By: Diane Benjamin
Bloomington, Normal, and the County have been handing out your tax dollars to unaccountable agencies who claim they promote economic development and business retention.
Peoria has their own version: http://greaterpeoriaedc.org/
When Logan County de-funded local economic development they kept this group. https://blnnews.com/2017/11/22/de-funding-economic-development-2/
When I first looked at their website I found minutes of meetings and agendas. I don’t see them there now, maybe because of a FOIA request I sent them:
No, I did not receive an answer.
1) I didn’t even receive the courtesy of a response
2) Minutes and agendas are no longer on the website (unless they are hidden somewhere)
Just these two items prove the tax dollars they receive aren’t being spent in a transparent way. Their website is full of glory stories with no proof. It’s the same in Peoria as it is here for the Economic Development Council (EDC) and BN Advantage.
Your money is going to pay people’s salaries. These same people acquire Federal and State grant money for projects THEY want – also your tax money.
The Greater Peoria EDC has a page wanting investors and sponsors: http://greaterpeoriaedc.org/about/teamgp/invest/
I have no problem with economic development promotion that does not use ANY tax dollars. Area cities could save a ton of money by ending funding and leaving development to the private sector.
Paying people with tax dollars means the private sector gets cut out of the process unless they kneel before unaccountable councils. Unless the object is to destroy capitalism, tax dollars are being thrown away.
If the goal is destroying capitalism, what do they want instead?
.
.
.
“They” want the power. Rock, paper, scissors. Power trumps money, power becomes money, power is money.
Economic development begins at home. If the EDC and BN Advantage really cared about economic development, they would seek to promote local startups, those in operation and those that are aspirational. Perhaps more importantly, they should be preparing to work with the business community and those affected by the State Farm layoffs. The EDC and BN Advantage suck because they take taxpayer money and give it to salaried employees who are paid to give away more taxpayer money to lure in businesses that would not otherwise consider coming to Bloomington-Normal in the first place absent those incentives.
What do businesses need to succeed? Customers with money who want what they are selling. When local governments keeps taking more and more from citizens in taxes, they have less to spend at businesses. The fix is easy. Cut what government does and let people keep more of what they earn. Government destroys prosperity.
Wholeheartedly agree, Diane with your comments. Would like to add the importance of honesty & integrity of the people in the community is important, too. I can attest from personal experience that it’s extremely hard to find quality workmanship anymore. Had a new roof put on my home awhile back and have had nothing, but problems & found out when I had some repair work done after wind damage that the shingles were spaced out too far and 6 nails should have been used to hold the shingles when only 4 had been used. Similar issue with a furnace/air installation where the furnace leaked & didn’t work properly only to learn that it was installed incorrectly. I had major damage done to my home, but the company that did the installation refused to make good on their work and blamed me for the issues! I seem to have issues with plumbers, electricians, etc. It’s very hard to find people who possess the skills to do the job properly & charge appropriately for their work.