Among the “achievements” Potter cited were new and owner changed businesses that, according to a news account, “have decided to invest in the city.” This article further stated Mayor Potter claimed that “despite the recession, many new projects continued and were completed.” Other advancements the mayor cited were paving streets, a grocery store that allows citizens without transportation to do shopping in the city, a community garden, completion of the Port Jervis to Matamoras bridge project and “continuing remediation projects at the Roundhouse and Statewide Oil sites.”

Exactly how Potter can possibly try to take ownership of those actions remains a complete mystery.

For example, Port Jervis had little to nothing to do with the completion of the Matamoras/Port Jervis bridge project. If anything, Mayor Potter and the city failed to make sure that traffic across the bridge traveled in both directions rather than one way only from the city to its Pennsylvania neighbor thus making the always present excessive traffic in the Tri-State area even more congested than it normally is. Why didn’t Mayor Potter take some meaningful action instead of waiting for the states of New York and Pennsylvania to complete a job in a timely manner that was their responsibility?

As for businesses reportedly “investing” in the city, Mayor Potter apparently chose to ignore the fact that it is very likely more businesses have either failed or left the city than have started anew or remain under new ownership. If that’s a sign of progress then the numerous empty storefronts in Port Jervis must be a bountiful mirage.

While having a grocery store in Port Jervis, a city of almost 8,000 people, is a good thing, one needs to wonder why there is such poor, if any, public transportation that would take the elderly, impoverished, and people without a means of otherwise getting to other nearby available shopping on their own?.

Remediation of sites bearing toxic wastes is likewise commendable but how much credit can the Mayor really take for that happening? Isn’t that a function of State and Federal environmental agencies? Moreover, what is the progress of that work and why hasn’t the Mayor issued a press release to let the public know how things are going with those projects?  Is the Mayor hiding something that he doesn’t want the public to know?

As for paving, that alleged achievement is more laughable than the starting of a public garden. Street paving is something that takes place on a routine basis and a public garden, though also laudable, is not something especially worthy of being included in a state of the city address.  Including mention of such an item only shows how deeply Mayor Potter needed to dig at the bottom of the barrel in order to come up with something to include in his speech.

Until Mayor Potter can tell the public that the decrepit “Port Jervis Plaza” eyesore is going  to be demolished or that yield to pedestrian cones are placed in crosswalks or that the Delaware River will be utilized now rather than if an expensive “white water park” comes to fruition or when visitors to Port Jervis have a place to stay the night rather than spending their money someplace else because there is no where in the city where they can lay their heads, then anything that comes out of his mouth with these regards is hogwash, plain and simple.

Just because a thing is said doesn’t make it so.

Perhaps Mayor Potter thinks Port Jervis residents are fools but it seems that more than likely if anyone  is a fool, it is the mayor himself and it is only a matter of time before the public realizes that his feeble words speak much louder than his so-called deeds.

The “Plaza’s” original anchor business, Kmart, fled Port Jervis years and years ago.   Like many others, Kmart found more fertile financial ground just across the Delaware River in Westfall Township, Pennsylvania.

In June 2011 the few remaining small businesses in the Mall were forced out because of a leaking roof and the beginning of ceiling collapses.   Then, in August, the bank said to hold the mortgage on that property reportedly was foreclosing.  Now, almost 6 months later, for rent signs remain in place on that crumbling shell of a structure.

It is important to point out that the Kmart Plaza was built on soil which  is very likely contaminated with oil, coal tar, heavy metals, diesel fuel, solvents, and who knows what else following more than 100 years use by trains that were once the heartbeat of Port Jervis.

Constructed  at a time when awareness regarding environmental pollution was much less acute than it is today, it seems quite possible that another building could not be placed on the same site unless extensive soil remediation was performed.   As for remediation, that has already been taking place in an area near the Mall, although the current status of that work remains unknown.  Port Jervis Mayor Russell Potter had taken the time to get his name in the media when the remediation first began so why hasn’t he provided updates?   Is it going badly there or might the Mayor be hiding something he doesn’t think the public should know?   Poor communication is not a stranger to the Port Jervis powers that be and this is yet another example of that failing.

It is likewise troubling that this decrepit Port Jervis mini-mall is directly adjacent to what remains as something interesting and unique among the limited number of  attractions the city has to offer:  a functional railroad roundhouse turntable.  Sadly that asset has also deteriorated some but at least serves as a home for the diesel electric train engine featured in this blog.

Is it in the best interest of Port Jervis that this shameful remains of a building remains standing?  Is this the way Port Jervis officials want visitors to think of the community?  Why hasn’t the building been condemned?   Why haven’t city officials taken more aggressive steps to see that dangerous and unattractive building is razed without further delay?

As long as the Port Jervis community remains complacent about the impression the city gives off through eyesores like this one, and as long as the Port Jervis community lets its elected officials off the hook, the city and its people will continue to have more in common with this worthless building than they may realize or care to acknowledge.

Visit the following link to take your own action on the Citizen’s Campaign to Clean-Up the Port Jervis Mall Now!

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Mayor Russell Potter’s office recently announced that it will be choosing a   “business of the week.” Regrettably this empty gesture isn’t worth the paper certificate on which it will no doubt be printed.

What are Mayor Potter, his Tourism Board, and the Port Jervis/Tri-State Chamber of Commerce doing with nonsense like this?

Apparently, as usual, not too much other than business as usual which is to say little to no business at all.

If the saying holding that he definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results is true,  then Mayor Potter and the Chamber of Commerce should have been committed a long time ago.

One example is this.

Until relatively recently the Mid-Delaware bridge which connects Pennsylvania to New York at Port Jervis was being repaired, Unbelievably, when the work was first started instead of having an alternating traffic signal that would allow traffic to travel across the bridge in both directions it was restricted to one way only – from Port Jervis to Pennsylvania.   Perhaps this concept was designed to direct travelers away from Port Jervis rather than to it. How fitting – and  how shortsighted this design was can hardly be overstated .

For while this roadblock occurred the vast number of visitors passing through Port Jervis were restricted to entering the city by one way only which, in turned resulted in a virtual pinch point and bumper to bumper traffic jams.

Instead of taking advantage of this opportunity by speaking to those stalled while on their way to vacations or day trips and explaining the situation or giving them directions, brochures, and maybe even a simple cup of cold water, the Port Jervis Tri-State Chamber and the city’s Tourism Board could not so much as to simply open the “Welcome Booth” at the entrance to the city. If there was ever a lost chance to give the impression of Port Jervis as a welcoming city worth exploring that failure was it.

Now the city’s “movers and shakers” aim to give a meaningless pat on the back to the few remaining businesses in Port Jervis that struggle just to keep their doors open. As one business person related, “My contribution to the city is just being here.” A more truthful observation has seldom been spoken.

Soon a similar opportunity to capitalize on visitors being stalled in traffic will occur when another primary bridge into  the Port Jervis is likewise being closed. How much effort and expense would it take to say “hello” to those being frustrated and delayed as their trips are significantly put on hold? The answer is little to none.

Mayor Potter, his Tourism Board, the city’s Common Council, and the do nothing Chamber of Commerce apparently can do no better than continue to preach to the choir when its song needs to be broadcast to a ready made captive audience like that which was previously seen when visitors will likewise find themselves lost, frustrated, and with no idea of what’s going on.

Living in a fishbowl not only gives a very confined view to that can be seen within its limited sphere but also distorts and prevents seeing that which lies beyond in the vastly larger world.

Elected officials, the city’s Tourism Board, and Chamber of Commerce are not only singing to the choir but the song they sing is it out of tune with that which really needs to be sung if the community is ever to advance to the next level of the competition and the rightful status it wishes to achieve.

In this context it seems that maybe a new conductor needs to step in or perhaps the entire orchestra of players should be replaced.

Until then,  the missed beats, poor timing, and screeching cacophony  that persist in  driving people away from the noise arising from the poorly rehearsed droning of those charged with creating pleasant tones and melodies in Port Jervis,  the audience will continue to gravitate toward more pleasant sounds that are not an assault upon their intelligence and making wise decisions.

This diehard career politician has been gorging himself at the expense of American taxpayers for at least 20 years.  If there has ever been a Washington insider it’s Newt (Loser).

When he was Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives his arrogant strutting about so outraged his fellow Republican members that they were staging a coup to remove him from his post.  Instead of suffering the impending embarrassment and indignation, Newt resigned (Loser).  What’s more, although having just been reelected by the people of the State of Georgia,  Mr. Gingrich chose to ignore them and did not accept that honor (Loser).

The fact that Newt was fined $300,000 for ethics violations, the first time in U.S. history that such a black mark was imposed on a Speaker of the House, is a matter of public record ( Loser).  Likewise, his philandering ways, including initiating a divorce against his wife who had undergone cancer surgery is undisputed, at least according to the former Mrs. Gingrich number one (Loser).  Apparently his wandering  eye caused him to become divorced from his second wife as well which has landed him now with wife number three.  So much for the “Christian” values he trumpets (Loser).

Now that Mr. Gingrich placed a distant fourth in the  Iowa caucus he has taken to saber rattling fear mongering, all in an effort to help ensure that one of his Republican cronies can try to defeat President Obama (Loser).

Newt is a person who supports the ways of Wall Street and the greedy bankers that  brought on the worst financial collapse in the United State since the Great Depression and likewise the financial woes facing almost all of Europe (Loser).

Port Jervis Republicans, like those across our nation, also continue to march in lockstep to  the constant drumbeat aimed at banishing Barach Obama from the Presidency  (Losers).  If they are successful Republicans in the U.S. Congress may have their way with whatever they want including supporting the very institutions who have brought the U.S. and Europe to their respective knees (Losers). A Congress consisting of only one party verges on Totalitarianism and anyone who follows a loser is not only a loser but a fool as well (Loser)

Want the rich to get richer?  The destruction of the environment? Big business running amok, and our remarkable country wandering into more disastrous wars that inflict untold pain and suffering not only upon our own courageous military personnel and drain our nation’s wealth, but also destroy the lives of tens of thousands of innocent men, women, children and the elderly?  If so, then Gingrich  and other elected official of his ilk will nicely fit the bill (Losers).

This is not a question of  our fellow countrymen favoring Democratic or Republican candidates.  The concern here is what the Washington politicians are doing to us all.  It ‘s no secret that people are disgusted with what goes on there and have lost all faith in our elected officials.  This is obvious everywhere one looks.

As the horrific events surrounding 911 once brought Republicans, Democrats, and everyone who loves America together, so too is it time to unite in telling Mr Gingrich and those of his stripe in Congress that they are doing more harm than good and should just get out of the way..

The choice is in the hands of every voter in the United States of America.  The only question is what it will it be?

Why hasn’t a single word been spoken by Port Jervis Mayor, Russell Potter, or the City Council about hydrofracking, more commonly known as “fracking.”

Do these elected officials have their collective heads stuck in the fracking sand?   Don’t they realize that if fracking is approved in New York State, as Governor  Cuomo seems to endorse and as appears to be the case, the Upper Delaware River will be meat for this juggernaut industry?   Don’t they realize that if there are spills of toxic materials into the Delaware River it may affect Port Jervis in a big way, including plans for the much talked about White Water Park?

What’s wrong with these people?

Dozens of communities throughout New York have already gone on record as opposing fracking, most recently in Binghamton which is at the confluence of the Susquehanna and Chenango Rivers.    Moreover, even nearby Lumberland, NY has taken official action on fracking.

Is rural Lumberland more on the ball and up to the times than Port Jervis?

This certainly seems to be the case.

Other New York State communities from Buffalo and Syracuse to Cooperstown and Tusten have voiced their opposition to fracking.   Why haven’t Port Jervis officials realized what’s going on here?

If the danger of toxic substances used in fracking fluids possibly getting into the Delaware River and polluting its waters from top to bottom – including Port Jervis – isn’t bad enough, how about earthquakes?

A number of earthquakes related to fracking have been reported in various states including eleven which recently occurred in Ohio where hydrofracking as the source of the quakes has been confirmed.   The earthquakes are the result of fracking taking place in Youngstown, Ohio, which is less than 200 miles from a nuclear power generating plant in Toledo.  Should that not give one reason to pause -other than radioactive fallout drifting from west to east -  it’s hard to imagine what would.  At least Ohio state legislators have now had enough sense to place a temporary ban on hydrofracking.   Too bad they didn’t do that in the first place before fracking caused earthquakes to occur.

The elected officials in Port Jervis need to realize that western Orange County is no longer living in the 1600s and that there is not a moment more to waste before letting the fracking industry know that they will not be allowed to pollute the Delaware River and, along with it, everything from fishing, wildlife, scenic beauty and, yes, even a white water park.

The time for Mayor Potter and the City Council to take action is NOW!

Charged with developing ideas for tourism, that all volunteer group thoroughly researched possibilities through a number of highly qualified sources.

After a good deal of time, work, and thought were invested in the project by the Task Force, a summary of its findings was presented to all Port Jervis City Council members, Mayor Worden, the Tri-State Chamber of Commerce and Peter Osborne, the Port Jervis City historian and executive director of the Minisink Valley Historical Society.   Of this group, only Mr. Osborne replied to the Task Force and to his credit he implemented a number of its recommendations.

Among the suggestions that Mr.Osborne helped turn into reality were placing informational displays on the scenic viewing areas of Port Jervis found on Interstate Route 84 and Point Peter in Port Jervis.  Similar signage was erected at the Port Jervis roundhouse turntable.  Additional Task Force proposals this civic-minded citizen nurtured to fruition were walking trails along a section of the D & H Canal as well as the Delaware River.

While this fine gentleman who moved on to greener pastures a few years was central to accomplishing a good deal of the proposals put forth by the Task Force, more than a few were not considered.

For instance, as noted by the Task Force, making Port Jervis more user friendly by placing yield to pedestrian cones at crosswalks seemed an easy enough thing to do.  After all, if much smaller communities such as Matamoras and Milford in Pennsylvania that lie along the same busy route that passes through Port Jervis were able to do this, why couldn’t the city do the same?

Unfortunately the failure to take such a minimal action may have contributed to a recent fatality in Port Jervis where a pedestrian was struck and killed by a motor vehicle.

Likewise, in order for tourism to thrive the Task Force found it was important for all employees of service oriented businesses to cooperate with the plan.  The same applied to civil servants and anyone else who had a vested interest in improving what has been the long-standing, downtrodden economic and social status of the city.  In order to help facilitate this process the Task Force proposed that a poll be sent to Port Jervis citizens outlining this plan and asking for their suggestions.  However, as the elected officials of Port Jervis and the Tri-State Chamber of Commerce apparently paid no attention to what the Task Force offered, this too was wasted in vain.

The Task Force further pointed out that except for one restaurant that has a few guest rooms, there was – and remains – a complete absence of lodging facilities in Port Jervis.  To  think of the money that is lost to other nearby communities by such a deficit is mind-boggling .

The cost barrier of constructing a hotel in Port Jervis notwithstanding, couldn’t some homeowners turn their properties into bed and breakfast accommodations as the Task Force recommended?  Wouldn’t homeowners who chose that path benefit financially and, in turn, generate more revenue for the city?

This having been said, the one idea emphasized by the Task Force above all others was developing the single most important asset the city has to offer – the Delaware River.

Whether it is in the form of canoe regattas like those that had routinely been held in years past, triathlons, contests to see who could make the funniest, most creative raft, or a costly and unpredictable project like the White Water Park that puts all of its eggs in one basket, using the Delaware River to its utmost is the master key that will open the door to the city’s rebirth and much needed improvements to its economic and social environments.

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