Pat Vandehey speaking at the Mason County Commissioners' MeetingCOMMENTS AND QUESTIONS ABOUT THE EDC
Submitted to Shelton Blog by Pat Vandehey Mason County Progressive
At the last County Commissioner’s Meeting Apri 12, 2011, Item 8.5 on the agenda was discussed and voted on. The vote was affirmative for the EDC to be given $68,000.00, which is double what they had been previously receiving.
I agree with Commissioner Lynda Ring Erickson that a 50% increase in a downtime is very questionable, as there are departments that are understaffed and could better use this money.
This started me wondering why an entity which is private, has no public hearings, and gets no input from the taxpayers should be receiving public funds, our tax money. I was told the public could attend EDC meetings, but no meetings are posted on their website, and the only items on their calendar are membership luncheons every other month at the Alderbrook Resort.
If EDC is a private group, why are they entitled to public money?
Why doesn’t the public have input as to what businesses would be appropriate for our area?
Do the board members live in Mason County?
What viable compatible businesses has the EDC successfully brought to Mason County in the past five years?
Does the EDC support the Hills enterprise?
Who started this group, and who decided it should be publicly funded without any accountability to the taxpayers?
Here is some interesting information I found in researching the workings of the EDC:
In the Feb 2010 minutes of Shelton-Mason County Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee, Matt Matayoshi, County EDC Executive Director was invited to provide a briefing on the proposed racetrack in the Eells Hill Road area outside of Shelton.
By the time the Government Affairs Committee meeting occurred, the proposal had died, but Mr. Matayoshi explained the several steps that were required to move such a proposal, and asked for the Chamber’s help in modifying a noise ordinance that would prevent any future proposals from being realized anywhere in Mason County. This was met with agreement from the GAC.
The GAC needs to work with the EDC and others, and to be proactive in seeking out these impediments, and correcting them before they scare off those interested in development.
In the EDC website it is stated:
"The EDC offers businesses the benefit of a single source business data and demographics and process facilitation. Through visionary thinking and strategic relationships, the EDC eases the way for efficient business location and expansion assistance.“
And
“ The EDC of Mason County will work to expedite the permitting process required for business location or expansion. Local government is experienced with fast-tracking permit approvals.”
This sounded suspect to me as to whether the concerns, safety, or health of the community ever comes into the picture. I believe that the EDC should be put under scrutiny. Taxpayers should be informed about the EDC's activities, and be given information when a business is be considered or promoted, so that it is not greased through before anyone knows about it.
We do not want another ADAGE project to deal with.
County Commissioners Jerry Lingle, Lynda Ring Erickson, & Tim SheldonPhotos by John Cox
SHELTON BLOG NOTE:
Link to the EDC website: http://www.masonedc.com/
Thank you Pat for chasing this story.
ReplyDeleteI would rather see the EDC unfunded in its entirety, and the $64,000 given to the Mason County Sheriff's Department, where it WOULD actually do some real good and provide the citizens some REAL value for their dollars.
Funding public safety ahead of corporate profits would be a novel idea whose time may not come until we replace the Board of County Commissioners in their entirety.
Until that day comes, citizens are going to be watching and the good ole boys are going to be sweating.
Thanks, Pat. According to Commissioner Ring-Erickson, over 90% of EDC funding comes from public money. What does it say about a business in the business of bringing business to a community that can't even operate without public funds? The line between public service and private enterprise continues to be blurred by local officials who are little more than business ideologues. The local EDC, Port of Shelton and Columbia-Pacific Economic Development District have devolved into grant writing factories for the private sector. The EDC's Executive Director, Matt Matayoshi should be summarily fired and replaced with someone more capable of running the organization with less public funds. As for Pat's question about how many businesses Matt has brought to Mason County in the past five years? As far as I know scarce few, and none that did not fall into his lap. Commissioner Lingle screwed up big-time when he blundered into approving $68,000 of public money to fund the EDC for each of the next two years. Shame on you, Jerry!
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