URA keeps spending our money in the wrong way!

Here we go again... The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. That seems to be the practice with too many around here.

I'm with Senator Ferlo. Lay the shovel down!

URA buys 2 more Downtown properties in Fifth-Forbes corridor The city Urban Redevelopment Authority will spend $2 million to buy two more properties in the Fifth and Forbes corridor over the objections of state Sen. Jim Ferlo, a new board member who claims the agency overpaid for the parcels and should get out of the real estate business Downtown.

Enough is enough.

Mr. Ferlo cast the lone no vote against the purchases. See, I would NOT be alone. I would give the necessary help to Bob O'Connor. O'Connor picked Ferlo for the job on the URA board. Ferlo and O'Connor need more help -- like the kind that I can deliver.

The URA will pay $1.6 million to buy a vacant six-story building at 236 Fifth Ave. owned by The Maplewood Group Inc. and most recently occupied by a D & K discount store. The building last sold for $1 million in 1992 and is currently assessed at $720,000, according to Allegheny County's real estate Web site.

There again we find another good use of the web site and technology. We need to keep a keen eye upon these transactions and need to leverage the internet as best we can to make sure that things don't get hidden from view of the citizen/taxpayers.


The URA isn't buying buildings like this -- for everyday citizens to reside and live within.