This is simply amazing. Why shouldn't Toothaker be indicted on gross mismanagement? She should certainly be fired. "They spoke of Toothaker's passion, dedication, professionalism and leadership. And they said it would be unwise for the board to punish Toothaker for the current financial situation, which many share blame for." Well, maybe a bunch more should be fired. Truly unbelievable and a prime example why so many of us are so discouraged and disappointed in government.
You are all missing the point. Who is going to lend you the money for any of these projects? FNMA and FHLMC are the overwhelming ultimate lenders. None of our local banks will lend you the money unless what they lend can be packaged and sold to FNMA or FHLMC. We are returning to an environment which will require 20% down and the financed balance equal to twice annual income. The interest deduction on second home mortgages will become history. Nobody in Washington DC gives a flying falafel for Steamboat Springs.
Today's Washington Post has an excellent article on conditions in the US mortgage market. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/... Currently the government via FNMA, FHLMC and FHA is underwriting or guaranteeing ~86% of all mortgages being created. I don't think the government is interested in creating second home ownership in a ski town at the moment. I don't think the government is interested in creating primary residence ownership in a ski town at the moment. Denver or Fort Collins or Grand Junction, maybe, but not Aspen, Vail or Steamboat Springs. Unless something dramatic occurs, the real estate market here can't get better until financing opportunities get better.
Was it Alan Sproul who wrote "Confessions of a Central Banker"? I also like Ms. Rivlin. Re Mr. Friedman: I think both of his major claims to fame; reasonably stable multipliers that connect to stable money growth; and the 'permanent income hypothesis', to be proven wrong, or at least the world has changed enough to prove both no longer appropriate in trying to figure things out. But I will also say he was a wonderful teacher (George Stigler was every bit as good). With so many very smart and dilligent people involved in the status quo, I don't think any country will decide to do without their central bank, and I agree that the gold standard is simply impractical. Keynes got a few things right. Some of the descendants of Hayek and Mises do have alternatives to central banks that do make some sense. I just worry that the next disaster, whether it occurs in ten or fifty years, will totally bring the modern financial system down. Our latest catastrophe came surprisingly close.
I took Milton Friedman's "Money and Banking" course at the UofC in graduate school. I'm personal friends with two heads of regional Fed banks. I've also read Griffin's book and have a copy of it. I've shifted to the Austrian side of the debate on the efficacy of central banks. If central banks made no mistakes they'd be wonderful. But when they make mistakes, like happened during the Depression, or what happened prior to the meltdown in the financial service sector, the consequences of the mistakes are so dire I think we'd have been better off without central banking. But you have to remember that government - the Fed, Treasury, IMF, World Bank, Commerce, AID, SEC, CFTC, BEA, BLS, the list is a long one - is the major employer of PhD economists. You don't want to put yourself out of a job.
Parking is going to be a big problem if a two hour maximum is enforced. Worse, there are a few places - the library and the depot to name two - where the current two hour maximum is not enforced. After getting a warning for parking on Yampa while staffing a booth for one of the summer festivals, I was told to park at the Community Center. "... and take the bus!"
Dylan - when I was a little younger than you I had a chance to get involved with Saul Alinsky. I was involved with the oldest, to my knowledge, grass-roots community organization, the Back of the Yards Neighborhood Organization and, more deeply, with the Contract Buyers League (see Beryl Satter's wonderful book, "Family Secrets"), the Woodlawn Organization (TWO), and the Southeast Chicago Commission. If you go to Wikipedia and look up Mr. Alinsky you'll find a number of books that he wrote. The most important from your perspective will be "Rules for Radicals", a book he completed shortly before his untimely death at 63 in 1972. I never thought that Mr. Alinsky would become mainstream and his tactics used by both political parties to advance various agendi. For what it's worth, actions by these groups helped destroy the economic value of the south and westside of Chicago for over thirty years. While much of the area has and is recovering (see the history of the South Shore National Bank), other parts remain devastated.
1999 - why will development at 700 change anything downtown? What possible impact on the ski area will 700 have other than to possibly provide more skiers and boarders? If a grocery store is built in 700, most of the grocery shopping traffic will not go through downtown. What will change is the pricing of homes in Steamboat Springs. And what has changed downtown is the overhang of condos on Lincoln Avenue. The current council had nothing to do with those approvals.
I would bet that Messrs. Engelken and Bennett are members of the YVCA. Any takers? The developments nearing completion - Edgemont, One Steamboat Plaza, the condos on Lincoln - were approved well before the current council was elected. The prospect of attainable housing that 700 represents continues to be delayed. I look forward to the meetings at the Iron Horse Inn. 700 will certainly change the feel of Heritage Park, Steamboat II and Silver Spur. It won't touch anything else; after all, the development is two miles west of 13th.
Good article, Christine. I believe Ortega y Gassett coined the expression "The IQ of a mob is the IQ of the smartest person in the mob divided by the number of people in the mob." The motley mob against the 700 project fits that description.
BOCES retains Toothaker as executive director
This is simply amazing. Why shouldn't Toothaker be indicted on gross mismanagement? She should certainly be fired. "They spoke of Toothaker's passion, dedication, professionalism and leadership. And they said it would be unwise for the board to punish Toothaker for the current financial situation, which many share blame for." Well, maybe a bunch more should be fired. Truly unbelievable and a prime example why so many of us are so discouraged and disappointed in government.
November 24, 2009 at 8:53 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Our View: The 'hows' of housing
You are all missing the point. Who is going to lend you the money for any of these projects? FNMA and FHLMC are the overwhelming ultimate lenders. None of our local banks will lend you the money unless what they lend can be packaged and sold to FNMA or FHLMC. We are returning to an environment which will require 20% down and the financed balance equal to twice annual income. The interest deduction on second home mortgages will become history. Nobody in Washington DC gives a flying falafel for Steamboat Springs.
September 7, 2009 at 4:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Our View: The 'hows' of housing
Today's Washington Post has an excellent article on conditions in the US mortgage market. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/... Currently the government via FNMA, FHLMC and FHA is underwriting or guaranteeing ~86% of all mortgages being created. I don't think the government is interested in creating second home ownership in a ski town at the moment. I don't think the government is interested in creating primary residence ownership in a ski town at the moment. Denver or Fort Collins or Grand Junction, maybe, but not Aspen, Vail or Steamboat Springs. Unless something dramatic occurs, the real estate market here can't get better until financing opportunities get better.
September 7, 2009 at 9:04 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Joe Meglen: About the Fed
Was it Alan Sproul who wrote "Confessions of a Central Banker"? I also like Ms. Rivlin. Re Mr. Friedman: I think both of his major claims to fame; reasonably stable multipliers that connect to stable money growth; and the 'permanent income hypothesis', to be proven wrong, or at least the world has changed enough to prove both no longer appropriate in trying to figure things out. But I will also say he was a wonderful teacher (George Stigler was every bit as good). With so many very smart and dilligent people involved in the status quo, I don't think any country will decide to do without their central bank, and I agree that the gold standard is simply impractical. Keynes got a few things right. Some of the descendants of Hayek and Mises do have alternatives to central banks that do make some sense. I just worry that the next disaster, whether it occurs in ten or fifty years, will totally bring the modern financial system down. Our latest catastrophe came surprisingly close.
September 4, 2009 at 4:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Joe Meglen: About the Fed
I took Milton Friedman's "Money and Banking" course at the UofC in graduate school. I'm personal friends with two heads of regional Fed banks. I've also read Griffin's book and have a copy of it. I've shifted to the Austrian side of the debate on the efficacy of central banks. If central banks made no mistakes they'd be wonderful. But when they make mistakes, like happened during the Depression, or what happened prior to the meltdown in the financial service sector, the consequences of the mistakes are so dire I think we'd have been better off without central banking. But you have to remember that government - the Fed, Treasury, IMF, World Bank, Commerce, AID, SEC, CFTC, BEA, BLS, the list is a long one - is the major employer of PhD economists. You don't want to put yourself out of a job.
September 4, 2009 at 7:54 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
City Council considers municipal ticket surcharge
Parking is going to be a big problem if a two hour maximum is enforced. Worse, there are a few places - the library and the depot to name two - where the current two hour maximum is not enforced. After getting a warning for parking on Yampa while staffing a booth for one of the summer festivals, I was told to park at the Community Center. "... and take the bus!"
September 1, 2009 at 10:26 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Dylan Roberts: The mob is destroying democracy
Dylan - when I was a little younger than you I had a chance to get involved with Saul Alinsky. I was involved with the oldest, to my knowledge, grass-roots community organization, the Back of the Yards Neighborhood Organization and, more deeply, with the Contract Buyers League (see Beryl Satter's wonderful book, "Family Secrets"), the Woodlawn Organization (TWO), and the Southeast Chicago Commission. If you go to Wikipedia and look up Mr. Alinsky you'll find a number of books that he wrote. The most important from your perspective will be "Rules for Radicals", a book he completed shortly before his untimely death at 63 in 1972. I never thought that Mr. Alinsky would become mainstream and his tactics used by both political parties to advance various agendi. For what it's worth, actions by these groups helped destroy the economic value of the south and westside of Chicago for over thirty years. While much of the area has and is recovering (see the history of the South Shore National Bank), other parts remain devastated.
August 17, 2009 at 7:38 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Engelken considers 2nd run for City Council
1999 - why will development at 700 change anything downtown? What possible impact on the ski area will 700 have other than to possibly provide more skiers and boarders? If a grocery store is built in 700, most of the grocery shopping traffic will not go through downtown. What will change is the pricing of homes in Steamboat Springs. And what has changed downtown is the overhang of condos on Lincoln Avenue. The current council had nothing to do with those approvals.
August 4, 2009 at 4:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Engelken considers 2nd run for City Council
I would bet that Messrs. Engelken and Bennett are members of the YVCA. Any takers? The developments nearing completion - Edgemont, One Steamboat Plaza, the condos on Lincoln - were approved well before the current council was elected. The prospect of attainable housing that 700 represents continues to be delayed. I look forward to the meetings at the Iron Horse Inn. 700 will certainly change the feel of Heritage Park, Steamboat II and Silver Spur. It won't touch anything else; after all, the development is two miles west of 13th.
August 4, 2009 at 8:54 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Christine Hands: 700 annexation
Good article, Christine. I believe Ortega y Gassett coined the expression "The IQ of a mob is the IQ of the smartest person in the mob divided by the number of people in the mob." The motley mob against the 700 project fits that description.
August 3, 2009 at 3:15 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )