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[JoeSpareBedroom]

What foible would lead members of a city council to construct a hall of mirrors to support an unworkable business venture?

[dpb]

Misplaced hope for a new venture's success is a very common one, particularly when tied to the thought of increased tourism, downtown/waterfront revitalization, etc., etc, etc., ...

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[JoeSpareBedroom]

That's about the only theory I *MIGHT* entertain. Just one problem, though: It automatically indicates incompetence for the job they're doing. No private venture capitalist would give you more than 5 minutes of time without a business plan. Wishes do not constitute a plan.

[dpb]

Well, it goes w/ the territory. What training and qualifications testing and certification will you have to pass in making your bid to replace one of the existing? Undoubtedly the same as they did.

There's also a big difference between government entities and business. Not all government ventures are ever intended or even thought possible to be run at a profit but are willingly subsidized if seen as being a benefit "for the greater good". Having not been to Rochester in well over 20 years, I can't comment on anything recent.

(I did used to attend an annual conference there for quite some number of years and had cousin and her husband who were on faculty/research staff at the med school. They actually lived outside Bergen on an acreage w/ a late 18th-century farm house. Attending the conference was mostly just an excuse for being able to get up there to visit them. I suppose that was just being like a politician, too...)

[Kurt Ullman]

Never attribute to venality that which can best be explained by stupidity? Also where did the money go to? Who owned the building that the tax money paid for?

[JoeSpareBedroom]

I don't know who owned it, but I know who built it, and which of a small handful of law firms and architects made out well from the project.

[dpb]

But it's so much more self-gratifying to make someone else out to be a bandit... :)

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[JoeSpareBedroom]

We each have our own form of gratification.

There's a long list of things that need to be explained. The same slobs are pushing for an arts center, once again with absolutely no business plan, no numbers to prove the need for the facility, or theories to project where business will come from. The only explanation is that it will "revitalize downtown".

Just one problem: That assumes there are customers. The fast ferry project began the same way. It was based on the assumption that there were plenty of customers who were dying to take a boat to Toronto, instead of driving there. Unfortunately, neither of those two customers showed up more than once. Nobody checked to see if the Canadians were building a facility for passengers, so people were left standing in the cold rain when they arrived in Toronto. And, nobody checked to see if Canadians were interested in coming here for our world-class restaurants (all two of them), our baseball team (when they could see the Bluejays whenever they wanted), etc.

Incompetence is one explanation. But, I choose another. When people are not held personally responsible for the results of their decisions, you get bad decisions.

[dpb]

JoeSpareBedroom wrote: ...

But that again is far from graft or corruption as claimed initially...

I'm sure you'll fix all their problems and never make a poor choice. :)

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[JoeSpareBedroom]

There are always reasons to be cynical about government. Always. There is no debating this fact.

[dpb]

Just remember that when you're one of them... :)

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[JoeSpareBedroom]

I will. Believe me.

[dpb]

Good luck if it happens. I suspect being on the other side will be an education and an eye-opener.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

An acquaintance is on the town board a few miles down the road. He said my attitude could get me killed. Funny, eh?

[dpb]

Small towns/rural counties in TN tended to have occasional "events", larger places like Knoxville, not so much. Here, haven't heard of such since Prohibition time frame. Don't know Rochester well enough to know likelihood. Guess it would depend on who you offended and how...

OTOH, one can easily become totally irrelevant and impotent by being so dogmatic that any good one possibly might do becomes nil.

There's a State Senator here that's pretty much that way. All kinds of protest votes and bills introduced, but for years was essentially useless in actually having any impact whatsoever. He has finally begun to figure out that to make progress, sometimes one has to be willing to compromise. It can be a hard lesson, indeed.

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[JoeSpareBedroom]

Welcome to New Jersey....