Ambidextrous Ortwerth Cuts EDC Funds
& Lops Off Own Nose At The Same Time
The loud crunching you may be hearing isn’t the sound of people treading through the new fallen snow. No, it’s the sound of the egg shells people are having to walk on around County Executive Joe Ortwerth and his cult followers on the County Council these days.
Never a group to tolerate much in the way of diverse opinions, they swung into full Spanish Inquisition mode over the Economic Development Center (EDC) saying that a particular development, with its job creation and investment in the county, might be a good thing. Unfortunately for the EDC, they didn’t check with the County Executive and his thought police who could have told them what their opinion was and saved them all that trouble of thinking for themselves.
So the County Executive this week cut $150,000 in funding for the EDC (about 19% of their annual budget). He also pulled the County’s lone employee out of the EDC building. No use making it easy for business to come to St. Charles County.
So what unspeakable “blasphemy” did the EDC utter to bring down the wrath of Ortwerth? Everyone knows how “radical” the successful businessmen are who serve without pay on the EDC board of directors. I hear some of them don’t even wear their three piece suits on casual Friday.
Well it seems the EDC wanted to help negotiate a settlement between the county government and the City of St. Peters over the Lakeside 370 business development that has some duck hunters, St. Louis millionaires and a certain beer making dynasty up in arms. Somewhere along the line the phrase “blessed are the peacemakers” escaped the attention of some in the County Government.
The offer was “interpreted” by the County Executive and some on the County Council to be an endorsement of Tax Increment Financing (TIFs) which the County has been locked in a protracted and expensive lawsuit with St. Peters over. Greg Prestemon, the articulate President of the EDC, explained in news articles that the EDC had taken no position on any proposed use of TIFs and was only weighing in on the issue of the business benefits of the development and offering to try to bring all sides together.
But why let the facts get in the way of an abject lesson in political revenge. If intelligent conservative businessmen and women were allowed to think for themselves, the next thing you know rational thought could break out. That could lead to understanding, respect for those of differing opinions and (shudder) political compromise.
Of course the problem for the County Executive and company is that the EDC does a phenomenal job of attracting business and industry to the county. They work closely with our own Economic Development office in the City of St. Charles. They are recognized as the leaders in the entire region and as the best in the State. St. Charles County’s booming economy has been the one bright spot in Missouri’s otherwise bleak economic picture…thanks in large part to the work of individuals like Greg Prestemon and those who serve on the EDC board.
The County has now tried to drive a stake in that operation. Who needs jobs and an expanding tax base? The answer is, we all do.
I haven’t taken a position on the Lakeside development. First of all, it is outside the jurisdiction of the City of St. Charles and I can get myself in enough trouble commenting on issues in my own hometown. Secondly, I figure there are plenty of Federal and State Agencies, lawyers, judges and expert witnesses on both sides to make sure a bad development is either stopped or that a worthy project proceeds with proper safeguards.
I believe TIFs can be both good and bad. Sometimes the law has been abused, but you don’t want to throw the baby out with the bath water. If incentives are the difference between keeping a Chrysler plant in the area or losing it to a Southern State or foreign country, then by all means use incentives.
I think the County has been wrong to not accept the rulings of the lower courts and for driving up legal costs ($210,000 of taxpayers’ money) in its war with St. Peters. It is a State Law. If there are flaws, change them in the Missouri General Assembly, but make sure they apply to the entire State. There is one law regarding TIFs in flood plains that only impacts the City of St. Charles out of the entire State of Missouri. What’s good for us should be good for St. Louis City, St. Louis County and all points North, South and West of here.
But when it comes to the absolute necessity for maintaining a well funded Economic Development Center for the good of the entire County, there should be no argument. Cutting $150,000 in funding to the EDC was wrong. It was done for the wrong reasons. It hurts our ability to compete for jobs and business investment in the region and against other states. It sends the wrong message. It is anti-business.
I am happy to say that the St. Charles City Council approved an additional $10,000 contribution to help the EDC as it struggles to make up the shortfall of a shortsighted act. We want to continue to work with business and economic development experts in a cooperative atmosphere…one where the halls of local government aren’t paved with eggshells.
