Once again, city council meets tonight beginning at 6:30 pm. The virtual meeting should be livestreamed on the city’s YouTube channel (click here). The agenda for tonight’s meeting is on this post below the “Breaking News.”
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*** Also, expect Beyer to request and schedule a psychological evaluation as soon as possible.
** Expect Robert Beyer to file a motion immediately that Claire Miller be tried as a juvenile.
*** BREAKING NEWS ***
GOLDBERG & BEYER!
* When you are charged with a heinous crime and you have money – who do you call? Goldberg & Beyer, of course.
According to Claire Miller’s docket, she is the 14-year-old charged with killing her 19-year-old sister yesterday – she is being represented by Robert David Beyer (his picture is above and see below).
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UNTOUCHABLE?
The above excellent comment came into this site yesterday. The answer: Hopkins (pictured left) always supported the convention center/hotel and was instrumental in giving LNP millions of dollars in public money for their for-profit, off the tax-rolls Marriott Hotel and later for their Marriott Hotel “expansion.” That bought him being untouchable. The same applies to Mayor Sorace. LNP breaks every code of journalism ethics in this country every day. One note: The city council meeting is tonight beginning at 6:30 pm. The agenda is below. The virtual meeting will be livestreamed on the city’s YouTube channel (click here) and click here for instructions on how to make public comments during these meetings.
Please check back later today.
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Hopkins is the clean up boy like Milzy and Jess are the clean up girls. His area is the budget. Thats how they’re able to keep this up. Hes not untouchable they just need to keep him in position in order to keep presenting the budgets during Soraces campaign.
Miller Caes,
That would be standard procedure. If she can be charged as a jv then she’ll be released on bail.
I’m not even sure where to begin with the vacating of responsibilities by City Council, this ridiculous newspaper article, and the improper/illegal activities of city officials.
Let’s start with the costs being “in the ballpark” statement. Fiber networks cost AT MAXIMUM MAXIMUM $25,000 a mile aerial and $175,000 underground for full functioning installation.
At 16 miles this would put the actual value of the fiber at no more than $2 million. IN FACT, if you listen closely to his presentation to Council Patrick Hopkins admits that their consultant values the cost of the installed fiber at a max of $1,900,000.
What’s “IN THE BALLPARK” is the $2,000,000 portion that the city has paid MAW.
The City has then paid MAW, lawyers, and consultants and additional $2,200,000 !!!!!!!!! And the meter may still be running. That’s one hell of a ballpark.
Keep in mind that we were assured that ownership of the system would revert to the city for FREE should anything go wrong. But hey what’s being off by 2-4 million matter to a nearly bankrupt city.
Now lets move to the system itself and the customer base. The speed is being touted as being superior, but in fact only two speeds are being offered to consumers (50 and 100 mbps) and those costs are not competitive with the only other player in the market.
LancCity new customers
50mbps = $48
100mbps = $125
Comcast new customers
200mbps = $39.99
Additionally the $1000 per service drop was slated to be recouped at 13% per bill. $48×13% = $6.20 a month, $74.40 a year. That’s a 13.4 year return on investment (not counting opportunity cost) on a technology that may or may not be relevant in 13.4 year. And that’s just to get EVEN with the drop fee, not recouping any other costs.
THIS IS INSANE ! Even if this has worked it would have been a HORRIBLE DEAL.
And this deal was done with an unproven company, with no assets, with a staff of less than a half dozen people, one of whom was convicted in a GOVERNMENT BRIBERY SCHEME in Reading.
The white paper Hopkins uses as the foundation for his excuses goes into detail about the private/public partnerships. The City has violated just about every tenet of that paper.
The lack of (previous)Council oversight lead to this issue. The lack of curiosity by the newspaper facilitated the debacle. DO NOT DOUBLE DOWN !
OK fine, if you think purchasing the system is limiting your losses, I don’t agree, but I suppose that’s what you have to do. But there needs to be a level of accountability.
Hopkins has to go. The Mayor, although endorsed by her ( and the Council’s party) has to have a vote of no-confidence for her lack of oversight of this and multiple other issues.
The newspaper has to do its job. And the district attorney has to contact either the Auditor General or the State’s Attorney and investigate what looks to be, at the least, negligence to the degree that it questions motivation.
This sounds like the exact definition of fascism lol.
Thank you