It's Official: There is no such thing as a meaningful "Clawback" Provision
Alternate Headline: None dare call it a "Bailout".
Midland Development Corp. directors voted Friday to revise their jobs creation and $325,000 incentives deal with Trace Engines and resubmit it to the City Council.The plan calls for Trace, with 23 employees at its 3000 W. Interstate 20 plant, to maintain at least 25 full-time jobs each year through 2016 with the positions averaging $59,123 in annual salary. (Note to Mr. Campbell: When asking about "average" annual salary amounts, please ask these companies for both the mean and median income figures. -- Ed.)
On April 13, the council had declined to lower the company's target from 114 jobs to 25. Hatley, though, said council members had indicated during an executive session this Tuesday that the new terms would be acceptable.
So there it is. A dog bites man story if there ever was one. The fact of the matter is that the combination of decision makers, ED proponents, and beneficiaries of corporate welfare are so completely inbred that the trigger was/is never going to be pulled on Trace Engines no matter what.
Think I am kidding? Try cross referencing Trace investors, current and former city councilmen, and former and current Chamber board members and decide for yourself if anything that was done here can be called an "arm's length transaction."
Now for the comedy gold. Any time there are attempts to rationalize a train wreck there will be much hilarity to be found.
Second Runner Up:
"I think most of us will be fine as long we achieve something that protects jobs and at the same time lives up to the basic concepts of the agreement."
You mean the amended agreement, right?
First Runner Up:
"I think the council should support the agreement because it will be a good contract with the new amendment. The protections are still in place."
Not those old and busted protections that we declined to enforce. We mean the new and improved protections that won't be enforced by our successors on the MDC board either, should it come to that.
First Place:
..." the MDC and council have since gained a better understanding of aviation...."
Taxpayers, finding themselves now pantsless and bent over a barrel, are about to gain some understanding of their own.
This is kind of cool, though. The actual agreement is posted on MyWestTexas.com. More like this, please!
For more on the history of and justifications for an Economic Development Sales Tax...and an insight on just how far off off the rails the High Priests of the Church of ED have gone see:
- Part I: If we don't pass this tax, then the Terrorists will have won!
- Part II: This economic development stuff is easy!
- Part III: We will use this money to diversify the economy. Except when we don't.
- Part IV: Government bailouts? No problem!
- Part V: Naysayers! They have no vision!"
- Part VI: That Free Market thing? That's like sooooo Reagan. We're smarter than that now.
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5 Comments
It does seem the clawback provision took one for the team. Maybe MDC people can use this forum as opportunity to address that concern.
The MDC is a panel of individuals poised to lure businesses away from their present locations with bribes. How else can you call it ? This is a morally bankrupt way to do business...or how things are done south of the border . As we have discovered , many time those businesses the MDC has been trying to lure were actually trying to RUN from something.
Down with ED ! We don need no stinkin' MDC .
Give us our money back !
Question: With all the judgment, what is your solution for bringing business to Midland that does not involve incentives or south-of-the-border bribes?
I had a boss in the Army that once told me that it was easy to criticize, but the mark of true leadership was to see a problem, understand it, and work to help fix it.
Maybe we should start a new blog....”Midlanders for a better Midland”…..OR…..”Neighbors Helping Neighbors”……..OR…….”Do unto others..”,well...I think even that one is TOO Christian for our current state of our political affairs. Guess we will just have to hope and pray for the best on Jessica's Well?
It would help to read a little more about this blog. As many have come to find out over the history of this Blog, the assumption that the contributors of Jessica's Well (as opposed to the commenter's - there IS a difference) are *not* involved in the leadership and finding of solutions for Midland is quite naive and false.
As a contributor, I feel the problem with what the public knows comes in the middle part of your own mark of true leadership "understand it." Most citizens do not read budgets, audits, consultant reports, attend committee meetings, attend council meetings, etc. and thus their "understanding" is quite limited. Add to that, often times the motives of consultants, or locals, result in poor or incomplete information being provided to our decision makers.
Having a "leader" take you down the garden path to destruction is not leadership in my book. A leader should evaluate the risks/rewareds of all ventures, shoose the prudent path and be able evaluate their decisions.
I think we're in the business of fulfilling that middle part of leadership.
Welcome to the discussion.
FYI, the Council approved the MDC Board recommendation on Trace this week. That nugget was buried below the lead about authorizing the 4B board to look at hiring a professional manager to market the sports complex.