Lancaster Supervisor Robert Giza often says he would like to do to Lancaster what Chauncey Depew did to the village of Depew.
The village of Depew, New York was named for Chauncey Depew.
Chauncey Depew (1834-1928) was an attorney who worked for Robber Barons like Jay Gould and Commodore Vanderbilt. He was an associate of William M. Tweed; better know as “Boss” Tweed, of Tammany Hall fame.
From 1899 to 1928 Mr. Depew was Chairman of the Board for New York Central lines, a railroad company.
Mr. Depew was a one term U.S. Senator. He failed to win re-election because of a scandal over retainers he received from the Equitable Life Assurance Company.
Jay Gould is infamous for a number of questionable business ventures. In 1869, Gould and James Fisk schemed to corner the gold market. Their joint venture created the Black Friday panic of September 24th, 1869. Thousands of innocent people were driven to financial ruin as a result.
Mr. Depew helped Robber Baron Jay Gould establish Gould Coupler in Depew.
Gould Coupler manufactured railroad car coupling devices. The village of Depew grew around the plant. At one point in time, Gould Coupler was the largest employer in the village.
Like many former American industrial firms, Gould Coupler no longer exists
Sometimes pictures speak louder than words. The following picture symbolizes the Ultimate Legacy of Chauncey Depew.
The collapse of Gould Coupler financially crippled the village of Depew. Depew never recovered from the loss. Due to the loss of revenues and bad financial management, the village government is virtually bankrupt. The number of abandoned houses in Depew increases every year. The Main Street area, once the center of Depew, is now a federally recognized poverty zone. Depew’s financial condition has deteriorated to the point where the village is contemplating abolishing its police force.
Chauncey Depew’s ultimate legacy to the village that bears his name is one of industrial blight and ruin.
Is this what Robert Giza wants to do to Lancaster?
Sometimes the specifics differ but the end results are the same.
During Giza’s tenure as Supervisor he aided the birth of one large business, the Top’s Warehouse.
Lancaster Supervisor Robert Giza
The Top’s Warehouse is no longer owned by Top’s Markets or Dutch Royal Ahold. The warehouse is currently owned by CSX, an international transportation company.
CSX is currently experiencing financial difficulties. In the near-future, there is a good chance that the company’s financial problems will negatively impact its operations in Lancaster.
Originally, the warehouse was supposed to hire six hundred people. Three hundred of the employees were supposed to be Lancaster residents. Now the operation employs three hundred people and no one on the town board knows how many CSX employees live in Lancaster.
But here’s where the specifics of Robert Giza’s ultimate legacy will differ from Chauncey Depew’s. Under Giza, the town’s development has not been evenly balanced. There is no huge corporation that is drawing people to and sustaining the residents of Lancaster.
During Giza’s reign, Lancaster experienced a glut of housing developments. Lancaster’s town board approved every housing development proposed under Giza.
Industrial and commercial growth in Lancaster is lackluster. The failure of small business is almost at par with the growth of new small businesses.
Historically, housing developments use $1.00 of government services for every $0.85 of tax revenue they generate. On the other hand, businesses use $1.00 of government services for every $1.35 of tax revenue they generate.
Lancaster’s unbalanced growth is not generating the tax dollars necessary to sustain it in the long run.
To further exacerbate the problem, the new homes built in Lancaster generally cost more than twice the average value of homes in Erie County. The average value of a home in Erie County is around $100,000. New homes in Lancaster generally sell for $200,000 plus.
Many new home buyers stretch their budgets thin to purchase one of these homes.
The following factors will expose the disastrous and short-sightedness of Robert Giza’s unbalanced development schemes.
Gasoline Prices: For years, oil analysts told Americans that the price of gas will eventually rise above three dollars a gallon. For years, we ignored the warnings.
The majority of working Lancastrian adults are not employed in Lancaster. The rising cost of gasoline will eat into their budgets. This will hurt home buyers who stretched their budget to buy an expensive new home in Lancaster.
Home Heating Fuels: The costs of all fuels used to heat homes during long Western New York winters are rising astronomically and will continue to rise.
New homes are energy efficient. But they are also larger. Savings accomplished through efficiency are negated by the need to heat larger spaces.
Again, these increased costs will further strain stretched household budgets.
Rising Taxes: Because the mass volume of development are structures that require more government services than they pay for in tax dollars, property taxes will continue to rise.
Between 1994 and 2004, Lancaster's budgeted property tax levies increased from $6,681,800 to $14,826,770, a 121.90 percent increase. The largest annual increase occurred between 2002 and 2003, when the tax levy increased a whopping 15.08 percent.
It is a well-documented fact that high costs, including high taxes, drive people away from communities. As witnessed in the city of Buffalo, population declines are further exacerbated by the lack of good paying jobs.
The supposed “Smart Growth” platform championed by Robert Giza has not created “high-paying” jobs. But it has created an environment where people live in expensive homes that are costly to maintain. Most of these people do not work in Lancaster. Their daily commute to work grows more expensive with every increase in the cost of gas. Their tax burden grows with every new home built in Lancaster.
Will Robert Giza’s Ultimate Legacy mirror that of Chauncey Depew’s? Only time will tell. But it’s clear that if Mr. Giza’s development strategies do not change, Lancaster is headed for the same financial disaster that haunts Depew.
© Copyright 2006 by Speakupwny.com
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Originally Posted by shadow
Could we , should we - expect any thing different ! ?
Giza & Keysa... Mr.Clark is watching
