Water authority sale won’t cure Chester’s ills
Chester’s disease of a lack of a sustainable tax base must be cured, not the bleeding that the proceeds of the water authority sale will temporarily stop.
I address the recent conclusion of a study that recommended the sale of the Chester Water Authority. Apparently, the basis for the recommendation is that such a sale is the only solution to the current economic plight of the City of Chester.
An examination of the history of what probably resulted in Chester’s present economic distress goes back many years; and it was impacted by two major events. First, when Scott Paper Co., a major industrial plant in the City of Chester, contemplated building its international headquarters in the city, the political power establishment was approached for tax concessions to Scott in exchange for establishing its international headquarters in the city. For whatever reason, the McClure Machine chose not to permit such tax concessions. As a result, Scott Paper built its international headquarters near Philadelphia International Airport. This began the exodus of numerous established businesses, both large and small, from the City to outside locations. It is interesting to note that in Saturday’s edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer, dated May 26, 2018, on the first page of Section B, the Section entitled “The Region,”, article appears regarding the tax abatement policy in the City of Philadelphia. The following statement from that article is pertinent:
“The city’s report, released Thursday and conducted by Chicago-based real estate consulting firm, Jones Lang LaSalle, found that the 1997 tax-abatement program is still spurring development and generating jobs in the city.”
The second major contributing factor to the continued exodus of businesses was the Chester Redevelopment Authority and its ill-fated attempt to redevelop downtown Chester.
The head of the Chester Redevelopment Authority had as his philosophy that all the sites required for redevelopment be acquired first (over a period of time) and only after completion of acquisition would the Authority then seek new development for the acquired areas. Chester Redevelopment Authority rejected the other major method of redevelopment, namely to acquire a site and fix its replacement business immediately so that there would be no long period of time with a large inventory of vacant ground. The hope had been to create major shopping centers such as the Springfield Mall, Granite Run and similar developments.
Consequently, Chester has been left with the inability to have a sufficient tax base to support its services, payroll, employee retirement benefits, etc. Hence, we now see the recommendation that the current economic deficiencies be funded by selling the Chester Water Authority.
Giving credit where credit is due, the McClure Machine must be recognized for the genesis of the Chester Water Authority. Unfortunately, its sale does not solve Chester’s underlying disease. It merely provides a means to get the sinking boat back to a floating position; but how do we keep it afloat? When it begins to sink again, there will be no water authority to sell.
Chester’s disease of a lack of a sustainable tax base must be cured, not the bleeding that the proceeds of the water authority sale will temporarily stop.
many of whom have entered the United States The concept of sanctuary cities is used by lawmakers to protect immigrants who have entered our nation illegally from deportation. I believe that ideally, immigrants should enter our nation legally. But I believe two points are relevant. Aside from a small number of Native Americans, many European immigrants in essence entered the territory which is now the United States illegally, that is, without permission from Native American authorities to come here. Although peace treaties were typically signed, in time many such treaties were broken, as European immigrants steadily encroached on Native American tribal lands as they moved westward, forcing Native Americans from their lands.
Second, some years ago I worked at a group home with disabled men. Several of my co-workers were immigrants from Liberia, who fled from a brutal civil war seeking a better life in our nation. In my experience, these immigrants were good, hardworking people, who had the best interests in mind for their families.
While I support sanctuary cities to welcome and protect immigrants from deportation, as a supporter of stringent gun control laws, I oppose “sanctuary counties” for gun owners . Let’s please both welcome immigrants and protect them from deportation, as well as welcome and protect the innocent unborn from the violence of legal abortion. illegally.