City of Albany (Pool14) and an upseting article

Did anybody else get the new Illinois Outdoor News paper that they sent in the mail….trial issue I guess.

Looks pretty good, all Illinois articles so I was happy to see that.

One story really got my attention, its the one about the City of Albany imposing a tournament fee of $350.00…..the fee is not the big deal. The big deal is the qoutes by the Mayor and her husband…WOW….

Things like this…. “They come to town and think they own the place, park all over….and are just RUDE.” and “If they can afford 30,000 dollar boats and drive all over the state with $3.00 gas, they can pay the fee then.” Her husband says this…”they don’t spend any money in town, just use our facility and leave..”….

And the best one…”The FLW or BASS weekend series came to town and never even told us.” when questioned about this by the interviewer, they discovered that FLW had sent a letter asking for any requirements of the city, but it was never responded to…….the mayor said this “It’s their responsibility to keep trying to contact us, till we respond.”

LMAO…ok…..well, Albany just got put on my list of places to visit, but never drop a dime. Most tournament guys or regular weekend anglers spend good amounts of money at the sites they visit…gas….eats….lodging….bait. She has no clue.

ig·no·rance [ig-ner-uhns]
–noun
The state or fact of being ignorant; lack of knowledge, learning, information, etc.
The condition of being uneducated, unaware, or uninformed.

Maybe it’s time the city of Albany find a new Mayor. There’s plenty of cities who’d roll out the welcome mat for tourneys like that.

I wonder where they bought that $3.00 gas? Probably at the Albany gas stations.

Quote:

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“It’s their responsibility to keep trying to contact us, till we respond.”

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There’s nothing quite like accepting responsibility is there. Like I said, the city of Albany needs a new Mayor.

sounds like the Mille Lacs prostitutes !!!!

big g

I got my copy of the new paper yesterday and read the article you are talking about I know I have talked to others including the folks at Bitler Marine in Albany and I don’t think most folks there share that opinion, Albany is a nice small town with a lot to offer but not much in the way of hotels/motels so I don’t think they see as much of the economic impact of the tournaments as they could, and with the attitude of the mayor they probably never will.
Moline just down river on the other hand has aggressively went after the big tournaments and has successfully held several FLW championships bringing in huge $ $ for the local businesses. The good folks in Albany need to look hard at thier elected represenitives and remind them where the $$ came from that built that nice facility.

Uhh…I remember spending a lot of money in Albany filling up with gas at the gas station on the hill, getting pizza for lunch, etc. I think the Mayor should ask that little gas station on the main drag what they think about tournaments

With that said, Albany is very small and there are not a lot of places to spend money. The mayor sounds like he spent a little to much time

Ridiculous. I routinely eat there on the way back from Savanna tournaments. Hate to penalize the restaurant, but I’ll have to reconsider stopping there and getting money out of my wallet anymore until they drop the fee.

QC1, Many of us are boycotting Albany altogether. I fished the Childrens Therapy Charity Tourney there, I made sure to not spend a dime in town. There are good ramps, gas stations, and restraunts in other towns that I will patronize.

I don’t live in Albany, but live about three miles away. I am also stunned at these ignorant comments. As Scott said, the gas station/convenience store in town, as well as the three restraunts and Bitler Marine, will pay the price for her ignorant comments and attitude.
It is sad as these businesses rely heavily on out of town business. Only about 800 people in Albany. The idea and justification for the nice ramps and facilties was to bring business into town.
I am afraid she is heeding the vocal minority who come on weekends in their pleasure armadas and whine any time a fisherman gets in their way at the ramp or parking lot. It makes it difficult for them to get to the bars where they spend their money. It is sad that this minority will ruin things for so many, but I guess that is not unlike things in the rest of this country.
I would ask those who pass through to suggest to local business people that a new mayor would greatly help their cause, and not boycott their business. She is an idiot, they are not to blame!

I agree with John and although I don’t live in Albany, I have done business with Bitler Marine, a Yamaha G3 dealer as well as the restaurant and gas stations and have always had a warm welcome and was treated well. Don’t let the opinions and comments of a couple people make it difficult for the people who are glad to have our business, Support the local business but let them know how we feel about their leadership or lack of it.