Baltimore Brew - Latest Comments

Re: RG Steel got at least $100 million to reopen

HotMetalGuru — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 07:58:31 -0000

Had somebody told me five years ago that we would be where we are today MTE, I would have lost the bet ! I am at a complete loss to explain so much of the Wal Mart Steelworker mentality that I don't even know where to begin anymore ! The real test of a man's fortitude comes not when life is all sunny and peachy, but when the chips are down and things are unbearably difficult ! I know how I voted ( No F ing way ! ) and I know how you voted too ( No F ing way). I am also of the opinion that the rook is just a Brew Troll attempting a pathetic attempt at humor. If I am wrong and he really is a Coke Plant rookie, then I am at a loss for words my friend.

Re: RG Steel got at least $100 million to reopen

Warpig — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 07:42:01 -0000

i heard that the fire was caused when they were casting the slag into the pit and it leaked the slag caught some stuff close to the baghouse on fire, l still up and running fine

Re: RG Steel got at least $100 million to reopen

appalledinohio — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 06:31:11 -0000

Not really trying to throw blame around, just want to see our new parteners(SP) get it together and start making money. The more money we make, the more security we have. With security comes peace.
I also hope we do well enough to get WP up and running. We have some of their guys here and they are doing a fine job!!
I understand SP found a way to save $250 mil. on their raw materials, good start and hope we can can keep it going. Lets do this.

Re: RG Steel got at least $100 million to reopen

Outside looking in — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 06:10:12 -0000

Cmon BOF Boy.You know that it was slag dumped in the slag pit that had water in it. No damage to anything. Nobody hurt. If you worked there or anywhere all it took was one call to a buddy to find out what was what. Stop trying to stir shit up. We have enough drama down here without creating it.

Re: Making it official: O’Malley to announce that Sparrows Point has restarted

Raw Steel — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:09:52 -0000

It's a good thing you people don't have any say . Every steel mill would be shut down!

Re: RG Steel got at least $100 million to reopen

BOF Boy — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:37:50 -0000

They just put out a fire at the base of L -Furnace, flames several hundred feet into the sky, the cell phone photos are calling in. Many Baltimore County Fire Trucks on the scene. No not know anymore at this time. Hopefully no one hurt and the Beast is OK too!

BOF Boy

Re: RG Steel got at least $100 million to reopen

MTE-OHIO — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:26:24 -0000

Hot Metal have you been listening to the rookie Help on hear. My Daddy says this my union rep buddy Danny says i'll never be laid off. What an asshole. These MSC people would work for 5$ an hour if they faced a lay off. I thought that's where the yes votes of 1190 came from. Make them their own local and take the rat bastard Ravasio with them. Remember you idiots are still working for Severstal. The ones that migrated from Mingo can stay there for all i give a shit.

Re: RG Steel got at least $100 million to reopen

MTE-OHIO — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:56:00 -0000

Amen brother. That's why i have stressed to 1190 brothers that all of them have to go.

Re: Developer seeks $41 million in tax breaks for new Exelon building

Curtis — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:42:23 -0000

I pay too much in taxes just like you, Richard. I put my hat in this argument when I realized a company based in Chicago could just as easily have their trading floor there, as opposed to here. I'm well within the 99%, but I don't have a chip on my shoulder and I recognize that my house value is depressed not because of the BDC, but because of a fundamental supply and demand problem. Yes, commercial taxes can offset residential taxes (I totally agree with you, NoVa counties case in point), but it can't be offset if nothing ever gets built in the first place and the workerbees in society (love them or be jealous of them) live and work elsewhere.

I thank Mark and Gerald for giving more info on the planned development and a little history to the McCormick site -- I view it as a shame that a site next to the inner harbor is a parking lot and taxed as such. No doubt, it's a very busy site and certainly wouldn't be my first choice if I were czar. Better streetscape and setbacks will add a level of safety. With so little public transit options, we're stuck with the parking ratios we're dealt.

Re: RG Steel got at least $100 million to reopen

Forurinfo — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:15:01 -0000

you better read on fellow, if thats the way it is why did the contract cordinator say its a gray area, you are a fine friends and family union member, sounds like you and gulf states should get together, two fukin scabs,qualifications my ass. they trained you they can train anyone,i never heard anyone turning down learning a job in 39yrs. you are a yes man i can see that asshole. seniority should rule, THATS UNION! scared of the coke plant you got to be kidding LMFAO!

Re: Developer seeks $41 million in tax breaks for new Exelon building

Richard — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:36:17 -0000

So wrong, Curtis. What are you? Staff at BDC? An "Economic Development Professional", maybe? So, a $41 million dollar tax break really isn't a $41 million dollar tax break? The situation here is pretty simple - a tax burden is being shifted from the entity that would normally pay it (the developer) to the City (the taxpayer). $41 million that could be used by the City (the taxpayer) is being -essentially - gifted to the developer. This is wrong for a million reasons. If the city wants to reduce tax rates to attract more developers and businesses, fine. But why pick and choose? Why have closed door meetings to decide which politically connected developer gets a gift? You sound like someone with a horse in the race. Any Baltimore City taxpayer knows the real score here.

Re: RG Steel got at least $100 million to reopen

SLO9 — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:24:58 -0000

Alot of things need to come together before Sparrows Point will be in good shape.One is that both the union and management must give us more information on the state of the company. Information is power. Power that the employees can put to use to make RG a viable company. All to many times the human factor in things is forgotten.Moral is important in any company and moral goes down when its employees are left to feel like numbers by the company and union.If we get rid of the us against them mentality and truly communicate and not just lip service we might be able to succeed. Yeah i might be a dreamer here but i know for a fact we cant operate the same way we have been running.

Re: Developer seeks $41 million in tax breaks for new Exelon building

Mark — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:21:21 -0000

The McCormick spice plant that was demolished on this site, while not as majestic as the Power Plant building on the other side of the harbor, could have been a great adapative reuse project. A dignified, historic mixed use building would have balanced out all the crap that's been constructed on this part of Light Street since, and would have made a great bookend to the Power Plant building across the water.

Re: RG Steel got at least $100 million to reopen

Budsmollen — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:02:12 -0000

Those idiots running 1190 let Ravasio sit at the table with the elected officials, and answer questions. You people voted him out, the company pays his salary, and even the people of jefferson county new he was to stupid to represent anybody. Battistel, Crowe and Vergitz are the idiots in the USW. If they are going to be your future, then you have no future!

Re: RG Steel got at least $100 million to reopen

Warpig — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:35:36 -0000

Hmm lets see here....the raw materials make up 85% of the price for a ton of steel..we have no contract to buy these materials but they have a plan. i hope it is not buying inferior materials off the spot market and we continue to burn everything up.Even with concessions it wont matter you cant make steel with a burned down fce and bof.If Rg has any intention on being a player in the steel industry i think it would need a long term contract on materials.If this does not happen i am afraid that its just a matter of time and RG will be no more. i heard that we could work for free and without a long term deal they would have to sell below what it cost to make it. oh well ..lets hope this plan works.

Re: RG Steel got at least $100 million to reopen

outsidertoo — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:20:55 -0000

Qualification??? gimmee a break .... a shovel for door cleaner and a broom for lids.... gee if I only knew how to operate that complicated equipment over there!!!

Re: Inside City Hall: “Queen of Compliance” retires

Suave — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:54:46 -0000

it's irrelevant. its also the Golden Rule, and you know what that means. i have my own small-business solution. i don't even bother to bid. but i have tons of respect for all those business persons out there, who profess libertarian leanings, but belly up to the government trough anyway. guess if you can't beat them fair & square, might as well join 'em.
my fav quote in the article, Jack call me Mr. President Young, thanking Her Corruptness “for making government more effective and efficient.”
As Louis once sang, "what a wonderful world".

Re: RG Steel got at least $100 million to reopen

I'M WORKING — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:24:45 -0000

These Mingo guys are so delusional! The contract CLEARLY states jobs are filled first by QUALIFICATION then by SENIORITY. What part of that is so hard to comprehend? Through the years everyone in 1190 has certainly had opportunities to work at the coke plant, but what I usually heard was "I'd quit before I ever worked over there", You then sold your souls for that non-union scab training agreement, so some of the cry babys could hose guys out of their jobs, further putting the screws to yourselves in the process, because you gave up VLO etc. In order to get it. Mingo is never restarting, and nobody is going to buy it, so my advice is to quit worrying about the guys who weren't scared of the coke plant and took the initiative to learn jobs over there, you may be better off working on finding a job or going to school instead of spending your days spewing hatred towards everyone who is working.
Yes its true that everyone associated with 1190 must be voted out, as they are joke. Vacancies are not filled on the schedule when there are qualified people on the street who are qualified to do those jobs, there is forced overtime in abundance, and vac trucks/ contractors crawling all over the place yet dumb and dumber (your grievance chair-shop steward) are more worried about not having to work yet still getting paid, or keeping his planner job to do anything about it.
Have a nice day, I'm getting off my soapbox now and going to work.

Re: Developer seeks $41 million in tax breaks for new Exelon building

Gerald Neily — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:16:39 -0000

The McCormick site is clearly the worst of those cited so far with respect to benefit to downtown. It's barely downtown anyway. It's at the intersection of Conway and Light, downtown's two most pedestrian hostile streets. It faces the dead wall of the Hyatt garage, the Harbor Court loading area and the back-facing edge of Otterbein.

It's about as far from rail transit as possible, and in any event, the proposed six level parking garage indicates they're not much interested in transit anyway. That's consistent with most major city developments lately (such as UnderArmour at Tide Point, 25th Street Station, McHenry Row, Canton Crossing, and of course, Harbor East). If transit was really a major factor, Howard and Lexington would not be in the sorry shape it's in.The bottom line is that the McComick site would not be worth sacrificing all that tax revenue which the city would derive from letting Exelon choose from all potential sites, in or out of downtown, without tax "incentives".

Re: Developer seeks $41 million in tax breaks for new Exelon building

Curtis — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:27:27 -0000

So wrong, Richard. Taxes are high because we don't have enough tax payers. Taxes are high because we don't have enough high paying tax payers. Taxes are high because there aren't enough jobs. Taxes are high because the middle class moved out and not enough have moved back to fill the void. Taxes are high because we don't have enough private sector investment.

A dispraportionate number of articles on developer PILOT's may have made a mountain out of a mole hill. This article is about a PILOT for a improvement (aka. MUCH higher assessment) on a surface parking lot for the short term. The city isn't writing a fat check and no kids are going to go hungry.

Re: Inside City Hall: “Queen of Compliance” retires

rogerclegg — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:11:19 -0000

Why do race, ethnicity, and sex need to be considered at all in deciding who gets awarded a contract? It's good to make sure contracting programs are open to all, that bidding opportunities are widely publicized beforehand, and that no one gets discriminated against because of skin color, national origin, or sex. But that means no preferences because of skin color, etc. either--whether it's labeled a "set-aside," a "quota," or a "goal," since they all end up amounting to the same thing. Such discrimination is unfair and divisive; it breeds corruption and otherwise costs the taxpayers and businesses money to award a contract to someone other than the lowest bidder; and it's almost always illegal—indeed, unconstitutional—to boot (see 42 U.S.C. section 1981 and this model brief: http://www.pacificlegal.org/pa... ). Those who insist on engaging in such discrimination deserve to be sued, and they will lose -- as, indeed, the city has in the past.

Re: Developer seeks $41 million in tax breaks for new Exelon building

Curtis — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:59:41 -0000

Unellu, we made our points and I respect your concerns on the 99%. We both agree on need for energy regulation and oversight. California was a disaster 10 years because people swallowed the pill of no regulation and it took years to figure-out what went wrong.

On this PILOT case, I only want to add: 1) the tentative future Exelon site is currently a surface parking lot. Even with a PILOT and without knowing details, I bet the city will still collect much more money over 5+ years than it currently is. 2) This proposal is better than the Marriot and Legg Mason deals because it brings new high paying jobs (regardless of what you think of them) and doesn't push jobs out of the downtown. 3) Finance jobs will always be relevant and it's not fair to lump them all together. I'm irked by the speculators and the bailouts, but finance is necessary to buy a house, run a business, and plan for retirement.

Re: Developer seeks $41 million in tax breaks for new Exelon building

Richard — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:12:41 -0000

The problem here is that the city needs tax revenue badly. Why should City Hall make it easier for anyone to get away with paying LESS in taxes. You have a business that is committed to expanding in the city. Did Exelon say that their decision to build a new HQ is contingent upon a tax break for a developer? No. They will expand here regardless. Our city needs that tax revenue desperately. One of the reasons those of us who live in the city pay such ridiculous property taxes is because big developers don't contribute their fair share. Working class and middle class homeowners have to make up the difference. So, in my opinion, all of this stinks. And the Kaliope Parthemos rings a bell. Isn't she the one who lives in Baltimore County and drives around in a new Mercedes? Disgusting!

Re: RG Steel got at least $100 million to reopen

observer — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:11:12 -0000

You're cracking me up little boy!!! " as long as you can remember" ??? how long you been there... ten years??? "I'll never be layed off " ... I thought that twenty years ago and now I have 41 years and am LAID OFF... it's just a matter of time. By the way... why do you think it's called seniority???? The SENIOR man works; not some punk with ten years!!!!!

Re: RG Steel got at least $100 million to reopen

MTE-OHIO — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:03:30 -0000

Do you really believe the shit that you post on here? One of these days when you get shit on you'll be singing a different tune. The person that made your deals was Battistel to protect his own ass. There's no doubt that someone with your mentality would be a yes voter. Your idea of what's right definately qualifies you as a perfect scab! No doubt about it. You are a good example why MSC shouldn't be remotely connected to the union at all.