Still Keeping the Public out of RenSquare
The gated community that is becoming the RenSquare project has spend a lot of money for nothing to show. I say gated community because the gates are denying public access. What do I mean? Well, the D&C editorial board has kissed and made up with the Brooks administration over openness yet documents detailing exactly how money was spent (14-to 16 million dollars depend on who you speak to) are not accessible.
We covered the multimillion dollar expenditure a while back. Go back and reread it - then read the comments. 13WHAM has a good follow-up
Check out this report from 13WHAM.
Monroe County has been leading the project. County Executive Maggie Brooks capped spending at $230 million, of which $175 million has been secured. The $15 million that has been spent came from federal, state, and county sources.
[snip]
13WHAM News attempted to find out how the rest of the money was spent. Last month, Brooks pledged to be more open about the project and hired a records access officer, Mike Power.
Through a spokesman, Brooks declined our request for an interview on past expenditures. She directed all questions to Power.
So she hired a records person to deal with the public. Great. Wonder how much that cost? Brooks doesn’t want to go on record for HER PET PROJECT? Doesn’t sound like openness to me.
But the best part of the article? (my bold)
Power gave us a list of what the contractors have accomplished:
• Secured $45 million in additional funding
• Prepared concept design
• Prepared schematic design
• Developed a vision to integrate the three components
• Brought the buses to street level
• Made more than 25 presentations to almost 3,000 people
• Drafted an environmental assessment
• Prepared a minority-owned and women-owned business participation plan
• Drafted schematic design report
• Drafted development proposals and justifications
• Developed approach to have facility LEEDS certifiableWe asked to see the work.
“There are documents that prove it,†said Power. “They’re not necessarily open for public inspection.â€
Maybe the D&C should revisit its latest editorial giving credit to Brooks for her new found openness.
I’ll post more on the 13WHAM article later…
Wow, developed a vision? But we aren’t allowed to see it? How do I get a job like that? This is just bizarre, we pay but we aren’t allowed a voice or even a report on what we’ve bought?
Mike Power. Who the heck is Mike Power and how does article say Maggie hired Mr. Powers.
Well - per this last post and D&C article.
Mike Powers works for Frontline advertising.
As posted out by louis in the comments - Frontline is a big GOP contributer.
So sounds like 13WHAM has some clarification work to do? Does he work for Brooks as stated or did she simply contract with him. Oh, how much does this cost?
Bottom line - why is he stonewalling - but we know the answer to that already don’t we.
Mike Power is a former CHANNEL 10 (aka Maggie Brooks) reporter who left television and become the spokesman for then Rochester Gas & Electric. Surely you remember him during the ice storm of 1991? He was the guy on TV wearing the hard hat every day telling us that the power would be up and running. Every day for 3 weeks that is…until then Monroe County Executive Tom Frey knocked on his door and promised a complete and thorough investigation if the lights didn’t come back on.
At that time Powers shouted that Frey had “no right” to overstep his bounds as county executive in demanding that the residents in the county get their power restored without additional delays or “excuses”.
Leave it to Maggie to go back to Channel 10 where she came from to find another mouthpiece that left broadcasting to go into public service.
Leave it to Maggie to find another liar to help her fleece the public.
The joke at the time was that Mike “Power” who worked for RG&E had none.
I assume it’s still the same way today. Lots of talk, no action. Looks like she found a perfect “match”…pun intended.
Actually, Mike worked for many years at channel *13*, not 10, before going to work at RG&E. Sorry to spoil your thesis.
(And also to note that pretty much anyone in the media who dealt with him in his RG&E days found him to be a straight shooter - it was his bosses who had some issues with honesty in ‘91 and afterward.)
Talk to the hand - you failed your exam. He came from Maggie Land over at Channel 10:
http://www.dalmath.com/www/Docs/whecanchors.pdf
He was at 10 very briefly at the start of his career, long before Maggie was even at WHAM. Their careers there did not overlap. He spent most of his career at 13. I’ll see your Dalmath and raise you an Alhart:
http://www.alhart.com/WOKR.htm
And I reiterate that, however his behavior these days may characterize him, he was extremely well respected in local media circles both at channel 13 and afterward at RG&E.
Found it - a NY Times article from 1991 - Yeah - Maggie sure can pick ‘em!
The Monroe County Executive, Tom Frey, said in midweek that the storm had “created a crisis of confidence” in the utility. A company crew chief, Steve Van Der Mallie, who is working from 6:30 A.M. to 11:30 P.M. daily, said today his 11-year-old son had been left in tears by a teacher who said, “R.G.& E. crews stand around drinking coffee.”
Critics and supporters of the utility duel daily on call-in talk shows of the local radio station, WHAM. Other residents have joined the debate with roadside signs. This week Nira Sorber tacked one to a telephone pole outside her home on Fairport Road here. It said, “RGE — No Power Day 10!!”
The State Public Service Commission, which oversees the operations and rates of utilities, has begun a review of the three electrical companies affected by the storm, its chairman, Peter Bradford, said today.
Rochester Gas & Electric defended its work today as it revised upward the number of homes and businesses that had lost power from 150,000 to 200,000, nearly two-thirds of its total customer load of 327,000.
“We think we will stand up well to investigations by knowledgable people,” said a company spokesman, Mike Power. “We don’t think we took too long. We lost half of a distribution system it took 60 years to build.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE7D9143DF936A25750C0A967958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1
Mike Power was hired as the “records access officer.” He is a consultant who works for himself.
yes, that is what the article says. Maggie Hired Mike as a Records access officer.
OK - a month ago he worked at Frontline Advertising as records access officer (Supporting Ren Square as I understand it).
Who is this the same person in the same capacity? It is not clear.
bet its the same MIke Powers
Republican employment. (it’s not clear)
[...] spent for RenSquare, except, oh, the documents proving that the money was spent well are “not necessarily open for public inspection“. Would that reluctance to show the documents have anything to do with this uncomfortable [...]
[...] This oversight and monitoring you speak of. Will be it open and transparent or will it be like, oh the IDA running RenSquare - where public access has been difficult. [...]