WeShare Blog

Earlier this week, the City Council approved a site plan for a new shopping center in East Albany.  This development proposal came to the City about a year ago and has gone through many changes since it first arrived.  Building location, traffic patterns, off-site improvements, and landscaping have all been adjusted to conform to city and state standards.  The process, from the developer’s perspective, has not been easy or quick.

Albany’s Development Code does not require a property owner to reveal who the user of a building will be after it is constructed.  The City regulates land uses but does not … Continue Reading

Not long ago, I received a DVD in the mail warning of the dangers of radical Islam.  I’m picky about my propaganda and chose not to view the report, even though I’m fully aware of the threat posed by religious extremists.  There are many dangerous people and places in the world.

This week, I’m making some presentations about community development in Zahle and Tripoli, Lebanon, on behalf of my professional association, the International City-County Management Association.  Many friends have asked me why I choose to work in the Middle East, given that there is so much hostility against Americans.  I’m sure … Continue Reading

I arrived at work this morning to find people dressed like pirates entering the back door at City Hall.  I wasn’t surprised, of course, because this is Albany where “Pirattitude” was invented.  Later this morning, Cruella DeVille, a group of Dalmatian puppies, and their owner appeared in my office.  Some kind of ghoul also stopped by and handed out candy.  Bob Woods in the office next door looks like a cross between Mary Poppins and Bozo the Clown.  Diana Eilers is attired in stripes, and I noticed an angel operating the copy machine as I walked by a few minutes … Continue Reading

People complain about taxes because they have little individual control over high they will be and they don’t feel they are receiving a good return on their investment.  The current presidential campaign is developing into a series of sound bites that boil down to whether people should be attracted by a pledge of no new taxes or taxing the wealthy to distribute to the rest of us.

My response to political leaders is that I’m less concerned about taxes than I am about the value I receive for my investments.  Some of my limited wealth has been going into retirement plans … Continue Reading

I received an e-mail from an Iraqi friend last month asking me to join him on Facebook.  I’m proud to say that I knew what he was talking about even though I had not previously seen the need to construct a MySpace or Facebook profile.  I hadn’t heard from my friend for awhile; so I decided to go through the Facebook enrollment process and see if we could get in touch.

I dutifully put in more personal information than I wanted to and even downloaded my picture from the City’s Web site that makes me look fatter than I really am.  … Continue Reading

I haven’t seen the television series “Heroes,” but the title has caused me to think about the many heroes I’ve known.  My family tops the list because, thanks to their efforts. I’ve been able to lead a happy and productive life.  I realize that none of us are perfect heroes and have settled for practically perfect as my standard.

Today we are honoring one of my local heroes by planting three trees at Lexington Park in memory of Dick Ebbert.  It’s hard for me to think or write about Dick without some sadness over the loss of his steady influence for … Continue Reading

Last month, my wife and I traveled to Southern California to visit my daughter’s family for a few days.  She lives reasonably close to Disneyland; so, we decided it would be a nice idea to take my three-year-old granddaughter and one-year-old grandson to see the “happiest place on earth.”  I had a few reservations about this adventure because some of my outings with grandchildren have not produced good outcomes for any of the participants.  I could envision soggy, unhappy grandchildren making scenes in … Continue Reading

I just returned from my professional association’s annual conference which took place in the shadow of almost overwhelming international financial upheaval.  I attended a variety of useful educational sessions and had the opportunity to speak with a number of colleagues about issues we all face.  I’ve always found the conference to be a good investment because it helps me to see trends and issues that I might otherwise have missed.  In other words, it helps me respond to new challenges.

Challenges come to all of us in one form or another every day.  Life gives us a daily quiz which we … Continue Reading

There is no column for Friday, September, 19, 2008.

Community fights, like family fights, can be destructive affairs, creating so much bad will that very little gets done for long periods of time.  People start to oppose whatever the other party in a dispute proposes because of the initial disagreement rather than on the merits of the issue.  A badly polarized community suffers when there is not enough agreement to address the important issues of the day.

… Continue Reading