posted July 19, 2008
As a native Chattanoogan who moved to Dallas a year ago, I couldn't help but feel a little sense of old community pride in Chattanooga finally landing a VW plant. I can honestly say this will be a magnet "for better things to come." (Except for people like myself who choose the thespian arts).
A lot of community leaders both past and present put some serious blood, sweat and tears to make this all possible. A few of them I'm not real big fans of to begin with, but I will tip my Texas black hat to each and every one of them for their tireless effort in bringing the VW plant to Chattanooga.
That said, I can't help but find it rather funny that our own self-proclaimed know-it-all Tim Price has not said a single word about any of this. After years of blowhearting over the Chattanooga airwaves and the Chattanoogan opinion column about the incompetency of our community leaders, you'd think he could maybe say. "Okay, maybe I was wrong and they were competent in landing the holy grail of industry."
For the record, we're all guilty of being a naysayer on any given subject only to be proven wrong. It happened to me a year ago and I was more than happy to eat a little crow in the process. Yeah, it was bitter, but my thoughts were towards the greater good of the community than anything else.
Yes, Tim, you were wrong. But so were others with a 'lot' more broadcasting credentials than you. At least they were man enough to say they were wrong and on the spot - not cower in silence like Nancy Grace does whenever she gets proven wrong and suddenly disappears while a guest-host does her show.
Spin it however you like, Tim, you were still wrong. And the silence just adds to it.
Jay Macmillian
Dallas, Tex.
* * *
Mr. Macmillian,
Yes, Tim Price was wrong that an automotive plant would come here. With our "Dukes of Hazard" government reputation, our air pollution issues, the brown field condition of Enterprise South, several manufacturers chose more healthy sites.
What Tim Price was shockingly wrong on was that our city, county, state and federal elected officials would give the incredibly high incentives to acquire this plant. He assumed that these elected officials are conservative because they usually say so in their public speeches. Do their actions match their rhetoric?
Mr. Macmillian, Do you understand in business what a break-even point is? Do you understand the Law of Diminishing Returns?
Alabama gave away so much for some of its auto plants that taxes had to be raised to pay for them. They have not yet "broken even." Scottsdale Arizona did a White Paper on cost benefit analysis (economic@scottsdaleaz.gov ). In reading their findings, they concluded that the cost would outweigh the benefit of the incentives given. We are all happy about the 1,300 jobs, but at what cost to the taxpayer?
What Mr. Price is concerned about is when, if ever, Chattanooga, Hamilton County and Tennessee will 'ever' show a profit from this endeavor. The small business owner in this portion of Tennessee gets no tax breaks. Mr. Price, myself along with hundreds of other small business owners will probably bear higher taxation to cover the VW incentive package.
Carnell Storie
carnellstorie@comcast.net
* * *
Okay, Mike, you win. It only took four days.
Having a conversation with a friend of mine this week after hearing the great news about landing the VW plant, we guessed how long it would take for the “hate Chattanooga first” crowd to complain about the incentives we gave away to win the VW plant.
I said it would be a month or so. He said it would be less than a week.
Bob Linehart
blinehart@comcast.net
* * *
Why should Tim Price be apologetic for speaking his mind, expressing his opinion based upon his own research and business experience?
The gravitationally challenged lady hasn't been out to sing yet about the real cost to the citizens and tax payers of Hamilton County, but rumor control has it that close to a billion dollars will be spent in the short term. This to attract a billion dollar plant that will provide provide 1.538 jobs per acre on the 1,300 acres we, the tax paying citizens of Hamilton County, have given to a foreign, Germany is a foreign nation, business.
Even considering Roy's life philosophy rule #68, never believe a rumor we didn't start in the first place, that's a lot of jingwa for not a lot of jobs ... and all of the profits will ultimately go to a foreign company.
Our own Secret Mayor Man, Claude Ramsey, is already hinting at a tax increase for us common folk to pay the tab for this. Sure, it may be touted as being "for the children." A tax increase is still a tax increase. But we'll have 2,000 jobs to replace the 8,000 jobs that have been lost over the past year in the Chattanooga metro region.
The taxpaying citizens of Hamilton County will pick up most of the tab. Will all of those jobs go to Hamilton County citizens and tax payers? Interesting question, as is the final cost to bring this plant here.
How much would it have cost to assist U.S. Pipe and Wheland Foundry to keep their plants open here? Probably only a small percentage of bringing this plant here, and 1,800 jobs would not have gone away.
Perhaps we need to look a little to our south before we go getting all twisted up patting too many backs about this. Alabama has learned some very hard lessons about spending excessive tax dollars, tax dollars that are paid by the common man, in order to attract business to town. Often when the tax bennies that have been used to attract a business run out, so does that business. They've had to make little investment so it's easy to walk away from it, exempli gratia the Saginaw plant in Athens, AL and the IBM plant that was built in Charlotte, N.C. Both are gone now, shut down, leaving the community trying to find someone else to bring in to fill the buildings ... and replace the jobs that were eliminated.
How many small to medium-sized businesses could have been brought in, or assisted to get started, for the same money?
To be sure, there certainly are some short term benefits to be had with this new manufacturing facility. But at what cost to the common man, the single Mom trying to support her children without turning to public assistance for help, or the little old lady whose home will go away with much more in the way of additional tax burden? All is not peaches and cream when government gets into the act. It isn't their money they spend. It's ours, but they think it's theirs to spend as they wish.
We need to let the lady sing before we attempt to climb the sneakers of those naysayers. Before we have all of the facts at hand it's impossible to do a cost/benefit analysis of this situation ... and before we can do that, who's to say who is correct about what? To do otherwise is to be nothing more than a myrmidon, blindly following those who enjoy spending our tax dollars.
Royce E. Burrage Jr.
Royce@OfficiallyChapped.org
* * *
Why didn't we help Central Soya, Pillsbury, Us Pipe, Wheland Foundry, Quaker Oats, Chattanooga Glass, Velsicol, Chris Craft, Mississippi Valley Steel, Dixie Yarns, Standard Cosa Thatcher, Combustion, Southern Wood, Georgia Pacific, Buster Brown and too many foundries and hosiery mills to mention?
The reason these companies left is because they were taxed and regulated out of business in America. American corporations have to pay a 35% corporate income tax, Volkswagen does not. The taxes and regulations on small business in Chattanooga is out of control, 40% assessment on property tax, sewer tax, storm water runoff, sign tax, high state sales tax, etc. Why are we spending $400 million to help a foreign company instead of an American company? GM and Ford have to move their plants out of the country to avoid taxes to compete.
If a politician says it is $400 million, we know you can at least double it. Tim Price wants government to be open and honest, is that too much to ask. It is easy to spend somebody else's money. Ask your grandchildren when they have to pay the bill.
The picture on the front page of the paper should be of taxpayers, not politicians.
Chuck Davis
Lookout Mountain, Tn.
* * *
What Mr. Price was wrong about, from my recollection of his regular tomes, was not about any incentive packages, etc., but that Hamilton County would "never" land such a venture period because of the corrupt political structure, the lousy education system, et al.
In other words, nothing about incentives - just his laundry list (and he's entitled to his opinion) about everything that's "wrong" with Chattanooga/Hamilton County.
I am glad that some objective viewpoints (every community and state has incentives, from the news stories VW likes Chattanooga's quality of life and direction/renaissance) found much more "right" with our area that some who live here often have trouble seeing when focusing only on alleged negatives.
Is the area perfect? No, but the positive attributes vastly outweigh the negative.
On a different tangent - I also believe some credit should be given to some men of vision of a couple of decades ago. I believe it was the Roberts (Dalton and Gene) at the county and city, respectively that accomplished the acquisition and negotiation of the Volunteer property from the U.S. Army.
Kudos to all, past and present involved in giving Chattanooga's economic engine a huge boost in the manufacturing arena.
T. Riddle
riddlet40@aol.com
* * *
Knick, knack, paddy, wack, give the dog a bone. Volkswagen apparently got a pretty big bag of bones in order to locate their new plant in Chattanooga.
I seem to remember Mr. Price writing, and saying on the radio, on more than one occasion that a dog will like anyone if you tie a big enough steak around your neck. It sounds like Hamilton County and Chattanooga finally found a big enough steak.
I read that local government officials are saying there will be 6 or 7 jobs created for every direct employee of Volkswagen. I would like to see where their figures come from. That didn't happen when IBM located a major manufacturing facility here in Charlotte. It didn't happen when Greenville, SC, got a Michelin plant and then a BMW plant. Theory works on paper most of the time. Often that's the only place it works.
It's easy to sit around saying "Tim, you were wrong" when we have a $120,577 a year salary as the executive director of a government subsidized facility such as the Chattanooga Convention Center, as published in the Chattanoogan.com on June 14, and try to make someone look like they've made statements they have not, but where are the facts?
Mr. Price has never said Hamilton County isn't a nice place. Mr. Price has said there have been serious impediments to a major manufacturing facility being located there. Any area can have an automobile manufacturing plant if their local government officials are willing to pay enough to bring it in. But whose money are those officials spending? Aren't they spending the tax dollars of the citizens? These are buyers, not leaders.
"Gravitationally challenged", is that the same as the proverbial fat lady? It will be interesting to see who laughs when she does finally come out to sing. I don't think it will be the one with the slowest mind. The big question will be whether or not all of the information comes to light about the true cost to Hamilton County tax payers.
Yes, it's easy to take pot shots at someone who's out there building a business, paying taxes, and creating jobs with no assistance from government when we work for government.
It's also easy to say "whew, isn't it fortunate that we found land to build our retirement home just the other side of the Hamilton County line."
Barbara Fields
Stallings, N.C.
Barb1217@bellsouth.net
* * *
The other day a friend told me the definition of negative is, "What you are called by the people who are caught doing something wrong."
Tim Price
jat-55@msn.com
| Dining Out | Business | Movies | Focus | About Us |
| Church | Living Well | Memories | Outdoors | Real Estate | Student Scene | Travel |