Philadelphia Inquirer | 03/09/2005 | Senator owns land sought for slots

Philadelphia Inquirer | 03/09/2005 | Senator owns land sought for slots Senator owns land sought for slots

State Sen. Michael Stack 3d said he abstained from the vote to sell the property. A Las Vegas firm is interested.

By Nathan Gorenstein and John Sullivan, Inquirer Staff Writers

State Sen. Michael Stack 3d (D., Phila.) holds an interest in a company that owns land at a potential site for a slots parlor along the Delaware River north of Penn Treaty Park.

The property was purchased in 2004 from the state after the asking price for a total of 22 acres was reduced from $1.5 million to $100,000. State officials said the price was cut to offset the cost of removing pollution left on the ground by a long-defunct shipyard.

This is a great example of land speculation. Our region is full of land speculation deals and more important, policy. Land in certain areas are ignored to the benefit of that in other areas. Hence, the flux in property is where the bandits make out. The land speculators are not about sustaining life, raising families, making community. It boils down to the gamble of the profits. And, with place like The Hill District, people are okay to buy land and let it sit for a decade or more. Then the land will rebound. But, the speculators don't help it to rebound. They let it decay and are poor neighbors. They look for the one-time windfall.

For the record, I don't own land elsewhere.

The abundance of speculation and the depression/inflation cycles makes a good reason why we don't need more real estate brokers in the Senate. Too much of what has been happening in the public life is centered upon land deals and what I call, "bricks and mortar."

The powerful too over joyed in the hardware. I'm more about the software. I care about the human elments.