The citizens committee’s “reason for being” as outlined in a recent Board of Supervisors agenda packet indicates that the committee is to assist the forward momentum of the project. That could include exploring the questions you outlined. However, the project has yet to pass a fundamental test – that of “will it work as defined by the elements, the support for the elements and the synergy of the elements?” Everyone is singing the praises of the economic incubator. That it will generate jobs and prosperity for the community. But the community has seen little in the way of supporting evidence that the project’s pursuit of an incubator is properly organized or vetted as to traditional supporting entities, like federal and state grants, so-called “investment angels” and venture capital groups. We have seen no record or portfolio of accomplishments of the exact people who are expected to run the incubator. No lists of supporting research and development universities and colleges, trade and manufacturing groups, and marketing experts to enhance its possible success. Simply listing WNC as “a partner” hardly qualifies. Incubators take a while to start up. It’s not like pulling the rope on a lawn mower. Secondly, many ask “why not start with the incubator and add the rest later?” Most incubators do not come wrapped in a $90 million box. Certainly not in towns our size. Many Carson City residents wonder why, as the city begins planning to lay off workers and severely cut city services, that it’s willing to roll the dice on its last remaining taxing capacity? We’ve seen Reno begin to go financially upside down with an aggressive downtown redevelopment project (Aces Baseball Park) authored and supported by Mark Lewis, one of the Carson Nugget team members. Another Lewis project, the riverfront section of Stockton, is also upside down to the tune of what the Stockton Record newspaper calls “tens of millions” of dollars. It’s great to dream big, but in the minds of some, let the private sector do the dreaming and the paying. The public wants efficient and effective municipal services without paying a lot of taxes. Aggressive redevelopment projects, although pretty to behold, can mortgage a community’s future if everything doesn’t turn out “perfect.” Reno’s getting hammered on that point, and the ballpark is only a few years old! And of course many others decry the pace of the project. They say it’s going way too fast. That to explore a project’s details while listing a firm construction start date smacks of a shotgun wedding, rather than a carefully planned future.
↧