Sunday, August 12, 2012

It's Sunday 8-12-12........Media in Two Minutes

It's Media in Two Minutes.....

here's what's going on around town


Media Elementary Playground Complaints
I'm aware or the issues reported at the Media Elementary Playground.  I'm in the process of reaching out to the Media Police and RTM school board notifying them of the rowdy and aggressive behavior.  These problems seem to crop up every few months.  A suggested community volunteer neighborhood watch might be a possibility.

Media Little and Babe Ruth League

Two new eateries coming to Media:
Yes, that's right, two more eateries are coming to the borough.  Haute Dog, which will specialize in hot dogs and ice cream will be on the west end of State St., while Double Decker Pizza will be setting up a restaurant on the 400 East block of Baltimore Pike.

Media Upper Providence Library Expansion Project
The Media Upper Providence Library is embarking on an ambitious plan to expand and renovate their current facilities.  I wasn't aware of this, though 7,000 people visit the library monthly.

Rendering of proposed library expansion.
The biggest complaint I hear about the library is the lack of parking.  Instead of expanding on a small foot print where parking will still be an issue, would the former Nativity School building be a possible option after next year when it's expected to be vacant by Media Elementary?

Will the Hampton Inn ever be built in Media?
Site of future Hampton Inn
By now it was expected that work would have begun on the site of the future Hampton Inn Hotel.  As you can see, it's still in the same state it's been for years.  With Springfield recently passing approvals for the proposed hotel next to the Springfield County Club, this puts further market pressure on future hotel business in Media.  

Seems there might be other interest in this property that wouldn't include a hotel.  We will see where that goes.

$20,000 for 5 minutes of video and no answers
I wrote a letter to Mayor Bob McMahon on behalf of those who contacted me about the $20,000 in taxpayer money being used for a 5 minute infomercial.  This was money spent not only on a company that was investigated by the Florida Attorney General, but was never placed out to bid to local businesses.

The mayor never replied to my letter, but I did talk to him at a recent dining under the stars.   I asked him for a formal reply, in which, he said he would.  Later he said he didn't reply to blogs (I sent him a formal email), he then went on to say he had been traveling and had hundreds of emails.  

He seemed more concern that I know of his experience with these types of projects, than actually answering the questions. The mayor's response shows me that this isn't really about Media and the taxpayers who are paying $20,000 for a 5 minute  infomercial, otherwise it would have gone out to local, honest businesses that could do this for a much better rate.  This is about the Mayor's own personal agendas and projects that he apparently feels don't need a response.  I know that the Brandwine CVB and RTM School Board would not have given money towards this knowing what has come to light about this deal in the last few weeks.



15 comments:

  1. Regarding all the naysayers of the $20,000 5 minute video, if by chance it turns out to be a success, rather than acknowledge it there will be complete silence. You'll be able to hear crickets.

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  2. There is a security guard on duty most nights that RTM pays for. Problem is, the one guy just sits in his car the whole time and ignores everything going on. The guy on Sunday nights is great, he will kick people out for their behaviors, doesn't let the kids skateboard in there....he actually does his job. He told me to call the cops any time I am there and the kids (and adults) are acting like jackasses, the cops know most of those kids already. I've seen them peeing up there, leaving their trash all over, the language that comes out of their mouths is disgusting.

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    1. I had no idea there was a guard there, either did some other parents!
      Where does this guy sit, I will give him/her what for! I have been there in the past months where early teens will abuse some of the playground equipment and a mother with young kids admonished them and told them to get out and you should have heard the disrespect these trash kids gave. Might I also point out these were NOT kids from South Media either!
      If my school taxes are paying for some idiot to sit idly by and watch the degradation of the school that my kids attend, point me in the direction to correct it, please!

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    2. The guard is only there from 7 pm to 10 pm I believe. Just look for a guy sitting in his car solo talking on his phone.....except for the guy Sunday nights, you will see him in his yellow security shirt out of his car patrolling. It's scary how disrespectful these kids are, I would never have spoken to an adult the way these 12 year olds do!

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  3. Thanks for the feedback, that's helpful.

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  4. There should be a security guard there during the day as well

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  5. It looks like Double Decker needs to work on their presentation and photography skills, because the photos of their food on their website don't look appetizing at all. Hopefully it tastes better than it looks. Good luck to them in any case.

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  6. As for the $20K 5-minute video, how does one correlate any economic boost or other improvement back to this video? If there were metrics in place or some definitive way of measuring the impact of it, and it turned out that it had a direct positive impact on our community, then I would be the first in line to say "I was wrong, turns out this benefited us as a whole."

    Seems like $20K down a rabbit hole for no measurable benefit. Not to say that there would be NO benefit whatsoever, but any benefit would be difficult to tie back to this video.

    The argument that the real value is in the footage and not the airtime is suspect, in that footage of great quality could be obtained via local production company at $20K or less.

    Finally, and I do not know if this has come up in the past, will the footage be shot in High Definition? If so, 1080p (I know a lot of people are not broadcasting in 1080p, but why not go all out?)? I hope the Borough isn't spending money on some cheapo standard def footage that will look like crap.

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  7. When people complain about parking at the library, I wonder what their expectation is? Is parking considered "not a problem" when they can park 10 feet from the library entrance?

    If the complaint is they need to park immediately next to the library because they are carrying a lot of books, there is a drive up, curb side book drop off on Front Street that can be used.

    If they have to park 1 or 2 blocks away from the library, they might (god forbid!) pass by a local business they could patronize for lunch or shop in that day or some other time.

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    Replies
    1. Agreed! Many people I know, including me and my son, walk to the library. I would hate to see it moved across Baltimore Pike.

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  8. the library expansion to nativity is a terrific idea...imagine what they could do with all that space!

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    1. I don't think expanding to that side of Baltimore Pike serves the majority of Media as well as the current location.

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    2. I agree, MediaMike - moving the library across Baltimore Pike would make it much more dangerous for kids to walk to, and I have never had a problem parking there when I have driven (though most of the time we walk there, it's a fun family outing!).

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  9. Regardless if the "film" is a success or not, they should have hired someone locally. That is a no brainier. Hiring someone with a shady background, well that is just stupid.

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  10. We wouldn't have anything newsworty to talk about in Media without Tedman's blog. Facts and info and comments in real time.
    Thanks for keeping the conversation going.

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