A2Politico: Ann Arbor Politics Grilled To Perfection

May 28, 2010

The Politics of Economic Development: Let’s End Taxpayer Support of Crony Capitalism & Chart A Better Course

Filed under: economic development, taxes — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , — A2 Politico @ 11:51 pm
VN:F [1.9.3_1094]
Rate this posting
Rating: 5.0/5 (10 votes cast)

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation is taking a beating in the Press. In case you don’t know, the MEDC is a state-funded entity that gives tax credits and tax dollars to venture capital firms, individuals and businesses through a variety of programs aimed at job creation. The results, alas, have been uneven. The MEDC did create in-house jobs for two local politicos — 53rd District House Wanna-be Ned Staebler, and Fifth Ward City Council member Carsten Hohnke.

As if my natural proclivities toward the sensible use of tax money weren’t sufficient, it was revealed in March 2009 that the MEDC had approved giving $9.1 million in tax credits to the business of a convicted embezzler. Mistakes happen, and less than a week after the national media got hold of that bit of news and used it to make MEDC look as though it were run by the Three Stooges, the Michigan Legislature rushed through a bill that called for background checks of applicants who want to live large off of MEDC largesse. Now no crooks needs apply. At least crooks with criminal records. Crooks who haven’t yet been caught, and crooks-in-training are still welcome to fill out the application, go through the process, and take their chances in the MEDC multi-million dollar giveaway sweepstakes. 

In November of 2009, I blogged about the tendency of the people at the MEDC and it’s creation, Ann Arbor SPARK, to focus on “promised jobs” when putting out press releases and glossy annual reports. Since the whole point of the billion dollar job creation machine is to create jobs, the jobs damn well better be created, right? Why is focusing on “promised jobs” a problem? Because to quote (with a slight variation) Samuel L. Goldwyn, promised jobs are as good as the paper they’re written on. The latest newspaper piece about Michigan’s billion dollar corporate welfare industry was published on May 23, 2010 in the Detroit Free Press. Titled “Bold experiment produces few jobs,” reporter Katherine Yung writes: 

Four years after Michigan launched the 21st Century Jobs Fund to diversify its economy and create jobs, the first of two major initiatives under the 10-year, billion-dollar program have generated mixed results so far. A handful of small companies that received loans look promising, a handful have failed and only a small number of direct jobs have been created. Venture capital firms outside the state that were awarded millions have been slow to invest in Michigan businesses. And the majority of the grants, loans and investment dollars went to recipients in one city: Ann Arbor.

According to research published in the Free Press, only 1,147 direct jobs had been created, about 33 percent of the jobs promised, according to a report from the MEDC. Free Press reporter Yung writes, “Excluding jobs created by the research projects, most of which are temporary, only 935 direct jobs have been added.” 

In 2006, Ann Arbor SPARK received $8 million dollars from the MEDC under the auspices of the $134 million dollar 21st Century Jobs Fund. Between 2006 and 2009, according to a March 2009 presentation to City Council by then LDFA Chair Richard King (the LDFA contracts with SPARK and sends tax dollars to SPARK through a tax increment financing scheme), about 600 direct jobs had been created in Ann Arbor, all of which would have otherwise been created without giving a dime to the LDFA and SPARK. According to information from the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth, since 2008 Ann Arbor has experienced a net loss of 5 percent of our city’s jobs. Since 2006, the year Ann Arbor SPARK received its $8 million dollar grant from the MEDC, Ann Arbor has lost 9.5 percent of its jobs. 

In this election season, local politicos will tout the fact that Ann Arbor’s economy isn’t as bad off as it could be thanks to their valiant efforts. The Detroit Free Press and reporter Yung offer an alternative plot-line. Since 2006, the MEDC has funneled two-thirds of the $137 million dollars spent in 21st Century Fund business loans, and millions in grants to one city in the state of Michigan: Ann Arbor. Since 2006, Ann Arbor’s economy has, in part, been propped up by state tax dollars in the form of loans and grants to local start-up businesses, only  handful of which, according to the piece published in the Detroit Free Press, are doing well. State revenue sharing might have fallen by $350,000 per year between 2006 and 2009, but over the same period the MEDC poured millions in tax dollars per year into Ann Arbor via the 21st Century Jobs Creation loan/grant programs.

These are tax dollars that could have gone instead to education, infrastructure (think Stadium Bridges and the state’s crumbling roads) or been spread among the state’s established small and medium-sized businesses to foster expansion. Instead, millions were given in corporate welfare to start-ups in just four industries: advanced manufacturing, alternative energy, life sciences, homeland security and defense. The result was that Ann Arbor came away with a net 9.5 percent loss of jobs in our city, while ex-Pfizer employees and University of Michigan faculty members who launched businesses that were funded through the MEDC “jobs creation” program promised to create new jobs, until their start-ups crashed and burned. Since 2006, local politicos have dined out and run on the successes and expansion of Ann Arbor’s labor market—including those promised jobs. The thousands that have been promised, but have not yet materialized. 

On June 3rd, I’ll be speaking to the members of the Main Street Area Association. In preparation for the meeting, I’ve been talking to the Main Street business owners. I wanted to know whether the merchants who own small and medium-sized local businesses think our city is a place that works to foster the expansion and growth of established businesses. The word from Main Street? A resounding “No!” Ann Arbor’s city government, according to many of the Main Street merchants, works against local business. All whom I spoke with pointed to most recent obvious bungle: the extension of enforcement of metered parking. Many also believe the Downtown Development Authority is failing in its mission to support the downtown business district.

So what can be done to make Ann Arbor a more attractive home to existing local small and medium-sized businesses, and a magnet community where existing small and medium-sized businesses would choose to relocate and bring with them actual new jobs?

First, we can reverse the wrong-headed extension of parking meter enforcement before it damages the bottom lines of businesses in Ann Arbor. In Oakland, California, the City Council there extended parking meter enforcement until 8 p.m. in July of 2009. The move was reversed in October of 2009 after a recall effort to oust the entire city council was launched, and 5,000 signatures quickly collected. According to a piece published in the San Francisco Chronicle on October 7, 2009, an Oakland, California council member was quoted as saying, “Clearly, the parking regimen has been very unwelcome. As bad as our budget problems have been, it’s clear this is unacceptable. People don’t like feeling we’re balancing the budget on their backs.”

According to research on local economic development from the World Bank, most local economic growth is generated by small- and medium-sized businesses that are already established in the community, not from throwing money at start-ups, regardless of the industry. What our city government can do in Ann Arbor is to provide a helping hand to these existing local small and medium-sized businesses in the form of advice, support and resources. Ann Arbor doesn’t need to offer tax breaks, or subsidies through the Downtown Development Authority, the city shouldn’t be in the business of floating loans or handing out grants. Rather, local government should focus on making sure that merchants needs are clearly understood, and that our local government works with established small and medium-sized businesses and not against them:

1.  For starters, the city needs to survey existing firms to figure out exactly what the challenges are that these local companies face doing business in our city. I got an earful going shop-to-shop, and that’s cathartic for the merchants, but an actual needs-based survey would give us a solid beginning toward a more synergistic relationship between local government and local business.

2.  Next, Ann Arbor should implement a program to streamline local bureaucracy. We should begin by reviewing existing regulations and laws, consult with stakeholders and develop necessary remedial plans. A program to minimize the complexity, costs and bureaucracy associated with permit approval processes, for example, will improve the chances for our local small and medium-sized businesses to thrive and grow.  

3.  Another opportunity to help existing local businesses thrive is to offer technical advice and assistance. This can include broad-based management and marketing programs, to more specialized support. The focus here should be on providing accredited, demand-led, technical assistance that can be paid for on a fee-for-service basis. 

4.  As opposed to skimming tax dollars from education, and spending the bulk of our economic development money on launching start-ups, almost half of which fail after 5 years, money that has been allocated from the General Fund to SPARK and the LDFA should be spent on recruiting established small and medium-sized businesses to Ann Arbor.

The MEDC isn’t taking the criticism of its lack of results, and failure to create large numbers of actual jobs, quietly. On May 26, 2010, the entity’s 17-member executive committee issued a statement which read, in part:

“We are deeply concerned that the recent surge of unwarranted criticism leveled against the MEDC will undermine Michigan’s efforts and ability to attract business investment,” MEDC’s executive committee said in a statement issued to the Michigan Legislature and the media. “All states are in fierce competition for stable, well-paying jobs – across all sectors and industries. Political in-fighting is a clear warning to business that a state lacks a cohesive climate for economic development and a clear signal to invest elsewhere.” 

The state-wide media have finally clued into the fact that the Emperors at the MEDC have no clothes, and are beginning to question whether these tax dollars could be better spent. I’m still waiting for the local media to notice the naked truth about Ann Arbor SPARK, but I have my doubts this will happen any time soon. On May 20, 2010, it was announced that AnnArbor.com Executive VP Laurel Champion was named the Treasurer of the Ann Arbor SPARK Board. On May 23rd, the MLive.com site picked up Yung’s May 23rd Free Press piece and reprinted parts of it on the MLive.com Michigan Job Search page. Interestingly, all mention of the MEDC’s funneling of two-thirds of the 21st Century Jobs Fund money to Ann Arbor start-ups/companies was edited out of the MLive.com piece.

On May 25, 2010, AnnArbor.com’s business reporter Nathan Bomey posted a piece titled, “MEDC says ‘unwarranted criticism’ threatens economic development efforts.”  Bomey’s post made no mention of the May 23, 2010 Free Press piece, nor did it link to the May 23rd MLive post.

Popularity: 59% [?]

November 23, 2009

When Welfare Daddies Greatly Exaggerate To Keep Their Benefits

Filed under: money, politics, taxes — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , — A2 Politico @ 7:00 am
VN:F [1.9.3_1094]
Rate this posting
Rating: 5.0/5 (8 votes cast)

On November 20, 2009, Ann Arbor SPARK Managing Director of Marketing and Public Relations, Elizabeth Perkins, posted this piece of propaganda to the AnnArborChronicle.com site. It is typical SPARK scat (and not of the Jazz singing variety). Perkins writes,

In a nutshell, our [SPARK's] 2006-2008 ROI:
•101 project successes – $925 million new investment commitments
•7,054 new jobs and 5,740 jobs retained
•155 innovation start-ups through SPARK Business Accelerator
•Leveraged community investments to $32.5 million — through acquisition of Federal and State of Michigan funding and equipment donation to Michigan Innovation Equipment Depot
•Assisted 350 regional companies with employee searches
•Assisted 3000+ job seekers with employment searches

Did you pause at the spot in the ROI fairytale where Perkins has a break with reality and claims SPARK has created 7,054 new jobs and “retained” 5,740 jobs? In April 2009, LDFA Chair Richard King (the LDFA board members are appointed by Ann Arbor City Council to supervise SPARK) reported to Ann Arbor City Council that SPARK had created 600 jobs since 2006. When the LDFA recently hit up Council for an additional $205,000 to hire a staff member for SPARK to answer the phones and check the email, the November 16th presentation included the number of jobs SPARK had “created” between April 2009 and November 2009: 60. 

So, since 2006, SPARK has created 660 new jobs, according to the Chair of the City Council-appointed Board that oversees the entity, and City Council member Stephen Rapundalo. It was Rapundalo, who sits on the LDFA Board, who brought the $205,000 funding resolution to City Council. First Ward Council member Sandi Smith even gave Council member Rapundalo, and Skip Simms, the managing director of entrepreneurial business development at SPARK, an opportunity to take credit for creating 7,054 new jobs when Smith asked a follow-up question about the 60 jobs created. Skip didn’t correct Council member Smith and say that SPARK had created 7,054 jobs. Instead, Simms answered her question about the 60 jobs created.

So what’s going on? Is it 7,054 jobs created or 660 jobs created? To answer that, we’re going to have to bring in another character, former SPARK CEO Rick Snyder.

That’s the same Rick Snyder, who’s now running for Governor, and whose budget reform plan includes:

-Determine priorities in spending
-Create measurable goals for spending priorities
-Create a multi-year budget based upon spending priorities
-Publish regular assessments of progress towards goals
-Identify strengths and weaknesses of programs based upon achievement of goals
-Publish all spending online so citizens can ensure their tax dollars are being spent effectively and responsibly

Snyder was the CEO of SPARK from its creation in July 2006, through May 22, 2009, when he left to concentrate on his political aspirations. The movie will be titled: The Wizard of SPARK goes to Lansing. If you wonder how Snyder would do dealing with billions of public dollars, you need only look as far as how he dealt with a few million public dollars as the CEO of SPARK. Annual reports, issued by SPARK while Rick Snyder was in charge claim the “creation” and “retention” of thousands of jobs. Snyder’s Annual Reports make for better reading than Melville’s Moby Dick—both Snyder and Captain Ahab pursue the White Whale come hell, high water, standard practices of accounting and the inconvenient truth. 

In fact, Snyder was still in charge at SPARK in April of 2009 when Richard King went before City Council and (to his credit) told the truth about the actual number of actual jobs created in Ann Arbor between July 2006 and April 2009. 

This distinction between promised and actual jobs is a critical one, and one that the SPARK Spin-o-matic Machine, devised and set into motion by Rick Snyder, has never found necessary to distinguish. In fact, SPARK’s PR Director Perkins and SPARK’s CEO Michael Finney, (as did Rick Snyder before them), are in the business of counting their chickens before they’re hatched. They’re not only counting their chickens before they’re hatched, they’re telling taxpayers the fairytale that they’re got 7,054 chickens. Richard King and the LDFA board that oversees our traveling minstrels and bards from SPARK have told the whole truth—that 660 of those eggs have hatched. Richard King also made clear that those 660 eggs would have hatched without a penny’s worth of help from the Ann Arbor taxpayers. So why have our City Council members continued to give money to the LDFA to give to SPARK? 

Well, because the lot of them still believe in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the SPARK Job Creation Fairy. 

Here is a perfect example of how the Job Creation Fairy works. In 2008, Google came to town promising to create 1,100 jobs by 2011. SPARK, then, took credit for having “created” 1,100 jobs. Press releases were written and flashed over the transom to every newspaper this side of Beijing. It’s almost 2010, and Google officials will no longer speak to the Press about exactly how many employees the company has or will have at the Ann Arbor office. I’ll tell you. There have been about 210 actual jobs created by Google thus far, or 19 percent of the jobs promised. Will Google add 900 more actual jobs during 2010? We can all hope. What no one should do is go around bragging to people that there have been 1,100 jobs “created” by Google’s move to Ann Arbor. That is exactly what SPARK does, and what our local elected officials do. They mislead taxpayers about the actual accomplishments of SPARK so that their friends and political cronies can keep their jobs. Those friends and political cronies then donate money to keep our elected officials in office. Matching up SPARK and LDFA Board member names with names on campaign finance donor records for Ann Arbor’s Mayor, Washtenaw County Commissioners, and Ann Arbor City Council members is an interesting game of connect-the-political appointment to the political donations.

The relationship between City Council, SPARK and the LDFA is a classic political circle jerk from start to finish. 

I was amazed when I read Snyder’s budget reform plan for the state of Michigan. Not because I think his ideas are unique in any way, but rather because he implemented few of those same tools during his tenure at SPARK. In fact, in October of 2008 the Treasurer of the LDFA Board resigned over shoddy record keeping, conflicts of interest, accounting irregularities, and lack of internal financial controls at Rick Snyder’s SPARK. 

According to the October 2008 piece in the Ann Arbor News, that stick-in-the-economic-development-mud, LDFA Treasurer Mike Reid found, “instances where SPARK employees or family members of employees were paid to consult for their own companies…Mike Reid said he was resigning as treasurer of the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti SmartZone Local Development Finance Authority in protest over what he sees as the board’s failure to hold Spark responsible for ‘pervasive contractual deficiencies’ in its record-keeping and use of funds.” Ouch.

In 2007, about 30 percent of SPARK’s $2.3 million dollar budget came from taxpayers. By 2008, that percentage had risen to 38 percent of a $3 million dollar budget. On November 16th, City Council voted unanimously to give the LDFA a $205,000 handout of our tax dollars to pass on it’s only child, SPARK. All of the money “captured” by the LDFA’s TIF comes from our local public schools. Thus, every dollar the LDFA gives to SPARK is a dollar not available for public education. 

I have no doubt that Republican candidate Rick Snyder would rely on the same kinds of tactics as Governor of Michigan that he devised while CEO of Ann Arbor SPARK. Look at his track record: In less time than a single gubernatorial term, Snyder created a legacy of deception, cronyism, and misuse of taxpayer money while at the head of Ann Arbor SPARK. I imagine Rick Snyder would go hog wild doling out political welfare to his political pals, donors and cronies if set loose on our state’s multi-billion dollar budget.

Ann Arbor’s City Council and Mayor have allowed the LDFA to divert millions of tax dollars from public education since 2006, and kept SPARK on the public dole long enough. It’s time for all those Ann Arbor SPARK welfare Mamas and Daddies created by Rick Snyder, and whose six-figure salaries are funded by our local politicos with our tax dollars, to get off welfare and get honest jobs. Hey, maybe SPARK CEO Michael Finney can get one of those jobs he “created.” Unfortunately, such a job probably won’t pay him the $200K per year and great benefits his job at SPARK does.

Popularity: 24% [?]

November 16, 2009

The Politics of Mooching: Panhandler Asks Council for a $205,000 Hand-out

Filed under: city council, taxes — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , — A2 Politico @ 3:28 pm
VN:F [1.9.3_1094]
Rate this posting
Rating: 5.0/5 (4 votes cast)

You’re walking down Main Street on your way to dinner. Ahead, you see a panhandler. He’s well-dressed, well-educated, and ready with a snappy, buzz-word filled presentation to give to you in order to hit you up for a little cash. You recognize the panhandler, because in May 2009 you gave the panhandler $1.08 million dollars, and in June 2009, you gave the panhandler $56,000 dollars more. Since 2006, you’ve given the same panhandler over $3 million dollars. Public money—tax dollars. The panhandler is supposed to give back to the community through a process under the auspices of which the panhandler creates jobs for other panhandlers. 

However, training up new panhandlers is expensive, complicated and involves lots of staffing and buzzwords.

The panhandler stops you, and launches into his presentation (you can download it here). “Resolution to Amend the Fiscal Year 2010 SmartZone LDFA Budget for Increased Business Accelerator Services.” 

“As you may know,” our panhandler reads from his presentation, “this process of grooming panhandlers and creating jobs involves: events. There’s networking,  talent support, entrepreneurial education related to starting one’s own panhandling business, and marketing. Identifying and grooming panhandlers involves lots of paper shuffling.”

In fact that’s why our panhandler is asking for the hand-out. He needs to hire someone to:

  • “handle general inquiry” from prospective panhandlers (in real life we call this answering the phone and responding to emails)
  • “to conduct ‘due diligence’” so that he can identify the best panhandlers to offer his services to (in real life, we refer to this activity as weeding out the nut jobs and loonies). Generally, con artists can be spotted pretty readily, but our panhandler prefers to do it over the course of multiple lunch meetings, cocktail  gatherings and interviews involving lots of staff. 
  • “customer/partner introductions” so that aspiring panhandlers can meet potential panhandling partners (in real life, this is called picking up the phone and calling people).  

So, do you give the panhandler the money? Of course you don’t. For pity’s sake, the public schools just got a huge kick in the proverbial teeth when they came a beggin’ for a handout. Then again, though the tax money belongs to you, you aren’t going to be making the decision on whether to give a handout to this particular panhandler. That will be the decision of the intrepid over-spenders and chronic under-performers on City Council. 

So who’s the panhandler? Second Ward Council member Stephen Rapundalo and the Board of the LDFA (The LDFA is the City Council-appointed Board that oversees Ann Arbor SPARK.), both in loco parentis for Ann Arbor SPARK. You remember Ann Arbor SPARK, right? It’s the public-private boondoggle supported by Mayor and Council with your tax dollars that has created no new jobs that would not otherwise have been created, according to the Chair of the LDFA, Richard King.  And SPARK has done it all for you since July 2006 for a mere $3+ million dollars. Who could want less for more? It’s a Bernie Madoff Special—no actual job creation in return for millions in public money. How long will it take the public to realize that they’re being robbed?   

Tonight, Council member Rapundalo will come before City Council to ask for an additional $205,000 for the LDFA to give to Ann Arbor SPARK “for the purpose of assisting with the creation and acceleration of innovation‐based businesses.” If this relationship between your money, the LDFA and Ann Arbor SPARK seems overly complicated, it is. Most public-private financing scams involving tax dollars and politicos looking to pad their CVs, involve multiple governing boards and lots of overhead. Ann Arbor SPARK needs money, Daddy. So, the LDFA Board asks Council member Rapundalo to sponsor a resolution for more money for the LDFA, so the LDFA can give the money to SPARK. You following me? If not, that’s exactly the way the fine panhandlers at SPARK, City Council and the LDFA want it.

So why does Ann Arbor SPARK need more money? 

The panhandlers at SPARK are having a problem referred to in business buzzword-ology as an “accelerated burn rate.” Let me translate: SPARK officials blew through their money and want some more from the taxpayers. They’re saying they blew through their money because lots of entrepreneurs are begging for their services and oodles of new businesses are being “incubated.” Cool. Here are some ideas for the innovators who work at Ann Arbor SPARK. Don’t have enough money to pay your staff? Have a bake sale, or do one of those car wash fundraisers. Get a loan from a bank. Cut the pay and benefits of your current employees. Start a waiting list for your services until your cash flow situation improves. I have a million ideas that don’t involve bilking the taxpayers through the use of Council Sugar Daddies. 

Fifth Ward Council member Carsten Hohnke is SPARK Sugar Daddy number one. Hohnke was recently appointed to the SPARK Executive Committee. Second Ward Council member Stephen Rapundalo is SPARK Sugar Daddy number two. Rapundalo sits on the LDFA Board; that group siphons tax money away from our schools through a TIF scheme. The LDFA then “contracts” with SPARK to “provide services.” As of April 2009, 38 percent of SPARKS’ $2.8 million dollar budget was provided by the LDFA (i.e. public tax dollars).

Here is ROI (return on investment) information from the presentation prepared for this evening’s Council meeting by the SPARK staff. It’s frightening in its grammatical vagary. 

Return on Investment: 
From 2007 to date, the Ann Arbor SPARK Business Accelerator (BA) has provided business acceleration services to nearly 100 start‐up companies.  There were 180 entrepreneurs engaged in starting these new companies.  Since their engagement with SPARK they have created more than 60 more jobs.

There’s just only little problem: In April of 2009 Richard King shared a little secret with City Council members. The Chair of the LDFA Board confessed that all of the jobs SPARK officials had rushed to take credit for “creating” since 2006 would have been created in the absence of taxpayer funding. Thus, in April of 2009, City Council members learned there was absolutely no reason to allocate any further taxpayer money to fund the LDFA and Ann Arbor SPARK. Regardless of learning from King that the taxpayers were receiving absolutely zero return on their investment in the LDFA and Ann Arbor SPARK, in May of 2009, Council members voted in support of a budget that continued to fund the twin boondoggle. Worse, in June of 2009, 30 days after axing the funds for Project Grow, Rapundalo and Fourth Ward Council member Marcia Higgins came to Council and asked for an additional $56,000 of funding for the LDFA. The money was allocated.

Now, Stephen Rapundalo is back asking for another handout from the taxpayers in exchange for, well, nothing.

 It’s time Ann Arbor SPARK stopped picking the pockets of Ann Arbor taxpayers, and it’s way past time City Council members stopped pimping for their political cronies at SPARK and the LDFA. It’s time to revoke the LDFA’s TIF, and let SPARK fly free. It’s Third Ward Council member Steve Kunselman’s first meeting back on Council tonight. Will he lead a charge to stop Rapundalo’s highway robbery of taxpayers, or will Kunselman serve his other master? The current Chair of SPARK is Stephen Forrest, Vice President for Research at the University of Michigan, where Steve Kunselman works.

A2PNote: This resolution was passed unanimously at the November 16th meeting.

Feel like you’d like to let Mayor and Council know your opinion about Council member Rapundalo’s panhandling, funding the LDFA and Ann Arbor SPARK? Email them: JHieftje@a2gov.org;ssmith@a2gov.org; Sbriere@a2gov.org; SRapundalo@a2gov.org; TDerezinski@a2gov.org; CTaylor@a2gov.org; SKunselman@a2gov.org; MHiggins@a2gov.org; MTeall@a2gov.org; CHohnke@a2gov.org; MAnglin@a2gov.org,

Popularity: 20% [?]

November 4, 2009

Washtenaw County Commissioners to County Residents: Voting on New Taxes Is For Pantywaists

Filed under: Washtenaw County, money, taxes — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — A2 Politico @ 8:00 am
VN:F [1.9.3_1094]
Rate this posting
Rating: 5.0/5 (4 votes cast)

On November 3rd, Washtenaw County residents refused to fund a new millage for the Sacred Cow of K-12 education. The earth shook, and the sounds of wailing from county school board trustees could be heard in Calcutta. 

Seems some people, alas, weren’t paying attention in class.

On November 3rd, tens of thousands of county residents told the trustees of 10 school boards in the County, as well as the trustees of the WISD, not to mention the celebrity line-up of local politicos who backed the $130,000,000 tax hike for “the kids,” to go fluff their auras. Voters told school officials and their political allies who endorsed the millage (including Ann Arbor County Commissioners Smith, Gunn and Irwin) that it was not the moment for a tax hike. 

The very next day, the French aristocrats on the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners got together for a rollicking  ”Let Them Eat Cake” party and went right ahead and imposed a new property tax. County Administrator Robert Guenzel is busy printing up t-shirts: “Real Men Impose Their Property Taxes. Voter Approval is for Pantywaists.” The t-shirts may be purchased at many of the local Ann Arbor restaurants where Bobbie G. holds staff meetings, or at Ann Arbor SPARK’s headquarters.  

Ann Arbor’s four monarchists on the Washtenaw County Commissioners Barbara Bergman, Leah Gunn, Jeff Irwin (currently in the hunt for the 53rd District House seat), and Conan Smith provided half of the eight votes cast in order to impose the new property tax—an Act 88 Millage—to fund economic development and agricultural activities. The tax is expected to raise $608,000 from Washtenaw County residents. It’s a small tax. Tiny. Hardly noticeable. It’s certainly not the $30 million per year the WISD would have raised. So what’s the problem? It’s the principle of the maneuver, or rather the lack of principles associated with the maneuver to which I object. 

The new millage will provide $200,000 for Ann Arbor SPARK; $50,000 for SPARK East; $100,000 for the Eastern Leaders Group; $59,000 for 4-H activities; $27,000 for Horticulture Programming; $15,000 for Agricultural Innovation; $15,000 for the Food Systems Economic Partnership; and $137,000 for the county’s Department of Economic Development and Energy activities.

Commissioners Kristin Judge and Wesley Prater voted against the new tax. Meanwhile, Ann Arbor’s four County Commissioners demonstrated their deep commitment to funding agricultural programs from the Act 88 Millage created in 1913 to fund agricultural activities. They voted to give the County’s 4-H program a generous $59,000, and made their political pals at the various economic development boondoggles get by with only $349,000 tax dollars. Foreclosures in Ann Arbor just recently hit the double digits, Michigan is in the top ten states with the most foreclosures in the nation, but the four A2 Commissioners supported the new tax to fund not only “economic development,” but to feed the gaping maw of the county’s own bureaucracy in the form of the Department of Economic Development and Energy Activities. 

Pouring tax dollars into public-private “economic development” schemes without independent measurement of the progress of said economic development programs is like pouring water into sand on a beach. One rarely reaches the saturation point. Ever. The real problem is that when local politicos actually demonstrate due diligence and gently enquire after the taxpayers’ money poured into outfits such as SPARK, we discover that the Economic Development Emperor has no clothes. In April of 2009  Richard King, Chair of the LDFA, told Council members that without LDFA funding the 600 jobs SPARK officials take credit for creating over the past three years would have been created anyway. (The LDFA is a City Council-appointed committee that oversees the capture of the property tax money from Ann Arbor’s downtown development district that is funneled to SPARK.)

According to this piece, in the Ann Arbor Business Review, Google rode into town in 2006 promising to create 1,000 jobs by 2011. I actually think some local politicos got so excited by Google’s sexy talk of job creation, the boys had to stay seated during the press conference. Google greedily slurped up tax incentives from the state. Ann Arbor taxpayers footed the bill to have SPARK staff help Google officials find office space in downtown Ann Arbor. Taxpayers also paid to have SPARK staff wipe Google noses and cut their food, as Google executives were obviously incapable of taking care of their own real estate searches and physical needs. To sweeten the deal, taxpayers gave Google up to 400 parking spaces free of charge until 2010 in a nearby parking structure. Listen to Mayor Hieftje on the subject, and he’ll tell you Ann Arbor can’t get companies to locate to downtown without giving away spaces in our publicly owned parking garages. 

In March of 2009, Google axed 200 workers in its sales and marketing division. Today, the head of Google won’t discuss hiring plans for the Ann Arbor office. However, a recent piece in the Detroit News reported that Google has created a mere 204 jobs in A2. Local writer Nathan Bomey writes in a March 26, 2009 piece, “But the acknowledgement today that it has committed too many resources to sales functions marks a significant blow to Ann Arbor’s hopes of securing major employment growth via the search engine king.”

SPARK officials spin Google as a SPARK “success story.” The truth is that Google is a perfect example of why it’s irresponsible for elected officials to waste public tax dollars to attract business to Ann Arbor, and why the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners should never have imposed a new tax to fund “economic development.”

Here’s another Google-in-the-making: This comes from the SPARK web site: MEDC, Ann Arbor SPARK, ETCS, MDIT and EMU have collaborated to bring Systems In Motion to the Ann Arbor area. ”Systems In Motion, a Silicon Valley-based IT services firm has chosen to locate a new support center in the Ann Arbor region. Venture-backed Systems In Motion combines the best practices of global service delivery, with strategic investments in intellectual capital and assets built for next generation technology architectures. Systems In Motion will create 1,085 new jobs in the Ann Arbor region over the next five years. Additionally, the company will invest over $15 million in capital.” 

Sound familiar? 

Ann Arbor’s County Commissioners, then, just voted to impose a new property tax to give tax dollars to SPARK and SPARK East to help the organizations continue with the important work—of creating high-paying jobs for those who work at the economic development outfits. The LDFA’s contract with Spark was for $872,836 during the audited 2007-08 year. $872,836 dollars to create no jobs which would have not otherwise been created. Michael Finney, the CEO of SPARK earns $200K per year plus benefits. In May of 2009, City Council voted to strip Project Grow of its funding. The very next month, the Council voted on a resolution sponsored by Second Ward Council member and LDFA Board member Stephen Rapundalo and Fourth Ward Council member Marcia Higgins, to increase the LDFA’s budget by $25,000.

I seriously doubt that county voters would have approved Robert’s Guenzel’s Act 88 Millage scheme had it come before them on the ballot November 3rd, alongside the WISD millage “enhancement.” Then again, Real Men Impose Their Millages, Sweetie.

Hell, there’s something to admire in a guy who can convince eight elected officials to spit into the faces of 347,000 county taxpayers so he can fund a new county department, and keep tax dollars flowing to his buddies at the “economic development” boondoggles.

Popularity: 20% [?]

October 5, 2009

Rick Snyder & Carsten Hohnke Twins Separated At Birth?

Filed under: campaigns — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , — A2 Politico @ 8:10 am
VN:F [1.9.3_1094]
Rate this posting
Rating: 5.0/5 (3 votes cast)

I don’t hold anything against Republicans. I was raised as one. I have ancestors who voted for Lincoln. I don’t hold anything against Democrats, either. Well, my grandmother always did refer to Franklin Roosevelt as “that man.” However, I’ve supported plenty of Dems. What I’m looking for in a politician is the lowest bollocks quotient possible. I know that’s setting the bar impossibly high, but call me an idealist. I want specifics, not platitudes. I want ideas, not fantasies. I want, in short, a roadmap to how a candidate intends to accomplish what s/he wants to accomplish in office. Big Talkers abound in politics, but I give my votes to the pragmatists—the politicos who can set aside the rhetoric of running for office, and talk about the issues in concrete detail. 

I just finished reading through Ann Arbor Republican Rick Snyder’s web site. Good Lord Almighty, the Bollocks-o-meter was off the scale. Then it hit me. Snyder’s “principles,” upon which he is running, are reminiscent of Fifth Ward Council member Carsten Hohnke’s “issues.” The similarities are uncanny—a bit frightening, really, considering Carsten ran as a Democrat and Snyder is running as a Republican. On both candidate web sites, generalities abound, paragraphs are liberally peppered with buzzwords, and the sites contain little of actual substance. So get out your bollocks ‘o meter and read on.

First, pull up both web sites up, side-by-side, and prepare for a cold grue to wash over you. Same color scheme, same general logo. Same first name recognition branding. Scary. But it’s when you click through to the information that the real bull-a-palooza begins on both sites.

Rick Snyder

wants to “Fix Michigan’s Broken Government”: “It’s time we reinvent state government so that it runs efficiently (buzzword) and serves its citizens as customers. Rick wants to restore ethics, accountability and transparency (buzzword + bollocks) to state and local government.” 

Carsten Hohnke

is committed to “Open, Honest Communication” (Note: deliberating via email during open meetings evidently doesn’t count, but that’s way too obvious to dwell on): “We have to do the hard work of having productive conversations (buzz phrase + bollocks) as a community and building a shared vision (buzz phrase) of the future.”

Carsten Hohnke

is also committed to “Fiscal Responsibility”: “ It’s critical that we work towards expanding our regional partnerships and providing a broader range of efficiently delivered, high-quality services (buzz phrase).”

Rick Snyder

wants to “Protect Michigan’s Environment”: “Michigan needs to be a leader in the innovative movement (buzz phrase) towards alternative and cleaner energy.”

Carsten Hohnke

is committed to “Environmental Leadership”: “Ann Arbor should seek to be a leader in environmental stewardship (buzz phrase).”

Rick Snyder

wants to “Restore Cities and Control Urban Sprawl”: “In order for Michigan to truly reinvent itself, its cities and communities must become more vibrant. Rick will work to improve the state’s city centers and create attractive living and working environments for its citizens.” (Two sentences that say absolutely nothing. Total bollocks.)

Carsten Hohnke

is committed to “Strong Neighborhoods and Our Downtown”: “Our neighborhoods and downtown are the anchors of our quality of life (buzz phrase). It’s important that we preserve our neighborhoods by protecting and maintaining our parks, open spaces, and historical districts.”

In essence, we have a candidate for the governor’s seat in Michigan running on campaign issues with the political savvy of of a small town City Council member. I suppose it also means that if Carsten had enough money to loan himself he could run for Governor. However, let’s not forget that Rick Snyder is an Ann Arbor boy, ex-Chair of the SPARK Board and founder of the SPARK boondoggle set up to suckle at the public teat by taking the money Peter (the LDFA) robs from Paul (public schools, libraries and transportation). The Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners is considering a new “economic development millage” to fund SPARK, as well.

All this despite the fact that in April of 2009 the AnnArborChronicle.com reported that Richard King, Chair of the LDFA, stood before Ann Arbor City Council told Council members that, “Over the three years of history that had been tracked, around 650 jobs had been created through the SmartZone and SPARK.” A councilmember then asked King, “Would any of those jobs have evolved in the absence of LDFA funding?” King told Council that the jobs would have been created in the absence of LDFA funding.

So what did our City Council do with that crucial bit of information? The very next month, Council members voted to fund the LDFA to the tune of around $950,000.

The SPARK financial boondoggle is Rick Snyder’s legacy to Ann Arbor taxpayers. Carsten Hohnke’s legacy is quickly becoming just a clear. Member of the Hieftje Eight nabbed by the Ann Arbor News in the Council email scandal. Caught congratulating the Mayor at a recent Council meeting for political accomplishments that were non-existent. Running on a platform of buzzwords and bollocks. Thus far accomplishing little of what he promised while he campaigned.

Who was it that Jerry Zandstra, president of Pro-Life Federation of Michigan, endorsed recently? Was it Carsten or Rick? Rick or Carsten. Dick or Tommy. At this point, however, I’m just not sure which Smothers brother is which. I do, however, have little trouble recognizing pure political bollocks when I read it.

On both Carsten and Rick’s web sites.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Get Adobe Flash playerPlugin by wpburn.com wordpress themes