What a difference a new city manager makes.
John Salomone was a classic good ol' boy who knew how to play the game of politics in Auburn but never did a thing to help the average citizen. During his reign, power was concentrated into the hands of a few politicians and city department heads who called all the shots in this town.
And you better not have crossed them. Whether you were a property owner seeking home improvements or a business owner who wanted to enact some paint-up, fix-up to make your business more attractive, you could count on getting a hassle from code enforcement.
A good example is the little neighborhood ice cream shop over on Mattie Street. This is the perfect kind of small business that gives a community character and all they got from code enforcement was grief. Over and over they've had to go to city hall to plead their case for improving the property and nobody would help them.
Eventually they lost an entire season, as if getting a start-up business off the ground isn't difficult enough.
Or how about the owner of the bar and grill on Wall Street who wanted to pave her lot. By the time code enforcement got done with her, it was like raising the Titanic.
These are just a couple of examples; the list is endless.
But now Mark Palesh is our city manager and there's good reason to be hopeful about some positive changes in the future. He wants to check out the entire regulation system with an eye toward actually encouraging people to improve their homes and businesses. Can you imagine such a thing in Auburn, N.Y.? Amazing!
And he has already taken a major step in improving the whole system. Palesh has put code enforcement under the authority of the Office of Planning and Economic Development. Code used to report to the Auburn Fire Department.
Authority has been misused in the past and everybody know it.
Breaking up this cute little twosome will be good for all taxpayers and will promote more ethical behavior by city officials.
City councilor Matt Smith has shown a lot of courage by championing this cause.
Palesh has correctly diagnosed many problems in this town in a short period of time, including cleaning up the areas along the Owasco River for future development.
That's where the future economic growth for this area lies, not in a casino.
Ducayne's column appears Tuesdays in The Citizen and she can be reached at
sacredheart6005@hotmail.com
And you better not have crossed them. Whether you were a property owner seeking home improvements or a business owner who wanted to enact some paint-up, fix-up to make your business more attractive, you could count on getting a hassle from code enforcement.
A good example is the little neighborhood ice cream shop over on Mattie Street. This is the perfect kind of small business that gives a community character and all they got from code enforcement was grief. Over and over they've had to go to city hall to plead their case for improving the property and nobody would help them.
Eventually they lost an entire season, as if getting a start-up business off the ground isn't difficult enough.
Or how about the owner of the bar and grill on Wall Street who wanted to pave her lot. By the time code enforcement got done with her, it was like raising the Titanic.
These are just a couple of examples; the list is endless.
But now Mark Palesh is our city manager and there's good reason to be hopeful about some positive changes in the future. He wants to check out the entire regulation system with an eye toward actually encouraging people to improve their homes and businesses. Can you imagine such a thing in Auburn, N.Y.? Amazing!
And he has already taken a major step in improving the whole system. Palesh has put code enforcement under the authority of the Office of Planning and Economic Development. Code used to report to the Auburn Fire Department.
Authority has been misused in the past and everybody know it.
Breaking up this cute little twosome will be good for all taxpayers and will promote more ethical behavior by city officials.
City councilor Matt Smith has shown a lot of courage by championing this cause.
Palesh has correctly diagnosed many problems in this town in a short period of time, including cleaning up the areas along the Owasco River for future development.
That's where the future economic growth for this area lies, not in a casino.
Ducayne's column appears Tuesdays in The Citizen and she can be reached at
sacredheart6005@hotmail.com
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