Envisions Doom and Gloom

Neither retail nor tourism are growth industries in the future of the U.S. economy.

The U.S. consumer is under assault from all sides: the value of the U.S. dollar is dropping dramatically, in part due to the unsustainable international trade deficit, the out-of-control U.S. budget deficit, and worst of all because of the over $9 trillion U.S. national debt, which has increased by well over 50% in the last six years.

Real income adjusted for inflation has been slipping for years. To compound the issue, as U.S. manufacturing jobs disappear overseas, all that are left are lower-paying "service" jobs.

U.S. consumers are facing the additional burden of out-of-control health insurance and health care costs, which are eating up more and more discretionary income. Add to this the increasing price of energy, which is a direct result of the drop in value of the U.S. dollar, and U.S. consumers are facing a "perfect storm" with no light on the horizon.

The U.S. economy is undergoing a fundamental shift which will forever reduce our standard of living. Expenditures which are not absolutely positively needed will out of necessity be reduced. People simply will not have money to waste on consumer goods and trips that they can no longer afford.

This is not fiction; these changes have already begun. As time goes on, it WILL get worse.

Convention Center End Game

The casino is going to be a VERY hard sell. Yes, Dale High and LNP will play hardball, and we'll hear all kinds of noise about how high our taxes will go if the casino isn't brought in. And it will be messy: Wachovia will have to foreclose on the convention center and turn it into private ownership (and likely sell it to High for pennies on the dollar; High will be hailed as a hero in the media for "saving" downtown Lancaster) before it can be turned into a casino.

But public opposition will be vocal and widespread. What SHOULD have happened eight years ago will be overwhelmed by conservative Lancaster County sentiment.

I expect Lancaster City officials to play hardball, also. I am sure that the casino promoters (Dale High?) will have to make some kind of deal with Lancaster City and the School District of Lancaster before government officials sign off on the deal. I believe that the casino will be required to pay a LOT more than just real estate taxes - likely a cut of the take - in exchange for permission to open a casino.

It is likely that whatever it costs the casino to operate in Lancaster City will result in at least holding the line on taxes in Lancaster City and the SDoL, and possibly even a token reduction.

Money for 441 Re-routed to Crossings Interchange

When THE CROSSINGS was proposed, I attended quite a few of the meetings in Manheim Twp.

When the package was passed with Mr. Tom Smithgall at the helm, Manheim Twp. passed the project with a TEXT amendment meaning that the Center AND the highways to and from, in and out all have to be funded and opened at the same time. There was no promise to expand the bridge over 30 on Harrisburg Pike etc.

Also, the real estate around this project has become worthless for residential.

This week at the Commissioners' meeting, Mayor Lutz from Columbia pleaded with the Commissioners to help him reinstate funding for the relocation of the 441 bypass that had been promised by the powers that be to be completed by 2012. This bypass is the lifeline to Columbia and really needed as they are coming alive downtown, and investors are projecting to the future with anticipation that 441 will be relocated.

The Mayor was informed last week that the money is no longer available. WHERE DID IT GO? I STOOD UP AND TOLD THEM WHERE IT IS GOING — TO THE CROSSINGS. AND WE DO NOT NEED MORE SHOPPING.

Columbia needs the bypass to save the town and it will be an economic boom come true. It fulfills the comprehensive plan of the county etc. Is this state and federal government not bought and paid for?

PLEASE keep a watch on this my friends because High almost got away with TAKING FROM THE POOR AND GIVING TO THE RICH. These Commissioners are going to see this in their face from me every week until that money goes back to Columbia instead of disappearing.

As for The Crossings, supposedly Wegman's [super market] and K Mart are going to be big players plus high end stores of some kind. This is just another High saying I am going to do this project no matter what.

PLEASE KEEP ALERT.

Quiz on double speak

Question: Which large developer, power broker, and corporate welfare recipient publicly states the following about his latest project?

"Market research shows that Lancaster is under-stored and that significant revenues are being lost by consumers traveling out of town to shop at venues unavailable here. The retailers that would participate in this kind of center will complement the existing independent shops and cultural activities by adding to the comprehensiveness of the kinds of experiencesa vailable in Lancaster County."

Answer: Dale High, of his Crossings project on his official Crossings website.

Of course, one might ask why a developer would build a shopping center in an area (Manheim Township) that is intended to draw shoppers out of a district (downtown Lancaster) where he is building another project.

And if any of you could interpret the second sentence in the quoted text above, I'd appreciate it. I guess I needed to take even more advanced literacy courses because that to me sounds like George Bush on his speech writer's day off.

Can we really be of help?

In an article posted on NewsLanc.com/ on Wednesday, February 27, 2008, former County Commissioner (and current LCCCA board member) Sharron Nelson is quoted as saying:

"Our much-maligned Convention Center can capitalize on that if we work together to make it a success."

Would someone PLEASE explain exactly what "WE" can do to make the hotel and convention center project "a success"???

Contractually, all marketing and booking for the project is controlled by Interstate Hotels and Resorts:

"21 Operation of Convention Center. The Authority hereby authorizes and engages Manager as its exclusive agent to act as the operator and manager of the Convention Center during the Management Term, with exclusive responsibility and complete and full control and discretion in the operation, direction, management and supervision of the Convention Center."

Contracts and agreements for conventions and meetings are ALWAYS made directly between the event organizer and the convention center manager. People who are considering downtown Lancaster as a venue for their event aren't going to consider the opinion of local residents when deciding where to hold their event; their decision will be based on marketing materials, salesmanship, and contract negotiations with Interstate Hotels.

Some months ago, I personally asked Brian Sparacino from Interstate Hotels what influence the public can have on the project. After dancing around the subject, he clearly admitted that the public has NO influence over bringing convention or meeting business to the taxpayer-financed convention center.

Sharron Nelson is doing the people of Lancaster City and County a great disservice by perpetuating the fiction that "WE" can have any kind of effect at all on the "success" of the hotel and convention center project.

Fewer Students, More Crime

Lancaster Newspapers has not reported one of residents' chief grievances with F&M – the significant crime increase that has arisen since nearly 400 students have moved from the neighborhood into the new dormitory on Harrisburg Pike. At the planning commission meeting Feb 20, several residents noted increases in vandalism, burglary, assaults, and drug-related crime in the past year. Much of this crime is believed to be due to landlords filling the glut of vacant housing with marginal residents.

This situation is particularly galling for me and other off-campus student landlords. In the fall of 2006 F&M met with landlords to advise them of their plans to relocate 400 students to the new resident halls on Harrisburg Pike. The landlords, although disappointed, were generally resigned to the decision. The one request landlords made was that F&M gradually phase in the change to avoid a flood of vacancies that would make it difficult for landlords to find quality tenants.

F&M not only ignored that request, but moved to lease the new housing immediately when they learned from landlords that student housing is leased 6 months in advance of the lease starting dates. This has resulted in the current high vacancy rate and a scramble to find good tenants.

Now in a market of excess supply, F&M is attempting to change the zoning laws that off-campus landlords have successfully lived with for 20 years. The top reasons given for this request are increased safety and control of the students. If this is truly F&M's goal, my suggestion is that F&M use Kevin Silverang's $17 million to build the on-campus dormitory they claim is in their 10 year plan.

F&M Misleads Public

Franklin & Marshall College (F&M) informed the public a couple of years ago that, at some future point, students would no longer be allowed to rent from private landlords. People who owned properties that were leased to F&M students made business decisions based on that information.

Recently, F&M disclosed to the public they have an exclusive arrangement with Kevin Silverang in which only his company will be allowed to lease properties off campus to as many as 240 F&M students.

The City of Lancaster is now being asked to alter zoning in order to grant Mr. Silverang liberties regarding the allowed number of occupants per property which will not be granted to other investors unless they enter into a similar exclusive arrangement with another institution of higher learning.

Interestingly, Mr. Silverang has purchased many of his properties from investors who had no idea that such an arrangement with F&M may exist.

Why should Mr. Silverang get such special treatment and privileges?

F&M has knowingly misled the public which may have resulted in property owners making business decisions to their own detriment and to Mr. Silverang's benefit.

Such unethical behavior by F&M should not be tolerated by the local community, especially since it pays little or no property taxes but receives many services from the local government.