Blight - Part II

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The incumbent says homeownership is the key. I disagree with him. A mayor doing their job is the key. The city is in dire need of residential living for the city apartment dweller and homeowner alike. This is a city, not a suburb. We have renters that may not be ready to own their own homes yet, or they choose not to own a home. Many residents have just lost their homes due to foreclosure and there is not sufficient affordable housing stock to rent or own for these residents either. We also have renters with larger families that currently many of the city's apartments cannot accommodate. Many students just starting college and those graduating from college are not ready to own their first home. Most college graduates do not purchase a home right out of college, they rent. Many single residents rent. We can't ignore people. We cannot forget about all those who do rent. The incumbent has said he blames absentee landlords as the problem. I blame him for being an absentee mayor. What if those deep pocket potential residents the incumbent keeps trying to get to come live here, wanted to purchase a home in Albany just as their summer house, or their winter home only. Would he blame them too, since they do not live here full time; and many of them purchase a home and seldom use it. Does he really think that the city looks inviting to lure in the type of people he wants in here, (the wealthy professionals, the nanotech people). I understand that many people want to make money in real estate, but if my opponent was on his game, and did his job, blighted conditions would never be an issue. He cannot keep having a blind eye to everything, and blame everyone else for his failings. These and many other problems, my plans will fix. I have new innovative residential interior design/contract work plans for single residents, couples and families. Our plans will redesign some of our row houses, abandoned and boarded up houses and salvage many aesthetic aspects of the home for that neighbhorhood. Saving homes that are almost historic and are historic is a very important part of my plans also. The incumbent tears them down, because he said its just easier. If people didn't fight to keep what is historic now, the city would have nothing, and I also know that in the case of one school building the city bought, it was stated that if they had known his real intentions, that he was going to tear down the building, they would have never sold it to him. The easy way out is not the best solution, it is destroying the very fabric and essence of our city; and tearing down buildings is also costly. Many of these older buildings were built better than they are today. My plans are different from what the city already has. They will allow for comfortable living space for a family of four or more; for example apartment living that provides 1 or 2 apartments with 1-2 bedrooms each, and 1 apartment that has 3-4 bedrooms all within one house; it will provide versatility for spare room storage space or home office space. They will provide room to grow for singles and couples. They will provide the basic needs of each renter within their own apartment. All will include a washer/dryer, or just the hook-up for those who own their own; and air conditioning and the cost of heat will be included in the price of the rent. This will help residents save money. These designs will also help those people who are physically challenged, through easy accessways and easily accessible sinks, cabinets, faucet handles and doorpulls, also convenient for many of our seniors. Designing with all the residents in mind is key to quality of life for all of our residents. Currently the incumbent tears down a 3 story dwelling, and replaces it with a one/two family unit, which in order to live there, you have to purchase the house, and then who owns it, will most likely have their family or friends living in the other unit. That process has now displaced two floors of residents from their chosen neighborhood, and if you did not have the money to purchase the house, you are just out all together. We need rental property with no strings attached. We also need more affordable homes that residents can purchase also. We need to get back to basics in building our new Albany, and return to what the true meaning of a neighborhood is. People picked their neighborhoods typically because it was close to work, to the grocery store, to their place of worship etc. We need to stop the suburban sprawl, it is reducing our city's population and it is not wisely utilizing every inch of the city. We need a better more reliable bus system also, and although they say you can only have one transit system in the city, I will change that too. Residents should not have to deal with inefficient, unreliable service. There are many places that a people mover could take you, and it is not just for tourists, its for everyday use. For example, if you wanted to have a day out in Washington Park with friends or family or the children, we would have a route direct to the park and back that would run all day long and into the evening, (especially if there was an event going on), and this would be for all neighborhood areas. We need a mayor who is thinking about accessiblity to all parts of the city for all it's residents, our youth and our seniors. People movers will cross over across the city too, that the buses are not doing. Need to go to the hospital, people movers are there with an express route. There is much more, but I'll leave it at that for now. I will also, together with the residents, open up those much needed businesses in these neighborhoods that will make them thrive. You cannot do block by block and have everything going to downtown. You need to radiate out circular from a center point in each neighborhood, providing the necessary elements for it's sustainability. Mixed use buildings need to be done correctly in order to work, and currently I do not see a good use of mixed use buildings that are geared to the residents that currently live here today. The incumbent has wasted years waiting for retail, etc. to come to Albany, and it didn't, a spokesperson of his was quoted as saying "they just won't come here". That is such a lazy excuse. My plans will provide for that also. My plans together with the residents will open up the much needed stores, utilizing the foot traffic in these areas. It takes a true leader to lead. I am that leader, because it takes someone to take that first step in order for others to follow. You do not keep letting a neighborhood flounder and do nothing about it, because you don't want to be the first one to do it, for fear it will fail. Be the leader invest in your city and in all our neighborhoods, because as soon as I start businesses in an area and other businesses sees it works, they will be next in line. I will not wait for someone to save our city, we have to do it ourselves. The residents will take back their city, own their shops, and live in their neighborhoods in safety, without chaos as it should be. I will not carbon copy plans from another city or county and make them mine, like the incumbent's administration has done. No originality, no long-term vision once again. It's not going to work, because our city's demographics are different. The incumbent had plenty of opportunity to control and contain the conditions of the city and he did not. He also says that on Saturdays he drives around the city; he obviously missed 3/4's of the city, because one look is all it takes to see the problems. The unfortunate thing about it, is that the residents are the ones who have paid the price for his lack of responsibility to do his sworn oath job to the residents. Remember what 5 issues anger you about the city and vote accordingly.