Globetrotting Mayors & Cured Meats

I Smell Old Antics . . . and Cheese

I like prosciutto as much as the next person but are we going to pay for this too?

From the D&C:

Mayor Robert Duffy expects to travel to Parma, Italy, with a contingent of city leaders as soon as February to get a better understanding of the "Made in Italy" project and to help cement details with proponents in that region of northern Italy.

"It's important for us to go over for everyone to see there is serious negotiation going on," the mayor said. "Part of the foundation for this (business relationship) is a sense of trust, and it has to be a two-way street."

Maybe the Mayor really likes pecorino romano, but Duffy's globetrotting seems strangely similar to our last frequent flyer: Bill Johnson. Johnson's travels were many, for instance, a jaunt to Baltimore to visit with the company who would eventually become the failed developer of the High Falls district; but this international mini-vacation for Duffy seems rather extraneous, especially if the deal falls through and the cost of the trip for taxpayers gets added to the already $250,000 tab - a total racked up when the City gave the developers that much just to keep open their option to buy the property. (It seems the developers just happened to put the building on the market at just the right time.)

I hope this project succeeds and we partner with the Italian government and Midtown is revitalized; unfortunately, this appears as another backroom political deal where the public's opinion does not matter. The current owners of stores within the mall portion of Midtown have not even been consulted about proposed plans for the property. If Duffy wants to do this deal in private then go ahead (in fact an agreement has already been signed by Duffy), but we here at the Water Buffalo Press will demand the following: if this is an idea that private entities believe can succeed then use private funding and monies to finance the project, NO COMIDA abatements, NO EMPIRE ZONE incentives, use an external revenue source to expand the area's tax base, reduce the second highest property tax burden in the nation and actually benefit Rochester instead of being another ferry or performing arts center/bus station.