Albany County Republican & Conservative Conference Agenda 

Albany County’s purchase of the South End Grocery store is a textbook example of government waste. In case my colleagues forgot, County taxpayers already shelled out $200,000 for this property and we have nothing to show for it.

Nothing about this public investment passes the smell test. The last developer of this site was given those tax dollars, as well as hundreds of thousands in other loans and donations from banks and private individuals – all of which were never repaid.

We as a County should not be throwing good money after bad. We should be able to admit we made a mistake and move on. And we should absolutely stay out of the business of bailing out banks who made poor lending choices.

Since we are acquiring the property, it should be just like Central Warehouse: tear it down and sell to the highest bidder.