Page Fifty-Four 

07 JANUARY 2006

It bears repeating:

"Could the woes plaguing the Rochester fast ferry be chalked up to our diminishing interest in the United States? Not necessarily due to emerging ideological differences, but the collective weaning off 20th century media conditioning that a third-rate American town was more culturally stimulating than even the most populated Canadian one.  In the case of Rochester, perhaps it was the comforting corporate legacies of Corning, Kodak and Xerox; the more exhilarating supermarkets and outlet malls; or those exotic television stations, listed with channel numbers in little white tubes, that no houses seemed to actually receive. Yet, the belated proposal of a 2006 marketing plan targeting people to spend their multi-coloured money across the border doesn't seem terribly alluring either.  Can promoting Rochester Music, Jazz and Lilac festivals possibly motivate any Torontonian to board the Cherry St. express rather than dawdling around this city in summer?"   (link)

My esteemed fellow Canadian blogger in Toronto raises a chilling spectre for the local 'marketing' aficionados: What if the fish don't take the bait?

After ASSUMING Torontonians would eagerly want to cruise on down to Rochester (which they didn't), locals are now ASSUMING the presence of a 'marketing campaign' will, of course, boost ridership to the point of keeping the service afloat (which it won't).

After all, who doesn't want a tasty bite of an All-American McMarketing burger?  We sure do here in Red White and Blue Land, so naturally EVERYbody will fall for the same tactic used to fish cash out of the consumer's pockets here.  How could they not?  WE do, so why wouldn't they?

Despite its proximity, Canada is very much a foreign country.  It is a sovereign nation (albeit heavily influenced by the loud neighbours to the south) but socially, geographically, politically and yes --  ideologically -- it's independent from the United States.  What flies in the States may not even get off the ground in Canada.

It's been my experience that while Canadian advertising is omnipresent, it doesn't appear to have the same hypnotic appeal as it does in the States.  How else could a disposable 4" x 8" piece of cloth called a Swiffer manage to become the Veg-O-Matic of the new millennium?  When something the size of half a paper towel is advertised to miraculously clean a 9' x 12' floor -- and it sells like hotcakes -- one can only guess the the Age of the Gullible is truly upon us.  In the States, at least.

It would be yet another serious miscalculation to assume Canadians fall for the same schlock of the American 'marketing' ploy.  A bit more cynical and far more dubious to the hype, Canadians have looked the ferry service up and down and passed.  Some will inevitably take the bait -- which numbers will prove -- but as for 'marketing' being the magic elixir to save the ferry, well... it ain't gonna happen.

"Could the woes plaguing the Rochester fast ferry be chalked up to our diminishing interest in the United States?"

Yikes.  A 'diminishing interest in the United States' does not bode well for an American 'marketing' team... it already has one strike against it even before it ships the first brochure.  Strike TWO comes when the first brochure hits the Canadian public; now the 'marketing campaign' has 'Two-Time Losers Begging For Another Chance' written all over it.  The challenge increases.

All this depends on whether the City Council decides enough is enough and slams the ticket booth shut for good -- or -- chooses to placate the die-hards with a final reprieve.  A gentler soul might graciously extend the benefit of the doubt, but the tyrant in me would publicly denounce the project just as the cash tap was being turned off.  Don't like it?  The ferry is yours for $40 million.  VISA , MasterCard or AMEX accepted. 

End of story.

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"Our public officials need to get busy clearing away the legal and governmental obstacles along with arranging for adequate routes from Charlotte to the Thruway."

Let's see what we have here.

The closest approximation of a expressway to Charlotte would be the eastern terminus of the Lake Ontario State Parkway (and since it's a Parkway, that automatically excludes commercial traffic).  Rebuilding and redesignating the section of the Parkway from Lake Avenue to the the I-390 interchange might not cost more than a few of tens of millions of dollars.

Oh.  A road is a road is a road?  Not so fast.  Just because it's a divided four-lane limited access thoroughfare doesn't mean it was designed for the weight limits of heavy commercial trucks.  That costs more to build and if the Parkway was designed for Herb and Betty's Buick and a pleasant Sunday drive, don't be trying to use it for 53' flatbeds loaded with lumber products from the Barrette-Chapais mill.  To see what a commercial truck can do to under-engineered pavement, try parking a fully-loaded cement truck on your driveway in the summer for a few hours.

Of course, the half-mile of Lake Avenue from the ferry terminal to the entrance of the Parkway would become a less of a lakeside stroller's haven and more of a commercial trucking hell... not to mention a summertime logistical nightmare where beachgoers would compete with noxious fumes and obnoxious noise.

But OK, screw Charlotte's main thoroughfare's residents and businesses; 18-wheelers only detract from a neighbourhood's appeal when they're rumbling past the cyclists and strollers, right?

After completely bringing almost three miles of the State-owned Parkway up to Federal guidelines for commercial traffic, then there's those damn homeowners located on both sides of the Parkway who'll no doubt start the pathetic whine of "My property value, My property value, My property value".  Stick a Purple Marlin house too close to a human's house and it won't be long before somebody will start in with "My property value is threatened because of the additional bird poop".  Screw THEM, too.  Let the trucks come and go at all  hours of the day and night in a bid to be first in line for the day's first cruise over to Toronto.

Unfortunately, a truck coming in from Richmond VA can't time it's arrival to coincide with whatever hour suits the homeowners.  But we had that one all figured out when the commercial traffic on the ferry was first hatched, didn't we?

"..Arranging for adequate routes from Charlotte to the Thruway".  Arthur Connors joins the legions of locals who really need to think things through before spouting off hopelessly idiotic 'solutions' to problems which should have been resolved prior to CATS being allowed to bring in an albatross of an idea.  It didn't make sense then, it doesn't make sense now and it sure as hell isn't going to make any better sense in the future.

Lest we forget the Toronto interest -- something locals seem to be doing with alarming regularity -- just what makes Arthur think the city of Toronto wants commercial trucks beating ITS streets to death along with contributing to pollution in a metropolitan region bathed in smog alerts for far too many summer days as it is?  Screw them, too?

Sorry, Art.  Even if commercial trucks WERE allowed to board at the Rochester end, if Toronto said "That's nice; but you can't unload them at THIS end", then what?  Waitta minute.. lemme guess:

"We'll boycott the Delta Chelsea until you do"?   "We'll take our ferry elsewhere"?  "We'll force Canadians to use passports to get into the States"?

As a Canadian:  We don't care if you do, we wish you would and you are anyway.

Game, set, match.  Without even raising the issue of added expense for trucking companies. 

Got any more BRIGHT ideas?

09 JANUARY 2006

The Democrat & Chronicle shows its gutsy style:

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Strange how the option of calling it quits was never raised.  Haven't wasted enough public money yet?  OK.  Keep going.  Waste tens of millions of dollars more.  At some point, the NYS Comptroller can step in and yank the project like some fed-up parent chastising the kids.

Nothing says "Incompetence" like having State officials being forced to take over where local 'government' has failed.

"The ferry is a beautiful ship. Its promise remains. But this is a business that hasn't worked. That's something Rochester can't afford."

So which is it?  On the one hand, the D&C spouts off a shopping list of How To Fix The Ferry, then immediately admits "...this is a business that hasn't worked. That's something Rochester can't afford."

Just to keep a perspective in the works, here's the headline of today's D&C:

While homicides in Toronto have also increased (latest figures showed a total of 52 - Congratulations Rochester; you beat out a entire metropolitan area more than ten times times your size) city officials insist that accentuating the positive, while ignoring the negative, is the way to go.

Problem is: Tourists won't ignore the negative.  When Toronto visitors are getting pasted in the face for no apparent reason on the Main Street of their hosts, it just doesn't seem to be good for the tourist business ("Richard Compton's Blog: Rochester NY is a Dump" - October 01, 2005).  Go figure, huh?

The problem isn't the boat.  The problem is the destination.  Rochester is worried about burning the biscuits while the house is ablaze all around them.

What we have here... is a failure... to think.  The provincial navel-gazing approach to problem solving hasn't served Rochester area residents very well.  While appealing to outsiders to come and have a look (but only at the nice stuff) locals have effectively ignored their visitors' concerns (which are only looking at the nasty stuff). 

Puzzled, Rochester area residents from the halls of local government to the pages of the local rag are still pursuing the path of least resistance.  They see the answer to the problem lies with tackling the issue of the local version of a Six Flags amusement ride rather than targeting one of the root causes why visitors are staying away by the boatload.

Simplistically-minded local 'experts' pronounce the answer lies with a good 'ol plan of 'proper marketing of the product'.  And who are we peasants to argue?  After all, it's merely OUR pockets these so-called 'leaders' are trying to pick either through voluntary or involuntary methods.

Could it possibly be... is it remotely conceivable... that these 'experts' have no idea of what they're doing?  Might this be another example of government being so out of touch with the voice of the people that reality takes a backseat to rationalization?  Has the corporate mindset become so entrenched in community initiatives that public sensibilities are completely ignored?

The D&C has the right headline but the wrong reasoning: It certainly IS the time to decide.  It's time to decide to pull the plug once and for all and stop this futile exercise in Let's Pretend.

It's time to decide to adopt a Handgun Snitch Line where anonymous callers can collect cash rewards of $1000 for every illegal gun they phone in.  It's time to decide to stop mollycoddling private interests at public expense.  It's time to decide to do away with the status quo which no longer works and replace it with bold innovation which hasn't even been tried.

Time to decide, indeed.  It begins with voting to can the ferry this week.

Police say weapons, drugs found in Beach Ave. home 1/7/2006 10:00 PM (WROC-TV) A Rochester police raid at a home on Beach Avenue Saturday afternoon caused quite a stir among neighbors. The Emergency Task Force executed a search warrant at 551 Beach Ave.  Police were investigating a report of a possible abduction, and had information suspects and weapons could be at the address. Eight people were taken into custody. Police also say they recovered five weapons and 3/4 of an ounce of crack cocaine.

And where, you might ask, is 551 Beach Avenue?  Within shouting distance of the Rochester ferry terminal:

"Marketing; we just need a good marketing plan." 

For a community which brands itself as the World's Imaging Capital, Rochester has one serious problem with its own image.... not only with looking at itself, but through the eyes of non-Rochesterians as well.

I think you can imagine what Toronto's image of Rochester might be.

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Glad he's the one who's going to take the heat; I sure don't envy his job in the least.  Regardless of 'another direction' Mayor Bob may propose, there's bound to be a flurry of really ticked off people moaning the decision.

"...the Rochester taxpayer may have to foot the bill for years to come."

So wrote Arthur J. Connors in his January 9 Letter to the Editor.  As 'implausible' as that may seem, it's a statement which has been valid since the day the city of Rochester agreed to allow CATS to bring a 'fast' ferry into the Port of Rochester.  The terminal and surrounding improvements set the tone and it's been downhill ever since.

How MANY years to come is about to be decided this week... despite the anxiety in the air, the fate of the ferry ISN'T going to be decided this week.  That was decided back when the idea was put in motion in 2001 as documented here over fifty pages ago.

Essentially, the length of time it will take taxpayers to pay off this financial debacle will be directly related to how long the ferry remains in the possession of the city of Rochester.  Until the ferry is sold -- not just suspended as a business -- the meter's running.  The debt grows.

So does the length of time it'll take to pay off the debt.  "Years to come"?  Yup. 

MANY years to come.

Survey sample size?  500 randomly polled phone respondents across Monroe County.  At last; a fairly relevant poll.  The News 10NBC article was hardly impartial but, OK -- we can work with it.

The findings? 66% said City Council shouldn't approve an additional $11.5 million of funding.  Not exactly earth-shattering news but, OK -- we can work with that too.

As basic of a poll as this is, it's a quantum leap above the previous 'polls' of Bay Ferries and the Rochester Ferry Company which were dissected to death for the slightest hint of ferry support.  Those 'poll results' were beat to death even though they were biased and heavily influenced by passengers still excited and fresh off a novel experience.

Nevermind that only some of the ferry riders polled would be actually forking over tax money to support the thing.  Hey, if it wasn't my tax dollars supporting it, I'd be thrilled to see a cablecar to Canada strung across Lake Ontario.  But if I have to support such a ludicrous project with my tax dollars, my support would be nil.  How many of the ferry riders polled were city of Rochester residents... the people who have to pay for the losses incurred by the ferry service?  A suburban Perinton resident might not be as enthusiastic if they knew their taxes were going to pay for a doomed service.

“Financially Rochester is a conservative town and I can't be surprised that Rochester would be conservative about borrowing money for a venture that thus far hasn't proved to be a good bet,” says (George) Conboy."

"Conservative town"?  Conboy is a master of understatement, if nothing else.

For a buttoned-down kind of guy, George Conboy of Brighton Securities has a history of ferry skepticism in the face of local official cheerleaders which is as surprising as it is refreshing.  That takes some guts for a member of the corporate Rochester scene but like most of the naysayer set, Conboy was slighted until his advice was too poignant to ignore.

Seems the Johnny-Come-Lately-We-Told-You-So's are growing in number by the day.  Didn't seem to be a landslide of critical ferry views in 2001.  Why not?  Why did it take blowing tens of millions of dollars to arrive at a conclusion even the Village Idiot could have seen coming?

Not enough demand to support a project of this magnitude -- that's the way it was in 2001; that's the way it is today. 

This isn't quantum physics here... it's simply common sense.

10 JANUARY 2006

Any bets?

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City Council will meet tonight to confirm appointments to the ferry board, but it remains unclear what decision the mayor will announce at the meeting. Mayor's ferry decision expected tonight Duffy probably will state his wishes for boat at session tonight Brian Sharp Staff writer (January 10, 2006) — Mayor Robert Duffy is expected to state his decision on the ferry's future during a special session tonight with City Council to confirm new members to the ferry board. The meeting is at 5:15 p.m. at City Hall. (Note: The mayor's decision will be posted here as it is available.) Duffy is weighing whether to support borrowing another $11.5 million for the ship. The mayor has said he also is considering alternatives. Conceivably, the ferry board would be required both to oversee continued operations or to liquidate the existing company. The city backed a $40 million loan, created Rochester Ferry Co., and bought the ship last February. Rochester Ferry then hired Bay Ferries Great Lakes LLC as manager. A delayed, mid-season startup hurt ridership and revenue. The operation posted a $10 million loss its first year, exhausting reserves and ending the season $2 million in debt to Bay Ferries. What's at stake Mayor Robert Duffy is expected to make his case tonight on whether to continue or end high-speed ferry service between Rochester and Toronto. Last month, City Council gave the go-ahead for Rochester Ferry to borrow another $11.5 million by selling bonds, again backed by the city. Council approval came with the caveat that the ferry board take no action until last Thursday or later, giving Duffy time to weigh in. Duffy has said he is considering options to borrowing but has declined to elaborate. City Council President Lois Giess will nominate newly elected City Councilman Dana Miller. Miller said he had not been told whether his service would "be for continued operation or going out of business." Duffy will nominate Deputy Mayor Patty Malgieri, Environmental Services Commissioner Paul Holahan and Communications Director Gary Walker. The release announcing tonight's meeting was sent shortly before 5 p.m. Monday. Duffy, Giess and other city officials could not be reached for comment. BDSHARP@DemocratandChronicle.com

Go ahead and borrow $11.5 million through the sale of bonds -- but don't do anything about it until we say so.  Oh, and we might not agree to $11.5 million.  And it might not be through bonds.  And it might not happen anyway because we may be pulling the plug on the ferry business.  But we might need to borrow enough to pay our bills -- maybe through the sale of bonds, maybe not.

Business as usual.

Playing games while the creditors steam:

Ferry decision could come Tuesday   1/9/2006 10:00 PM (Rachel Barnhart, WROC-TV) Rochester's City Council is meeting Tuesday at 5:15 p.m. to appoint four new members to the ferry board. This is a crucial step in determining whether the ferry will have another season. According to Council President Lois Giess, the ferry board appointees are City Councilman Dana Miller, Deputy Mayor Patricia Malgieri, Environmental Services Commissioner Paul Holohan, and Communications Director Gary Walker. "I'm certainly hopeful we'll have an opportunity to run the ferry at least one more year," said Miller. City Council has backed $11.5 million in bonds to keep the ferry afloat. The ferry board has to sign off on the bonds, but Duffy has not decided if he will allow the board to proceed. He has been looking at other options for the project, and has not confirmed whether he supports a third season for the vessel. Duffy could make his decision known at Tuesday's meeting.

It's the talk of the town:

Duffy To Make Ferry Decision Today (Rochester, NY) 01/10/06 -- Rochester Mayor Bob Duffy is expected to announce Tuesday night whether he supports  borrowing $11.5 million to keep the fast ferry in business. LIVE COVERAGE of the Mayor's announcement on 13WHAM News at 5:00 and LIVE STREAMING here on 13WHAM.com. He's expected to announce his decision at the same meeting where four new ferry board members are to be sworn in. The seats will be filled by Deputy Mayor Patricia Malgieri; Paul Holahan, who heads the city's Environmental Services Department; Gary Walker, the city's Communications Director; and City Council member Dana Miller. Duffy has also called for more business leaders on the ferry board, which could still happen.

Passion, intrigue and scandal; this story has it all.

Tuesday   January 10, 2006

Duffy Delivers Ferry Fate At 5PM   by R News staff Published Jan 10, 2006 Rochester mayor Bob Duffy will hold a news conference this afternoon to announce his plan for Rochester's fast ferry service. Duffy will address the media in a City Hall atrium news conference at 5 p.m. to offer his response to plans to keep the ferry service operating. R News will carry the Duffy announcement live. The mayor already intervened in the fast ferry debate by striking an agreement with city council to hold off on a final decision on an $11.5 million dollar bonding plan. The borrowed money would pay for the operation of the service in 2006. City council had planned to approve the complete bonding proposal late last month in the final days of the Johnson administration. It signed off on the bonding plan in December, but scheduled a vote this month to set the date for sale of the bonds. That vote has been delayed once already. Duffy asked for an extension so his administration could study the ferry service and have a say on its future. Duffy and his senior staff have been measuring the ferry service. The Cat was forced to draw on $10 million of credit from the city's original loan for the ferry just to pay its bills. Ferry board leadership said a late start on its 2005 schedule, mechanical troubles and low, late-summer ridership led to an early end to the ferry's 2005 season. The city reduced the ferry's schedule and finally, shut down the 2005 service early. Duffy's response today comes 12 hours after he presented to council three new appointments to the fast ferry board, the panel that makes the business decisions for the city's ferry business. Following Duffy's announcement, city council will hold a special session to consider the newest nominations to the ferry board. They are city councilman Dana Miller, deputy mayor Patricia Malgieri and Duffy administration staffers Gary Walker and Paul Holohan.

The media scrambles:

Showdown at the OK Corral.  Let the accusations fly.