Good Riddance Sallies
The Sallies-Baynard Stadium deal is no longer and I say, “Hurrah!” When I first heard of Sallies proposal to take over Baynard Stadium, I was quite skeptical. Sallies has a history in Delaware high school sports that is not so sporting.
The Baynard proposal had several items which I had a problem with:
– Sallies would lease the stadium from the city for 50 years with a 50 year option which seems to be to an an extravagant amount of time.
– Sallies would allow all that currently use the stadium currently use it under the same agreement. What about new schools or organizations, would they be allowed to use it? What if a school left the stadium deal for a season or two, would they be able to come back?
– Sallies has not raised all the $15 and $20 million yet for the renovations.
– Sallies says that “this could be a real economic development engine for the city.” Do they take us for morons. Stadiums, let alone high school stadiums, do not benefit the community financially.
But the crux of the issue is that I do not trust Sallies and it’s relationship to Delaware high school sports is why. Sallies has long been rumored to recruit players for their sports teams. These rumored recruits don’t always come from Delaware, but rather from the surrounding states. They usually play the minimal amount of matches against Delaware teams so that they can compete in the state championships with a stacked team from out-of-state.
Sallies doesn’t want to be the best sport schools in Delaware; they want to be one of the best sport schools in the nation. A Baynard Stadium deal would just be an extension of Sallies sports program that does not have Delaware or Wilmington’s best interest at heart. Sallies long history of not playing fair in high school sports leads me to believe they would not play fair in future access to Baynard Stadium.
Tags: Baynard Stadium, High School Sports, Sallies
Any time you have money and the Potters involved in something…. Watch out. And why is Velda getting involved in it, she is not Treasurer yet.
Sallies is the Duke University and New York Yankees of Delaware sports, so I’m kinda torn. I agree with all of the points above, but the alternative is taxpayers footing the bill to basically fix and maintain Sallies Football/Soccer/Lacrosse field.
How often is it really used for anything other than for preening fops to watch their PA and NJ recruits beat up on Delaware teams?
Your questions are valid, and the abrupt way in which Sallies pulled away from the agreement could suggest we wouldn’t like the answers to them. That aside, I have a really hard time shouting, “Hurrah” to the loss of a $20,000,000 commitment. Which is worse, a stadium so neglected it becomes useless or a modernized stadium with restricted use?
Completely agree–the abrupt (and noisy and petulant) withdrawal strongly suggests Sallies didn’t want any light shed on this. I mean, you had one person, Charles Potter, with no authority in the matter raising some objections and a councilman deciding to appoint a task force to determine if the deal is good for the city. In response Sallies takes its ball and goes home? If your prerequisite for inking a deal with the City is that no one may object or ask questions, something’s fishy. Certainly the execution of a 50 year lease and the initiation of $20 million in renovations could have waited a month or two while these determinations were made.
I wonder though if this isn’t part of a long game: stir up public sentiment against waiting and thinking on this lease. I hope Rep. Potter and Councliman Chuckwocha don’t cave to public pressure and sign the agreement before it’s been properly vetted. That said, if it is in fact a good deal, here’s to hoping it happens.
“Stadiums, let alone high school stadiums, do not benefit the community financially.”
That’s the point of letting someone else foot the bill. A sports stadium isn’t a bad deal if you pay nothing. But it’s not a good deal if Sallies gets control for just the cost of renovations.
As for the “fairness” of high school sports, that’s a poor base for public policy decisions.
Sallies’s offer presumed that there were donors who would donate to a Sallies-controlled stadium with some public use. I challenge Sallies to urge those very doors to contribute the same amount to a publicly-controlled stadium with guaranteed arrangements for Sallies’s use.
nothing will ever happen with that stadium if the city has the responsibility. kids will play on vacant lots (maybe not a bad idea). once in a while the private sector is the way to go. even if sallies donated the money to the city (and why would they?) the city would fuck it up. maybe things will work out after purzycki gets in.
” I challenge Sallies to urge those very doors to contribute the same amount to a publicly-controlled stadium with guaranteed arrangements for Sallies’s use.”
Have you ever done this sort of fund-raising? Your proposal would work about as well as asking voters to think of the public good instead of their own.
Full disclosure: I’m a Salesianum graduate, but I am not in lock step with everything the school does. We have had our disagreements. That said, this post is ridiculous.
The answer to your question, Jason, is quite often. It is the home football venue for St. Elizabeth, Delaware Military Academy and Howard (the defending Division II champs, by the way). Hardly the homes of preening fops. It has been used for high school soccer and lacrosse. Catholic Youth Ministry holds football and track events there. There is a summer track series for all youth in the city and surrounding areas. As a public park, you may notice people running there during the day.
To address Nemski’s points: Converting the field from grass to turf would allow MORE organizations to use the facility. Yes, they would have to rent it, AS IS CURRENTLY THE CASE. Salesianum had agreed that current tenants would not pay more than they already do. And they’re no dummies at 18th and Broom; inviting additional youth organizations into Baynard would increase the school’s visibility among elementary school boys.
You are correct that the school has not raised all of the money yet. They only had $3 million in cash reserves and a $10 million commitment. That leaves them a whole $2-7 million short. Meanwhile, the city and state have committed exactly zero dollars to the project, which will be stalled while a task force is convened, meets and studies this to death. But Mr. Opportunity, Charles Potter Jr., says he will find whatever money is needed. Good luck with that.
You are also correct that stadiums do not benefit communities, which is why I am opposed to public funding for them. This would not be public funding.
I see the real reason you are happy this deal fell apart is that you don’t trust Salesianum, and that’s OK. But Sallies doesn’t do anything more than other schools. The same could be said of the Independent Conference schools – Sanford, St. Andrews, Tower Hill, Friends and Tatnall. But they don’t win all the time. And if you believe public schools in Delaware don’t recruit, then you don’t follow them very closely. Is there a reason why every good football player just below the canal is at Middletown, while Appoquinimink is much better at basketball, baseball, lacrosse, golf, tennis, etc.? Why Mount Pleasant has four transfer players this year on its basketball roster and will be a state title contender, while neighboring Brandywine will be lucky to break .500?
The only sports in which Salesianum plays a majority of out-of-state schedule are soccer and lacrosse. In fact, they have gone away from non-Delaware football opponents recently even though they have trouble finding Delaware schools willing to play them.
Salesianum has been a good neighbor in the city for more than 100 years. I think the school has earned that goodwill. Salesianum integrated long before our public schools. They have educated the less fortunate – quietly – for decades. They have enough land to build their own facility, which would be theirs alone, and the state could hold playoff events there like it does at Caravel. Meanwhile, Potter and his cronies will be across the street wondering what happened.
Now, you see? This is why blogs like this one are good. I had a question which was answered and now I’m far less torn on the topic.
So there will be one less place for adults to be entertained by watching children trying to give each other concussions.
So what?
To bad Sallies can’t think of a better way to help children with $20 million.
I am siding with Sallies on this one. if they privayely raise 20 million to transform Baynard, they have a right to major control of its use. They were going to grandfather in current other schools and users. Get real folks! They do things first class. And the taxpayers are not on the hook for the costs.
This bomb is just another Potter shakedown scheme. They are always working some angle. They also tried poor screwing Brother Ronald when he was trying to do the Sacred Heart Village project also. Its always something
If the Potters are truly into transparency, ask them how much Foxtail Fest paid back the city for the thousands that scandal cost the city and Velda her job?
I’m torn on this, as well, but lean towards letting Sallies do this with full – and I mean FULL – transparency. I live a block away from the school and they are not always good neighbors. When they wanted to build their addition they came to our community meeting and when questions were asked/debated they said – well, it will either be approved, or we’ll move out of the city. Um, okay. End of discussion.
Not to mention, I have only just recently heard about this deal and I live a block away from the school. That could very well be my fault, but by the time I started looking into this, the deal was pulled. That seemed really fast.
One other note, it’s not just sport’s teams and organized groups that use the stadium. The community walks and runs the track when not in use. Would that change, or not?
All that said… the Potters? Yeah, no.
No one has said no here; the decision to stymie this was 100 percent Sallies’s. All Councilman Chuckwocha did was choose to have a task force look into whether this agreement would benefit the City. That seems eminently reasonable when you’re talking about a potential 100 year lease. I’d like to see some of your questions answered, Pandora, but Sallies apparently does not.
People talk up public-private partnerships, but don’t want to deal with the necessary public aspects, which is almost always going to include some opposition. Potter has no say in this, and anyone has a right to object. If the fact that a few people oppose this has led Sallies to back out, you have to wonder how committed they really were.
Folks, It wasn’t a secret deal. Bud Freel, JFC Chair Senator Harris McDowell, Trippi Congo, Council President Theo Gregory and Council President-elect Haniffa Shabazz, & current Mayor’s staff were all standing proudly at the press conference at Baynard. City and state officials were well represented. Seems like Charles just a big cry baby who wasn’t included -so he ginned up opposition!
This post is hilariously ridiculous…the few good questions about transparency are eclipsed by some rumors Nemski has heard that are not only fully unsupported but also aren’t even specific enough to know how to rebut them. I assumed DelawareLiberal had some standards for the bloggers, but I guess Cassandra and Pandora are flukes of quality instead of the norm.
Sallies paying to renovate the stadium and then agreeing, in writing, in a binding agreement, to still lease it out AT THE SAME PRICE AS BEFORE is an act of charity. Everyone is acting like Sallies is somehow going to make millions off this deal. And even the leasing fees aren’t a net gain…remember, they’ll still have to pay to UPKEEP the stadium.
What Sallies DOES get out of this is incredible publicity that will attract students and donors for other projects. They also get a first class facility for their teams to use.
What progressives sometimes have trouble understanding is that the idea of “just working with a simple task force” sounds like hell to anyone trying to accomplish something. If you’re deciding where to locate your business or whether to make an investment, the most onerous impediment is a complicated process. Burdensome regulations can be handled as long as they’re clear and predictable…but an unclear and messy process is a deal breaker. And the City of Wilmington is a clusterf*ck with processes to begin with…the requirements for a business license itself aren’t hard, but try navigating that bureaucracy and you’ll blow your brains out.
Sallies can’t raise the money without a firm, binding commitment. That’s completely logical. This “task force,” whatever is makeup, is going to involve a messy and long process with no clear end date or decision-making procedure. If the Council had just said “We’re going to hold two more hearings on these dates,” that would be one thing. But that’s not what they’re saying. They’re asking Sallies to commit themselves for god knows how long to bare their souls in front of a quasi-legislative body made of who god knows who.
So, when the stadium just falls to the ground and no one is able to use it we’ll all have Rep. Potter and Councliman Chuckwocha to thank.
I’m not surprised. Charles Potter is possibly the worst elected official in the State of Delaware. He has lied to non-profits about providing them with support so they will print his name for recognition. He will show up to random events and announcements that he has no part in and try to take credit. He does not return constituent calls.
I’m also not an expert on all the communication laws, but is it ok for an elected official to use their business social media pages for their political and personal use? It just seems others keep these separate.
Whenever the Potters are involved you know there is something you don’t know. Could it be they are trying to help control who is doing the renovations and receiving the contracts? Maybe they have a bone to pick with Salesianum? Was there a plan to host a concert there? Or, and this is likely it, Salesianum didn’t want to name the field Potter Stadium
Ask the city what they have done to improve Hicks Anderson Center?? They studied it, decided they need millions of dollars and then nothing happens.
Crickets…. That’s where all the studying gets you with NO MONEY!!!!!!
I couldn’t disagree more with this post.
Baynard Stadium is a community asset, but it’s one that is in terrible disrepair. A good stadium and track can be of great value to the community — allowing kids (and adults, of course) a place to get outside, exercise, walk, play sports, compete with one another. All good things. But none of that is doable if the place is on the verge of collapse. The field is awful, the facilities are poor, the bleachers are outright condemned because of the risk of collapsing. The place is in need of a serious overhaul so that it can benefit the community as it has in the past.
When a private entity comes to the city and the state with a commitment to provide a serious amount of funding to perform a complete overhaul while still promising to allow schools and community groups to continue to access the stadium, that’s tremendous. A 20 million dollar investment into a city resource benefits the entire community.
There was no need for a task force. The lease agreement was negotiated between the school and state and city officials. The lease agreement would include, in writing, what Salesianum is committing to in terms of its financial support as well as providing school and community access. And when the City Council moved to create a task force, they knew full well that it was a way to kill the project. That was the intention. Hence Potter’s “Save Baynard Stadium” letter. But you don’t save a community resource by allowing it to continue to fall into disrepair, by not funding it, by leaving it condemned so that the community can’t use it.
Where will the needed 20 million come from? The city isn’t going to come up with that kind of money, and the state won’t either, given DNREC’s budget, given DNREC’s other ongoing major projects like Auburn Heights, and given the state’s reluctance to trust the city when handing over large sums of money that will then get mismanaged by people like Mr. Potter’s wife.
What a waste. This was a real opportunity to make some progress on something in the city.
Potter knew what he was doing. By making Salesianum look like a bunch of racist bigots he was able to kill the deal and chase away donors.
Also, to respond specifically to one egregious aspect of the post, Nemski asks:
“– Sallies says that “this could be a real economic development engine for the city.” Do they take us for morons. Stadiums, let alone high school stadiums, do not benefit the community financially.”
Do you take US for morons? Your citation to refute that his could be an economic development engine is a Stanford economist who was talking about professional NFL stadiums, not community stadiums. Not really comparable.
The Stanford economist in your own link said, specifically:
“NFL stadiums do not generate significant local economic growth, and the incremental tax revenue is not sufficient to cover any significant financial contribution by the city. […] In addition, the stadium authority, which is owned by local government, takes on debt that is used to finance stadium construction.”
So the stadiums aren’t a good source of local economic growth because the benefits of increased tax revenue and economic stimulus of building the stadium are offset by the debt the city incurs. But in this case, the city of Wilmington would’ve incurred ZERO debt because the funding would’ve come from a private institution and donations. It would’ve been a source of economic growth because the city would’ve gotten 20 million of stimulus in the form in development, would’ve gotten increased revenue in the form of stadium rentals, but wouldn’t have had to pay anything.
The Stanford economist also noted:
“Noll said that because football stadiums are used so infrequently – two preseason games, eight regular season games and possibly a couple of playoff games – they do not realize a large economic benefit from those games alone.”
Of course, a rebuilt Baynard would’ve been used for a lot more than two preseason games and eight regular season games. It would be used for a large number of local schools who will likely be forced to find other accommodations for their games given Baynard’s deterioration, as well as community groups. If the stadium can no longer be used, that’s money that won’t be going into the city at all.
I’m really looking forward to the results of this task force. I’m sure there will be a lot of hand wringing, concern, a lengthy report, self-congratulations, then nothing will happen.
^^^This.
So let’s take this piece by piece:
Sallies would lease the stadium from the city for 50 years with a 50 year option which seems to be to an an extravagant amount of time.
This is a decent number — an option is just that — and gives Sallies a good narrative for fundraising. As in, the folks making the investments Sallies would be looking at would not be at risk for having the City take over.
– Sallies would allow all that currently use the stadium currently use it under the same agreement. What about new schools or organizations, would they be allowed to use it? What if a school left the stadium deal for a season or two, would they be able to come back?
I’m working on getting a copy of the MOU, but I understand that with renovations that the tadium would have capacity for more events. But the teams/leagues that have traditionally used it would be first priority.
– Sallies has not raised all the $15 and $20 million yet for the renovations.
Well duh. Fundraising in earnest wouldn’t happen until there was a deal near to closing. One of the things that they wanted to do was capture year-end giving, but that is out now.
– Sallies says that “this could be a real economic development engine for the city.” Do they take us for morons. Stadiums, let alone high school stadiums, do not benefit the community financially.
So define community. People go to restaurants before and after these games and a better class field could host better class events. It may not drive as much business as claimed, but Wilmington needs all it can get.
What is true, though, is that Sallies came to the City with this proposal and it was going through the proper channels via City Council. The meeting that had Charles Potter grandstanding was very public and it was meant to address issues from the public or Council. There would have been further public discussion in City Council. It was up to City Council to make sure that the deal was appropriately conditioned and we never even got to that. So you don’t know much more about this deal because this committee never really got its work done.
This stadium had a section of bleachers condemned this summer. There are temporary replacements, but that is a signal of what kind of shape this facility is in. This city-run facility was getting run down when Charles Potter was in City Council and he certainly was not concerned with this stadium then.
They city definitely cannot afford these fixes and neither can the state. And it was pointed out to me that the City is going to have trouble getting the money from the Bond Bill if they walked away from this. I think that potential private sector partners for the city are going to be scared away from this.
But I find it remarkable that so many people can be concerned about this stadium or even Sallies involvements who couldn’t rouse themselves to get the City or State focused on this facility before sections of it were actually condemmed. They made themselves heard about this when Sallies offered to find the funds, but not when it was falling apart around their kids.
Nemski’s argument here is entirely based on not trusting Sallies. He wasn’t around to fight for this facility when it was falling apart, either. And certainly, the facilities are better kept where he lives. But there is nothing about this argument that gets a safer, more contemporary facility for a bunch of city sports teams.
Hicks Anderson is the only city-owned rec center and it is in West Center City. It is falling apart and I suspect not safe, much less adequate for the current use of the building. There *was* a Task Force to look into upgrading this facility. And while there are recommendations, nothing happened. Because the city does not have the money to deal with this. I was on this Task Force, BTW. And this is what the Baynard Stadium task force will look like.
Wilmington is probably facing a >$10M deficit this budget season. It was worth the work to come to terms with someone who was willing to do the fundraising and the building to get this back in shape. Charles Potter isn’t even a decider here — this is all approved and negotiated by the Mayor and the City Council Of which he is neither. His issue is that he didn’t get invited to the press conference that announced this.
Cassandra is right. Just look at Hicks Anderson Center. Lots of talk and study, and NOTHING DONE. Just decay over there. Great intentions but you need money!!!
Question: If Charles Potter isn’t a decider then why did the deal stop?
(Like I said, I missed a lot of this due to a few personal things happening. My bad.)
I’m conflicted on this. In a perfect world, the city or state picks up the renovations/upkeep. It’s their facility. That politics has prevented it from being a priority is the problem. That this facility would be starved of funding for upkeep for what appears to be many years and miraculously an institution shows up and has a press conference with a lot of the people that should have been been allocating money for the upkeep all along, sets off alarms bells for me.
Of course, Charles Potter being the guy asking the questions sets off alarms bells for me, too.
A potential 100 year lease seems quite excessive. That is literally several lifetimes for a facility like this. Also, I’d be interested in what the guidelines for use of the facility would be in the MOU. For example, would Sallies be OK with a “Flag Football for Planned Parenthood” fundraiser? Could they reject it because they oppose abortion?
City Council (Nnamdi Chuwokcha) withdrew the bill to do this Task Force support. He should have kept the hearing going, let the regular b usiness of questions, answers, presentations happen and then if there were open questions or issues to be dealt with then hold the bill until they were answered. Everyone reacted on what they heard, not the content of the MOU or even what Sallies or the Admin had to say.
“In a perfect world, the city or state picks up the renovations/upkeep.”
liberalgeek, I agree that in a perfect world the city/state would be paying whatever is needed for renovations for a community stadium. But, sadly, that isn’t going to happen. It’d be nice, but it won’t. So to toss aside Sallies’ 20 million dollar commitment just seems like insanity.
Wilmington needs all the investment it can get. This would’ve allowed a community resource to continue to benefit the community, it would’ve allowed Wilmington to continue to mismanage its money on other priorities, and it would’ve directed 20 million of private investment into something the city should’ve paid for but won’t. It was win/win.
The deal stopped because Sallies chose to pull out. They pulled out because someone who has no say in the matter managed to convince City Council–who do have a say in the matter (all city contracts in excess of one year, including this 50 year lease, must be approved by City Council)–to appoint a task force to study the issue instead of rubber stamping the deal. Might Potter have nefarious motives? Sure. Is the task force dilatory? Possibly. But this is all part and parcel of public involvement. Sometimes people object for misguided or selfish reasons. Why on earth couldn’t Sallies have given the City a month or two (winter sports season no less) to work through this?
Sallies had been working with the City. That’s where the MOU came from. Then it went to City Council for review and approval. That is the way City contracts work. The bill for the MOU was referred to committee (which is normal) and where there is more opportunity for both the public and the Council to ask questions and make comment. That is what was going on until Chukwocha pulled it from the process to insert another process. *That* is where the deal stopped. For reasons no one gets, the normal Council process was scrapped for this toothless Task Force while $20M walks away because the City can’t even follow its own process. And Sallies can build their own stadium. Once that the city’s kids won’t be playing on — unless they happen to play Sallies.
As I wrote above — Sallies was trying to catch the end of the year charitable check-writing season in order to get started on at least planning for improvements. You won’t be able to do very many while the facility is in use, and the A/E work doesn’t happen overnight.
In a perfect world, the city or state picks up the renovations/upkeep.
In a perfect world, all of the organizations using this facility would pay their usage fees and it seems that not all of them do. Who was supposed to collect them — the city or the state?
Also, I’d be interested in what the guidelines for use of the facility would be in the MOU
That’s the point of reviewing bills in committee, yes? And that got stopped in favor of this Task Force.
“The deal stopped because Sallies chose to pull out.”
Of course Sallies pulled out. The purpose of the task force is to evaluate whether or not the city or state should provide the funding for renovations. Potter is adamant that the stadium should continue to be managed by the city or state. Why would Sallies continue to leave a proposal on the table to provide 20 million in funding if the city is going to argue that it should be done by the city or state instead of Sallies? The creation of the task force is a message to Sallies that the city doesn’t want its money.
This is one of the dumbest things I have ever seen. $20 million walks in the door and we kick it out. I would pull my money too if someone acted like they didn’t want it.
Also, neighborhood kids and organizations don’t use the stadium now anyway, so what would be the difference? If City Council really cared they would build a stadium for Howard High School. There are fields all over the Eastside right behind Howard. Rather than Potter offering to pay for a stadium that only Sallies, St E’s, and Padua uses, he could push to build a stadium for Howard. They are reigning state football Champs and one of the state’s most historically relevant institutions. This was about him not being invited to a press conference. I will volunteer for whoever runs against this guy.
One more thing about Salesianum, for those who do not follow this sort of stuff. The Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, who operate the school, founded Nativity Prep in 2003 to educate middle-school boys whose families can’t afford private school. About 50-60 boys in grades 5 through 8 attend the school, which is located on Linden Street near the post office on Fourth Street. The education includes extended days and much of the summer, and the boys’ families must agree to help maintain the school. It is demanding, academically and otherwise.
The goal is for these boys to earn scholarships to private high schools or to get into the public school of their choice. This was all started because of the Oblates, who run the school that some people hate or distrust because its students are too white, or too rich, or because its sports teams win too much.
Is there a reason Nnamdi Chuwokcha isn’t being given the lion’s share of the blame?
Look, I didn’t vote for either Potter. I. Am. Not. Defending. Charles. Potter.
That said, why didn’t city council ignore Potter? Why would Chuwokcha pull the bill and form a task force?
*It’s becoming painfully obvious that I missed all of this. Thanks to those filling in the blanks.
They share a district. Nnamdi probably didn’t want Potter making him a target of his anger.
Under the City’s guidance, the bleacher’s were CONDEMNED!! THANK GOODNESS. NO ONE WAS INJURED!
Ok, Then…….Totally clueless and speculative, with your comments. Salesianum is an open book and would gladly answer any questions.
Padua and other schools also utilize Baynard stadium, as well. There has been grade school track and field events.
A number of the sports teams at Salesianum, found it harder to schedule teams in the state, because they would not want to compete against Sallies. So, Sallies had to go out and travel to get teams to fill their schedule.
” they want to be one of the best sport schools in the nation.” WOW, so they strive to be the best, to be competitive and face the fear of the unknown of competing against other teams in the nation. WHAT on earth is so bad about that?
AND, it’s not all about sports: “The SALSTHON 2016 fundraiser raised more than $130K to help the Summer Learning Collaborative offer 250 local children a high-caliber summer camp experience that they may not have otherwise been able to attend.”
Nativity Prep, Has been very successful, for both the students at the schools.
Salesianum since 1903!
“They share a district. Nnamdi probably didn’t want Potter making him a target of his anger.”
Are you saying, Nnamdi Chuwokcha derailed a process (that sounds like it would have addressed concerns) for his own political future? That’s a pretty damning statement.
Potter posted a copy of the MOU and I’ve uploaded it here.
Reading through it now.
There’s a possible pedestrian bridge planned over 18th Street? I’m not sure I like that idea.
The Preexisting party section is a little murky.
But I guess all of this could have been hammered out without everyone’s drama.
Pandora, have you ever tried to cross 18th Street before or after a game? Even with police directing traffic, there are always close calls involving people and vehicles. We’re talking about more than 1,000 people, many of whom are teenagers, trying to cross that street. No one from Sallies parks at Baynard.
“The Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, who operate the school, founded Nativity Prep in 2003 to educate middle-school boys whose families can’t afford private school.”
That’s wonderful for the 50-60 students who attend Nativity Prep. But I have never seen an Oblate at the many community meetings, district meetings, or legislative hearings were the fate of public education is decided.
“But I have never seen an Oblate at the many community meetings, district meetings, or legislative hearings were the fate of public education is decided.”
I’m not sure I see your point. It’s not their job to fix public education.
This is a no brainer. The City and State have less than no money. The City has invested no money in Baynard Stadium for 50 years. If the City and State could find any money it could and should be used to improve and develop much needed recreational opportunities for other parts of the City. Come late to the dance politicians with no money to bring need to get out of the way. All they are doing is complaining about the color of the life preserver
Of course I’ve crossed 18th street at these times. I live here – one block away from Sallies!
Every school day I swear someone is going to be hit by a car – someone needs to speak with these kids and their parents. They endanger themselves through reckless behavior and illegal driving maneuvers every single day.
Our community basically loses access to Broom Street every school day morning and afternoon – not to mention the speeding traffic and the ignoring of one-way signs by students and their parents. Our neighborhood becomes a parking nightmare during sporting (and other) events. Our neighborhood even sends out the sports schedule to residents because it’s such a problem.But that’s my frustration, and one I signed onto by living here.
What I’m concerned about is a bridge cutting across and through a scenic area. I haven’t said I’m against it, just concerned.
Look, I don’t think Sallies is awful, but I don’t think it’s great either.
“Our neighborhood even sends out the sports schedule to residents because it’s such a problem.”
The high usage and traffic through the neighborhood probably accounts for the relative safety of the neighborhood in Murdertown.
There are hardly any Oblates left. Most are really old or retired. Like most Catholic schools, its mostly lay people running them now.