Vote for Katz! When the election comes, you may as well vote for Katz!

Illogic, anger, and confusion. Has the state legislature declared war on Irvington?

I think a main premise of our democracy is that the elected officials work to serve the citizens. Not corporations, not individual developers, and not unions and not individual police departments and not robots.

A few years ago my neighborhood worked diligently to ensure its status as a protected historic district. Major alterations to buildings and new buildings would have to pass muster before the city's historical preservation commission. A supermajority of the neighborhood (65%) stepped up to say they wanted this protection and these regulations as a method to control their surroundings and enhance property values.

The bottom line was that the preservation commission (IHPC) had the final say. However, this is not expedient for retail developers and builders, which seem to be lobbying at the statehouse.

Enter Senate Bill 177, authored by "my" state senator (who should be representing her constituents.)

As far as I know, my neighbors have asked for no changes to the historic preservation laws and rules, but she is proposing a major change; essentially putting IHPC at the mercy not city planners, but of the City Council itself. This is nothing short of a power grab.

What is saddening is that the city is so distracted by the Colts that items like this are footnotes and not even reported upon in regular media.

The actual bill and the blog post that tipped me off.