2 thoughts on “Commonwealth Press & a bunch of other South Side businesses need your support.”

1. Peep this: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11321/1190573-53.stm

   South Side tax district talk heats up
   Thursday, November 17, 2011
   By Diana Nelson Jones, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

   The South Side is buzzing over a boycott letter that claims 22 small businesses “want to TAX your money.”

   At issue is an additional tax that would be assessed if enough people vote in favor of a Neighborhood Improvement District. The matter is still in the public meeting stage, said Susie Puskar, neighborhood outreach coordinator for the South Side Improvement District steering committee.

   Of 2,900 surveys an exploratory committee sent to stakeholders in September, 30 percent have been returned and “well over half are for it,” she said.

   “The boycott is generally misguided,” Ms. Puskar said. “Supporting local business is always a good thing, and supporting a community conversation is always a good thing. The planing forum and steering committee has been up front in saying this is not something that will be imposed on the neighborhood.”

   Dan Murrer, who wrote the letter, said he believes the committee is pushing for the improvement district. A co-owner of real estate firm Murrer Co. Inc, he said some people involved in the committee stand to gain tax support for their business on the backs of homeowners.

   Each business owner should have to pay to clean up for his own mess and for his own security, he said.

   “The tax issue is totally understandable,” said Stacey Magda, general manager of the Beehive Coffeehouse, “and I can understand residents’ concerns. But for so long the issue of the bar scene has been a negative and now there is something that could be positive.

   “Obviously people are going to have different opinions, but these are great businesses on that list. My gosh, to attack small local businesses at this time, in this economy — it’s a little shameful.”

   Mr. Murrer targeted businesses that had a pro-tax district sign in their windows or whose owners are on the board of the exploration committee.

   “They are pushing the tax,” he said, “because if they are successful they get $1 million return, and if homeowners don’t respond because they are unaware, they get taxed” for their silence. “Imagine if you kept your mouth shut in [Gov. Tom] Corbett’s election and found out you’d voted for him.

   “We have people on fixed incomes, and we just passed a library tax. Milk is almost $4 a gallon. This is just unfair.”

   Several proprietors of businesses listed on the letter said they have gotten lots of support since word of the boycott began to flutter on Twitter and Facebook Tuesday night.

   “I never feel great about being in a bull’s eye,” said Mike Murphy, owner of the Carson Street Deli, “but there’s no boycott that I know of. People have been flooding me on Twitter and Facebook in support, and my business has been better.”

   He posted a pro-improvement district sign in his window, he said, “at the request of friends and customers.”

   “It’s interesting that only small businesses are on the list,” Mr. Murphy said. “The businesses whose livelihoods depend on this one location. I hire nine people.”
   Diana Nelson Jones: djones@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1626.

   First published on November 17, 2011 at 12:00 am

   Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11321/1190573-53.stm#ixzz1e4X3bTbi

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   • http://twitter.com/#!/AiXeLsyD13/status/137529870577176576

     I’m just sayin’.

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