In a bit of cosmic confluence that sums up the helpless state of Johnstown and its beggar bowl economy, we had two news events I became aware of on the very same day earlier this week that highlighted the insanity.
First, our local NBC television affiliate reported that the Greater Johnstown Housing Authority had garnered yet another grant, this for $500,000 from HUD.
Take it from someone who knows residents of Johnstown public housing, this is money that could be well-spent on things such as restoring inoperative security cameras or addressing balky elevators, to name but a few items.
The $500,000 will NOT be used for such mundane, albeit necessary, items. No, this grant will be spent, to quote from the web site report, to “perform market studies and organize events to hear from community members.”
Translation, it will be thrown into the wind, producing no concrete (literally or figuratively) results.
I’m thinking that the community members at the proposed events just might refer to inoperative security cameras and those darned elevators. So, where do I go to collect my share of the $500,000? And I did my research simply by some firsthand observation, a few emails and/or phone calls.
I’m not sure how, but I am confident the local elites who use area charities, nonprofits and not-for-profits as their power base, will get their hands on some or most of this $500,000.
Don’t you feel better knowing they care?
If HUD is dishing out wasted money like this nationwide – and I suspect it is – that helps explain why our annual federal budget deficit is going to push $2 trillion this fiscal year.
But always, it seems, Johnstown is able to shake the begging cup and get some handout money from federal or state government agencies. None of this goes toward establishing productive private industry jobs, understand. What a waste that would be!
That is, there is no effort to create private industry jobs unless you count unflinching attempts to establish Johnstown as a tourism Mecca. And nothing says seasonal, low-paying work like tourism.
Instead, the money gets spent, as in the case of plans for that $500,000 HUD grant, in the interest of making all the incoming Philadelphians and assorted immigrant classes moving, or hoped to be moving here, and into our existing base of public housing, comfortable with that relocation.
Our disproportionate amount of public housing has been estimated by State Rep. Frank Burns in an April 2023 interview at about 10 times the rate of other cities.
Afghan Amy needs somewhere for all the Myopia 2025 proposed immigrants to live, and it’s not going to be in her basement.
Now, we move to the employment ad from the City of Johnstown. It seeks, as far as we can tell, a Woke Czar to come in and lead us in the pursuit of addressing “housing, social justice and climate change.” The job title in the ad is “Residential Program Officer.”
Further down in the listing, it gets around to the true goal, that being to help make Johnstown every Wokester’s wet dream. I paraphrase, of course.
Understand that just early last year, Johnstown was able to claw its way off the distressed community list, after a stay there of more than 30 years.
Despite this technical improvement, one might look around and note that Johnstown is not exactly thriving economically. Beyond such anecdotal observation, according to 2024 figures posted on worldpopulationreview.com, Johnstown’s poverty rate is just a touch under 33 percent.
Martha’s Vineyard, we’re not. A survey put the 2022 poverty rate for Dukes County, which houses Martha’s Vineyard, at 6.7 percent. And, rest assured, that poverty mostly is year-round residents, working in tourism.
Our high poverty level is in part why we are viewed as something of a dumping ground for excess unwanted or undesirable population, alongside such places such as Charleroi, Pa., Springfield, Ohio, and others.
If a busload of immigrants shows up here, they are rushed into public housing and likely registered to vote – Democratic, of course – and not sent elsewhere in a heartbeat.
We need a Woke Czar like we need another public housing project. But likely that is what the $500,000 survey will show to be exactly the cure for all that ails us.
Sam Ross Jr's site 