The Steuben Courier reports that Tom Reed was the recent recipient of a "Restore New York" grant facilitated by State Senator George Winner. Reed, who owns the Masonic Temple in Bath, will match that grant with $820,000 of private funding.
I won't be able to attend Reed's press conference tomorrow, but t The obvious question is how long Reed has owned the building, and how much he paid for it. If the answers are "not long" and "not much", then he has a huge problem. As it stands, unless there's some innocent explanation (e.g., Reed chairs a non-profit development group and isn't really the "owner"), this looks like a case of Southern Tier crony "capitalism".
Also, I would imagine that Reed's previous statements about fiscal responsibility and the need to limit stimulus funding will get closer scrutiny in light of this grant.
Comments
Check tomorrow's Leader for reaction from both Massa and Reed - my take is what Reed did was not illegal, but has a funny smell to it.
I'll be interested in what both have to say.
I agree that it's probably not illegal, but very fishy. If you or I decided to go buy the Masonic Temple in Bath, and then applied for a grant, would we get the same treatment? I doubt it.