"As reported in the News & Record (March 31), three large land developers have asked to be given loans and grants by the City Council to prepare industrial sites that are not even in the city limits! Shockingly, the developers admitted that “banks aren’t willing now to take a risk on speculative developments such as these.”
So now Greensboro's elite expect you and I to become their personal bankers? How nice. How do the rest of us get in on that deal? Sam continues:
"Gentlemen, you are private companies. It is your job to either take the risk of your core business or not based on your own risk analysis. Further, is there anyone on council who is more qualified to assess these risks than our local commercial bank officers? Not a chance."
Great points, Sam. I think you're being too nice by calling these men, gentlemen, when robbers are seldom considered gentlemen. As a social liberal and fiscal conservative I see public investment as a means to generate new wealth but our local
"...quit asking the taxpayers of Greensboro to take financial risks you will not take yourselves."
And I agree. Like I've said before, I don't know if the economic hocus-pocus works or not but if it does work then Greensboro's poorest neighborhoods deserve to be home to City owned gems like the performing arts center. Click here to tell the Greensboro City Council to put the performing arts center in the little green circle or build it entirely with private funding right down to the last inches of water and sewer lines.
PS: I find this disconcerting: The News & Record also reports that the Greensboro City Council has voted to put downtown clubs out of business. Oh, I know that's not what the article says but what do you think the effects of the new ordinance will be in six months considering that many of these club owners are already strapped and struggling to stay in business?
What? That's why we're told the PAC has to be placed downtown-- to pump up downtown business development, right?
Continue to article #91 A Kid In The Candy Isle.
