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Monday, May 14, 2012

Reilly & Topper Keep Buying NIZ Insurance

where some animals are more equal than others
Because the state has still not posted the most recent campaign finance reports filed by most state house and senate candidates, it's impossible to tell what mischief NIZ beneficiaries J.B. Reilly and Joe Topper are causing.  But those reports that have made it online make pretty clear that they're both still spending heavily.

In 2011, they lined politicians' pockets with $88,715 in what I'll call NIZ insurance. This included $20,000 for King Edwin, $25,000 for Governor Corbett, $5,000 for State Senator Pat Browne, $2,000 for State Rep. Justin Simmons and $1,000 for State Rep. Joe Emrick.

This year, the trend continues.

Reilly has given another $1,000 to Simmons, another $800 to Browne and $500 to newly elected State Rep. Ryan MacKenzie.

This could explain why Simmons and MacKenzie never answered my NIZ questions. I should have included a check.

Reilly's partner and brother-in-law, Joe Topper, has laid $10,000 on Reading-based State Rep. Joe Caltagrione.

Why Caltagrione?

Well, for one thing, he is the Dem Chair of the Judiciary Committee.
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14 comments:

  1. ironpigpenMay 14, 2012 at 10:08 AM

    Funny how I never see articles like this in The Morning Call.

    I guess their are too busy being "objective" ...

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMay 14, 2012 at 1:01 PM

    The Morning Call stands to gain too much from the NIZ Zone. All of the properties surrounding the zone will increase in value with new, high end development. The paper also helps to court all of those advertising dollars with businesses and the arena. Every article they write should include a disclaimer on how the owners of the paper(Gannett I believe) stands to gain from the NIZ.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Bernie O'HareMay 14, 2012 at 1:26 PM

    The newspaper is in the NIZ. If it desires to make capital improvements, it might be able to use taxes to defray the cost. In addition, a newspaper tends to support growth regimes because increased growth means greater circulation and more ad revenue. Thus, there is an inherent media bias to support the NIZ. But frankly, I believe the actual reporting from both papers has been excellent.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousMay 14, 2012 at 4:50 PM

    You know where Topper thinks the NIZ is going if he's donating heavy to Caltagrione and throwing some money Corbett's way.

    Amendment of the NIZ legislation.

    Browne will sponsor the amendment before the Committee.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousMay 14, 2012 at 5:14 PM

    The D's are in the minority in the house. If you want to buy somebody off, buy off the majority chair. The minority chair has no power.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousMay 14, 2012 at 5:59 PM

    Browne's website is funny; not a word about the mess he's made in Allentown. His is a very Browne Hole.

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousMay 14, 2012 at 6:44 PM

    Bernie
    Are you sure Reilly's bought all the buildings but a few from 5th to 10th
    on Hamilton? If true, this is frightening.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Bernie O'HareMay 14, 2012 at 9:56 PM

    Not sure, but MM has a post about it. He has independent knowledge that I lack. I never checked the actual land records in LC.

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousMay 15, 2012 at 6:42 AM

    Bernie O'Hare said...

    Not sure, but MM has a post about it. He has independent knowledge that I lack. I never checked the actual land records in LC.

    9:56 PM

    Thanks Bernie

    ReplyDelete
  10. AnonymousMay 15, 2012 at 8:01 AM

    I beg to differ that the NIZ is going to drive property values up. An entire retail block was demolished, significantly reducing existing foot traffic. Not to mention competition for renters will be won by Reilly with subsidized cheap rents in all that new space. This will create more vacancies along Hamilton Street, and there is already a LOT of vacanies. This is very bad for current property owners.

    ReplyDelete
  11. AnonymousMay 15, 2012 at 8:34 AM

    Berni Said:

    "The newspaper is in the NIZ . If it desires to make capital improvements , it might be able to use taxes to defray the cost . In addition , a newspaper tends to support growth regimes because increased growth means greater circulation and more ad revenue."

    Exactly, how is this a bad thing!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Bernie O'HareMay 15, 2012 at 9:15 AM

    See my Friday post. It's not bad for the newspaper, but it's bad for democracy.

    ReplyDelete
  13. AnonymousMay 15, 2012 at 2:54 PM

    That's the point. They cannot be objective and have decided not to dig into any of the murky relationships between the various players because they stand to gain from this as a company.

    It's like a fox being put in charge of a hen house.

    ReplyDelete
  14. AnonymousMay 16, 2012 at 7:49 PM

    I thought SIMMONS was the new MR. CLEAN!

    ReplyDelete

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