Thursday, December 14, 2006

State needs new economic development ideas: MACED says



Albert Spencer and Berea Mayor Steve Connelly exchanged thoughts on economic development for the community at the Nov. 13 meeting of the League of Women Voters of Berea & Madison County at Richmond City Hall.

“We think Kentucky’s economy is stuck,” says Justin Maxson, the president of Mountain Association for Community Economic Development as he preached a new strategy at the Nov. 13 meeting of LWV in Richmond City Hall.

“We continue to invest in economic development strategies that are not giving us the type of returns we need,” Maxson said. The lack of results are felt particularly in eastern Kentucky counties, where leaders feel that current industrial recruitment strategies can’t help their economies, he added.

“What do they think? We will outpoor China?” Maxson was asked by a Wolfe County official.
Industrial recruitment relies on cheap wages but since conditions have changed in the global marketplace, “we can not offer the cheapest conditions for a company to come into,” Maxson said. “It’s pretty clear that they were not going to get a Toyota in Campton.”

Maxson’s organization, MACED, has joined with Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and other organizations and individuals to propose new strategies for economic development in the state.

They are planning to present a small package of proposals to the upcoming short session of the General Assembly in order to “create a buzz” that they hope will resonate in the 2007 race for governor.

“We are glad to give away our platform to anyone who will pick it up,” Maxson said.

Accountability missing

One of their reforms will call for scrutiny of existing spending on economic development, especially in the area of tax breaks that rarely get evaluated once they are approved.

Maxson discussed MACED’s 2005 analysis of how much money is spent on industrial recruitment/economic development. The research was hampered by a glaring lack of information. The state does not reveal details about the efficacy of its incentives and tax credits to individual businesses, Maxson said.

Most agencies such as those that deal with child poverty are required to submit spending requests and lobby for scarce dollars in each new budget.

In contrast, much of the $808 million spent in the area of economic development, is unexamined by the legislature, the study revealed. Seventy percent comes from “tax expenditures” or exemptions for special industries, such as sales tax on coal or on the sale of horses for breeding purposes in the state.

Some of this information may become public after a study by the University of Kentucky is completed at the end of this year. UK was given access to the deal-level data in a study authorized by the 2006 legislature.
Knowing more about the type of deals that the state makes with industrial prospects should lead to more strategic planning. Maxson questioned the decision making of Kentucky’s economic development strategy in the case of Tantus Tobacco Company, which was given a cash grant and $2 million in income tax credits to bring 30 jobs to a plant in Russell Springs that makes “value-priced” cigarettes and little cigars.

“In a state that spends $1.2 billion a year to treat sick smokers,” Maxson questioned the logic of such an investment.

Maxson called for a new strategy based on what is being called “high road economic development.”

Investing locally

Parts of the strategies can be discovered in how MACED has disbursed over $4 million in loans last year to small business enterprise in eastern Kentucky.

Some approaches that Maxson suggests should be incorporated into high road economic development include the following:

How should economic development dollars be spent?

• It should be strategic, based on the assets and livable conditions that exist in the community.

• It should consider recruitment of specific “clusters” — companies that do similar things; “There are benefits if we focus recruitment or development of a collection of companies that produce a similar product that share particular applications, assets and research,” Maxson said.

• Strategies should focus on revitalizing local economies and thinking of ways to expand local businesses to the next county or regionally;

• A promising area for targeted economic development is investment in alternative energy enterprises, such as bringing in a solar panel company to Kentucky. As concern grows about energy sources that produce carbon dioxide, such as coal: “We could grow jobs in an area that is going to be more and more important as alternative fuels to produce electricity come to the forefront,” Maxson said.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

You be the Judge: How to vote smart


UK law professor William Fortune serves on the Judicial Conduct Committee.

Anyone running for judge in Kentucky is probably just as confused as voters are about the dos and don'ts of campaigning this election season.

At least one judicial candidate has challenged the ethics guidelines used in previous campaigns saying they stifle his freedom of speech and right to express his opinion on political issues.

In the breach a citizen's advisory committee has emerged to educate both voters and candidates about the differences between judicial elections and "other" elections.

It should not be politics as usual when it comes to choosing judges, says a member of that committee, William Fortune, a University of Kentucky law professor who spoke at the first LWV meeting of the year on the topic, "You be the judge: How to vote smart in the 2006 Judicial Election."

"An independent judiciary requires open-mindedness," Fortune said. His committee advises judicial candidates not to respond to questionnaires from interest groups seeking their views on issues since their responses might be interpreted as the way they would rule should a case involving that issue come before them.

Voters should not criticize candidates for refusing to answer such opinion questionnaires, he also advised.

Since judges are also supposed to be fair to all and show no political partisanship, candidates should also be careful not to represent political parties, their platforms or their leaders or actively engage in party politics, Fortune said.
Most people agree with the philosophy of the Kentucky Judicial Campaign conduct Committee: "Judges are accountable to the law and the constitution, not to politicians and interest groups."

Fortune and his committee met with judicial candidates in August and September around the state to urge them to abide by a campaign guidelines that would ensure the election of fair, impartial and independent judges.

One concern is that a sitting judge's complete record be examined rather than one or two cases that might be seized upon by an opponent and portrayed negatively. Fortune said, "As judges get near an election, they may become risk-adverse and be less likely to probate a sentence," a factor that challenges due process for all citizens.

Monitoring advertising to detect and deter improper campaigning and investigating complaints about unfair campaign tactics are two of the committee's tasks.

The committee accepts complaints from citizens and candidates who feel a campaign has violated these guidelines. Fortune said the committee will meet Sept. 23 in Louisville to discuss two campaign complaints Sept. 23.

Since the committee has no official capacity, it plans to rely on public statements denouncing candidates and campaigns that are unfair and undignified.

Fortune's presentation in the Berea Police and Municipal Building was recorded on videotape and included league members, citizens and several judges.

For more information:

Kentucky Judicial Campaign Conduct Committee

E-mail: kjccc@loubar.org
Phone: 502 583-5314