State accepts Troy's Letter of Intent

Thankfully, the NY Empire State Development Corporation did the right thing in accepting the "missing" City of Troy Letters of Intent for projects under the Restore NY grant program.

I would hate to think that the people of Troy would be denied two applications for as much as $10 million under the program because the City failed to file the documents properly or failed to assure the delivery was made.

As of August 30, 2007 ESDC could not, or would not, confirm the Troy applications existed. That's ten days after the mandatory deadline for submission. In the end, the state accepted the City's affidavit and allowed the Troy Letters of Intent to be processed. Funny, there were many other communities that submitted the necessary paperwork with no difficulties whatsoever.

What if this issue was not discovered eight days into the process? How much longer would we go before discovering the required Letters of Intent were not received? Luckily, because of some people who care about the future of Troy, we won't have to find out. If the Letters of Intent were not accepted Troy would not be allowed to submit a final application.

By the way, the projects, which for some reason have not been identified, now must be publicized in the legal notices, have public hearings, a vote by the City Council to say they are in conformity with the City's Comprehensive Plan and statements as to Historical and EEO considerations all before submission of the final application on September 28th. Stay tuned!

Conroy blasts Tutunjian for Missing Grant Opportunity

PRESS RELEASE - 8/28/07

Troy - Jim Conroy, Democratic candidate for Mayor in the City of Troy today called for Harry Tutunjian to explain why his administration did not file a grant request under the NYS Restore NY Community Initiatives program.

"Harry Tutunjian needs to fully explain to the voters of Troy why his administration failed to file applications for funding under this state economic development program. I can think of several projects which would be helped by receiving up to $5,000,000 each"; Conroy said.

"Among these programs are: the parking garage for the Hedley District, the demolition of abandoned buildings at the former Perry Warehouse and King Fuel sites, the development of the Car Wash site for the Lower Congress Street project, the stabilization of Proctor's Theater, the clearing and development of the Jack's Junkyard site, demolition for the Rivers and Estuaries site, development of the working waterfront project and many many more"; Conroy said.

Conroy said; "Not meeting the filing date of August 20 for this funding opportunity is a great example of the lack of focus and poor leadership of Harry Tutunjian and his administration. Missing this deadline is inexcusable and he must be held accountable."

"If I were Mayor I would have had that day marked in red on my calendar and nothing would have prevented me from making the submission. Funding opportunities like this only come around once a year. If you miss it - you're dead for a year"; Conroy said.

According to the project description and goals, the Restore NY Community Initiatives program provides grants of up to $5 million for "projects to demolish, deconstruct, rehabilitate, and/or reconstruct vacant, abandoned, condemned and surplus properties. Additionally, funds can be used for site development needs related to the project including, but not limited to water, sewer and parking."

In order to qualify for a grant this year each community needed to submit a Letter of Intent outlining its project(s) by August 20, 2007.

This omission is on top of the loss of $1 million in housing funds to the City of Schenectady earlier this year.

Conroy Challenges Mayor to debate

August 15, 2007

Dear Harry,

As we enter the fall and the November 6^th election, I challenge you to at least three mayoral candidate debates so we can give the voters of Troy a thorough opportunity to judge our positions on the issues facing the city and on our ideas and abilities to meet the demands of the future.

I propose one debate to be organized through the Rensselaer County Regional Chamber of Commerce, one debate organized by the Neighborhood Organization Alliance and one organized by The Record newspaper. The organizers can determine the dates, times and places of these debates. However, I suggest we space them out so as to have one in September and two in October. If, for some reason, these organizations decide not to host a debate I will find alternative neutral sponsors.

Furthermore, I propose that we encourage the organizers of each debate to allow enough time to fully explore the issues and allow follow up questions from the candidates to each other.

I look forward to a spirited campaign and your agreement to these debates so they can be scheduled and advertised. I will make myself available at anytime; I hope you will also.

Sincerely,


James J. Conroy
Candidate for Mayor

The Trouble with Harry

Metroland 8-2-07 - The Trouble with Harry - His administration is dogged by scandal and has a reputation for bullying ...