Thumbs Up* To Norristown’s own Lenny Bazemore. It’s not often that a successful businessman will take a nice house he intended to freshen up and flip and instead decide to donate the house to charity. True, this wasn’t just any old house to Norristown native and former high school football star Lenny Bazemore. The attractive row home with the inviting little porch happens to be located across the street from Bazemore’s childhood home, and where his longtime buddy Curt Henning grew up, and the memories fairly resonated off the walls for him. Fate surely intervened the day Bazemore pulled a reversal on his investment strategy, called off construction and contacted Habitat for Humanity of Montgomery about a pre-Christmas gift of 52 W. Basin St. he had in mind. The affable and unassuming Bazemore said he would love to see other investors follow suit in putting their faith and their dollars into Norristown’s residential future. We second that notion.
* To the new “Caring Santa” program being put on at local shopping malls. For children with special needs, a visit to Santa Claus in a noisy, crowded mall can be a traumatic experience and not the joyful event wished for by parents and siblings. Since 2011, Caring Santa events at malls owned by Simon Property Group have filled that need with a visit to Santa that promises no waiting lines, no crowds and activities geared to make a magical moment. “The first year we hosted Caring Santa was 2012,” said Kathy Smith, the marketing director at the King of Prussia Mall. “It gives families a chance to visit Santa without overhead music, flashing lights and moving toys.” Caring Santa will be at the Nordstrom Court at the King of Prussia Mall from 9 to 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 22. At the Montgomery Mall in North Wales, Caring Santa will meet with children from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Nov. 22. Every youngster deserves to have a visit with Santa. Stocking caps off to Simon Property Group for making it happen.
*To everyone who came out to the Norristown Rising Roundtable discussion last Monday. Education, collaboration and economic development are the blood pumping through the heart of Norristown’s revitalization, according to the 12 community leaders gathered at the Centre Theater Monday for the discussion about the future of the municipality that marked the end of the yearlong Times Herald Norristown Rising series. Representing a cross-section of community organizations, from nonprofit directors to council members and county officials, those leaders offered their insight to the mechanisms necessary for social change that is both already in place and in the works. We’re hopeful the roundtable has and will continue to spark multiple conversations about the future of Norristown.
Thumbs Down* To the county raising our taxes based on new expenses. Perhaps this is not the right time to be adding expenses to the budget. Montgomery County is posting a proposed budget for 2016 with an increase of about 9.8 percent for county taxpayers. For a house assessed at the county average of $168,901, the increase would amount to $51.86 per year. The Montgomery County tax bill for a house assessed at that amount would increase from $532.38 per year to $584.24. More than half of the increased revenue would go to cover approximately $10 million in new expenses the county will face this year, according to Uri Monson, county chief financial officer. The new costs include increased debt-service payments, an increase in the prison health care contract, arbitration for corrections officers, interest, inflation and departmental increases. New debt for roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects is also included in the $10 million. Overall, the increase is not too dramatic, and for that we should be thankful, but it would be nice to not see a tax increase at all coming from any of our local tax bodies.
