Apparently the summer heat is getting to Ardmore 2000. They have posted a snippety reply under our blog article: http://www.phillyfuture.org/node/1418.
We have to give them their "props": they certainly have exalted opinions of themselves , and no one spins it like them….if they are doing their own spinning, since FACT: half of the time some paid outside professional is doing it for them.
So let’s take it apart for them:
FACT: if Ardmore 2000 is posting a response we hit a nerve and they are running scared. It is also a bit unusual for a "business district" authority to go off their own web site and post here...and even though Save Ardmore Coalition is say the SAME thing that the NEWSPAPERS did (www.mainlinetimes.com & www.mainlinelife.com), they are attacking US, like the reporting of their fiscal follies is our fault.
FACT: It’s more than a slight exaggeration to say that “Ardmore 2000 has done more for this town in the past five years than has been done in the past 40�.
FACT: If Ardmore 2000 was “run .....with integrity and professionalism� they would be working on a mutually satisfying solution to the Ardmore issues WITH the Save Ardmore Coalition, and working to take eminent domain off the table permanently in Ardmore and Lower Merion Township as a whole.
FACT: doesn’t the head of Ardmore 2000 have some sort of background in Urban Planning? In what course do they teach eminent domain for private gain is good business and good planning?
FACT: Most township residents want to know what Ardmore 2000 does all day in that promotes Ardmore, because most township residents think that if they were really on the ball, there would be no eminent domain in Ardmore.
FACT: "Historic District" signs are hypocritical since they want to bulldoze the “Historic� District into oblivion with eminent domain. That’s the whole point of photographing them: first Ardmore 2000 said it was for HISTORIC preservation, now they say eminent domain is GOOD for small business. Which statement is the truth and which statement is a lie?
FACT: There is more to being a “business district authority� than running a dog beauty contest.
FACT: There is more to being a “business district� authority than publishing a quarterly news letter with skewed, slanted, biased perspectives.
FACT: There is more to being a “business district authority� than snowflakes on the poles at Christmas, “A� Lights, and flowers they don’t adequately maintain in the summer heat.
FACT: Ardmore 2000 is selectively supportive: if you agree with them 100% (which means you agree with Lower Merion 100%), you are good as gold. If you don’t you are the enemy.
FACT: The minute businesses came out against the proposed “redevelopment� that includes eminent domain; Ardmore 2000 pooped all over them, and continues to try to torpedo these businesses to this day. And to this day, that is why other businesses are afraid to say how they truly feel about Ardmore.
FACT: Organic growth is happening. Ardmore 2000 did not cause the organic growth to happen and they didn’t invent the Internet either (Al Gore did. Weren’t you paying attention?).
FACT: Ardmore 2000’s office and pet merchants aren’t subject to an eminent domain taking. If they were, they’d be singing a different tune
FACT: There ARE golf clubs within the confines of Lower Merion Township. And guess what? They work with non-profits ALL the time to keep to a budget. Let’s tell the truth: Ardmore 2000 holds the golf outing outside of the township so they can get around the no small games of chance, etc. laws that exist in the township (Lower Merion is one of FOUR communities). And if they can’t cut costs by garnering donations to off-set event costs, they shouldn’t be in the non-profit business
FACT: Ardmore 2000’s sidewalks took so long, businesses almost failed. And the contractor they hired didn’t do that great of a job, as things are already looking shabby and sidewalks are cracking. An awful lot of merchants were and are awfully unhappy with Ardmore 2000’s performance over the sidewalks.
FACT: If Ardmore 2000’s engineer was off by $300,000 that speaks VOLUMES about business decision capabilities
FACT: If Ardmore 2000 knew what they were doing, Lower Merion wouldn’t have had to pay for Midge McCauley, or would have had the sense to hire her five years ago.
FACT: Trees and sidewalks that Ardmore 2000 spent good TAXPAYER money on will be destroyed through the current “redevelopment� project which means Ardmore 2000 might as well have just thrown the dollars to the wind.
FACT: A certain store owner who is getting their façade done parks their car on residential streets not at the business. This person is a member of Ardmore 2000. Is the façade so expensive they can’t afford the parking meters?
FACT: Ardmore 2000 as the business district authority should have had the courtesy and professionalism to attend the Save Ardmore Coalition’s Town Hall meeting to hear our ideas on redevelopment WITHOUT eminent domain. They didn’t.
FACT: Ardmore 2000 Board Members say horrible things about Save Ardmore Coalition every single day.
FACT: The members of Save Ardmore Coalition are taxpayers. The businesses ALSO pay specific taxes to support Ardmore 2000 at the rate of 1.5% per annum. Ardmore 2000 answers to the PUBLIC I.E. TAXPAYERS!.
FACT: Ardmore 2000 couldn’t pay its bills. It says so in the paper. Would Main Line Life & Main Line Times LIE to thousands of subscribers?
FACT: Ardmore 2000 just doesn’t like the truth without spin.
FACT: There are plenty of non profits that exist and succeed on less than what Ardmore 2000 has had to play with. They don’t poor mouth.
FACT: The Township forgave Ardmore 2000’s debt because they are like the proverbial Stepford Wife that acquiesces to her husband’s every little whim, thought, idea, desire.
FACT: Saying “Maybe it's time we all grow up and agree to disagree� is a pretty simple statement coming from someone out there representing the “businesses�
FACT: The Save Ardmore Coalition blog is a collaborative effort, not merely the work of one person, though it’s real nice to say so. The writing’s rather good, isn’t it? After all…it got you to bite “ArdmoreBDA�. By the way, is this to be the new name of the organization, “ArdmoreBDA�? We don’t want to get confused on things, and muddle our facts, after all.
FINAL FACT: If Ardmore 2000 CAN pay its bills, then they should be happy to provide the TAXPAYERS OF THE TOWNHIP OF LOWER MERION with a full and forthcoming financial audit
Peace out folks. This “factual� dance has been a blast. We look forward to another round of parry and thrust soon.
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What Ardmore 2000 said:
Fiction it certainly is...
Submitted by ArdmoreBDA on August 5, 2005 - 10:53am.
Here are the facts:
Ardmore 2000 has done more for this town in the past five years than has been done in the past 40. For one example, if it wasn't for our activities, you wouldn't have the nice signage that graces the SAC website. We can certainly pay our bills and as yesterday's article clearly explains, we have. The Township's consultant has strongly suggested that we incur heavy expenses for activities that were unanticipated and we believe that if that's the Township's desire, we could use some assistance.
Yes, the bids on our last streetscape project, which was bid out by PennDOT in 2002, were higher than our engineer's estimates by $300,000 and in order to complete the job, we needed a loan from the Township. THAT IS WHY WE STARTED THE ANNUAL GOLF OUTING. Through this event, we have continued to raise money to pay down that debt (by the way, the $20,000+ in expenses covers the club fees, advertising and signage - try running a golf outing without a country club charge). As a result, since the project started in 2003, we have paid over $135,000, received additional grant support for the cost overrun, and installed some on-the-job cost cutting measures and our balance, without the project even being completed, is only $86,000.
On a meager budget of $135,000, Ardmore 2000 has accomplished the following, just in the past five years:
-replaced dangerous sidewalk conditions (a legal responsibility of the property owner)
-planted almost 100 trees
-installed benches and nicer-than-Township-standard trash receptacles
-pays for and installs banners each season
-paid for and maintains Ardmore "A" lights
-paid for and installed "Historic District" signs
-paid for and installed a community bulletin board
-paid for and maintains Ardmore's only bus shelter (since advertising is not allowed in the public right-of-way in the Twp, bus shelters must be privately funded - and they are expensive)
-landscapes public areas each spring
-received grant funding and incorporated matching funds for pedestrian alley improvements and managed project
-held community events like our summer outdoor movie series, events for kids like the Dog Show, the Easter Egg Hunt, Holiday lighting, and Ardmore clean-up days
-publishes a quarterly newsletter, annual business directory, restaurant and antiques guides
-maintains and updates a professional website
-encourages upper-story residential living and property owner investment through a grant program
-has held numerous business development seminars for Ardmore business owners
-received grant funding for a facade improvement matching grant program and facade loan program.
I challenge any other non-profit organization to do so much in so little time with so few funds. We can and do pay all our bills; this is a question of priorities. We run this organization with integrity and professionalism. You would never hear the kinds of personal and spiteful comments coming from any of our Board members that we've heard and read from SAC members.
Maybe it's time we all grow up and agree to disagree. And maybe it's time for SAC "Communications Officers" to get their facts straight.
