LET’S ROLL THE DICE

It’s nice to see that Alexis Broz is coming home.  Broz a Schuylerville High graduate last year, made her mark in high school sports where she ran track and holds the state record in the pentathlon and high jump. Biking 13 miles every day from home to Broadway to create the chalk artwork on downtown sidewalks with a substantial amount of supplies on her back she showed her dedication to earn money for her educational wilderness adventure while gracing us with a beautiful and different form of art.

The election season is trying to kick into high gear but can’t seem to find the gas to do so.  The upcoming summer season is one where slings and arrows are kept in hiding most of the time as we really don’t want the tourists to see how some Saratoga politicians play their dirty games in the campaigns. However, wait until the day after Labor Day, things will most likely start to percolate.  The Deputy Mayor is already taking credit for securing the grant to finish the waterfront park on Saratoga Lake, as she states she has been meeting with Bradley Birge (Planning and Economic Development Director) twice a week to get things done.  It has been in this administrations hands for about 7 years to get it finished and there is still much work to do, but don’t let that stop you from taking the credit Deputy Mayor.

Talking about the Casino, do you really think it will be a good thing for Saratoga?  The State takes 25% off the top as a gambling tax (Nevada takes 7%).  The casino owners will have to make large profits, so where does that leave Saratoga and its problems of where to house the low income workers that will be employed there.  The State should make sure that the Casino owners spend some of the big bucks to build low income housing, which shouldn’t be a problem since they will have to pay the State a $54 million dollar franchise fee.  We should also hope that if we do get a token income stream like we do from the Racino, like a 1.5 million dollar stipend, we won’t have to provide the police, fire and DPW services to get the money.  The Casino should either pay for all of its own services including repairing roads annually or contract with the City for providing them.  Also, if we get a Casino there’s no guarantee racing will continue to receive a share of gaming revenue.

Remember the Secret Garden Tour this weekend, no one knows where it is, as it is a secret Tour, but if you’re going, have a good time, I guess.