Contact keepourlibrarypublic@gmail.com to support our latest fundraiser! Here’s a poster to help advertise as well.
“I get by with a little help from my friends.”
~John Lennon and Paul McCartney
It’s There in Plain English
“Local politicians and agencies should work with Gannon to integrate it into the waterfront and guarantee it the space to grow.“
“If you give a mouse a cookie…”
~Laura Numeroff
Bodycheck for the Taxpayers
Since the Erie Otters have their home opener this weekend, it might be a good time to compare Gannon’s sponsorship that includes a suite at the Erie Insurance Area with the Blasco Lease. Gannon, Erie Events strike $105,000 club level sponsorship deal at Erie Insurance Arena. Gannon is paying $35,000 per year for a suite that holds up to 22 people. The lease per year at the Blasco Library is $22,956. The price at the arena locked in for 3 years. At the library? 25 years with an option for 45–with no increases. Not that we don’t love our Otters, but this really highlights what a sweetheart deal the library lease is for Gannon.
“You’ll never catch me bragging about goals, but I’ll talk all you want about my assists.”
~Wayne Gretzky
Brentonomics
Recently, the county executive purchased a tractor and maintains that he “got a screaming deal,” which will benefit the taxpayers, and the tractor will pay for itself. West County farmland mowed with new $79,800 tractor. What’s behind the purchase?
Let’s examine that. If you remember–and you can read the article in the link–the county executive wanted to turn the farmland that is being mowed by said tractor into an industrial park with no input from the taxpayers in the area. When Fairview and Girard township residents protested the move, the project was cancelled, and the county executive cancelled the lease with the farmer who had farmed the land previously. The land has been sitting fallow for the past three years. So, this land which had been earning $37,000 at its peak per year, is no longer earning any money for the county. The farmer estimates $90,000 in lost income for taxpayers, and if the peak rate was paid for all three years, the amount would be $111,000. So, he’s paying out $79,800 + gas + maintenance + labor, when he could be bringing an income of between $90,000 to $111,000. Does this sound like a “screaming deal?”
Speaking of screaming deals, let’s compare it to the screaming deal that Gannon got in the library. Since Gannon pays $22,956 per year for 25 years with an option to 45 years for the lease in the Blasco Library, that means that it would be 3.48 years for the lease to earn the money to pay for this tractor–totally not related, but it gives some perspective to the county executive’s spending and leasing tactics. The library system’s copiers–which earn $25,000 per year, would take 3.192 years to pay for the tractor.
In an email to the chair of the finance committee, the county executive points to language in the administrative code requiring lease terms to be “fair and reasonable” and “most favorable to the County of Erie.” Did he actually read that email prior to hitting “Send?” The self-awareness here is a bit lacking.
This is why we are fighting the lease with Gannon. This is yet another example of how the county executive is not looking out for YOUR money. Please help our cause by contributing with the button below.
“If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.”
~Mark Twain
Award-Winning!
Congratulations to 2nd State Films for winning the Audience Choice Award at the Lake Effect Film Festival! This was a labor of love with all the time and money donated by 2nd State. If you missed the festival, you can watch here: “Save Blasco!” Thank you to Cayce Mell and 2nd State Films for the continued support of our cause!
“The most honest form of filmmaking is to make a film for yourself.”
~Peter Jackson
Read All About It!
The story of the award-winning “Save Blasco” documentary, which will be shown at the Lake Effect Film Festival 5Iron this Saturday, September 13th at 11am, is told by Liz Allen in the Erie Reader (pages 6-8). Please make sure that you pick up your free copy of the Erie Reader (locations in the link) before a local politician has the chance (IYKYK).
Here’s the link: Signs of our Times. Please share!
“Freedom of the press is not just important to democracy; it is democracy.”
~Walter Cronkite
Deja Vu, Part 2
This week it was announce that the Pennsylvania Fishing and Boat Commission (PFBC) is opening a laboratory in Fairview, PA–right in Erie County–to study the water of Lake Erie.
PFBC Celebrates Opening of New Lake Erie Research Unit Facility
PFBC opens new research facility in Erie to help study lake
Sounds a bit like Project NePTWNE, doesn’t it? There are a few differences, however:
- The PFBC didn’t take $1.5 million in ARPA money.
- The PFBC is a public, not a private entity.
- The PFBC isn’t occupying our library.
Maybe Gannon didn’t need the space in the library. Maybe they just wanted the space, seeing as there is a lab studying the water of Lake Erie right down the road.
“It’s like Deja vu all over again.”
~Yogi Berra
“Save Blasco” at the Lake Effect Film Festival
Here is the schedule for the Lake Effect Film Festival, September 11-13: Rhoxon Productions. “Save Blasco” will have a screening on Saturday, September 13 at 11 am at 5 Iron.
Even though all proceeds from tickets go to the film festival, it’s incredibly important to support the festival. KOLP has not gotten much support from the local media, so this helps spread the word about Gannon’s occupation of the library and our fight to stop it. And, if you want to donate to our legal fund, you can use the button below.
A reminder that this documentary was also selected for the Defense of Democracy Film Festival, and the documentary was a labor of love by 2nd State Films. No donations were used for the documentary–all donations go to our legal fund to fight the Gannon lease.
“Film festivals are a great vehicle for gaining an audience for your film, for exposure for the talent in the film and for the film makers to leverage opportunities for their films. I love the energy that film festivals bring.”
~Jamie Hector
Sometimes This Stuff Writes Itself
This morning on his re-election Facebook page, the country executive made what he considers to be a humorous attempt to claim that Project NepTWNE will be testing for fecal matter. Cool story, Brenton, but as everyone who has been following the story knows, the program tests for nanoplastics–not fecal matter, and it doesn’t have to be on Lake Erie to do it. The water samples can and are transported by (gasp!) cars and trucks at almost every lab that already does this research. Did he really give away part of our library without knowing the purpose? There’s some fecal matter to be detected here, but in this case, it’s not in the lake.
“Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed.”
~William Faulkner
Lake Effect
No, we’re not talking about the weather here. We’re talking about “Save Blasco” being selected for the Lake Effect Film Festival, September 11-13, 2025 at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center (TREC).
A reminder that this documentary was also selected for the Defense of Democracy Film Festival, and the documentary was a labor of love by 2nd State Films. No donations were used for the documentary–all donations go to our legal fund to fight the Gannon lease.
“If you compromise what you’re trying to do a little bit, you’ll end up compromising a little more the next day or the next week, and when you lift your head you’re suddenly really far away from where you’re trying to go.”
~Spike Jonze
Keep Our Library Public! 