For as long as I can remember, my father would tell me that if you wanted a job in Chester you had to be a Republican. That may have been the case a few decades ago but now there are so few jobs in Chester.
The World War II days of industrial labor, of which Chester was a major player, is long behind us and in order for jobs to come back to Chester, a new brand of business has to take its place.
All you have to do is look on both ends of town and you can clearly see the bookends of Chester’s new growth industry -- entertainment.
Ten years ago, no one would have imagined that Chester would have a casino and a sports stadium. In fact, some folks don’t believe it now.
The casino brings Chester a lot of daily visitors who live within close proximity to us. The simulcast horse racing has Chester viewed from around the country. Harrah’s only owns 16 casinos. Chester has one of them.
The stadium brings Chester a lot of occasional visitors from the area and a lot of international exposure from the soccer enthusiast. There have been 10 new Major League Soccer stadiums build since 2006. Chester has one of them.
The casino brings the city a huge amount of tax revenue that the former empty lot didn’t. As the stadium hosts more events on a regular basis, it will increase its contributions to the city.
Some may argue that both entities should be dolling out more jobs to Chester folks, but we all know people who work at both places who previously couldn’t find work.
Unlike in my father’s working days, today’s businesses don’t rely much on heavy labor. As a result, politicians are less likely to have the influence they used to have in putting people to work just because you have a strong back.
The real significance of these two businesses is how they will attract even more business to Chester. With more business will come more jobs. The momentum for business growth in Chester is undeniable and the prospect of more jobs coming available in our own back yard is inevitable.
It took a savvy business minded political administration to pull off the mega-deals that brought Chester Harrah’s and PPL Park. Without this existing group of visionaries, both plots of land would still be worthless dumps not generating a single dollar for our city.
It is in every Chester resident's best interest to keep that team of administrators together to allow them to continue to build on the tremendous confidence the business community has in them to come to Chester with their projects, both large and small.
The momentum for business to continue to grow in Chester is strong right now. I couldn’t imagine disrupting that momentum by bringing in a new group of unproven and inexperienced leaders.
I AGREE
ReplyDeleteIt's one thing of have a Casino and Sports stadium provide a tax base. But quite another if the tax base is not used to educate the children and create a safe community.
ReplyDeleteLet's take the educational system for instance, the Republicans have been in control of school board for a number of years and CUSD is currently ranked the lowest performing district in the state of Pennsylvania not to mention the lowest performing district in Delaware County.
The Republicans have also been in office as the crime statistics increase and the murders of young people in Chester continue to escalate. I spent last summer in misery as I watched two of my cousin and classmate mourn the death of their children. One was shot in broad day light, the other was shot and the individual who witnessed the shooting could have assisted the police with identifying the shooter but didn't. Those same Republicans have also been in office as the citizens of Chester are held hostage in their own homes because of the crime. The Republicans are in office when I invite friends and family to Chester and I'm asked, "will there be police presence to protect us" or when I'm asked by a co-worker "is it really safe to go to Chester?"
The City of Chester is ranked #2 out of 100 on Neighborhood Scout's Top 100 most dangerous city to live. Again while the Republicans are in office.
The businesses that are the bookends of the City of Chester are on the ends of Chester for a reason. Easy in and easy out. By the way were the taxes used for the nice newly constructed exit ramp near the stadium so that the patrons don't have to ride through the city of Chester. Guess we wouldn't want our visitors to get lost or turned around trying to find 95 South or 95 North.
While the Republicans have been in office why haven't the taxes generated from the business been used to make Chester a safer city and protect the residence from the criminal element? Why haven't the taxes generated been used to develop an underdeveloped, under performing school district?
How can anyone continue to support the Republicans when one of the current candidates perpetuates the no snitch mindset.
Republican or Democrat? Integrity is important for any party.
I'm not telling anyone who to vote for, I'm simply suggesting that if
If you want more of the same vote Republican. If your tired of the same give the Democrats a chance.
I agree 100%
ReplyDeleteI disagree 100%. It's time for a change. Businesses are nice, but what about the crime and educational system.
ReplyDeleteInteresting I responded to your blog earlier. Guess you don't really want to debate, because my comment wasn't posted.
ReplyDeleteYeah. What about crime and the educational system?
ReplyDeleteTo annoymous 12:04. How can you say you disagree 100% and say businesses are nice? That means you don't disagree 100% doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteThis City needs change. Stephen; And how can you say that the Republican party was the only contributing party to bring these businesses to the City ? Is it because the saying is to work for the City you must be Republican? Whats to say that these people register that way to get their job but deep down inside they really Democrats. You'll be surprise. People are tired of broken promises, people are tired of the same thing. And its not all about the party; its about voting in the right people to do the right thing. Why do you think that some new people can't come in and continue to work on improving whats happening within the City of Chester. There are those who work for the people and the City but we may never know what contributions and hard work they have done to help and rebuild this City.Everybody wants credit but give credit where credit is due.
ReplyDeleteThis city is changing for the better and there are a few unsung heros that work behind the scenes to get things done around here.
ReplyDeleteIf the Republican party is gone in January, it's highly unlikely that the Democrats will retain the key staff members that are making the big moves our city has enjoyed in the past few years.
Maybe the Dems have some folks lined up who can fill those positions. It will be difficult to replace that knowledge and experience right off the bat. It will be interesting to see how well a new administration will be received by the entities outside of Chester who are very comfortable working with the key staff members in place today.
I agree that It is about voting in people to do the right thing. But a city government is run by more folks than those that we vote for.
As I like to say, a mayor is there to cut the ribbon but his back office administrators are the ones that cut the deals.
And, no one has shared with me what the current adminstration has done so wrong.
In a future post I will offer my opinion on the Republican's relationship with Democrats in Chester.
In all honesty, it would be great if we just had one party in Chester -- a Chester Party.
I wish folks would use something other than Anonymous. Make up a name. It's easier to respond to you that way.
ReplyDeleteTo Anonymous Oct 12 4:31pm...
I hope you read my postings on schools and criminals today. They are my response to your comment.
I agree that the schools are in trouble and the kids are out of control with their violence. Please tell me how the Democrats are going to improve the schools and protect our citizens from these acts of violence.
What is wrong with the exit ramps and having easy access for visitors to get in and out of Harrah's and PPL Park?
If I had to drive through Center City and South Philly to get to a Sixers or Phillies game, I'd probably never go. But get me a Broad Street ramp right off of I-95 in and out of the parking lot, I'm there.
What is so attractive in Chester that you want thousands of cars crowding our residential streets to get in and out of Harrah's and PPL Park? Nothing.
Is it really that difficult for people to see how important these entities are to future growth in our city?
They did not select Chester to cure the ills of Chester. They didn't come here to make our lives easier. They came here to make money. That's what businesses do. We should be welcoming them with open arms.
Both Harrah's and PPL Park have contributed to the city in various capacities. They are not evil corporate villians driving us out of our communities. In fact, unless you go to Harrah's or PPL Park, you'd hardly know they even existed in Chester.
Now that we got the big boys in place, I expect that any administration running Chester will have the skill set in place to take advantage of their presence to attract even more business. Who will the Democrats name as their economic/business development person? Have you heard, yet?
As business is continuously attracted to Chester, so will the benefits to our residents improve.
To Anonymous Oct 13, 12:03 am...
ReplyDeleteSorry if I didn't post your comments. My intent is to post all comments and respond.
Please do as you did...let me know if a comment isn't posted and I'll try my best to find out what happened.
Do you know the time and date you sent your comment? I don't see any comments pending so I'll have to ask you to send it again.
Sorry.
No one is saying that the business are evil. They have been great community partners. I also believe any business interested in becoming a future part of the Chester community would be willing to work with any party that is willing to work with them not just Republicans. I'm sure the Democrats have a transition plan in place and would not fire every current city worker that has been effectively and efficiently doing their job.
ReplyDeleteYou are very optimistic.
ReplyDeleteBig business development is 90% relationship and 10% opportunity. If you think businesses are coming here because our name is Chester, think again.
If the people who attract businesses to Chester are no longer in power, the chances of that business still coming here is slim to none. The opportunitiy could be lost forever.
Businesses play politics too, more than you could imagine.
And, of course the Democrats are not going to fire every city worker. They can't. Many positions are union covered.
What they will change is their appointed administration. When you vote for a change, it's not just a Mayor that's changing. There are at least a half dozen critical positions he must fill almost immediately.
If he decides to keep the Butler back office than the change you vote for is none exisistent.