The Saratogian is owned by 21st Century Media. 21st Century Media is owned by Digital First Media (DFM) . Digital First Media is controlled by Alden Global Capital. A devastating article on a website called The Intercept documents how the chains of newspapers under this group have been cannibalized to squeeze out extraordinary amounts of money.
According to the story, newspapers have traditionally had to make about 8 percent in profits to be viable. DFM has earned an average of 17 percent with some of its papers producing as much as 30 percent. They have achieved these numbers by slashing their news staffs, selling off the most lucrative assets at the papers they have acquired, and outsourcing or consolidating functions like editing and production design to remote locations including to places like India and the Philippines. It is axiomatic that the editors of newspapers should be located in the community that they serve…or it used to be.
In court papers, Alden Global Media has admitted to siphoning off money from many of its newspapers for unrelated acquisitions. These included Payless Shoes and Fred’s Pharmacy (a chain) that have both gone bankrupt.
And try this from the story for something creepy:
At the Denver Post, the company is pushing the envelope even further. In bargaining talks with union leaders this summer, Digital First pushed for the right to use artificial intelligence to cover high school sports. They also hope to allow computers to “gather and publish” municipal government news, including “local news stories from suburban communities, school districts and other governmental districts,” according to a company proposal obtained by The Intercept. Denver Post union official Tony Mulligan said the company has already selected a vendor and budgeted money for the prep sports transition.
For those with the stomach, this is a link to the Intercept story that goes into the gory details of what greed and a contempt for journalism can achieve.
The neighbors of the parcel targeted by Saratoga Hospital for its proposed medical office building have challenged the zoning change that would allow the Hospital to proceed with its plans. If a sufficient percentage of the land owners who abut a parcel formally oppose a proposed zoning change, the law requires that the Council must have a “super majority” to pass the change. A super majority is a majority plus one. In the case of our City Council that means four out of five votes.
My sources tell me that John Franck, who announced he would recuse himself from a previous vote that was to be taken regarding the Hospital’s expansion as a PUD, will vote no this time. This means that all four of the other members of the Council must vote in the affirmative for the zoning to go through.
There will be two public hearings on the city’s new zoning map which is based on the city’s Comprehensive plan. There are eighteen parcels that would be rezoned on this map with two of them belonging to the Hospital. One hearing will be tonight (December 3) at 6:30 and the other will be on December 17. The hearings will take place at the city Recreation Center on Vanderbilt Terrace.
I assume that should the votes fall short of a super majority, the two controversial parcels will be removed from the proposed zoning map.
[JK:I received the release below from Rob Arrigo who chairs the Libertarian Party. Here is some background.
For years the Saratoga Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) was the organization promoting economic development in Saratoga County. The County Board of Supervisors defunded the SEDC when the SEDC board refused to accept appointments of County Supervisors to its board. The SEDC decision was based on its concern that the appointment of Supervisors would politicize the organization. It is worth bearing in mind that all the Supervisors would like to see companies locate in their towns and cities so having individual Supervisors on the SEDC board raises the issue of conflict of interest.
In the meantime, the County funded an organization called the Saratoga Prosperity Partnership (SPP) to the tune of $750,000.00 a year with five Supervisors on its board. As Rob noted, in the following three years they produced a total of twelve jobs.
Most recently the County retreated modestly. They redirected $150,000.00 of the SPP money to the SEDC, and they earmarked another $150,000.00 as seed money for municipalities. It is unclear how much the County will be paying the SPP directly next year. They are now talking about the SPP working collaboratively with SEDC and requiring that the two bodies meet together monthly. Based on stories in the Times Union, what the SPP will actually do appears squishy.
I sent emails to the two Saratoga Springs Supervisors asking them to comment on the Libertarian Committee’s allegations. I also sent an email to Marty Vanag who heads the SPP. Neither Marty Vanag nor Supervisor Matt Veitch responded to my request. I received an email from Tara Gaston who offered the following:
Hi John:
I continue to have concerns with the amount of economic development funding from the County and the redundancy in that area, and continue to press for answers to my questions. It is my understanding that the unity agreement proposed that many of the concerns will be relieved, including travel and the focus of organizations; it will also provide County funding for SEDC. However, I have not been provided the proposed contract (despite requests) and so cannot verify changes at this time.
Saratoga County continues with its track record of self dealing and ineptitude. As an indication of their tone deafness consider the following. According to the Times Union, Kevin Hedley, who chairs the SPP took exception to the characterization that the SPP was spending taxpayer dollars. He pointed out that the money comes from the County bed tax that is charged to County hotels/motels. Its that kind of parsing that characterizes both the County government and the SPP.
In another unfortunate coincidence, Brendan Chudy is on the SPP. People following my blog may remember that he was on the city’s Ethics Board and opposed Chris Mathiesen’s proposals to strengthen the city’s Ethics Code. Fortunately, Dr. Matheisen’s proposals received the unanimous approval of the City Council.]
______________________________________________
Saratoga County Libertarian Committee Fights To Defund Saratoga Prosperity Partnership (SPP)
After successful election season, LPNY Saratoga turns to eliminating wasteful spending
Ballston Spa— For Immediate Release — The Saratoga County Libertarian Party Committee is circulating a petition to defund the Saratoga Prosperity Partnership. It can be found on their website http://www.lpnysaratoga.org/petition-detail?petitionId=1000 The Party saw 6 of its 7 endorsed candidates elected in 2019 and hopes to gain more traction by fighting to stop wasting money.
About the Petition
The petition calls on the Saratoga Board of Supervisors to stop wasting money by zeroing out the budget for the Saratoga Prosperity Partnership and spend that money on other local priorities like investing in infrastructure.
“Since 2015 when Saratoga County chartered the Saratoga Prosperity Partnership, a government led economic development corporation, and fully funded it from expanded taxing authority on hotels, it has spent nearly $4M for its efforts.
This experiment in failed publicly funded economic development must end in this budget. We are signing this petition calling on our election town Supervisors to cut funding for the Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership for 2020.
Spending $4 million collected from hotel occupancy taxes for next to no economic impact is not acceptable. Government-style bureaucracy is not an effective use of tax dollars.
Zero out the budget for this agency in favor of better investment in local priorities like improving the county’s infrastructure.”
SPP Facts
The Saratoga Prosperity Partnership is funded by the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors. Its mandate is to develop business and create jobs in the county, with an annual budget of approximately $775,000 according to the Albany Business Journal.
Board of Supervisors Review
The Saratoga Board of Supervisors is in the process of producing a budget for fiscal year 2020 and in that process, it will review the budget for the SPP. There will be a public budget hearing on December 4, 2019. “It is so important that Saratoga County Residents voice their concern with the amount of money wasted and failed projects the SPP has generated.” Said Libertarian County Chair, Rob Arrigo.
SPP vs SEDC
In the past four years the SPP has been able to claim credit for 12 jobs created after spending over $4Million of County money. In operation since 1978, The Saratoga Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) has been able to claim over 17,000 jobs created over the last 3 years in its projects with Zero county money. The SEDC was defunded by the County in 2014 when it refused to allow elected officials to serve on its board to prevent corruption.
The decline of local newspapers seems to be the result of a perfect storm. There is the rise of the internet where people get information for “free.” Newspapers have struggled to find a business model that provides a sufficient stream of income in this new environment. Then there is the shift of economic power from the industrial sector to finance. Traditionally the industrial/agricultural sectors represented the largest areas of wealth. Now it is banks and hedge funds. Our own local paper is part of a bundle of papers owned by a hedge fund. Journalism is the last thing on these new owners’ minds. Finally there is the atomization of the public square. People now seek their news from a source that will parrot their own thinking. Facebook friends are regrettably more and more the most trusted source of information. Whatever tribe you belong to there is a cable channel or website or blog that will reinforce your view of the world. There is less and less room for a community resource like a newspaper.
Chris Mathiesen sent a follow up comment to his earlier observations. It appears below.]
——————————————————
How did it get to the point where I was paying $273.50 for 13 weeks of the Saratogian (not including a gratuity for the very reliable delivery person)? It was partly out of habit. I was reading the Saratogian since I was a kid. It used be a good source of information about our community, especially during the Fred Eaton/Gannett days. There used to be a staff of locally based reporters and editors who understood Saratoga Springs. I relied on other papers for coverage of regional, state, national and international stories but I was confident that the Saratogian provided reliable local news.
On Friday, November 22, 1963, John. Kennedy was assassinated. His death was announced at 2:00 PM EST. The Saratogian, which was an afternoon newspaper in those days, had their front page hitting the streets by 3:00 PMthat day with a short story in bold letters announcing the president’s death. Compare that with today’s paper which is printed in Colonie and includes fewer local stories on topics that took place days earlier.
There was a time when most Saratogians read the Saratogian. I know because I used to help my friend with his paper route when I was a kid and I used to have to take over my son’s paper route for six weeks every summer during the nineties so that he could attend an academic program. Nearly every house received the paper. Reading that paper was a community experience. That’s no longer the case and that’s a shame.
Many communities across the country have lost their local paper. We haven’t actually lost ours yet but the Saratogian no longer provides the coverage of our community that it used to do. This ‘local news desert’ has terrible ramifications. Without news, how do residents stay informed about local government and other important community issues? How do citizens stay informed so that they can make responsible decisions when they go to the polls? How do you find individuals willing to make the commitments necessary to become involved in their community or run for office?
Albany and Schenectady both have good sources of local news with the Times Union and the Daily Gazette respectively. But, as Rex Smith said recently, the TU staff is not large enough to adequately cover Saratoga Springs. We live in a City which is one of the most successful in the entire northeast with one glaring deficiency-local media coverage.
You might want to mention in your blog the sad state of our local daily newspaper. While the paper itself has shrunk over the years and is now providing fewer local stories, the cost of subscribing to the hard copy has increased drastically. They are now charging me over one thousand dollars per year for seven day home delivery. However, according to their website, a new subscriber can get the same service for $372 a year ‘until they cancel’. Due to the outrageous amount that I was being charged, I converted today to the digital version only which will cost only $12.00 per month.
2020 CITY BUDGET PASSES UNANIMOUSLY – CITY TAXES TO DECREASE Commissioner of Finance Michele Madigan called for a vote on the 2020 Budget at the November 19, 2019 City Council. It passed unanimously, and will decrease taxes in 2020.
“Once again, the City of Saratoga Springs comes out the winner,” states Madigan. “Services are intact, initiatives are funded, and the taxpayer receives stable tax rates for my eighth of service to this City.
The priorities presented on October 1st with the first draft of the 2020 budget included capital projects for City Hall, the East Side Fire & EMS, and Loughberrry Lake Dam, as well as operating initiatives for cybersecurity, recreation and trails, public safety service improvements, and Code Blue/homeless solutions. The budget passed during Tuesday night’s City Council meeting remains true to these priorities.
The 2020 Budget now also includes staff funding for the high-in-demand City building and planning departments, increases for local non-profits, a full time hire to address ever-growing threats to cybersecurity, a newly established department for required and much needed trail maintenance, and, in honor of our beautifully green-scaped City and the 1,000 Trees initiatives, doubled amounts for tree purchases. The Public Safety Department is preparing for the new EMS/Fire station and Command Center, as well as for two new police hires pursuant to an assignment that I put into place in September. More hires will be considered throughout the 2020 fiscal year.
Expense increases are offset by the use of healthy reserve funds that have been built during my tenure, strong sales tax and mortgage tax revenue, and the wise distribution of fund balance excess throughout my budget years.
The total 2020 operating budget is $48,715,918, with a tax levy of $16,136,984. This is well within the New York State 2% tax cap, and results in a combined tax rate of $6.0709 for the inside district, $6.0088 for the outside district, and an average decrease in taxes from 2019 of 0.05%.
The City held the required 2 public hearings, as well as 3 budget workshops and 7 City Council meeting public comment periods. I have been available for telephone calls, emails, meetings, and much face-to-face interaction regarding budget suggestions, as have all Council members. The Council expressed support for all recommended changes, as well as a very positive reception and consensus for the 2020 Budget.
The 2020 Budget as now amended is uploaded with the 11/19/19 agenda materials, and is be available for review on the City website.
Commissioner Madigan states: “I believe this is an excellent budget for the City and taxpayers, with a stable tax rate and sufficient appropriations to face the 2020 budget year, and the future, feeling protected as well as enthusiastic! I would like to thank the Council for its work, and I am proud to deliver to the taxpayers an eighth outstanding budget with no tax increase.” ### Confidentiality/Privilege Notice: This e-mail communication and any files transmitted with it contain privileged and confidential information from the City of Saratoga Springs and are intended solely for the use of the individual(s) or entity to which it has been addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or taking any other action with respect to the contents of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please delete it and notify the sender by return e-mail. Thank you for your cooperation.
[JK: Lew Benton sent this as a comment, but it is so well done I am putting it up as a guest post]
A Quick Look at Recent Parking and Parking Related Studies and RFPs
Twenty-Five Years of Parking Studies
Since 1994 there have been no less than seven (7) downtown parking “studies.”
Some of these “studies” were ad hoc, others comprehensive. Two, with assistance from CDTC, employed consultants, others were conducted by special committees such as the 2002 “Mayor’s City Center Task Force,” the 2003 “Blue Ribbon Parking Committee” and the 2003 “Special Assessment District Parking Committee.”
Some were relatively simple and unsophisticated, others, such as the 2006 “Downtown Transportation Plan,” were complex and rooted in a planning process designed to balance downtown development patterns and their impacts on the transportation system. Some were clinical, others more value-laden.
But taken together they represent a significant contribution on how best to meet downtown parking needs, particularly in advance of the presumed added parking demand of an expanded City Center.
And while not all came to the same findings, their conclusions and recommendations made were more congruent than not.
Ultimately they all were rejected or simply ignored by City Councils unable to make public policy decisions or, as in the failure to pursue some of the recommendations in 2006 Downtown Transportation Plan, the advent of a new administration hostile to planning and lacking experience or interest in addressing complex issues.
That particular Plan was by the far the most sophisticated and comprehensive and was financed by the Capital District Transportation Committee, a federally funded metropolitan planning organization. It still has merit and deserves to be reviewed as part on any new initiative.
I hope that all these previous studies will at least become references as the new efforts begin.
Parking and Related RFPs
Added to these initiatives were several City Council released Requests for Proposals (RFPs) to develop existing City owned off street parking lots including the High Rock Avenue property, the Woodlawn Avenue lot and the so-called “Lillian’s” Broadway parking facility.
In April 2007 the City solicited RFPs seeking private sector construction of at least 300 parking spaces on Woodlawn Avenue. The Woodlawn Avenue site was also, at that time, one of the two preferred sites to host the then proposed Public Safety Facility.
In June of 2007 a response to the RFP was received. The proposal included construction of a 52,000 square foot Public Safety/Court Facility and a 500 space-parking garage which would have been transferred the City as part of a lease — buy back concept. The Council never responded.
On November 19, 2008, three proposals were received to develop a parking garage, a public safety facility and other uses including a cinema, “workforce” housing, retail and other commercial uses on the City’s High Rock Avenue property.
These proposals also offered an opportunity to provide essential additional off street parking to support an expanded City Center (a need considered essential by the City Center Task Force.)
Some of the studies and responses to the referenced RFPs called for “paid parking” to finance additional parking structures, maintain existing parking facilities and construct a public safety facility. One response to the 2008 RFP included a one time upfront payment to the City of $4.5 million.
The then City Councils – having solicited those proposals — chose, as had been their custom, to essentially ignore them.
Of course now a parking garage to be integrated with the City Center is under construction and the Lillian’s lot has appropriately redeveloped.
Parking Fees as an Operating Budget Revenue
While some of the referenced studies and essentially all of the responses to Council issued RFPs suggested some form of “paid” parking, none of the revenue would have been earmarked for operating expenses. Rather, parking generated revenue would go to capital projects and parking facility maintenance.
It will be recalled that in 2009 the City budget officer included an anticipated “paid parking” revenue in the 2010 Operating Budget. That should never have been budgeted. It was a non-existent revenue source that was never endorsed by the City Council and was known to lack broad community support.
Under the direction of the then commissioner of finance, a RFP was prepared and released in January. Less than two (2) pages of the 19 page RFP actually addressed the request’s Intent, Specifications, and Deliverables. The entire SCOPE OF WORK AND SPECIFICATIONS were presented in only one paragraph.
The RFP failed to even incorporate by reference the parking studies that had previously been prepared or note the City’s current parking enforcement program, its costs and the revenues it generates.
The essence of the request was this: “The City is expecting $1.3 million in 2010 paid parking revenue …” Little wonder that some potential respondents elected to ignore the RFP. The RFP was poorly constructed and lacked the specificity and references to fully acquaint potential vendors with existing dynamics.
Of course nothing ever came from it except a built in $1.3 million revenue deficit..
But that was nearly ten years ago. The current City Council seems much more adept in defining policy and able to design, fund and install needed program and capital improvements.
Paid parking as a potential Operating Budget revenue should be rejected. If some form of paid parking is deemed to have merit, the revenue must be used — as past studies and recommendations have suggested — to install and maintain needed additional parking facilities and other essential infrastructure.
It may not be the sexist of stories, but given the critical role the Hospital plays in our community the news release below indicating that its financial condition is very strong is excellent news.
N E W S R E L E A S E
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 12, 2019
S&P Affirms Saratoga Hospital’s ‘A’ Rating
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y., November 12,
2019—For the second year in a row, Saratoga Hospital has earned an ‘A’ rating
from S&P Global Ratings, which noted the hospital’s strong, consistent
operating performance, solid unrestricted reserves, growing admissions and
leading market share.
S&P also cited Saratoga
Hospital’s “favorable affiliation” with Albany Med. The S&P outlook for
Saratoga Hospital remains “stable.”
The hospital continues to be one of
the highest rated in New York state.
“The ‘A’ rating affirms the
financial strength of our hospital and results in significant benefits to our
community,” said Gary Foster, Saratoga Hospital vice president and chief
financial officer. “We continue to be well-positioned to add the technology,
talent and programs that are essential to the long-term health of the Saratoga
region.”
Because A-rated bonds are more
attractive to banks and other investors, Saratoga Hospital can finance capital
improvements at lower interest rates. That frees more resources to invest in
patient care.
The S&P report described
Saratoga Hospital’s financial profile as “very strong” and pointed to its
“multiyear history of producing stable financial margins and cash flow” as well
as its “prudent expense management and revenue growth initiatives.” The report
also noted supply-chain, purchasing and other efficiencies made possible by the
hospital’s affiliation with Albany Med and Columbia Memorial Health and
resulting in millions of dollars in annual savings.
Saratoga Hospital sought its first
S&P rating in 2003 when issuing bonds to help finance construction of
Saratoga Surgery Center on the Wilton campus. The hospital’s rating has been
upgraded from ‘BBB+’ in 2003 to ‘A-’ in 2012 to ‘A’ in 2018.
***
About Saratoga Hospital: Saratoga Hospital is the Saratoga region’s
leading healthcare provider and the only acute-care facility in Saratoga
County. The hospital’s multispecialty practice, Saratoga Hospital Medical
Group, provides care at more than 20 locations, ensuring easy access to
programs and services that can have the greatest impact on individual and
community health. Saratoga Hospital has maintained Magnet designation for
nursing excellence since 2004. Through its affiliation with Columbia Memorial
Health and Albany Med, Saratoga Hospital is part of the largest locally
governed health system in the region. For more information: www.saratogahospital.org or www.facebook.com/SaratogaHospital.
Saratoga Springs Politics 