Just a humble idea for Brentwood Council
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The attributes of Brentwood must be sold to prospective home-buyers, and there are many. Brentwood Council and the School Board could do this together. The many homes for sale can be an opportunity....real estate should be viewed as an investment that grows. Folks must be convinced to invest in Brentwood and why.
1. A task force should be put together to review all that is good about the borough, a PR firm should be consulted with, and a campaign undertaken.
2. Lower taxes a few mils in the process to make a statement - it could be done.
3. Be pro-active and aggressive, there are many, many great things about the borough that are attractive, I can think of about ten right off the top on my head.
The new shopping center (as I recall reading years ago) started with a "planning task force". A plan was developed. Brentwood Council invested $$ in it, a developer was identified, and the center was built. It's not rocket science... you folks can do it.
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Wesley,
That is one the best ideas and comments that I have ever seen on this site. I think this is something that should be brought up at the next council meeting. Get the ball rolling and see what happens. A borough working together for the betterment of the community. It's just crazy enough to work.
1.Brentwood is the “most affordable” community in the nation.
2.Brentwood has a wonderful business district.
3.Brentwood has a wonderful first class Library.
4.Brentwood is by far the best neighborhood for “walkers” in the state.
5.Brentwood has the largest forth of July parade in Pennsylvania.
6.Brentwood Schools provide a quality education, - without bussing.
7.Brentwood offers the entire range of homes from economy “starter” homes, century old Victorian homes, and the high end neighborhood of “Colonial Park”.
8.Brentwood has a legendary country club and golf course, which was once the home to a U.S. Open winner.
9.Brentwood has variety of churches to accommodate all Christian faiths.
10.Brentwood has a rich history and a historical society.
11.Brentwood is on the main bus line to town.
12.Brentwood has many active youth programs; scouts, athletics, educational.
It seems like a huge waste of good publicity if Brentwood does nothing to capitalize on the recent Money magazine listing of affordable communities. Wouldn't it be great to run a publicity blitz featuring a different resident or family each month - and have them list the reasons they moved to Brentwood! Like the reasons above - I moved to Brentwood - 21 years ago - for a combination of many factors:
1. Location - convenient commute to work
2. Affordable housing costs
3. Sidewalks!
4. Local elementary schools - NO BUSING!
5. Grocery, library, schools, Post Office, banking, dry cleaner, restaurants - all within walking distance!
6. Local income taxes were 1% and Pgh's was 4% at the time we moved here.
7. Property taxes were affordable.
8. The community was clean, safe - no graffiti or evidence of gang activity.
The last 2 items have changed, unfortunately. I'm not sure there is any way to stop the movement of drug activity, graffiti, violence, etc from spreading into Brentwood with the current tax structure. The "old guard" used to use high taxes to keep out lower income families and they thought - the related problems. But - now taxes are so high that the property values are dropping, income levels of new families are dropping, more renters are moving in - less care about their property - they don't own - they rent. I think we need to back off the high taxes a bit to make it affordable to own and maintain property here again.
I do think that it's important to look at the competition (i.e. neighboring communities) and make our tax rates competitive. Keep our mileage in line with or a few mils less than neighboring communities. Give families an incentive to move here - I think we would see property values begin to rise again - and thus - total tax revenue.
Just my humble opinion.
Your number one is the one that I forgot, - my wife and I get to and from town (where we both work) in 20-25 minutes - morning and evening. That is one major point Brentwood has over the other communities in the South Hills.
Brentwood does need a PR campaign and has plenty to crow about!
ALL GREAT THOUGHTS ON YOUR PART!
Haven't you already been involved in politics in Brentwood?
DEAR WIZ:
FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK, I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR IT. I AM IN NO WAY RELATED TO RALPH KAIZER, (NOR AM I HE.)
WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE ANYWAY, IDEAS ARE IDEAS, AND IF MY IDEAS CHALLENGE THE CURRENT COUNCIL....WELL THEY NEED TO BE CHALLENGED - TO DO SOMETHING OTHER THAN MANUVER AROUND TO TRY "TO RETAIN", "OR GAIN" AN UPPER HAND IN THE UPCOMING ELECTION.
THEY NEED TO "UNITE" AND PUT THEIR SILLY POLITICAL GAMESMANSHIP ASIDE.
1.) THIS COUNCIL SHOULD CONCERN ITSELF WITH HOW IT IS GOING TO NEGOTIATE A "JOINT TAX-REDUCTION" WITH THE SCHOOL BOARD.
2.) THIS COUNCIL SHOULD CONCERN ITSELF WITH RT. 51.
3.) THIS COUNCIL SHOULD CONCERN ITSELF WITH ALL OF THE HOMES CURRENTLY UP FOR SALE IN THE BOROUGH.
4.) THIS COUNCIL SHOULD FIX THE STADIUM OR GIVE IT TO THE SCHOOL BOARD FOR $1.00.
WHICH OF THEM WILL STEP UP TO THE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE? PROVE IT THEN...
WHO I AM MEANS VERY LITTLE, I AM NOT INVOLVED WITH BRENTWOOD POLITICS NOR WILL I BE. JUST TRYING TO HELP, THAT'S ALL...
YOUR BLOG STARTED THIS WHOLE CONVERSATION AND IT'S BEEN A GREAT RIDE - AND A GREAT CHANGE IN TONE FROM ALL OF THE NEGATIVE BICKERING. THANKS - GREAT JOB!
MY BEST REGARDS.
Wesley,
I do believe the current council has done a lot for the the borough. They seem to be headed in the right direction with the streets, renovations to the park, new police cars and public works veichles. The borough is even up to date with the sewer system. It seems as if this council has done more in a short period of time than many of the past councils. My question to you is, what has the mayor done for the community other than try to divide the borough? He should be spending his time trying to recover stolen borough money from his families estate rather than play the childish games. But I guess $4000.00 + dollars is not a big deal.What would happen if you would owe the borough money? I would highly doubt that they would roll over and tell you not to worry about it. So I ask you, who is playing games? There seems to be a lot of questions to missing monies in the borough, yet only the Mayors arch rival is investigated.
SLAYER:
WELL, IF THEY'VE DONE THE MAINTENANCE THAT'S GREAT, BUT IT'S ALSO "REQUIRED AND EXPECTED". IN FACT COUNCIL SHOULDN'T EVEN HAVE TO BOTHER WITH SUCH THINGS, IT SHOULD BE PROGRAMED AND PERFORMED BY THOSE WHO WORK FOR THE BOROUGH. WHEN A STREET MUST BE PAVED - PAVE IT.
IF PREVIOUS COUNCILS WERE TOO CAUGHT UP WITH THE FIGHTING, THEN SHAME ON THEM.
THIS IS ACTUALLY DISHEARTENING, JUDGING BY THE "VERY FEW" COMMENTS IT SEEMS THAT "VERY FEW" ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND THE POINT I WAS ATTEMPTING TO MAKE WITH THIS ENTRY.
I MADE A SUGGESTION, BUT IT SEEMS THAT IF THERE IS NO FIGHT THERE IS NO INTEREST, (AND I WOULD THINK THAT COUNCIL MEMBERS READ THIS SITE.)
I'M SIGNING OFF, HOWEVER I DIDN'T WANT TO BE RUDE AND LEAVE YOUR COMMENT UNACKNOWLEDGED.
AS FAR AS THE MAYOR GOES, ALL I'LL SAY IS THAT FROM WHAT I'VE LEARNED HE'S NOT GOING TO DO ANYTHING TO AFFECT THE PROSPECTS OF THIS SINKING SHIP.
IT'S REALLY SAD TO WATCH SUCH A NICE COMMUNITY (WITH SUCH POTENTIAL) SLOWLY SLIP UNDER THE WAVES.
MY REGARDS DONKEY.
With all do respect, I do get your points and you make good ones. But I have a question for you? Are the people of Brentwood at all responsible for this mess? They are the ones who vote these clowns into office. Nobody does their research, they just vote blindly. It seems to be a popularity contest for the mayor instead of voting in the right people for the job. It makes me sick that people don't seem to care that they just voted in someone who does'nt even have any experience at being on council. None. He's a door opener for a local hotel. He also has a shady past and now he's going to be in touch with a 4 million dollar tax payer budget. The same goes for MD. I did not vote for her. Apparently, everybody knew she was shady, but they obviously voted her in.
Also, in regards to my earlier comment. I know you are not Ralph Kaiser. I just think you should have hung around a little longer. You needed to finish what you started. That's all. Maybe you should get involved again.
As for saving money on our budget, I never wanted to see our schools merge, however I think that our police department needs to merge with Baldwin. I see their cars patrolling Brownsville road more than ours. Why not merge the two and save some money.
You certainly are an anomaly to this borough, well spoken, well informed, and clearly well educated. With all of that said, unfortunately you are correct in your assessment of the current process of selecting/electing public officials...but then it is simply a reflection of what the community has become.
These folks read the comments I'm sure, but it is well above their level of understanding. They are thrust into these positions with no experience or background and when things screw up we blame them for it.
It's really not their fault when you get down to it. They're trying to do the right thing and all of the collective frustration manifests itself in the constant fighting.
I write down a few ideas that make sense to us, but to most I might as well be typing in Greek or Latin. I am naive to think that making a few comments on a public web-site can in any way impact the deep-rooted issues currently plaguing this poor community.
And as to who I am I wish to remain anonymous. As I stated earlier, who we are makes little difference, I doubt that these folks are listening anyway.
You two really seem to have a hand on the heartbeat of Brentwood. Why didn't either of you run for council??? For the good of the borough, you should get involved. You two may be able to save the 'hood. It's too late for this voting, but vehemently try to get council to listen to and implement your excellent ideas.
I appreciate your comments. Please know that this blog is not my only outlet. I am very involved in the community and I urge more residents to get involved. I attend many of the borough meetings and school board meetings. I know many of the council members personally and also know the mayor. While I am not on council, I am involved with other committee's involving Brentwood. Like Wesley though, I am a republican, so my chances of being elected in this borough are probably not so good. However, when the timing in my life is right, you may see my name on the ballot.
I too appreciate your compliment, for my heart is cetainly with what this community once was, and what it could become again...but not what it is.
My best regards.
Well, lets put together a bi-partisan team and work on a platform!
Sign it as a "Contract" with concise language. I would even go as far as to make videos and post them online so that everyone knows you actually said what you would do.
And make it an all-or-nothing team promise: if the team gets elected , we fulfill the enumerated promises,
If the entire team is not elected, the remaining winners refuse to take office out of protest.
Do you think that Brentwood Borough is really up to some reform?
I'de love to give it a try.
I agree, the borough must gather around one united cause of "decisive action", yet it has the two respective leadership camps. The focus must be strong enough to encourage everyone's participation, taking the focus away from their contempt for each other.
The school board would have open up the ivory tower and participate as well. The "enemy" cannot continue to be each other, it must be elevated to a common level and represent what is really destroying the community.
But first, I think everyone wants to see what this new council can accomplish, and there is hope...if the bickering continues I'm sure your idea could have some traction.