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If Mr. Parks has such a record of success, why can't he just proceed on with his development without asking for so much public money, including years of very generous tax abatements, in which he pays only a fraction of his assessed property taxes while the rest of us either fork over our full assessments or have our houses auctioned out from under us?

I have nothing against his wish to develop and make a lot of money, but he should do it without asking for a laundry list of taxpayers' hand-outs. With the $9 million or so he's supposedly asked for, does he want to be Gloucester's corporate welfare king? (I apologize in advance, as I mean no disrespect, but there is such a thing as corporate welfare, you know!)

As for what type of development is best for Gloucester, as a transplant I leave that to others more knowledgeable than I. I grew up much closer to Boston and so what seems overdeveloped to many natives still looks suburban to me. Therefore, I don't have strong opinions on what type of development Gloucester should have. I am not qualified to judge.

People who apply to college for financial aid do so because they can demonstrate their lack of money and that they cannot otherwise attend without the financial aid. I disagree that he would be a fool not to try to grab as many taxpayer hand-outs as he can. In my opinion it is wrong for someone to try to bleed the system of taxpayer funds just because they can. This is what has brought our country to the point of being the biggest debtor nation and what has ballooned government spending to unsustainable levels. It is simply immoral to take from others when you should be doing for yourself (maybe I am a fool to think that in today's world, but wrong is wrong).

Certainly, this developer's success may be admirable (I know nothing about this), but I do not consider his pursuit of taxpayer funding admirable. Quite the opposite! Shame, shame, shame on Mr. Parks! LOL.

Your reasoning is the same kind of reasoning which is used to prop up and perpetuate all kinds of government programs. If we didn't have a heavy tax burden in this state, we wouldn't need "business incentives." It is better to begin paring all of this back than to make the system of taxes and give-aways even more corrupt and convoluted. That would attract businesses. Further, as I suspect you know, government spending at its current level is unsustainable and headed for some sort of collapse. What that will look like, I don't know.

Further, student loans are also financial aid, as the taxpayer pays the interest while the student is still in school and the interest rate is subsidized throughout to give students a better deal.

Finally, I do not equate a student with no assets with a successful developer.

If they give the TIFs to this mall, I will shop elsewhere as much as I can. I have ample opportunities to do so, as I commute to Boston for my business.

I must get back to work now, as my work is not subsidized by Big Brother. Shame, shame, shame on Mr. Parks, Gloucester's aspiring corporate welfare king! LOL!

I am not saying that Mr. Parks is the only person to take government hand-outs when he should not be doing so. However, the situation we find ourselves in today is a result of EACH PERSON making the decision to grab all that they can, just to get theirs. In aggregate, that is how we got into this mess. When I bought my tiny house, there was a program of taxpayer give-aways that a friend suggested I apply to and I said no, as it is true that each one of us must cease contributing to this unsustainable spending. I was able to do it on my own and I did so. This is just my personal opinion and I do think that it is shameful for people to just grab what they can. It is really just the way that I was raised. I remember demonstrations of this principle from when I was of preschool age. We had very little money, but everything we had we earned. It is ingrained in me and not my fault.

I am not saying that the mall will fail or that it shouldn't be built. I have never said that. Good for Mr. Parks, wanting to build a mall and make some money. I am simply against this taxpayer funding of a project that he could do himself. Not to get too melodramatic, but the Americans who built this country had a finer character than what we often find today. Shame on Mr. Parks and his TIFs!