Stop the Presses: Fiction
vs. non-fiction
by Mike Kroll
Let's
begin this column by acknowledging that economic development is HARD. Most
efforts in this regard do not pay off, do not result in the attraction of new
business or create jobs. Successes are are infrequent, unpredictable and often
defy explanation but if your economic development people are doing their job
failures occur all the time and afford ample opportunities to learn how to be
more successful. Unfortunately, the only way to learn from failure is to both
experience it and acknowledge it publicly. This is called accountability,
something seemingly anathema to most economic development organizations.
Two
weeks ago the Monmouth city council did something amazing, it fired it's
economic development group. By a 6-2 vote they discontinued that city's $40,000
annual funding for the Western Illinois Economic Development Partnership
(WIEDP). The council members' concerns mirror those leveled against Galesburg's
equivalent, the Galesburg Regional Economic Development Association. Monmouth
aldermen questioned WIEDP's rabid need for secrecy and lack of accountability
despite significant investment by the city of Monmouth. They lamented how
insular WIEDP is from the local business community that is supposed to be its
partner and how little information they share with either the city leaders or
citizens in general.
But
the feeling was not unanimous. Two Monmouth aldermen and the mayor
defended WIEDP and chastised their
brethren for wanting to bring economic development in-house. Monmouth mayor Rod
Davies said the move was a step backward but, like the supporters of GREDA, all
he can do is insist that the economic development group is doing great but
mysterious things, trust him. There appears to be but one play book shared by
the supporters of WIEDP and GREDA.
Interestingly,
neither side pointed out the significant behind the scenes role WIEDP played in
dissuading a previous Monmouth city council from seriously considering purchase
of Galesburg water. Asserting that the the Galesburg option would be too
costly. Today the selected Ion-exchange alternative is rapidly proving to
exceed the cost of Galesburg water and yet Monmouth water remains unpalatable
and the supply unreliable. In an ironic twist this WIEDP recommendation has
become a major problem for Farmland Foods, Monmouth's biggest employer.
Given
a cloud of secrecy and no accountability just how much taxpayer money must be
flushed before we cut our losses and invest in another approach?
That's
what the objecting Monmouth aldermen want to do. They want to reclaim
responsibility for economic development and open it up to greater community
participation. If a city employee head the effort they can be expected to keep
officials and the public alike better informed without unnecessarily
compromising sensitive negotiations. They might even see the virtue in
nurturing already existing businesses toward growth and expansion rather than
merely waiting for the increasingly rare big out-of-town fish to come calling.
And the new partnership should involve the entire community in an effort to
make Monmouth a better place to live and work. This approach would not only
make the town more attractive to outside businesses but simultaneously benefit
current residents.
Just
in case this radical but common-sense plan might take hold in Monmouth the
intrepid publisher of the Register-Mail is johnny on the spot to discourage
change in the Maple city. Don Cooper has historically been among the loudest
cheerleaders for GREDA season after season despite an appalling winless record.
If only hot air were a valuable commodity...
ÒThe
Monmouth-area business development program was dealt a severe blow when the
City Council decided it would no longer provide $40,000 a year in WIEDP funding,Ó
wrote Cooper. Ò...The Monmouth council voted to hire its own economic
development director, which will be more expensive and, we believe, less
effective than the WIEDP public-private partnership. ...[T]he unfortunate turn of events is a result of personality
conflicts and small-town politics, which are getting in the way of progress.Ó
People
like Cooper are convinced everything can be done better outside the realm of
public bodies but that taxpayer money is the best way to fund the enterprise.
Decades of this fiction have cost the residents of Galesburg literally millions
of dollars and yielded little. If private individuals want to fork over their
personal wealth to fund con artists like Eric Voyles and company they are more
than welcome to do so but the taxpayers deserve at least accountability if not
success.
The
Galesburg city council could stand to learn something from the actions of their
Monmouth counterpart as should the Knox and Warren county boards. These
publicly funded/privately operated economic development operations do remove
elected officials from direct accountability to their voter/taxpayers (Òwe paid
GREDA to do that and everybody knows economic development can only be done in
total secrecyÓ). Secrecy is a wonderful shield. If few have any idea what you
do or don't do or what did or didn't happen responsibility for failure can be
conveniently sidestepped or redirected.
This
is the type of extortion that lead the Galesburg Sanitary District to join
GREDA as a contributing member. The $5,000 ÒinvestmentÓ can be seen as hush
money to get GREDA functionaries and their puppets from blaming the lack of
success at the logistics park on the hapless Sanitary District. I must confess
how angry and disappointed I was to see the GSD board take this action. Eric
and GREDA have this protection racket down cold and I guess I should be
surprised they haven't yet sent an enforcer to shut me up.
Whenever
this status quo is challenged groups like GREDA simply whisper in the ears of
elected officials how close they are to landing a really big fish, but they
dare not talk about it. This is the tactic GREDA used to destroy State's
Attorney Paul Mangieri's lawsuit against Maytag for exceeding the $1 million
cap on property tax savings in the Enterprise Zone. Elected officials whose
bodies were early supporters of Mangieri's lawsuit including School District
205, the GSD and Knox County were all quietly visited by Eric and his henchmen.
These officials were told of how close GREDA was to landing the big fish, something
was definitely going to happen before New Years 2005, but not if this community
sent Òthe wrong signal.Ó The elected officials dutifully withdrew their support
for Mangieri's lawsuit and our State's Attorney ended up settling for a
fraction of the original amount.
And
guess what, that big fish never was landed by GREDA. We are simply supposed to
assume that there was a shred of truth to the fish stories spread by the GREDA
folks. Don Cooper and other GREDA supporters want to make economic development a
religious experience. We are supposed to accept on faith alone that only GREDA
knows how to do economic development despite all the evidence to the contrary.
That is why Don's recommendation to the Monmouth city council is as entirely
predictable as it is ludicrous. In his Sunday editorial Cooper wrote, ÒOne
scenario for WIEDP would be to merge with GREDA to form an even larger regional
economic development organization.Ó
My
suggestion to the Monmouth aldermen, stand by you decision to reclaim direct
responsibility for economic development and invite Galesburg and the two
counties to join with you in an open and public partnership. The new effort may
not be any more successful than GREDA or WIEDP but at least the taxpayers could
rest better knowing that someone can be held accountable for at least putting
forth a credible effort.