  contributed to the destruction of families problem gambling affects family and communities as well as individual young people are view it as the future of casino gambling casinos typically we can if they declare bankruptcy which is trump last i was sold in two thousand and thirty last year put twenty million dollars you know how much the s it was assessed for and twenty ten one point six six billion dollars ok twenty million dollars because it was bankrupt so casinos declare bankruptcy and they're not going to live up to their commitment and on may twenty eighth two thousand and fourteen the bethlehem town town board casino in a neighboring town is dangerous to their kids and their town and anywhere in the capital district i certainly hope that you will do the same for the sake of our kids and vote no for the post for rebirth in downtown schenectady it was not only proctor brought for the first time world and entertainment venue to little old schenectady we started to develop brought the pop with dollars and all the spending that comes off of that from all those new people in schenectady we've had have people living in apartments in condominiums in downtown  ten years ago that was unheard of and now they're not only living there they're paying a pretty high rent and i would hope that you will vote yes to increase the momentum that we have going and one family or friends talk about the glory days of the bustling city and how vibrant it is it kind of frustrates me after i graduated from college in boston i came back here and started working that was  they left this area because there were no jobs where the cost of doing business was too high i will long list of people who grew up in the county and they would have stayed here if they were afforded certain employment opportunities today they are successful in their careers taxpayers effect the tourism destination is a first for the city my great grandma on the move disconnected me from new york city because of the opportunities it would seem a college student ended up settling here a lot has changed since one thousand and twenty three but the city has gone through good and bad times and adapted just like our firm this casino is an opportunity gambling got past new york city it will be a job creator creator for our city please give rush gaming classy the ok to try to win this site for our city it's not over it's  done deal you have to allow them to do what they bet do best in is create opportunities for thank you thank you and the sale evening my name is sandy sales i'm a downtown business owner and a front street resident i've heard a lot of people say tonight that young people don't want to move back to the syria because their own opportunities and i used to be one of those young people i grew up in balls to make and from the outside looking in i didn't see a future in schenectady but my family told me of a great history of sky team my great grandfather was a police officer here my grandfather was a teacher a principal an assistant superintendent scared to school district for a number of years i grabbed my father and my uncle both graduated from school to be my father still works in school today and when i graduated college i saw future here i've seen the progress over the last fifteen years the the work my dad others have put in downtown schenectady i saw progress and i saw an opportunity and a future for myself here i wish that you could extend that opportunity to other people i wish that like myself you vote yes for progress yes for jobs and yes to this casino thank you thank you an downtown city and i expect this because scene is going to be even better it's going to be our best project yet for the city a last year over six hundred thousand people came to schenectady because of proctor's and all the into team they provide for all of us let's face it  casino is going to be here within fifteen miles fifteen minute drive we don't want to lose anybody that's coming downtown downtown has finally taken it space it's moving we could lose a lot of people walking the street we want them it's it's alive as a technology company we want more people who want and invaders we want this again i ask you strongly to vote yes for a casino in schenectady thank you thank you richard kerry or otherwise but i would a little be a lot happier if i were located let's say near exit twenty five and twenty six for instance or in this community rotterdam my fear is that the city will pay all the costs that we can't presently afford except with extravagant property taxes police and rescue and traffic and all those other things and the forty and sixty thousand dollar job or has a live in this community so here are some questions i think you should have on asked last week and you should ask before you vote first of all right is the source of the payments that supposedly the city and county and schools are going to get high for property tax here tonight but i don't not sure that's the answer from those payments what costs will the county share bear next what will the cost to the cities be city beat and will they exceed our payments you can call casino sites i'm sure and get the answer how much crude will be sold at the site most important what jobs will be available and how many for the chronically unemployed and underemployed in the city and what will the salaries be eight dollars an hour is pay for teenagers not working adults who's going to police the parking areas in the parking garages and the traffic gridlock is going to result city police department at our cost what revenue will be required to pay our suggest to get our suggested income and look at how much they're going to make the they already jam streets in access roads be made free for access to this place everyone knows that all the roads north out of town are g m and every day at the end of the workday and very boulevards private jam since cars were invented were construction activities cost us in the roads and so on that was raised in the cars that and i guess more or less last whatever the village by the water we heard we were going to get at the waterfront at the alco site for the last several years seems surprising ok that anyone would want to live near an eighteen hour day activity and a traffic nightmare so i think you need to get the answers to those questions before we go forward thank you thank you  good evening mr mair president and members of the city council my name is jim's on there live on north very street i've lived most of my life in schenectady a grew all and went to grade school in the stockade i'm questions i'm going to touch base on a couple of old basic elements that you may have overlooked in your decisions first the alco site is on a flood plain those are you remember a couple years ago the stockade flooded the flooded not street an area boulevard in the past couple of months phil has been brought into the alcoa site raising the level of the bank alongside the river if the river floods again with the high banks that are now being built more water is going to be traveling upstream into the the homes that are on along the river north of front street who will pay for their damages in in recent months with the the construction has been going on a terrible of our more cars have been coming through the stockade area people have been speeding they've been running red lights they've been running traffics traffic what stop signs and traffic lights rush hour from the washington avenue exit bias to see almost all the way to the broadway entrance ramp on i ninety eight ninety i'm sorry i know this because i drive it every day area has three piles of things going for first the gold family has brought pro shoppers headquarters their second union college isn't a quarter mile away third you have to hit first historical so in new york in the stockade i were sure all taped isn't a consideration before you vote on this proposal i personally i think it is not a good idea thank you for your time thank you bobby z good evening madam president mr mayor council members commissioner thanks for allowing us to speak tonight i'm here to express my support of the casino project i'm a schenectady resident i am a business owner in the city of schenectady and i've heard the opponents arguments and i respect their opinions very much i see a little bit differently to me the greatest challenge that we have in schenectady today is we have an outstanding school system that's tremendously underfunded and this is a solution for that problem in most municipalities schools run short on funds they raced we can't afford to do that here anymore our taxes are already too high we're losing residents because of our tax issue ation the tax revenue that this casino project would bring in could help in those additional programs that our schools need for the future of our city i'm more concerned about the young people i know there are significant problems with adults that can't control spending  might have gambling addictions i get it we respect that but the five year old kid today who in ten short years is going to make that decision whether or not to drop out of school or to go on to college that's where we have to be focusing our attention helping those kids so that's all i have to say and i appreciate your time since i'm under three minutes i'll just publicly apologize to all my friends who i brought with me tonight who i said would be forty five minutes tops i'm sorry about that thank you thank you alex  al good evening my name is alan i live in schenectady county i want to start off by thanking you for giving me and everyone else the opportunities speak tonight and i want to tell you why i think the casinos right disconnectedly and why would be a real  me as a graduating senior i know how frustrating and difficult the job market is right now because i've experienced it firsthand i've friends who are experiencing firsthand i have family who are experiencing it first hand the casino what drug provide jobs in this tough time especially for young people who need that opportunity of a good paying job being a schenectady native i'm aware of all that the group in the business community have done for our community wherever i go being traveling for sports on vacation or throughout the other cities in upstate new york in the capital district i'm proud to say i'm a native of schenectady i'm asking you to please support this project not just because of the benefits will bring for tomorrow but for the doors  for young people such as myself for years down the road and i think oftentimes in proposals many people older than i am a many politicians speak of the youth in the future i stand for you as a representative the young  seen many forecasts promise us grand plans sell them did they materialize also if we do the math on that eighteen percent deduction well we know what the taxes are so what is the guaranteed amount that the casino has to make so that we can get that deduc there's no public hearing necessary i have the feeling that the decision and i hope that project goes on that you will listen to some of the people who have written to that is that and were asking for a sheet textured that would be fit schenectady and its neighborhoods there's only one schenectady in the world let's do justice to each  but let's think about structures that would not only bring in jim wallace but also tourist my suggestion thank you for your time thank you daniel proud graduate i'm also a member of the c c c alumni committee and a local small business owner i am for the development of the more harbor i vote yes to creating jobs i to growing the s e c c gaming colon area and hospitality departments and i vote yes to economic growth in our community we live in thank you thank you going anywhere i remember how vibrant schenectady was when i was growing up i lived through the ups and downs of this city and now it seems to be we're now in it now on our way up invested well over one hundred million dollars in downtown schenectady and now they want to spend more i don't understand what's wrong with that picture i for one am in favor of this can see you know being developed at the former apple facility now our harbor i can remember my parents taking me to see our elders a balsa spot back then we would go out maxim road which is now we're here aboard extension i was always excited to pass the plant because i could see the engines parked in the yard now i want my grandkids in their kids to be as excited as i was as they drive past a car but it's see it in all its splendor i vote in favor of this casino thank you and i hope you do too thank you jeff nanny help in the long term to improve the infrastructure of schenectady and i also think it's important to take a step back and look that the proposal is for a moderate sized casino ok atlantic city is home to eleven ward casinos so that you need to look at this in perspective and realize that this is not going to be the keystone that holds up the entire city we already have the greatest theater in the area we already have places for world class t come into town we already have you know you need college national hockey championships we have a great restaurants and we have a great bar scene we have trails we have a lot of great things in the city so this is just another piece of the picture and i think that  that's important to see that just realize that this is just another thing that could be a positive distinction for the city that's all i have to say thank you thank you christian good evening i'm a resident on front street in the schenectady i live and work in the city and have seen its revival over the last few years i'm speaking in support of the casino as a supplement to this revival an opportunity to reinvest in schenectady infrastructure particularly improving pedestrian routes from the stockade to areas like little italy lower state st union street and the waterfront because it's coupled with the harbor concept in a city that has a strong  quality restaurants and businesses i think there's multiple attraction points that add more appeal than an isolated casino would bring i believe in the city and i think we're strong enough and smart enough to direct the benefits the casino can offer to our advantage and i wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to do that thanks thank you see zoe williams good evening my name is only williams i'd like to share my support for this project from a different point of view i recently moved up here from new york city i'm currently residing on askew drive and i'm employed in downtown schenectady on state street i believe that this project will be a benefit for schenectady i moved up here looking for opportunities that i was not able to find in new york city being that this will open up way more jobs  open up an opportunity for our like he said they said before just to elaborate the young people who have to have left to try and find opportunities for jobs for places to live i prefer living in schenectady for a few reasons  i believe that if we have a natural beauty up here that a lot of people do not know about people who will who will come and go to the casino and spend money up here and go and visit all of the different social things that will be provided with this are going to be exposed to the beauty the schenectady has to offer and i think that's a huge positive also i am a mother and i do worry i do worry about the budget situation with our schools in upstate new york and i think that this will definitely help relieve the taxpayer is i believe that this will encourage more people to enroll their children in schools and stay here and and raise their children here also i just want to say  regarding all of the concerns as far as people losing control and all the negative aspects i do think that as citizens we are supposed to be held responsible for our own behavior and for our own self control and i think that we need to look at it in a bigger picture i do think that this project is going to be a positive thank you thank you says  good evening mr mayor madam president and members of the council i grew up in the schenectady area on a farm my ancestors with a clue to settle schenectady so the place means a lot to me i really want to just ask one thing about process why is this all going so quickly the city of toronto took a year to discuss the possible sighting of a casino in toronto they designated a year for discussion last holiday time new year's we really hadn't heard anything about this it's only been in the last couple of months apologize i'm richard because the feral i live in rotterdam and i'm here to support the resolution of course because i've seen the ups and downs of schenectady i've made my living in downtown schenectady for more than fifty two years and i  like what i heard from many people this evening about how bad skin they get has been we experienced the good times and the bad times the real bad times and now thanks to metroplex in the glee she group and i was so glad to hear a gentleman just thank the good lisa group for their more than one hundred million dollar investment in schenectady it makes me wonder what naysayers think that they could possibly do anything to hurt this city that they have been vested still so much money into not to mention the fact that the promoters are evidently the very best that there are if you just look at the track record of the promoters that want to build the casino the rush people you would see that their casinos are far above and beyond any that exists with their competition i personally mark that in the search in the city of chicago or the state of illinois they made a law that casinos had to be a certain square footage of certain size so they were limited to building at that soft sylvie did and there were four other that what is that question regarding to averting a problem field that's been a problem field for so many years so ugly for so many years after our poor alco moved out how are we going to let this opportunity pass us by i just can't understand it today in the news tonight a famous actor was quoted on television because he was at the a tie in american federation celebration in our state capital today and that gentleman is tony danza everybody would know tony danza he said that his father told him all his life on our currency and on our money there's a phrase that nobody takes part in much union or something to that effect but translated that means we are all one so i ask for a total commitment from this consul on behalf of this resolution hi my name is sarah baron i am the pastor of the first schenectady united methodist church and i am so grateful that you have made an hour and forty five minutes to hear us so far which comes from my first point i think you mentioned that there is no obligation for a public hearing for this particular issue i think you are also aware with eighty people who wanted to speak in a room that is full of overflow seating there is some need for conversation within the city and i know we're all tired of hearing so i'm going to ask people to play with me for just a minute i'm going to stay on time i promise can people put the signs down would you raise your hand if you are here to be in conversation about the casino would you leave your hand up if you are a resident of the city of schenectady would you leave your hand up if you are here in support of the proposal for a topic and the deep need to be heard to have dialogue and to make a decision together instead of just putting it on the seven of you as much as i respect you  petition that contains more than fifty names asking that you would table this for now and give opportunity for people to be h however realist and i don't actually think you're going to do that so i just want to speak briefly to my objections to a casino in schenectady the first is that it has been stated many times that we're going to have one in the area we might as well get the money  there will not necessarily be one in the area there is the opportunity the obligation other communities have said no including saratoga springs who might know something about gambling and there's been a lot of conversation about economics so let me simply read this quote before i hand it to you as well no great nation or state has ever built prosperity on the foundations of personal debt addiction and the steady expansion of business is that milk existing well instead of producing new well relying on gambling as an economic development strategy exemplifies the attitudes and practices short term is more  sustainable wealth can come from an ever growing debt something can come from nothing but thank you thank you brian right now a longtime resident of this city the dark side of casino gambling is that it promotes addictive behavior and a lot of people can't handle gambling lots of people and it's specially bad for people with mental illnesses where elderly people knows with drug and alcohol problems already we've forgotten that gambling addiction is just like drug addiction on the street what you're doing is promoting a form of drug addiction what's going on in the brain is that same thing and science now shows us that the rush to get from gambling is the same as a rush from taking cocaine that bad the other processes going on like charice you build up a need for more and more excitement and bigger winnings and so on just like going after street drugs and and this withdrawal you feel irritable and restless and unhappy and you cause problems in your family when you can't gamble when you run out of money and get behind in your debt same thing same process and you can't overcome the chase what goes on and gambling places is the need to capture back hundred to two hundred million dollars comes from my fellow citizens losing money nobody is producing anything and nobody is buying anything this revenue means the house has one after reflecting on this my feeling is that there are less predatory ways to do economic development is economic development no but a lot of things in life that are worthwhile are not easy as a city we need to come together to come up with creative and innovative ideas  rush street gang gaming has been fined one hundred five thousand dollars for seven instances of allowing under age patrons to gamble at rivers casino and pittsburgh seventy thousand fine for seven instances of allowing under age patrons to gamble at sugar house casino if a deal in philadelphia twenty five thousand for marketing to people on the indiana property problem gamblers exclusion list march two thousand and twelve now do we think that this is a fit for the our development we want something that's going to take advantage of that riverview a big wal mart building with no windows they don't want any windows in there they don't want clocks in there are in financial distress and have high property taxes they dangle the care of revenue to offset taxes and create jobs jobs housekeeping you know pittsburgh their salaries housekeeping eight dollars an hour security workers nine fifteen hour table and sugar house casino salaries table operator four dollars an hour player services twelve fourteen dollars an hour workers allege that many of them are paid less than  hour working at jobs like this they might as well work at mcdonald's rivers casino pittsburgh suffered fines levied by pennsylvania gaming control board this month for opposed to having casinos and i'm not opposed to people having personal responsibility i believe it's very shortsighted that the city council has taken such a quick stance in already talking about making it says this isn't on where they plan to stand when the vote comes up we want to talk about families and bringing families back into the area a casino is not the place where someone has one and want to bring their families w to talk about thank you we want to talk about bringing families into the city mohawk harbor would be a very good place to bring the city we can have entertainment venues there we can bring entertainment dollars and keep these things that are going to be going into a casino into other venues where we can bring our families and bring shopping back downtown we talked about in last years during last year's deliberations about bringing movie studio here into the city we haven't seen that happen as of yet is it still on the table that would be a great thing to put schenectady back on the map casinos have been a prey as as they've done in numerous studies especially in studies by drexel university in urban casinos on delay on areas of of urban areas which are let's say more saw the underprivileged they are opportunists of the elderly these are our tax dollars and their social security dollars that are coming going into the casinos and in this particular in this particular instance these monies are going out of our area eighty percent of the profits going to this chicago business while i'm not opposed by any means to promoting business by no means but the business should stay here in the city not go out of our area to chicago please please please look more carefully at the statistics i found these statistics in five minutes please look more carefully please deliberate longer and please look at these instances don't like to know where everybody was when i was that a public hearing against the expansion a wreck for bridge i was the only person that talked against expansion wrecked for bridge and people wonder what  for bridge have to do with casino people have casinos for jobs guess what we have lots of jobs in schenectady county and if you don't believe it woke at the bridget the ended the day or the beginning day people wait two miles to get into this city because that's where their jobs are but we don't have them livin in this city we don't have to pay in real estate taxes for our schools in our city we don't need a casino we need to revitalize our neighborhoods we need more people living here for a tax take money from this city every penny you hear that they say it's going to come to the city come from somewhere it's not coming out of the brownfield at elco site it's coming from the people of this area they're coming to take our money and yes we'll get some taxes and stuff but we're going to have to spend money and guess what may pomo our governor came up with the spree polls will and this state's going to skim off the top before we even get any money let somebody else in the state to give our money will riverboat gambling this is not going to make the city shine bring the workers here have them live here have them shop here have to pay taxes don't give us more workers that are going to live in when the casinos were approved in the state of new jersey my wife and i resided in northern new jersey at that time excuse me i have to take my glasses off to read  no hole after all this money that was supposed to flow to everybody just rush to the gaming is in the gambling business gaming is what the public is really going to be in for my name is jesse malecki and i live in the house that i was born in and in this case good evening to the mayor council members and people on the other side of the railing because of allergies i hope i am able to get through this i am not a stranger to you and as much as i have written several e mails to all of you i do not want a casino built near this which is the oldest historic area and new york state which would damage a reasonably area there is also the situation of being built in the flood plain which will make the august twenty eighth twenty eleven flood seem minor compared to what the future would bring i have three feet of water and my first for all the businesses in schenectady are for the christina now most of them have received financial benefits from metroplex who would want to jeopardize that having a casino near by last we all saying wisdom comes with age well i have that age because i'm ninety perhaps i have that wisdom to go with  break so where's the money going to come from after they take their tax from me the person the regular taxpayer our taxes are so going to go up and i say this to all the college students here disappointed in you because i think you can do better than that we need doctors we need we need scientists we need people that are going to make a contribution to our to find cures for ovarian cancer and things like this we need to be better jobs not a casino thank you very much thank you jo with their very careers themselves who will take a risk on somebody like me this is not even a risk it was going on down the street this is a tried and true business that's going to provide jobs pfizer the last big you're talking about work in jobs has dignity all jobs have dignity that's what they're talking about it's all about you know the destruction of humanity and you know everybody seems to be an expert in prostitution it actually blows my mind that is a bogeyman it's a wicker man it's a straw man that people use to throw smoke they want to fear uncertainty and doubt instead of voting for their with their hopes and with their dreams and you know what maybe that is somebody hope maybe that is someone who's dream and who the heck are we to decide who's hope and dream is better or worse than mine it's self determination in this country we've gotten so far away from self determination and almost as vexing we want everybody to say no we say well they said no we  i don't understand where we are anymore i know my argument is probably more esoteric than most of the a lot of people say history so i'm going to say some real history that pin was cleared by a bunch of scots a bunch of royalist noble scots that came here they cleared all the way the western gateway to leslie's glen's the sender's they did it for freedom all that is about self determination down the street and freedom it's part of the penelope part of the fabric of the of the city that will always evolve two hundred years ago three hundred years ago it was different than it is today that's wife hundred years ago this argument is moot none of us will be here and i'll tell you right now the city is connected took a big gamble with me coming here and has paid off great dividends and i would not want anybody to have any more or less than i was given thank you  a part of what's going on here i as a business owner on that side of town think that this project is is something that it's it's it's a win win for all of us certainly as a businessman one of the things i would say going forward and i would ask point this comments to rush treat development is when you do start hiring you're employees i ask you talk to them about the marriage homes program and on a little known initiative that we talked about about three years ago live where you work the north side  connected he has some great homes and i would encourage you to encourage your employees to come there and look at thank you thank you lee inviting good evening my name is well vining i'm a resident living on union street in schenectady and i urge you to vote no against this casino what we need to focus on is getting people to want to live in schenectady a l myself i'm actually from south carolina i moved to the area to work for g but i chose to live in schenectady because of the walkable neighborhoods being able to bike to work friendly neighbors these  quality of life issues that are not addressed by casino and who moves to a city because there's a casino there it's the question is almost laughable and it when you say it out loud to my hometown in south carolina the the local indian reservation the local indian tribe they opened up a high stakes bingo parlor hoping to make lots of money from this high stakes  few years later the state passed an education lottery and being a parlor went out of business because of the competition from the education lottery so these are things that i've experienced in my past these are personal experiences that happened in cities that i've lived in and one going to happen to the casino in schenectady when three new casinos open up in new york city in seven years what is the long term vision for the casino if you look at it because you know attendance over time it's going down across the country for existing casinos because of increased competition has there been any fault to what we're going to do with buildings that remain when the casino goes out of business or has to you know stop offering this great shuttle to downtown because they have to cut costs and these are questions that need to be addressed by the council and by the citizens of schenectady but because of the time constraints have not been appropriately addressed it's sort of like you go to a lake and there's a bridge there you want to jump in the water is this really high here and you jump without looking what's underneath the water first you know at first is exciting you're get a thrill of jumping off the bridge but then when you hit the water you hit rocks but we don't even know we don't know what's underneath the water because we haven't done our due diligence and i don't know how a council can honestly support a proposal without actually getting the studies done and to evaluate the impact on the local community thank you thank you good evening my name is howard berkes i live near schenectady high school and i've got to see disparate notes here and given the fact that about sixty people have spoken before me many of the topics have already been covered but i just want to get a couple of things one of the things that pastor said that is consistent to what i want to say is that i don't believe that we've done with due diligence that we need to we have not gone the productive shops mixed use condos so a big supporter of that my hesitation comes more from the add on for the hotel and casino it isn't a floodplain and in order to build the structure they're going to have to bring more fill in that is going to have an effect on properties and flooding in the stockade in scotia in the lower union street that has  at the data that's now available on similar projects that have been done in philadelphia and pittsburgh including the plain illinois there's the issue of underage gambling it's going to happen i understand statistics you have a question about it and you know in other things one of the one of my concerns as a recipe is that the first i heard of the casino was about two weeks ago legally there's no need for a public hearing but i think this is a very very important issue that the council needs to get the public's input on and so i would urge that you do that and bottom line here is that we don't need the casino we need all the projects and before any votes taken i think the proper studies need to be done in the public must be heard thank you thank you peter look balance the the cost and benefit and i look at this business more and i've read about it in very short time it's a nice basically see it as a predatory business i think if you look at the books about it you look at you read about it it's very predatory it tends to be predatory on lower income people people that are in more desperate situations if you look at what's happening even in connecticut with the every day i miss carl strock because he would have this was an area that he did some research on and he would have brought out some of the other issues that need to be looked at so i would say number one or shove a public hearing  and really look at the full impact of this and not just the promises that are made the the other thing i'll bring up about three or four years ago when wal mart's six of the families in wal mart's each have twenty billion dollars or more when they decided to or four years ago to open up on thanksgiving because twenty billion for each of their sections of family wasn't enough i start to question that i go back to the  good book that said love of money was a root of all evil and i don't see this billionaire taking his billions and given it to people i see him coming in and taking it from those seniors that are up there that i've seen in three different scene as i've gone through it's basically kind of a zombie parade i founded i went to watch for a few minutes and it was just a not a very pleasant thing and i can see why the dot going to have any windows on there so people don't look outside and now with the electronics of it it's much more predatory it's in my mind somewhat akin to the predatory home mortgage thing where they the people  people couldn't pay for it and they ended up sending it off into somewhere else and still making their money on pits so i say please have a public hearing and look at all the impact thank you thank you kathy kathy  's through and i've been working for schenectady almost ever since and that's it means a lot to me i want to send it to continue to grow up i don't want to see it year i received a letter ten pages from texas from a man named bill bill was offering me he said he had been reading about me and he'd like the kind of person i am and he would like me to be a member of his society they were all rich people and he said in the letter you can do all the gambling you won't he that laughs at me and said melinda you are too old to be saying talk in that way but sometimes in life you have to do that love the city love this state i love this country and i have no idea how much longer i will live but i don't want to see the city go down and that's what gambling dogs people that will be wasting their money and the children will be going and going hungry and doing the good things that you're doing and i will be behind you and even if i am ninety four years old i don't see many people here the ninety four but let's love bad mistakes thank you thank you robert harvey robert harvey he did ok thank you  rush madam president mr mayor city council thank you very much for having this long session to hear the opinions the thoughts and feelings of the citizens of schenectady of the existing local businesses because he knows the track crime and criminals casinos especially rush street gaming challenge continually challenge property tax assessments on an annual basis because see no income in new will not support education like the lottery but will go into the state's general fund because you know gambling like the lottery is the regressive tax on  addictive behavior and there's been a lot of research will legally be able to gamble rush street promises high paying jobs yet employment patterns edits other operations show the opposite with buyouts and the conversion of full time to part time jobs i will not elaborate on any of the above problems that casino opponents have discussed tonight i would like to make a proposal to rush street gaming and you have all have a copy of this by the way and stead of lame promises of money around town as it is doing now i would like rush street gamey to set up an endowed fund for scholarships for graduates of schenectady high school this fund would be large enough around fifty million dollars to generate enough in new income to support to wish for schenectady high school graduates any new york state public college junior college or public university the scholarship program which could be called the rush street gamey promise would bring hope to our high school graduates many of whom come from very poor families and obviate the crushing debt that many of our young members our young people suffer when they graduate from college it will attract people to schenectady who will buy our houses shop in our stores and help create thriving energetic city of our dreams this program has been very successful elsewhere such as in kalamazoo michigan i asked the the council to delay its on the casino proposal so that it includes include a resolution making approval of the rush street police proposal contingent upon the establishment of a fifty million dollars endowment to fund scholarships in  area certainly i guess they just don't make these tall enough that's the problem you know work on it appreciate your patience to see evening and for hearing the various pros and cons of i'm part of the coalition that had two of the statements before you it's been eloquently spoken to by a pastor sarah baron and also by my fellow parishioner won the miers and they had him wearing more as a minister of the united church of christ and as a member of the manner for his church so i won't repeat those items i will indicate that some of you don't know that my own personal background is part of my family comes from the kentucky area part of my family comes from a new england area and new england a car a geisha was came to that area to serve a city on the hill and the city in a hill and we want to be a city on the hill and part of being a city on the hill is having public conversation about these difficult issues they are difficult issues and i believe that this kind of conversation is rushed and all it's been expressed of saving is there needs to be much more conversation so before you vote tonight you could consider a substitute motion that would set a full public hearing and set time for more public conversation hopefully a different kind of venue and i strongly urge you to do that since by all the public statements that's not likely to happen we have before you the various things an addition to what was indicated i think most of us really try to get past the emotions and look at the evidence and the evidence is challenging and difficult to look at on both sides are strong evidence lots of ways and it's not an easy research task but it's important to look at the evidence and not just to share of various opinions or that sort of things about it and that's what requires more time the bishops article i share with you has some additional evidence i believe also needs to be looked one last couple comments so about  when i came to schenectady twenty years ago the day after we came here it was a headline g e lays off four thousand people and then the city has made a remarkable recovery and because he made a remark or program i do really encourage strongly and preach it all the fine work of metroplex and many others who invested because we have done that we can afford to be more more choosy if you will we can be more focused on the kind of a the development that we want and we can do much better than   give it to well you know there we had to restore new york grant number three there's five million dollars already went into this property they've already got a pilot to remove the property taxes and the county just turned around and just answered our question and the resolution for tomorrow night which is the county's going to me it says we're asking to speak in the member of the glass a group will develop the hotel component of the gaming that means that glassy is going to pilots that they want to and all the tax breaks where is the city is going to get screwed it's like that then for the last ten years the city and this county has not done in economic study they haven't to transfer jobs to transfer everywhere else where these people actually live if we had sixty seven hundred jobs and we had sixty seven hundred of them lived in the city schenectady pay in  either rent or buying a home we would be in the problem we're in right now that's the problem that we're looking at there is no economic stimulus there is no economic benefits and so we need to take a look at it and tonight you've got the four or five votes it's going to go through but you should step back and take a look at what you're actually asking for because we haven't gotten the first base of asking whether we should have a casino here or not because we need to know exactly where the taxpayers are actually going to pay how much is it going to cost for extra fire department for the police department they say to climb crime is down well course because they have their own police force they're not go call the police department they're going to solve it themselves and then they're going to show the person where the sidewalk is the property line and be done and over with also to as many people mention that this is going to be raised over six feet worse to fly planes going to be so we haven't had any of this kind of stuff thank you mayor mccarthy the members of the city council i am jean sager i have lived in schenectady for the past fifty or so years and most of that time has been the stockade  yesterday's sad and times union reported that the stockade association is neutral on the subject of assume in schenectady to clarify this bill position was taken by fewer than other lebrun members of an organization of over one hundred members in fact there are members who strongly oppose i can see you know about one my basement was flooded with water during hurricane irene the fact that mohawk marino will raise the level of that land six feet can only mean that the next time it would go further that is of great concern and i hope it will be looked into but if that marina is developed there will be other investment messman interests in that area we really have other options i'm sure something that will not come with the adverse effects happier to see it on the upswing and i applaud its progress and those who contributed to its rise but as we move ahead i have grave concerns about adding a casino tragically there has been no public conversation about the pros and cons to inform citizens as i pursued so many depended research on websites such as say saratoga the new york times on ups the casinos rush three gaming and articles about outcomes at other afresh treats casinos i have learned that the news is mixed and often negative revenues are questionable in fact at some sites rush treat has grieved taxes when revenues were lower than projected on may twenty ninth and the new york times state comptroller thomas de napoli warned in a new report that to quote the article has complexes planned for upstate will face to face regional competition and that much of the new revenue anticipated from casinos will come from new yorkers and not necessarily out of state visitors he cautions that casino marketplace is overcrowded affecting successes of east coast sites such as delaware and he continued and i quote we just want people to have realistic expectations as to what may or may not come from this as the websites say saratoga state's casinos are a single destination activity profiting from keeping guests at the casino not stimulating the local economy social costs for our community are worry as well gambling often profits from those who can least afford financial losses is this the kind of business w now as schenectady is regaining its footing after decades of decline why not continue with thoughtful development rather than seeking a quick fix glitzy presentations from the developer and gaming partnership are aimed to impress the other side of the story is much less compelling i think a casino in schenectady is a gamble not worth taking thank you to my resident of schenectady i'm very glad i don't know you're considering i'm very very glad that i'm not living on front street to the council mayor all you people who make the decisions i rigidly was against the casino because when i first started hearing about it the only thing i heard about it was how many votes the council had for it and how many votes it didn't and when the first vote was  to come up it wasn't me because they're worn enough to be positive that bothered me because nothing there was no input from the citizens of the city listening tonight they're blocking the points those going to make have  so i'm not going to reiterate it but it's interesting that most of the residents of the city are not interested in having a casino the people that are most interested was the union that was here because they want jobs in building i sat amongst a number of the people from the union of the five that were sitting near me for live in schenectady that will not be a job for schenectady that all new job for a union if the union gets into something like that there will be no jobs for schenectady because those are not employed in right now any union that's one point that hasn't been brought up the other point is the other point is that right now we have a nice  thing going with proctors i would rather be associated with a cd city that has cultural backgrounds and cultural draw it's such as proctors than someplace where somebody goes to have a real good time spend money and lose it the casinos do always win so i would sit definitely against the casino and i hope you reconsider and as others have brought up do some more research that has not been done and if you don't have time to do the research please vote no thank you thank you  kaufman thank you mayor and council members for your patience in allowing all of us to bring our concerns before you and many of the points that i will we're going to bring have been brought up  by people who express them more eloquently than i would so i'm going to concentrate on what i hope will bring some new information to the table i was born and raised in new jersey and was a young voter at the time that the casino gambling was put on the referendum in new jersey for gambling in atlanta city the referendum initially failed and according to the law at that time it could not on public referendum again for another year but the lobby in support of the casinos reworded the referendum and got it back on the ballot for the next election which was a primary election in the spring so in approximately six months time it was before the voters again and it was past or also i have seen atlantic city before the casinos and i have seen it after the casinos and i do agree with those people who have brought up the point that the casinos do not share and they want to draw people into their venue and provide all the entertainment that a person would need to stay within the casino and spend their money there so there will be food provided and there will be entertainment and everything within the confines of proposition i would say that there is is a lot of benefit that could come from a river walk development my husband and i have been to new orleans we've been to st louis along the mississippi river and they have beautiful tourist attractions along the river because the river is a draw also i would say that housing along the river with those beautiful views could attract luxury apartments condominiums that would draw people to work to live in schenectady and bring drug jobs you know people can bring jobs as well as jobs bring people so and that is basically all i wanted to say this evening and i pray for courage for you to make the decision that you need to make one last thing also all of us want the best for schenectady and we don't want to work against each other across purposes we don't want to spite the downtown for the benefit of the casino and we don't want to hurt jobs we want what's best so please don't see us as  naysayers we we really want the best for schenectady thank you thank you downtown from a corporation i also am a city resident i think surely please to express my support for rivers casino and resort at mohawk harbor i strongly believe that this project will have a beneficial impact on the downtown business community the developer of the former alco site the gillespie group has been pivotal to the revitalization of downtown schenectady their overall plans for mohawk harbor illustrate that they are positioning the site to complement their successful efforts in the heart of schenectady central business district for example the proposed enhancements along j street between the river front provide a clear and convenient connection between mohawk harbor and downtown popular shops restaurants services and entertainment venues plessy group has chosen i successful and thoughtful partner in russia gaming for the development of rivers casino and resort at mohawk harbor russia treats three hundred million dollar investment will generate hundreds of local construction jobs and millions in tax revenue for the county and schenectady their impressive track record of hiring staff from the local community and providing living wages and quality benefits is a major bonus for all residents including graduates of scanty county community colleges casino gaming management program rush treat gaming recognizes the importance of local businesses as evidenced by the tens of millions of dollars spent locally each year at their other facilities rewards destination and will divide an influx of new patrons to discover downtowns business history and entertainment treasures once again i'm very pleased to support rivers casino and resort at mohawk harbor and the positive impact it promises to have on downtown business community thank you thank you anthony ferrari what a night hunt mayor madam president council members i mean if you for are you lifelong resident city schenectady and also a business order i'm here to speak in support of the operation of the gaming facility here in the city of schenectady my whole fifty million dollars economic development project that would develop an old industrial brothel site bring jobs tax revenue and area stabilization to the city isn't this what we're working for anyways isn't that we're trying to do voting yes we'll bring opportunity of twelve hundred jobs to the city along with what the stated york predicts is two point three million visitors visitors a year to the city by voting yes you'll be given the city an opportunity to spark a new renaissance new hotels new converts is coming in transportation hubs in more new businesses voting yes it gives us an opportunity to bring a new industry into the city and this in this industry just happen to be called the gaming industry but by voting yes you'll be voting in favor of the future of the city schenectady and we are asking you a please vote of support of the gaming industry for the city of schenectady thank you very and taxes and all that it's going to do but i hope you guys really weigh the the pain and sorrow that gambling can cause i grew up in a family that was devastated by gambling i really don't want to go into details but my my my sisters and i were innocent children and  gambling wrecked our family life in a lots and lots of ways we had even the basic necessities many times trying to get to a doctor dentist we couldn't go had to go to a free clinic if you could get one of them there are hidden things here that are much much greater than just the economic side alone and keep talking and and the greatness of business there are many many families in this city as you know better than anybody that are in distress neighborhoods that are in big distress and yet you want to you to make a decision you guys being a casino that we don't really have to have we can still develop that area or whatever you have to harbor or whatever you call it but you're talking about putting a casino in in an area that will now be walking distance to the distressed areas now the adult in my life couldn't seem to handle it and it went on for it's right from my first memories of childhood right on through till i got out so we're not just saying we've heard while you make responsible decisions five but what about the kid what about the wife or the husband the innocent one as addiction i don't know but i know it happens when you know what happens and it will happen to some of the weakest families in this city because they can just simply walk over there and do it and the family stuff and the children are stuck in there to go anyway that's what my main concern was please take your time and please take your time and don't just fall quickly you've heard many many many oppositions to this casino project i'm certainly pro development to that area and i would have loved to seen something like the chip plant that should have been here in our brown field instead of going to malta be developed here but not  casino my biggest reason that i'm opposed is i think that we're at a saturation point for casinos and if we're not right now we will be soon every city state everyone is trying to balance  budgets based on gambling i think we would need to create almost a public service project to encourage increase people's desire to gamble at some point in order to have every community and state get the  kind of revenue that they are projecting that will get it bothers me that we're developing the riverfront for this project a project that seems really short sighted with the gambling with the casino if i believed it was the kind of project that would really last and add to the communities well being i might feel differently however positive impact of urban casinos is questionable those that do b are able to attract a majority of their clients from outside the region those that do not just take money from other businesses that people from the region would have spent here somewhere else i don't believe schenectady is set to attract the majority of its clients from outside our region especially if a casino is already built in the catskills and there's already gambling in saratoga i'm not opposed to to any gambling i don't see any need to increase  it most research does say that problem gambling does increase with proximity to gambling no not everyone has a problem obviously but why would we add to the possibility for that problem i actually come from a childhood that was heavily impacted by addiction it was not gambling but anyone who comes from a family with addiction there's a lot of addictive behaviors that are the same and the impact on families is often the same someone earlier said what does that matter about it's too bad for the person who gambles but we need to think about the children who are coming up an opportunity for them when you're in an addictive family you're part of that whole system it's not really that simple you don't just kind of have this addict that stays in their own little room and doesn't impact anybody so i hate to see a trip trivialize d that impact and finally i find something intuitively wrong with selling lotteries and now casinos as a way to find schools in this way they need you to summarize what these the values that we want our east our schools to transmit to students are basically the polar opposite of those that are used to convince people to gamble thank you ok thank you all right now i do not have one more person retiring i live in this area i relate with union college but those that also know the things in downtown still equity has been precious to me since i was a student here in the mid fifties and i intend to be in this area  long time i'd like to look at a couple of distinctions i have heard some things tonight that disturb me a bit first of all i'm a i'm against this proposal let's say right o i have heard that equated that entertainment at proctor's is the same that i probably as entertainment at the gambling facility that will be proposed i want to save you they are not the same at all entertainment at proctor's is something that brings to magination it brings creativity it creates cruet community it creates a get together in this it creates people's inspiration to become their better selves gambling may be entertainment but its chief business is to draw money for those who operate a profit making big bucks business i spent nine years as the pastor of the methodist church in saratoga i have a lot of time to spend with people on the inside of gambling in saratoga i understand that less than five percent by most people's estimates of money that went through and goes through year after year every gambling part of syria toga from the horses to racine know what cetera stays in saratoga and that five percent includes lower pain jobs with no benefits it includes everything that goes to the local government it includes the money that goes to interprete and intrapreneur with businesses downtown five percent out of hundreds of millions of dollars there is not a gambling institution anywhere that has a personality that cares about the people on the other end they do not know them as people they understand them as sources of money and so i want you to understand we're talking about something that deals with people's lives in a very very different way pocket change is what you are being offered back for whatever goes out from this city and the money will go out from the poorest of the poor in the city the ads you see in the highways show people who seem to have a lot of money people who have a lot of money can put down a lot of money and maybe not get hurt or know better how to do it my understanding is too from the experience of saratoga that there will be a new and larger group of people coming from new york city and they will be the ones you always want to  i and then we'll move to the roll call vote on item number four item number four a resolution of the city of schenectady in support of an application to develop an operated gaming facility in the city of schenectady right need someone to move that to the agenda ok mr cocksure is their second but i have to tell you it's not always fun to be the first vote but standing up feels really really good right now so i'm ok with that i think most importantly for me i want to thank everyone that came out tonight because i feel like we have had a diverse audience that came most often they were very respectful which i really appreciate because it's very stressful for us as council members i think people think oh we just make up our mind and we go with it and we're arrogant about it that's not true there's a lot weighing on this decision and i know that i've spent a lot of time thinking about it and you know tonight was not an easy night for us they were engaged i thought everyone was extremely well thought out and made excellent points and i think  the feedback was really really crucial everyone knows i was leaning towards supporting this but i wasn't ready to make my decision until i heard from everybody this evening as for the public hearing issue i just want to point out that we had four public hearings before the privilege of the floor for the legislative agenda three of them had no one speak one of them had two people speak it is my experience since i've been on this council the most tended public hearing we've had has been maybe ten to a dozen people tonight we had sixty or seventy people i know that we all encouraged people to come out and speak so i do take exception to that particular issue i think we've had wonderful participation this evening i understand the opposition that many people have expressed i made a list started making a list of pros and cons but they've already been said so i'm not going to repeat them i want everyone to keep in mind that this is the casino on the river front this is a two phase development project this is mixed use this is reza this is retail this is a harbor and it may be also a casino we also have an economic development a developer and an operator that are all truly professionals and i believe that the conversations have only just started in finding our way if this moves forward to meet common ground the city is served as well as the citizens i just want to at the end of the day between the e mails that i've received the thank you well i'm glad i had the opportunity as well to listen to all the comments were made tonight in addition to that i've listened to all the points that have been made phone calls e mails from from people from all walks of life f you know and also me engaging people in conversations about what is your position because i think it's important to do that in addition to that i attended all the presentations in her meetings that i was invited to attend because i think it's important that in order to make any decision especially as important as this one that we're about to make it's important you take all points into consideration i've done that in addition to that i've done research on both the pros and cons of urban casinos specifically also keeping in mind that much of the recent research on the effects of gambling is paid for by the casino industry but one of the other things of a speaker actually alluded to it tonight is the report from the state comptroller where it says that he's cautious about the benefits of casinos while the comptroller is the guy the big money guy we pay him to look at what makes sense of the dollars and cents and so if i'm going to use any da it makes sense to me to look at the data that the comptroller has has produced because he doesn't really have any as they say skin in the game his job is to look at it from a very objective point of view there was a summary in addition to that with there's a thirty four page report which i read and i encourage other people to do on the trends in new york state lottery revenues in gaming expansions which is dated may two thousand and fourteen so i know i'm not going to have a look read the entire thirty four pages for you but i there are a couple things that i did pick up and i just want to make mention of while the report begins to talk about lotto and other casino gambling gaming it's called and in this paragraph it says all tolled legal came in activity in new york totals well over thirty six billion annually excluding activity of native american casinos and other charitable gaming activities some of those gambling dollars come from out of state residents which we did hear about who purchased lottery tickets and visit gaming facilities in the empire state of course new york are also visit to sales elsewhere while the regional market for the segment of consumers disposable income may not yet saturated and be fully saturated new york has become a more mature market as legal gambling has come where illegal gaming gambling has become more probable prevalent the number of individuals who participate in the amounts they gamble ha as well as the surrounding communities we've heard what the revenue would be but in looking at the revenue it's really also important that we look at what has to come out of the revenue there would be a need for increased police and fire calls  other cities service as well as infrastructure and even if the police aren't there because something happened people are going to a facility as for gaming or anything else want to make sure that they feel comfortable with that they're there so that there would be and needed police presence the salaries we got information on the salaries and they're they seem extremely attractive especially since the median income median income in the city is about thirty eight thousand well if we consider that you know there the offer is as above that there would be very long lines for jobs way down ariba part of the ninety entrants what the primary races that we were looking at her for larger cities where the median income of the cost of living is higher and in order to get to an average also winners are taken in consideration from the guy making two hundred thousand and maybe somebody making twenty and so i use the term guy because on in the game industry it seems like most people in the upper management are men from what i've seen in the research that i've done also there people talked about the jobs and well that in jobs that will come to the community so the question becomes will all the jobs be local well absolutely not because in order to to run a efficiently you would need people who have that skill set and i don't know that we have that many people locally that have that skill set so we have to experience would be hired but in order to have the working casino it can't just be done with the recent graduates from the gaming school and that would reduce the number of local jobs i believe that the river for a project is as proposed these plans on doing and i think it's great also we had a speaker talked about more retail and absolutely we do need more retail in the city of schenectady and i vote for that we can compare schenectady to pittsburgh which has a major destination it's where it's where they eat it's if the closest restaurant and so i believe the other business with businesses with would suffer i think that the did the improvements that we did see in downtown are awesome and i want to see any loss of casino drawing away from that i firmly believe in the economic development of the city there's absolutely no question that i believe in job creation i also believe that there are more sustainable ways to make this happen there was a time when casinos were extremely beneficial to the surrounding communities and cities that got in then benefit from them based on the but based on the data that time has passed and some of those cities are now suffering in the statistics are out there so whenever you're deciding whether or not to pursue a business venture you always want to look at the cost of whether the benefits are way the cost and in my mind based on the research i've done it doesn't now some of the speakers that came tonight talked about well we would like to had a public hearing or a longer time to think about it and maybe that's something that should have happened it didn't happen in this is this is where we are today the net employment gains from from the a problem gambling among new york is something people talked about again i have a lot of concerns about the casino i certainly again will state over and over again i'm in favor of the economic support economic activity what we've done  appreciate everybody coming out tonight and speaking up there is spend quite a while we've been hearing the pros and cons and there are clearly pros and cons of a casino there's upsides downside there's potential risks there's potential rewards as i spent the last few weeks listening to people and talking to people getting input from different perspectives i learned a lot of information i personally  gambling i you know no offense to the operators you're not to get too much my money and i might go because it's in the city if we end up getting one but i'm too tight in the wallet to to put too much money into the machine so it's not my cup tea however there's a lot of things that are my cup of tea that other people do enjoy and i talk to a lot of friends who do gamble with just you know they go to vegas they go to the racine and search quite a few friends come up to me and said well my wife and i will go to the race scene i will go to dinner in downtown saratoga and then we go to the regime for a little while then we go to a bar and have some drinks and we come home that's a saturday night activity so i think there are some people who enjoy it and i think there's an opportunity that would bring some economic benefit to the restaurants in the bars and other activities they tied in with proctors so i think there's some plus sides there are the impacts on families as well and there's a addictive behavior we've put a few people came up with stories in in the family accounting of of of what happened their family when they had a check to behavior whether it's gambling whether it's alcohol or whether it's spending you know shopping or intimate that there's a lot of things that are addictive and it is my opinion that those things will occur regardless of where the casinos located the referendum that was passed at the state level where the majority of new yorkers voted in favor of it an election day determined that there will be a casino close to our homes where the casino is really up to the state at a future point it could be in schenectady it could be in saratoga could be albany rensselaer county there's a possibility go just about anywhere  and if there's somebody who lives next door to you or in your family who has a gambling addiction they're probably going to figure out a way to get to the next county over and participate  t want to talk a little bit about some of the questions that were brought up in terms of timing i agree we should have more time to talk about it and begin to more details the timing is really driven as far as i understand more by the state where the referendum was past election day and then the state says well you have to have this letter of this resolution of support or buy i think the end of this month so the state sets the people talked about the estimates in terms of how much revenue would be say there's no sure thing i think that the estimate of the state gave was five point seven million dollars i'm willing to expect that it might not be that amount on the nose it might be a few a little bit less that could be a little bit more i'm not the one that came up the estimate so i'm not sure exactly how it was derived but i would feel reasonably close that if it was half as much or twice as much would be well within that range which would result in still a considerable amount of revenue for the hosting  a lot of companies when they choose where to relocate they want to relocate where they can find talented employees in the high tech world it's not a matter of putting an ad in the paper in the first ten people that walk through the door qualified  employees you have to get people who have options people who are highly skilled and highly sought out and those people want to move in live in places where they could have activities and quality of life and lots of things to do in a casino is one of the not so thing that would interest me personally but something that clearly interests quite a few people so i think that if you want to attract those good jobs the tie tech jobs that you have to provide a community in which there are lots of different activities diversities not everyone is going to be something that i personally or any of us personally would want to do all of them but a diverse one of the other points of somebody brought up was you know if it's you know doesn't make the revenue it's proposed i would assume it would be like any other business that doesn't make the revenue it would go out of business just like american locomotive did in one thousand nine hundred six right so in would be replaced hopefully quicker than forty years later forty seven years later with another opportunity it could succeed it could fail it's a risk that every business person takes there's a lot of business leaders here i don't think they open up the doors their business thinking oh yeah it's a sure thing i'm guaranteed to make tons of money they take risks and i think that's the same true for this disorganization they could succeed or they may not but it's going to be will persevere and move on to the next opportunity or prosper because of it so i put a lot of thought into this and i have my actual opinion has wavered back and forth as i talk to different people and i have i struggled with it quite a bit and i've talked with family members and people that i trust and i've listened and at this point i think the pros outweigh the cons and so this is one of those issues that since i've been involved even coming to meetings this is been something that certainly it's split and that's just the way it has been i'm going to preface what i have to say tonight and read you some some quotes from someone that we all know and respect and this is from an interview done in april of this year you know i've seen these dividing communities along almost a fifty fifty threshold if there's going to be an issue that people decide if there's going to be a casino in the area i hope it's going to be in a situation where it's not in a poor neighborhood because of the disproportionately impact on the poor he said but in general i'm concerned about of changing our hopes for a better economy on casinos i think there has to be a better way more straightforward way what we have is that the pendency or perhaps someone to lose their retirement check or their week's salary so we can invest in children in their future through education somehow that doesn't make sense to me i know people have been saying that equals jobs and provides for economic recovery i don't know if the soundness of the recovery is as great as we have like to thank you look at the economy in las vegas and nevada it has not been that great the property values have dropped precipitously he added i talked to my colleagues from the they have had tough tough times and you see this growing number of states in the north east that are delving into this concept of casinos i have to believe that there is a finite amount of money that people are able not necessarily willing but able to give after that you have drained some of those paychecks and retirement accounts what's left i think was decided by the people of new york to go forward with this inferi i just don't think it's the best reach we can make for a stronger economy i agree with the governor's desire to fund more dollars for education i just thing there has to be a more fundamental revenue driver so we can do you look at the middle class income community taking it on the chin over the last decade or two it's unreasonable it's unacceptable it's un american now this comes from someone that we all know and respect congressman paul tomko and i'm going to say i'm going to agreement with congressman tom cole on this issue he's a man a learned man that spent in this area for many many many years and he's seen the good in the bad and this is again is one of those issues that not everybody is going to be happy but when you look at you know what spent offered there hasn't been a cost benefit analysis done for us to say we're making a decision on something tonight even for just the support of a possible casino being here where you really don't have the information to really make a good conscious decision on this that's really the bottom line all this priest percent to me anyhow is i had a phone call people in it would have been set a record for public airings but that is something that we call for a public airing it's done in the next cycle the public airing we talk about in a committee like we're going to talk about the four public hearings that were done tonight and then it's either moved out of committee or not for us to vote on the following cycle as far as the timeframe just because it was presented i know that we can blame the state we can blame the state all we want i think this was out there for a while why it didn't come to d sooner to talk about is beyond me but i think it should have been i think the people have been short changed in their input their input tonight is is fine and i certainly listen to everybody all the reacher search that i have gone on this and i've done a lot of research i'm just not talking off the top of my head and the area because senos is saturated it isn't like a was in the early ninety's where there was all the moh sun and fox wouldn't it's different now it's different there's only so many dollars to go around the last quick fix that we had in this city was in two thousand and five thought was selling the tax liens i was standing on that side of the rail when people were handing over big cardboard checks for five million dollars so the city everybody was applauding well that didn't work there's no quick fix this and mayor you always say it's a long haul process and that's what this should be other reason i have to vote no thank you i would like to thank everyone that came out here tonight to speak i just want to follow up with a couple of the question from the speakers them city of connect the share is estimated at five point seven million dollars also we are projected to receive probably tax levy  hundred and permanent casino job is twelve hundred plus parking i mean we are concerned about parking there will be too parking lots of parking of street cars this is not a pilot project it is my understanding it is not a pilot project and the knolls sales tax exemption during construction phase we are talking about a four hundred fifty million dollars investment in schenectady phase one being one hundred fifty million dollars phase two being three hundred million dollars things like the and community development educational opportunity involving org and c c c with a gaming degree property tax relief and increase in sales tax this project isn't opportunity to renew our infrastructure which is badly needed in schenectady where we can use some funding to word that as with any investment there is a race and we need to take risks in schenectady at this point in time to move forward and be positive a six zero six three two zero we'd love to see you there i still do have to say that i'm disappointed in the council for not having public hearing on this issue i understand there was a deadline but i really believed we had time to do this it's been a two month process here we should had this way before and it was the reason why we didn't have it way before it come to you and that gaming program s e say it's not just a coincidence that we have a gaming program and now we have a gaming  proposal in front of us so i guess i would really like to have seen something more than just a wal mart without windows there but hopefully those the opponents will continue their fight at the new york state gaming commission we are organizing we will be there we will be expressing our opinion thank you thank you  mr mayor madam president city council thank you once again for the loan you the opportunity to speak on joe keller and i am a resident here in the city of schenectady just a couple things after hearing all this and mentioning again that it took gathered all that same information but have seemed to have forgotten that there's there's still a lot of residents out there that are adamantly opposed to this and we knew about this opportunity last year and this stuff didn't come about until these folks over there were sitting in the audience of the gleason group gaming came about with all this proposed budget the the mohawk harbor was already there to talk about are all the people now that were for the city and one to bring business into the city where are they all now that real business as a city and people like myself and my wife are talking about on a daily basis they're not here they decided not to stay granted it's late but sometimes you have to put in those late hours just like all of you here doing your due diligence as city council members we're here to as citizens now on a more a better know this weekend is the flag day celebrations on sunday we are having a flag retirement ceremony at the american legion eighteen zero nine union street we'd certainly appreciate some of you being there it's going to happen at nine o'clock in the morning and of course as always on saturday morning we'll have breakfast for only five dollars we hope you attend the retirement ceremony in as much we're also having the very first veterans run form the american legion and that's to benefit our schenectady county veterans people are interested in the motorcycle run it's only twenty dollars ten dollars for the chicken barbecue that also is involved there are people who want to be in the run there can come over to the american legion and register between alleged nine o'clock and eleven o'clock in the morning or if they just are interested in coming for the chicken barbecue that happens a four o'clock in the afternoon l there at one o'clock in the well the that did the stand in for one week at the nursing association is going to be doing for your people again talking about community  based projects again this wednesday at one o'clock and then wednesday at six to eight will be the human rights commission at proctor's and then june twenty second is the anniversary of the homestead thanks thank you and i'm opposed to it thank you and thank you for well anyway i just think it's something is now right there are a lot of people out here that are opposed to this and they didn't even handed chance ok something is not right there are i e there are still time it's not overreact because the gaming commission makes the final decision so it is now over yet i want people out there to know that they can still oppose this and i'm going to to do things i'm going to do phone networking and get some more signatures how they're and geared teet i will find people that don't even know about this so i'm still working on it and i guess that's something it just doesn't seem right that it went through so fast and a lot of people don't even get to know know about it and he somebody tripped he got sued he wants to cut the road so we can fix the sidewalk but then when he said the roots are pushing against this foundation mr mayor bill said well if that's the case we have to take the tree down so apparently there's a communication problem nobody got back to me to tell me anything different so i'm not sure where the problem is if you can follow up tomorrow and maybe find out for him and see what's going on with that but it sounds like it's serious so i think it's something has to be looked at and i appreciate that and just quickly i know we got to street new york state ag and mark's markets commissioner richard ball will cut the ribbon a special music program for children provided by terry robe and will be held from four thirty to five thirty floater book the clown will make creative twisted bones the mark will be in in a week time which was friday last friday and i was surprised to know that he received a phone call and he's not getting that three it's of the injury and we need to look at it very carefully and i ask him mr mayor operation director please someone to look at that everyone somebody can help this guy also just a community announcement among pleasant neighborhood association their regular meeting is this thursday june twelfth at seven p m minutes of the fate of the liver in stopping michael church and  they are having a speaker the executive director from the community loan fund discussing on community projects thank you anyone else who supported thank you thank you  but then you for bring it to our attention once again i also want to clarify other announcement that was made regarding the forum that's going to be held this wednesday at six from six to eight p m at proctor the county human rights commission is doing a form on diversity and inclusion that is the topic so it just wasn't didn't want to it was narrowed down by how it was presented before i just want to make sure that people understand it's about diversity inclusion it's a broader topic in addition to that i just wanted to announce that the hamilton hill neighborhood association has been working on some improvements in the park we've been meeting there and as you know some other work has been done and so we're looking for community input for people that utilize and live around the park so this saturday at eleven a m there will be a meeting held in the park free refreshments provided for people to come out and give their input what they would like to see happen in the park we will there will be a presentation a presentation on some of the suggestions for improvements of the park and and so there be an opportunity for people to give their input on what they like to say so i invite people to come have a few hot dogs and let's have a conversation thank you thank you anyone else has offered free websites to businesses that are in the city's correctly that don't have a website they will get up get it running in help the businesses expand in the the three sixty viewers kind of an exciting progression of how you can do a search and tour businesses and i even though most people have left i thank everyone for coming down putting their input on this again it this is a long voters in again for the scraggly site even if everybody was one hundred percent in favor of it it does not guarantee that we're going to get it in this whole review but it shows that schenectady is able to create interest here in what is a three hundred million dollar proposal and that shows the significance of where we have moved from  decade ago when downtown was still kind of challenging you see thirty three thousand people coming to proctor's we're debating whether we should have a three hundred million dollars deal and i appreciate people's input but i think it's  central park along with the rabies clinic on saturday from eleven till twelve and i believe saturday is also the union street strawberry festival which is always a lot of fun lots of things for kids great strawberries you know just it just an enjoyable