Monkey in the Middle is a children’s game where two or more players try to keep the player in between them from getting the ball. They can throw the ball over or around the player in the middle. It is basically the opposite of Dodge ball. In today’s political climate, I would argue Monkey in the Middle is being played with the citizens of the United States.
Let me explain … the extreme left and the extreme right are keeping the success that America offers from the majority of Americans whose political philosophy is more moderate or centrist. It is my opinion that the diehard liberals and the diehard conservatives comprise less than 50% of the voting electorate. Those who would classify themselves as in the center, or center left, or center right make-up the majority.
But the extremists on both ends of the political spectrum are the vocal minority while the moderates in the center are the silent minority - hence the monkey in the middle reference. America is still the greatest nation on earth. The promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness still inspires millions to come to our nation – legally and illegally. Bill Bennett recently said at the Georgia Chamber’s Annual Banquet that the measure of a nation is measured by what happens when the gates are opened. Given the slightest chance people still flow into the United States despite our problems.
The extreme right and the extreme left currently have our nation in gridlock like never before. Even at a time when so much needs fixing, nothing is getting done. The extreme right under President Bush pushed American policy so far to the right (except on spending), the election of President Obama or someone like him was inevitable. And given conventional political wisdom (oxymoron), President Obama will likely be re-elected. Then in 2016, the middle majority will be forced to swing again to the right to course correct the dangerous policies enacted under the Obama administrations.
And we wonder why real problems in America go unsolved… America needs statesmen and stateswomen. In most other perilous times in our history, we had leaders who could bring us together. America rallied many times against imperial nations who sought to rule the world. We routinely come to the aid of American communities who have suffered a natural disaster and nations around the globe facing the same. But the internal problems that are plaguing our nation continue untouched.
America’s safety net has served millions and continues to do so today. But the bureaucratic largesse of many of our entitlement programs threatens their longevity. If costs are not reigned in for Medicare and Social Security, these programs will cease to exist. While corporate America has been forced to redefine benefits in order to compete in a global economy, our government entities at all levels refuse to address changes that are desperately needed.
Today’s America would not elect a Ronald Reagan or George H.W. Bush – even Hillary Clinton was considered moderate compared to President Obama. Consider the current Republican Presidential nomination process... Mitt Romney who clearly has tremendous leadership skills and accomplishments struggles because the primary process gives greater voice to the extreme in the Republican Party vs the moderately conservative.
I am not endorsing Mr. Romney. I am only saying that his qualifications for office are being subordinated to his less than extreme right philosophical positions. Conversely Senator Obama was elected in spite of his glaring lack of experience for serving in the most powerful leadership position in the world. And given his more often than not leave it to Congress approach to governing; we desperately lack the needed statesmanship a strong leader can bring to a divided nation along partisan lines.
So what do we do about it? As citizens, we must work hard at educating ourselves on the issues. And then we must hold our elected officials accountable to do what is right and just for our nation – not what is politically expedient. We must also look at issues from a non-partisan paradigm. For instance, I am fundamentally opposed to the government providing entitlements on the premise they are the rights of its citizens vs privileges. But I am equally opposed to universally not helping those who desperately need it. We must help people while also leading them to provide for themselves.
Those who profess to be moderates or centrists must also be more active and involved in the process. Whether it be in campaign volunteering or simply voicing the concerns over issues that cannot be solved by the left or the right and demanding a compromise or as Dr. Stephen Covey would say – seeking the third alternative or win –win.
Social Security for instance will not be protected for future retirees by the views of the left or the right. The left simply wants to raise taxes on everybody to provide more revenue. The right simply wants to reduce benefits. The third alternative or win-win is to protect benefits of all over the age of 55 or 60 while adjusting the forecasted benefits of those younger than that. But current retirees who are above a certain income level could also receive fewer benefits. Unfortunately the gridlock between the extremes will prevent any reform threatening Social Security as we know it.
Some are sure we will become the next Greece because of the course we are on. I am not convinced that is our future, but I am sure we will continue to fall behind other nations if we stay the course. It is time for real problem-solving and real leadership at all levels of government. And the majority of citizens who philosophically live in the middle are the greatest hope we have in finding common ground.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Celebrating our Strengths
Over the last few days, there have been stories in our local newspaper that have been both positive and negative that need further discussion. Unfortunately, the negative story that got my attention was on the front page with a big negative headline and was not entirely true. The other story was something very positive for our community but it had a basic, run of the mill headline and a small story on page 3 or 4.
In defense of our newspaper, it is just like most news mediums these days; focus on the negative because that is what sells. But it is amazing to me that a local newspaper would not want to sell the community it calls home a little more often by touting the good and not sensationalizing the not so good.
So that is my hope in this column. There is plenty of negative in this world. But all too often there is positive news, things to be proud of, and things we should celebrate – but our humanness leads us to the dark side. I am not advocating that we should blindly overlook the areas we need to improve in, but I am saying there is plenty to celebrate in our community.
The three areas I will briefly outline are strengths for our community: our community’s access to excellent healthcare, the safety of our community, and our access to high quality education in our community. These three community attributes provide us a competitive advantage in our economic development efforts and benefit each and every one of us that called Greater Dalton home.
Imagine my surprise last week when the above-the-fold front page headline proclaimed crime was a serious issue for our community. Crime is always a concern and all of us wish we had zero crime in our community. But to look at ten years worth of data and state that due to an 8% increase in certain crime statistics that we have a crime wave occurring is misleading. In fact, the crime statistics presented clearly illustrate that incidents of crime in 2011 were less than half of what they were back in 2002 and 2003.
The reporter went on to infer that one of the causes of the “spike” was the economy. Interestingly our incidents of crime were the worst back in 2002-2003 when our local economy was booming. During the last three years when we have faced extreme economic headwinds, the numbers show we have a very safe community.
Not being a sociologist, I do not know why our crime rate is what it is. I cannot speak to the social issues that produce the types and numbers of criminal behavior that does occur. But I can look at the data and discern that we are blessed to live in a very safe community. And that our community is safe because of the dedicated public safety and judicial professionals in our community. From our Sheriff’s office, to our city police departments, our correctional officers, our District Attorneys, and our judges - we are blessed by their efforts.
Recently I had the opportunity to hear an update from our hospital and physicians about a program they have been working on for months. The Clinical Integration program is primarily a voluntary effort on behalf of Hamilton Medical System and most of our local physicians to measure the effectiveness in improving the outcomes of medical care. In other words, every participating physician has the data from treating their patients downloaded into a database where over time the medical community can benchmark best practices for treating different medical conditions. Quality healthcare and better treatment will be an outcome of this innovative approach to medicine.
During this same week, our newspaper ran a story acknowledging Hamilton Medical Center’s recognition as being in the top 5% of all hospitals in the nation for quality care. In our region only Hamilton Medical Center and Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga received this prestigious designation. Again as a community and economic development professional, I am grateful that we have such wonderful healthcare resources in our community. I applaud all of our dedicated healthcare professionals who worked so diligently to take of us.
And finally, I have been on the record as one who supports and desires reforming the American Education system. I strongly believe that for America to compete globally, we have to continuously seek to make significant improvements in how we educate our children and future workforce.
But working for continuous improvement and desiring education transformation does not mean that our local school assets are less than adequate. Quite the opposite is true. If you were to spend any amount of time in our schools, both k-12 schools and our higher education institutions, you would quickly see how blessed we are. Looking beyond the next standardized test score, one can find real innovative approaches in our schools striving to provide our students with the educational achievement they need.
Are we where we want to be or need to be? No, but we have dedicated teachers, administrators, and school board members who are constantly looking for ways to improve. They care about our children and our communities. And the business community is committed to working as a partner in making our educational assets the best possible.
There is and always will be areas we need to be improving in. But as I visit communities all around us, we are better than average in at least the areas of healthcare, crime and safety, and education. All of us who have the responsibility of community development appreciate the outstanding efforts of our healthcare, public safety and judicial, and education professionals who make Greater Dalton great!
In defense of our newspaper, it is just like most news mediums these days; focus on the negative because that is what sells. But it is amazing to me that a local newspaper would not want to sell the community it calls home a little more often by touting the good and not sensationalizing the not so good.
So that is my hope in this column. There is plenty of negative in this world. But all too often there is positive news, things to be proud of, and things we should celebrate – but our humanness leads us to the dark side. I am not advocating that we should blindly overlook the areas we need to improve in, but I am saying there is plenty to celebrate in our community.
The three areas I will briefly outline are strengths for our community: our community’s access to excellent healthcare, the safety of our community, and our access to high quality education in our community. These three community attributes provide us a competitive advantage in our economic development efforts and benefit each and every one of us that called Greater Dalton home.
Imagine my surprise last week when the above-the-fold front page headline proclaimed crime was a serious issue for our community. Crime is always a concern and all of us wish we had zero crime in our community. But to look at ten years worth of data and state that due to an 8% increase in certain crime statistics that we have a crime wave occurring is misleading. In fact, the crime statistics presented clearly illustrate that incidents of crime in 2011 were less than half of what they were back in 2002 and 2003.
The reporter went on to infer that one of the causes of the “spike” was the economy. Interestingly our incidents of crime were the worst back in 2002-2003 when our local economy was booming. During the last three years when we have faced extreme economic headwinds, the numbers show we have a very safe community.
Not being a sociologist, I do not know why our crime rate is what it is. I cannot speak to the social issues that produce the types and numbers of criminal behavior that does occur. But I can look at the data and discern that we are blessed to live in a very safe community. And that our community is safe because of the dedicated public safety and judicial professionals in our community. From our Sheriff’s office, to our city police departments, our correctional officers, our District Attorneys, and our judges - we are blessed by their efforts.
Recently I had the opportunity to hear an update from our hospital and physicians about a program they have been working on for months. The Clinical Integration program is primarily a voluntary effort on behalf of Hamilton Medical System and most of our local physicians to measure the effectiveness in improving the outcomes of medical care. In other words, every participating physician has the data from treating their patients downloaded into a database where over time the medical community can benchmark best practices for treating different medical conditions. Quality healthcare and better treatment will be an outcome of this innovative approach to medicine.
During this same week, our newspaper ran a story acknowledging Hamilton Medical Center’s recognition as being in the top 5% of all hospitals in the nation for quality care. In our region only Hamilton Medical Center and Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga received this prestigious designation. Again as a community and economic development professional, I am grateful that we have such wonderful healthcare resources in our community. I applaud all of our dedicated healthcare professionals who worked so diligently to take of us.
And finally, I have been on the record as one who supports and desires reforming the American Education system. I strongly believe that for America to compete globally, we have to continuously seek to make significant improvements in how we educate our children and future workforce.
But working for continuous improvement and desiring education transformation does not mean that our local school assets are less than adequate. Quite the opposite is true. If you were to spend any amount of time in our schools, both k-12 schools and our higher education institutions, you would quickly see how blessed we are. Looking beyond the next standardized test score, one can find real innovative approaches in our schools striving to provide our students with the educational achievement they need.
Are we where we want to be or need to be? No, but we have dedicated teachers, administrators, and school board members who are constantly looking for ways to improve. They care about our children and our communities. And the business community is committed to working as a partner in making our educational assets the best possible.
There is and always will be areas we need to be improving in. But as I visit communities all around us, we are better than average in at least the areas of healthcare, crime and safety, and education. All of us who have the responsibility of community development appreciate the outstanding efforts of our healthcare, public safety and judicial, and education professionals who make Greater Dalton great!
1000 Days and Counting
Best I can remember the first “State of the Union” I ever watched was President Reagan’s in 1981. Although I was only in High School, I was a political geek even back then. Some of you may remember the TV sitcom, “Family Ties” starring Michael J. Fox as the lead character, Alex P. Keaton. Alex was a high school aged kid who over the time of the show started college. Even in High School, Alex wore ties and sport coats to school and carried a brief case. And of course he was a budding capitalist and conservative in his political persuasion. Sounds like me in the early eighties.
Fast forward thirty years and I am still watching Presidential State of the Union speeches even the ones given by those who I differ with ideologically. And regardless of a President’s ideology, I am always in awe of the institution and history that “the state of the union” presents. I get caught up in the pageantry, poetry, and hope that most of the 30+ speeches I have seen over my lifetime offer.
The next day, however, reality sets in. Regardless of whether I agree with the majority of the speech or disagree with the speech, I am more and more burdened by the misdirection, the half-truths, the rhetoric, etc. Just consider the last few given by our current President and those of President Bush. Both always delivered eloquent and for the most part inspiring speeches. But the partisan tone is so apparent, the substance of the points being presented become tainted.
Consider that President Bush, a conservative Republican, spent money so feverishly that our real debt explosion began during his watch. And President Obama walked right in to the White House with every intention of continuing that spending and growing the federal government to an unprecedented size.
Although I could spend the rest of this column pointing out the failed policies of the Bush Administration, that is old news. President Obama has now been the leader of our country for three years. Everything is now on his watch. He is completely accountable, along with Congress, for where we are today.
After three years of partisan bickering, trillions more of red ink, and a lower standard of living for most Americans, President Obama proudly proclaimed that the State of our Union is getting stronger. You cannot spin the real state of our union any better. Consider the following: the current national debt of the United States is at $15 trillion and growing, the share of that debt for the average American family is $250,000; we have over 23 million Americans out of work, and almost 50 million Americans receiving food stamps. And last but not least, our Congress and President have now operated our government for over 1000 days without an approved budget.
No wonder most Americans are angry and frustrated with government at all levels.
How do we fix the dire predicament that our selfish, arrogant, and power hungry elected officials have put us in? At least three areas come to mind that could help get us back on track as the strongest nation on earth. We should get our fiscal house in order, we should demand our elected officials play by the rules, and get government back as close to the people as possible.
Our fiscal affairs are on a path to implosion. The American people deserve and should demand a balanced budget with the only exception being during times of war and only then with a two-thirds majority agreeing that war or disaster conditions warrant deficit spending. It is criminal to me that a President and a Congress spend taxpayer dollars without an approved budget.
I wrote about reforming Congress recently where someone suggested and I agreed that elected officials should not be able to enrich themselves by trading stocks on insider information, that they should not receive lucrative retirements from serving their country, or health care programs that are better that the ones their constituents can afford. And they should not receive automatic pay increases while the pay of their constituents is flat to declining. Serving in an elected position should be an honor and require some level of sacrifice rather than being a lottery ticket to wealth and power.
And last but not least, power must be returned to the people by restoring it to its lowest common denominator or getting it back as close to the people as possible. The 10th Amendment of the US Constitution places all power not specifically granted the Federal Government should be that of the State governments. Unfortunately, Republican and Democrats alike have continued to usurp powers at the federal level.
It is time for the governors and state legislatures to take back all powers that are legitimately in their domain from the federal government. The current litigation over Obamacare could provide the legal precedent and process for States rights to once again be respected and appropriately given back to the states. Governors and state legislatures should become much more vigilant in keeping their federal counterparts consistent with our constitution.
Many of our state governments have also mismanaged their states financially and pushed burdens down to their local communities. Local elected officials are the closest to the citizens and therefore can and should keep an open dialogue about state issues and their impact on local governments. So again local city officials and county officials can and should work closely with state elected officials in holding them accountable.
If we are ever going to become the United States of America again and be the beacon to the rest of the world, everyone elected official should place the welfare of our country and the jurisdiction they represent over party allegiance, money, fame, or power. We became the country the rest of the world admired and envied through the efforts of servant leaders throughout our history. Career politicians and party hacks must be replaced by America’s next generation of servant leaders.
May God bless our community and our United States of America!
Fast forward thirty years and I am still watching Presidential State of the Union speeches even the ones given by those who I differ with ideologically. And regardless of a President’s ideology, I am always in awe of the institution and history that “the state of the union” presents. I get caught up in the pageantry, poetry, and hope that most of the 30+ speeches I have seen over my lifetime offer.
The next day, however, reality sets in. Regardless of whether I agree with the majority of the speech or disagree with the speech, I am more and more burdened by the misdirection, the half-truths, the rhetoric, etc. Just consider the last few given by our current President and those of President Bush. Both always delivered eloquent and for the most part inspiring speeches. But the partisan tone is so apparent, the substance of the points being presented become tainted.
Consider that President Bush, a conservative Republican, spent money so feverishly that our real debt explosion began during his watch. And President Obama walked right in to the White House with every intention of continuing that spending and growing the federal government to an unprecedented size.
Although I could spend the rest of this column pointing out the failed policies of the Bush Administration, that is old news. President Obama has now been the leader of our country for three years. Everything is now on his watch. He is completely accountable, along with Congress, for where we are today.
After three years of partisan bickering, trillions more of red ink, and a lower standard of living for most Americans, President Obama proudly proclaimed that the State of our Union is getting stronger. You cannot spin the real state of our union any better. Consider the following: the current national debt of the United States is at $15 trillion and growing, the share of that debt for the average American family is $250,000; we have over 23 million Americans out of work, and almost 50 million Americans receiving food stamps. And last but not least, our Congress and President have now operated our government for over 1000 days without an approved budget.
No wonder most Americans are angry and frustrated with government at all levels.
How do we fix the dire predicament that our selfish, arrogant, and power hungry elected officials have put us in? At least three areas come to mind that could help get us back on track as the strongest nation on earth. We should get our fiscal house in order, we should demand our elected officials play by the rules, and get government back as close to the people as possible.
Our fiscal affairs are on a path to implosion. The American people deserve and should demand a balanced budget with the only exception being during times of war and only then with a two-thirds majority agreeing that war or disaster conditions warrant deficit spending. It is criminal to me that a President and a Congress spend taxpayer dollars without an approved budget.
I wrote about reforming Congress recently where someone suggested and I agreed that elected officials should not be able to enrich themselves by trading stocks on insider information, that they should not receive lucrative retirements from serving their country, or health care programs that are better that the ones their constituents can afford. And they should not receive automatic pay increases while the pay of their constituents is flat to declining. Serving in an elected position should be an honor and require some level of sacrifice rather than being a lottery ticket to wealth and power.
And last but not least, power must be returned to the people by restoring it to its lowest common denominator or getting it back as close to the people as possible. The 10th Amendment of the US Constitution places all power not specifically granted the Federal Government should be that of the State governments. Unfortunately, Republican and Democrats alike have continued to usurp powers at the federal level.
It is time for the governors and state legislatures to take back all powers that are legitimately in their domain from the federal government. The current litigation over Obamacare could provide the legal precedent and process for States rights to once again be respected and appropriately given back to the states. Governors and state legislatures should become much more vigilant in keeping their federal counterparts consistent with our constitution.
Many of our state governments have also mismanaged their states financially and pushed burdens down to their local communities. Local elected officials are the closest to the citizens and therefore can and should keep an open dialogue about state issues and their impact on local governments. So again local city officials and county officials can and should work closely with state elected officials in holding them accountable.
If we are ever going to become the United States of America again and be the beacon to the rest of the world, everyone elected official should place the welfare of our country and the jurisdiction they represent over party allegiance, money, fame, or power. We became the country the rest of the world admired and envied through the efforts of servant leaders throughout our history. Career politicians and party hacks must be replaced by America’s next generation of servant leaders.
May God bless our community and our United States of America!
The State of our Community is Good but not Great
A short 30 months ago, I was honored and blessed to be chosen to lead a fantastic team at the Dalton-Whitfield Chamber of Commerce. I not only work with compassionate, energetic, and truly professional community developers, I also serve with amazing board members who give of their time, talent, and treasures serving our community. And as I reflect on where we were two and a half years ago and where we are today, it is my opinion that although we are a very good community, we have yet to achieve the status of being great.
As Jim Collins states in his book Good to Great, “Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline.” My opinion is not intended to put our community down nor do I feel I am any kind of expert on the subject. Considering Collin’s definition, an argument can be made that greatness is achievable in our community. You could further argue that we are beginning to demonstrate a willingness to make appropriate conscious choices and to be disciplined in our approach to community development.
The Role of the Chamber
What really is a Chamber of Commerce? What is community development? Why is the Chamber involved in education, economic development, legislative affairs, and leadership development? These are very good questions. Although the answers to them can vary depending on the issue at hand, I will attempt to provide a progress report on our efforts to serve our community in its pursuit of greatness.
I am grateful for the Daily Citizen and their annual Progress Edition. Sometime we all need a more in depth look at the truly important issues facing our community, our state, and our nation. A typical news story rarely has the ability to fully communicate all the dimensions of an issue. Even though we have very good reporters in our community who work very hard to cover the news, some stories are too complex for even the best reporter. I will attempt to cover a number of areas the Chamber is working on and to provide a little more depth on a few community issues.
The mission of the Dalton-Whitfield Chamber of Commerce is to serve as the unified voice of business, to promote economic prosperity of the region and to build partnerships and leadership that improves the quality of life while delivering superior member services. Our vision is to provide the leadership necessary to leverage community resources and to build partnerships that are focused on positive community growth. We work to accomplish our mission and vision by focusing on three core areas: economic development, leadership development, and community development.
Economic Development
In October 2008 when I was given the honor to join the Chamber team, our local economy was in the middle of the great recession. Unemployment was at an all-time high, foreclosures were high and increasing, businesses large and small were struggling to say the least. Every sector of our community was feeling the brunt of a declining or recessionary economy. But even in such a bleak time, community and business leaders much wiser than me made the conscious choice to invest in and build for the future. Thus the Grow Greater Dalton initiative was born.
Grow Greater Dalton was and is a capital campaign created to accelerate the resource needs for economic and community development. The four year commitments totaled over $6.1 million for investing in key strategies that will take us to the next level. 2010 was the first year of execution for the initiative, and although the results were not on goal, they were significant given the economic times we are in. In year one, our community benefitted from the creation of 501 direct and indirect jobs or 15.6% of our four year goal. We also achieved $28 million in new capital investment in year one or 14.8% of our four year goal.
Since 2005 when the Dalton-Whitfield Joint Development Authority was created, we have come a long way in the economic development arena. Because of Grow Greater Dalton, we have an experienced and professional economic development team. They, in collaboration with our community’s elected officials, are building a tremendous economic development toolbox (or war chest) to compete regionally and globally.
In recent months, there has been considerable chatter about the new Carbondale Business Park. I deliberately use the word chatter in order to discuss the positive and negative feedback that we receive concerning the development of this park. We have received very positive feedback from our state project managers concerning the park because they can now show potential clients land that can be quickly acquired and built on. Businesses who are seeking to locate a new or expanded operation in our area can begin building here almost immediately because of all the predevelopment work that has already been completed. In this scenario, time is definitely money. Having a first-class, turn-key business park catapults our community ahead of most communities in the region.
Some of the negative chatter includes a few who are opposed to any type of government involvement in the free market system. Some members of our real estate community that have expressed concerns are only considering the individual transaction side of the process and have ignored the larger picture. Anytime a project as large as the development of a commerce or industrial park is concerned, everything will not go exactly to plan. It is very easy to armchair quarterback a process like this if one only follows the stories in the newspaper. I would even admit that those of us intimately involved have not agreed with every decision.
However, I can unequivocally endorse that having a commerce park that has the basic infrastructure in place will accelerate our ability to market our community and will accelerate development within our community. Some projects will be attracted to our area because of the commerce park, but will ultimately purchase or lease other land or existing buildings. Overall real estate activity will be increased and ultimately benefit all stakeholders. And accelerating investment will expand our overall tax base allowing tax rates to remain as they are or possibly even decrease over time.
Recently, the Dalton-Whitfield Joint Development Authority asked for our local governments to seek redevelopment powers through an instrument known as Tax Allocation Districts or TADs. Contrary to a few utterances in the newspaper, this tool is used in 49 states and has been successful in most cases. The largest and most visible TAD project in our area is the 138 acre Atlantic Station development off I-75 in Atlanta. An old environment brown field site was converted to a successful mixed-use development. In layman’s terms, a TAD allows a local government to build necessary infrastructure for a development with the anticipated tax dollars that the newly created development will generate once built. All other taxpayers in a jurisdiction are not affected.
The retail project off of Shugart Road is a development project that a TAD could have helped with. The infrastructure needs like demolishing the old buildings and building the accel and decel lanes for safer access into and out of the site could have been paid for through a TAD. In other words, the developer could have borrowed the capital needed for some of the project costs, and then paid back the loan through his future tax payments. The community wins by having needed and desired retail and commercial investments, and the developer can complete a development quicker by having more financial capital available.
Some have also commented and insinuated that attracting retail development is not a worthwhile endeavor because retail jobs are low paying. Although the retail sector (shopping and dining) do pay lower average wages versus manufacturing, successful communities need both segments in order to be successful. We have tremendous retail leakage in our community because many of our citizens travel to Chattanooga and Atlanta to shop and eat at certain establishments not available here. So the more we can attract these amenities here, we keep those dollars circulating in our economy.
And as a community suffering with an unemployment rate of 13%, jobs are needed of all types. As Dalton State College transitions to a more residential campus, young people (especially college students) need entry-level employment opportunities to finance their pursuit of higher education. Expanding our shopping and dining options can provide the needed part-time and full-time employment opportunities. And we will benefit from keeping shopping local by also keeping the sales tax revenue these transactions generate for our use in our community. Expanded development in the retail sector is beneficial to our community with or without the use of a TAD. But by having the ability to use one when needed makes us more competitive.
A final program of work under the economic development scope of our mission is workforce development. Most jobs of the future will require some level of education beyond high school. And a greater majority of those receiving post-secondary education today and in the future will be in technical fields. There will always be a need for those receiving the traditional four-year bachelor degrees. But most other jobs not requiring a four-year degree will require one or two years of education beyond high school.
The business community and the Chamber worked hard to get Georgia Northwestern Technical College here in our community to expand the educational opportunities available to those preparing for the workplace. Now that Georgia Northwestern will be offering classes beginning in August, we will have the best of both worlds. Future workers young and not so young can choose which institution best fits their needs. And our community will benefit from more and more of our citizens having the workplace skills that will help them be successful.
Leadership Development
The Dalton-Whitfield Chamber of Commerce is well known for its signature leadership development program – Leadership Dalton-Whitfield. We are in our 26th year of helping the current and future leaders of our community understand our community a little better in preparation for service. The 30-40 participants annually have a unique opportunity to really get to see our community from a variety of perspectives and through well-planned sessions ranging from local economics, education, the judicial system, etc. Under the capable stewardship of community leaders who volunteer their time and talent to leading this endeavor, Leadership Dalton-Whitfield will continue equipping our community’s leaders.
For our younger future leaders, the Chamber created the Emerging Leaders program a couple of years ago. This program is targeted at those young professionals who are in the early years of their professional careers but are interested in beginning their service to the community. These future leaders get to learn about our community while also participating in leadership development. As we assist the participants in building their leadership capability, they will in turn be more prepared to serve in the areas they are passionate about.
Community Development
The area of Community Development is a very broad segment of our mission including: community visioning, legislative advocacy, etc. Almost fifteen years ago, the Chamber participated in the Target Tomorrow visioning process. In 2008, after learning about the Archway Partnership community outreach program of the University System of Georgia, it seemed appropriate that we become an Archway community to develop community strategies that will assist us in becoming a great community. After almost two years of work involving hundreds from our community, we have created many strategies that once executed will produce tremendous results.
The Chamber continues to advocate on behalf of our community and our business partners for effective governance at the local, state, and national levels. We work with our local cities and our county to develop and implement policies that will benefit our community. At the State level, we work throughout the legislative session reviewing bills and communicating with state officials our thoughts on those that will be beneficial to us. We do not always get the legislation passed that we support, but our success rate is better than average.
Consider the recent discussions between the City of Dalton and Whitfield County. Although the Chamber did not initiate the discussion or lead the retreat that led to the decision to pursue a Charter Commission, we do support a study of creating a new form of government. The primary reason for supporting the study of a new way of governing will at a minimum enable the two governing entities to understand the services provided by both. The Great Recession in my opinion has reset the economic wealth button. The debt owed at the national level and most state levels will put tremendous pressure on the financial affairs of all entities. Families have lost tremendous economic means over the last four years. And unemployment is forecasted to remain higher for a long time. Thus governments of all types need to really study ways to deliver needed services more efficiently. We should never continue doing business the way we always did it.
Getting from Good to Great
I stated many times that my family and I love our community. Of all the places I have lived and worked, Dalton has been a wonderful place to raise our children. Being a good community is better than most. There are very few communities that would be rated as great. But I think we have the potential to achieve that classification.
What will it take? There are many areas that we are improving in and others that we are at least now willing to discuss that if changed would propel us to greatness. Although we have made tremendous strides over the last five years in economic development, we have more to do. The foundation has been laid. But to achieve greatness in economic development, we need to be chosen by the companies we are recruiting. In a short few years, we have moved from not even being considered, to getting on the initial list of communities competing for projects, and now we are making the short list of perspective companies. As we become the community of choice for relocating and expanding companies, we will move toward greatness.
In the area of education and workforce development, again significant strides have been made. But until every student graduates from High School and receives at least one year of post-secondary education, we will fall behind most global communities. We need a comprehensive overall of our American education system. It must be innovative, inspiring, and rigorous. All students must be able to perform basic work place skills or they will simply be unemployable. Comparing our schools only against comparable Georgia schools will not enable ours to become best in class. Our children are born with the requisite intelligence, but many get left behind early in the process and never catch up.
The most important area that I feel must improve for us to become great is the area of working together. I will not by name acknowledge the section in the newspaper that people are allowed to comment in, but I will say that I scan this section only to confirm how far we have to go to reach greatness. Although I am convinced that the same ten people call in 90% of the comments, it amazes me how negative and petty some people can be. Until the majority of the comments are complimenting someone or some group or just praising the blessed place we all call home, I am convinced we have work to do.
For the first time in my ten years of living in Whitfield County, I feel we have tremendous leadership capacity in all the right places. We must seize this time by putting aside past prejudices and differences and work to build a greater and more unified community. I am not saying everything has to merge. But I am saying we need to work harder and better together in maximizing our strengths and minimizing our weaknesses.
As Vincent Van Gogh said, “Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.” The Dalton-Whitfield Chamber of Commerce pledges to work with all stakeholders who seek to build a great community.
As Jim Collins states in his book Good to Great, “Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline.” My opinion is not intended to put our community down nor do I feel I am any kind of expert on the subject. Considering Collin’s definition, an argument can be made that greatness is achievable in our community. You could further argue that we are beginning to demonstrate a willingness to make appropriate conscious choices and to be disciplined in our approach to community development.
The Role of the Chamber
What really is a Chamber of Commerce? What is community development? Why is the Chamber involved in education, economic development, legislative affairs, and leadership development? These are very good questions. Although the answers to them can vary depending on the issue at hand, I will attempt to provide a progress report on our efforts to serve our community in its pursuit of greatness.
I am grateful for the Daily Citizen and their annual Progress Edition. Sometime we all need a more in depth look at the truly important issues facing our community, our state, and our nation. A typical news story rarely has the ability to fully communicate all the dimensions of an issue. Even though we have very good reporters in our community who work very hard to cover the news, some stories are too complex for even the best reporter. I will attempt to cover a number of areas the Chamber is working on and to provide a little more depth on a few community issues.
The mission of the Dalton-Whitfield Chamber of Commerce is to serve as the unified voice of business, to promote economic prosperity of the region and to build partnerships and leadership that improves the quality of life while delivering superior member services. Our vision is to provide the leadership necessary to leverage community resources and to build partnerships that are focused on positive community growth. We work to accomplish our mission and vision by focusing on three core areas: economic development, leadership development, and community development.
Economic Development
In October 2008 when I was given the honor to join the Chamber team, our local economy was in the middle of the great recession. Unemployment was at an all-time high, foreclosures were high and increasing, businesses large and small were struggling to say the least. Every sector of our community was feeling the brunt of a declining or recessionary economy. But even in such a bleak time, community and business leaders much wiser than me made the conscious choice to invest in and build for the future. Thus the Grow Greater Dalton initiative was born.
Grow Greater Dalton was and is a capital campaign created to accelerate the resource needs for economic and community development. The four year commitments totaled over $6.1 million for investing in key strategies that will take us to the next level. 2010 was the first year of execution for the initiative, and although the results were not on goal, they were significant given the economic times we are in. In year one, our community benefitted from the creation of 501 direct and indirect jobs or 15.6% of our four year goal. We also achieved $28 million in new capital investment in year one or 14.8% of our four year goal.
Since 2005 when the Dalton-Whitfield Joint Development Authority was created, we have come a long way in the economic development arena. Because of Grow Greater Dalton, we have an experienced and professional economic development team. They, in collaboration with our community’s elected officials, are building a tremendous economic development toolbox (or war chest) to compete regionally and globally.
In recent months, there has been considerable chatter about the new Carbondale Business Park. I deliberately use the word chatter in order to discuss the positive and negative feedback that we receive concerning the development of this park. We have received very positive feedback from our state project managers concerning the park because they can now show potential clients land that can be quickly acquired and built on. Businesses who are seeking to locate a new or expanded operation in our area can begin building here almost immediately because of all the predevelopment work that has already been completed. In this scenario, time is definitely money. Having a first-class, turn-key business park catapults our community ahead of most communities in the region.
Some of the negative chatter includes a few who are opposed to any type of government involvement in the free market system. Some members of our real estate community that have expressed concerns are only considering the individual transaction side of the process and have ignored the larger picture. Anytime a project as large as the development of a commerce or industrial park is concerned, everything will not go exactly to plan. It is very easy to armchair quarterback a process like this if one only follows the stories in the newspaper. I would even admit that those of us intimately involved have not agreed with every decision.
However, I can unequivocally endorse that having a commerce park that has the basic infrastructure in place will accelerate our ability to market our community and will accelerate development within our community. Some projects will be attracted to our area because of the commerce park, but will ultimately purchase or lease other land or existing buildings. Overall real estate activity will be increased and ultimately benefit all stakeholders. And accelerating investment will expand our overall tax base allowing tax rates to remain as they are or possibly even decrease over time.
Recently, the Dalton-Whitfield Joint Development Authority asked for our local governments to seek redevelopment powers through an instrument known as Tax Allocation Districts or TADs. Contrary to a few utterances in the newspaper, this tool is used in 49 states and has been successful in most cases. The largest and most visible TAD project in our area is the 138 acre Atlantic Station development off I-75 in Atlanta. An old environment brown field site was converted to a successful mixed-use development. In layman’s terms, a TAD allows a local government to build necessary infrastructure for a development with the anticipated tax dollars that the newly created development will generate once built. All other taxpayers in a jurisdiction are not affected.
The retail project off of Shugart Road is a development project that a TAD could have helped with. The infrastructure needs like demolishing the old buildings and building the accel and decel lanes for safer access into and out of the site could have been paid for through a TAD. In other words, the developer could have borrowed the capital needed for some of the project costs, and then paid back the loan through his future tax payments. The community wins by having needed and desired retail and commercial investments, and the developer can complete a development quicker by having more financial capital available.
Some have also commented and insinuated that attracting retail development is not a worthwhile endeavor because retail jobs are low paying. Although the retail sector (shopping and dining) do pay lower average wages versus manufacturing, successful communities need both segments in order to be successful. We have tremendous retail leakage in our community because many of our citizens travel to Chattanooga and Atlanta to shop and eat at certain establishments not available here. So the more we can attract these amenities here, we keep those dollars circulating in our economy.
And as a community suffering with an unemployment rate of 13%, jobs are needed of all types. As Dalton State College transitions to a more residential campus, young people (especially college students) need entry-level employment opportunities to finance their pursuit of higher education. Expanding our shopping and dining options can provide the needed part-time and full-time employment opportunities. And we will benefit from keeping shopping local by also keeping the sales tax revenue these transactions generate for our use in our community. Expanded development in the retail sector is beneficial to our community with or without the use of a TAD. But by having the ability to use one when needed makes us more competitive.
A final program of work under the economic development scope of our mission is workforce development. Most jobs of the future will require some level of education beyond high school. And a greater majority of those receiving post-secondary education today and in the future will be in technical fields. There will always be a need for those receiving the traditional four-year bachelor degrees. But most other jobs not requiring a four-year degree will require one or two years of education beyond high school.
The business community and the Chamber worked hard to get Georgia Northwestern Technical College here in our community to expand the educational opportunities available to those preparing for the workplace. Now that Georgia Northwestern will be offering classes beginning in August, we will have the best of both worlds. Future workers young and not so young can choose which institution best fits their needs. And our community will benefit from more and more of our citizens having the workplace skills that will help them be successful.
Leadership Development
The Dalton-Whitfield Chamber of Commerce is well known for its signature leadership development program – Leadership Dalton-Whitfield. We are in our 26th year of helping the current and future leaders of our community understand our community a little better in preparation for service. The 30-40 participants annually have a unique opportunity to really get to see our community from a variety of perspectives and through well-planned sessions ranging from local economics, education, the judicial system, etc. Under the capable stewardship of community leaders who volunteer their time and talent to leading this endeavor, Leadership Dalton-Whitfield will continue equipping our community’s leaders.
For our younger future leaders, the Chamber created the Emerging Leaders program a couple of years ago. This program is targeted at those young professionals who are in the early years of their professional careers but are interested in beginning their service to the community. These future leaders get to learn about our community while also participating in leadership development. As we assist the participants in building their leadership capability, they will in turn be more prepared to serve in the areas they are passionate about.
Community Development
The area of Community Development is a very broad segment of our mission including: community visioning, legislative advocacy, etc. Almost fifteen years ago, the Chamber participated in the Target Tomorrow visioning process. In 2008, after learning about the Archway Partnership community outreach program of the University System of Georgia, it seemed appropriate that we become an Archway community to develop community strategies that will assist us in becoming a great community. After almost two years of work involving hundreds from our community, we have created many strategies that once executed will produce tremendous results.
The Chamber continues to advocate on behalf of our community and our business partners for effective governance at the local, state, and national levels. We work with our local cities and our county to develop and implement policies that will benefit our community. At the State level, we work throughout the legislative session reviewing bills and communicating with state officials our thoughts on those that will be beneficial to us. We do not always get the legislation passed that we support, but our success rate is better than average.
Consider the recent discussions between the City of Dalton and Whitfield County. Although the Chamber did not initiate the discussion or lead the retreat that led to the decision to pursue a Charter Commission, we do support a study of creating a new form of government. The primary reason for supporting the study of a new way of governing will at a minimum enable the two governing entities to understand the services provided by both. The Great Recession in my opinion has reset the economic wealth button. The debt owed at the national level and most state levels will put tremendous pressure on the financial affairs of all entities. Families have lost tremendous economic means over the last four years. And unemployment is forecasted to remain higher for a long time. Thus governments of all types need to really study ways to deliver needed services more efficiently. We should never continue doing business the way we always did it.
Getting from Good to Great
I stated many times that my family and I love our community. Of all the places I have lived and worked, Dalton has been a wonderful place to raise our children. Being a good community is better than most. There are very few communities that would be rated as great. But I think we have the potential to achieve that classification.
What will it take? There are many areas that we are improving in and others that we are at least now willing to discuss that if changed would propel us to greatness. Although we have made tremendous strides over the last five years in economic development, we have more to do. The foundation has been laid. But to achieve greatness in economic development, we need to be chosen by the companies we are recruiting. In a short few years, we have moved from not even being considered, to getting on the initial list of communities competing for projects, and now we are making the short list of perspective companies. As we become the community of choice for relocating and expanding companies, we will move toward greatness.
In the area of education and workforce development, again significant strides have been made. But until every student graduates from High School and receives at least one year of post-secondary education, we will fall behind most global communities. We need a comprehensive overall of our American education system. It must be innovative, inspiring, and rigorous. All students must be able to perform basic work place skills or they will simply be unemployable. Comparing our schools only against comparable Georgia schools will not enable ours to become best in class. Our children are born with the requisite intelligence, but many get left behind early in the process and never catch up.
The most important area that I feel must improve for us to become great is the area of working together. I will not by name acknowledge the section in the newspaper that people are allowed to comment in, but I will say that I scan this section only to confirm how far we have to go to reach greatness. Although I am convinced that the same ten people call in 90% of the comments, it amazes me how negative and petty some people can be. Until the majority of the comments are complimenting someone or some group or just praising the blessed place we all call home, I am convinced we have work to do.
For the first time in my ten years of living in Whitfield County, I feel we have tremendous leadership capacity in all the right places. We must seize this time by putting aside past prejudices and differences and work to build a greater and more unified community. I am not saying everything has to merge. But I am saying we need to work harder and better together in maximizing our strengths and minimizing our weaknesses.
As Vincent Van Gogh said, “Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.” The Dalton-Whitfield Chamber of Commerce pledges to work with all stakeholders who seek to build a great community.
Defending Commerce
One would assume that a nation built on the belief in a free market economy would appreciate the enterprise of commerce. But amazingly, business and industry is held to a much higher standard of conduct than most other entities. And even when business leaders are recruited for input on a complex issue; their recommendations are ignored and rarely implemented.
Let’s start with conduct… most businesses that I have been involved in have a very high standard for conduct. Due to the effects of employee behavior on a business’ reputation or success, most have very strict codes of behavior. If a manager or someone in a supervisory position behaves inappropriately, they are routinely and quickly terminated on the basis of violating company policy.
Recently a school teacher who was arrested for driving under the influence on the way to school did not immediately lose her job. I am sure that the teachers union required the school system to pay her while on administrative leave until acquitted or convicted. But in the business world, an employee would in most cases be terminated for such an offense.
Consider the many, many examples of elected officials who have been accused (and in most cases eventually admitted their guilt) of all kinds of inappropriate behavior and remained in office long after the media became distracted by the latest “news” event. It is unfathomable for me to understand how the congressman from New York can even consider remaining in office. It is even more unconscionable to think his district would reelect him. Again, such behavior by someone in the business or corporate world, would be grounds for immediate termination.
Recently a column ran in the Chattanooga Times Free Press that discussed a study that members from the business community performed on behalf of the Hamilton County Board of Education. The school board, in espousing that business leaders might be able to recommend ways the system could save money or operate more efficiently, created a task force to study the school system and make a report of their recommendations.
According to the story, the task force recommended sweeping changes including closing small and inefficient schools, reducing the paid staff of the system by over 1400 employees, and consolidating some functions that were deemed duplicative. As you probably guessed, most of the recommendations were ignored. In the three years since the recommendations were presented, approximately 34 positions have been cut – a far cry from the recommended 1400.
I am not advocating wholesale layoffs. Our community, state, and nation have far too many of our citizens unemployed. But I am advocating that the inefficient and ineffective use of scarce resources eventually negatively affects the golden goose – businesses and industries that employ most of us, contribute generously to all non-profit causes, and pay most of the taxes. Why do we consistently abuse our nation’s golden goose?
Last year our state leaders created by law a tax reform council who were tasked with studying our tax code and making recommendations to improve the code and our state’s competitiveness. The special council included academics and business leaders. Their recommendations were supposed to receive an up or down vote with no amendments. At the ninth hour, the council’s recommendations were not considered supposedly because the financial assumptions made in making the recommendations could not be validated.
The truth is the recommendations were inconsistent with certain political assumptions or philosophies, not the validity of the numbers. The XYZ Americans Against Taxation (fictional name) argued that reinstating the sales tax on food constituted a tax increase and a majority of our state elected officials have vowed to never raise taxes. The result – tax reform is in a coma and another group of well-qualified business leaders, after their work was ignored, will be hesitant to ever serve a similar purpose again.
So although our business leaders are extremely successful in managing their businesses and in serving their communities, commerce remains under attack on a variety of fronts. We are overly regulated and overly taxed. Government may not be able to be run like a business, but sound business principles could amazingly improve much that occurs in the public world.
Let’s start with conduct… most businesses that I have been involved in have a very high standard for conduct. Due to the effects of employee behavior on a business’ reputation or success, most have very strict codes of behavior. If a manager or someone in a supervisory position behaves inappropriately, they are routinely and quickly terminated on the basis of violating company policy.
Recently a school teacher who was arrested for driving under the influence on the way to school did not immediately lose her job. I am sure that the teachers union required the school system to pay her while on administrative leave until acquitted or convicted. But in the business world, an employee would in most cases be terminated for such an offense.
Consider the many, many examples of elected officials who have been accused (and in most cases eventually admitted their guilt) of all kinds of inappropriate behavior and remained in office long after the media became distracted by the latest “news” event. It is unfathomable for me to understand how the congressman from New York can even consider remaining in office. It is even more unconscionable to think his district would reelect him. Again, such behavior by someone in the business or corporate world, would be grounds for immediate termination.
Recently a column ran in the Chattanooga Times Free Press that discussed a study that members from the business community performed on behalf of the Hamilton County Board of Education. The school board, in espousing that business leaders might be able to recommend ways the system could save money or operate more efficiently, created a task force to study the school system and make a report of their recommendations.
According to the story, the task force recommended sweeping changes including closing small and inefficient schools, reducing the paid staff of the system by over 1400 employees, and consolidating some functions that were deemed duplicative. As you probably guessed, most of the recommendations were ignored. In the three years since the recommendations were presented, approximately 34 positions have been cut – a far cry from the recommended 1400.
I am not advocating wholesale layoffs. Our community, state, and nation have far too many of our citizens unemployed. But I am advocating that the inefficient and ineffective use of scarce resources eventually negatively affects the golden goose – businesses and industries that employ most of us, contribute generously to all non-profit causes, and pay most of the taxes. Why do we consistently abuse our nation’s golden goose?
Last year our state leaders created by law a tax reform council who were tasked with studying our tax code and making recommendations to improve the code and our state’s competitiveness. The special council included academics and business leaders. Their recommendations were supposed to receive an up or down vote with no amendments. At the ninth hour, the council’s recommendations were not considered supposedly because the financial assumptions made in making the recommendations could not be validated.
The truth is the recommendations were inconsistent with certain political assumptions or philosophies, not the validity of the numbers. The XYZ Americans Against Taxation (fictional name) argued that reinstating the sales tax on food constituted a tax increase and a majority of our state elected officials have vowed to never raise taxes. The result – tax reform is in a coma and another group of well-qualified business leaders, after their work was ignored, will be hesitant to ever serve a similar purpose again.
So although our business leaders are extremely successful in managing their businesses and in serving their communities, commerce remains under attack on a variety of fronts. We are overly regulated and overly taxed. Government may not be able to be run like a business, but sound business principles could amazingly improve much that occurs in the public world.
Congress Desperately Needs an Overhaul
Last week, I received an email that offered key reforms that could improve our federal government and its effectiveness. Supposedly these measures are being proposed by Warren Buffett of the famed Berkshire Hathaway and owner of Shaw Industries. I am not sure if these are Mr. Buffett’s ideas or not – but they are good ideas nonetheless.
At a recent meeting of Rep. Tom Graves’ Economic Advisory Council, many of these same proposals were discussed. The difficulty of getting Congress to reform itself notwithstanding, something has to be done if our country is going to get the kind of elected representation it deserves.
Our Founding Fathers intended that America be represented by citizen-statesmen. Elected officials were to offer their service to the country, serve honorably, and go home. It is my belief that service was intended to be an honor and a sacrifice for the good of the nation not the elected. Career politicians were never the desire of those who designed the greatest democracy on earth. Accordingly reform #1 provides that members of Congress not be granted tenure nor receive a pension. A Congressman should collect a salary while in office but receive no pay once out of office. And their service should be limited to two terms for a Senator and six terms for a member of the House of Representatives.
I have not always been an advocate for term limits on the basis that it is hard enough to get qualified people to run – why would you want someone who is doing a good job to be term limited arbitrarily? But given that members of Congress have become so entrenched in a system that overly advantages incumbents, now may be the time to guarantee citizen-statesman by instituting term limits.
Reform #2 would allow a Congressman to participate in the Social Security system just like all other Americans. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund upon the successful approval of the legislation would move to the Social Security system. All future funds would flow into the Social Security system. These funds would not be allowed to be used for any other purpose. If members of Congress want more retirement coverage, they could purchase their own just as all Americans do.
Even during the last three to four years in an economic recession not seen since the Great Depression, members of Congress have continued to receive generous pay increases. While Americans are losing their jobs and suffering pay cuts, our members of Congress have insured that their pay continue to rise. Reform #3 would prohibit Congress from voting themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay would rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.
I would further advocate that certain minimum standards be adopted that establish if they get paid at all. For instance, the primary responsibility of most Boards of Directors is to insure the financial solvency of the organization they serve. Similarly, I feel Congress” number one priority should be establishing a budget and living within it. Our current elected members of Congress have operated our country for over two and a half years without a budget. By the end of this year, we will once again face a government shut-down due to politics. For every month beyond the budget deadline that a budget is not passed, I would propose Congress receive no pay.
One of President Obama’s major legislative successes was his passage of the Affordable Healthcare Act. He and the Democratic controlled Congress wanted all Americans covered by health insurance. Ironically, the healthcare plan approved for all Americans is not the same healthcare plan that covers them. Reform #4 would require Congress to lose their current health care system and that they be required to participate in the same health care system as the American people. They should not have a plan that is dramatically better than that which protects its citizens.
Recently in the news it is alleged that members of Congress have profited from key investments based on their access to insider information. Why is it that a business leader, stock broker, or an individual investor can be imprisoned for such (remember Martha Stewart) but not members of Congress. And now that these activities have surfaced, Congress agrees to investigate itself. Why not the Security and Exchange Commission? Reform #5 - Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people. This one just seems obvious.
And finally, reform #6 - All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective
immediately upon the passage of the Congressional Reform Act and signed by the President. Unless these measures are immediately enacted, the very same members who approved them would be tempted to work the system to their benefit during any grace period or waiting period.
The cynic in me says that even these simple, yet reasonable reforms have little chance of being enacted and being allowed to reshape our democratic process back to one of honor and built on trust between the elected and the governed. But given the absurdly low approval ratings the American people give the current members of Congress, maybe with enough awareness and publicity we can get some traction behind this movement.
It used to be that most Americans disliked Congress, but loved their member of Congress. It would seem that even individual members have lost the trust of the citizens they represent. The bickering and division along party lines have become the norm, not doing what is right and moving our country forward. We deserve better!
If you agree with these simple reform measures, send them to your members of Congress and demand they pass the Congressional Reform Act. If enough of us demand action, maybe we can improve Congress and our Nation.
At a recent meeting of Rep. Tom Graves’ Economic Advisory Council, many of these same proposals were discussed. The difficulty of getting Congress to reform itself notwithstanding, something has to be done if our country is going to get the kind of elected representation it deserves.
Our Founding Fathers intended that America be represented by citizen-statesmen. Elected officials were to offer their service to the country, serve honorably, and go home. It is my belief that service was intended to be an honor and a sacrifice for the good of the nation not the elected. Career politicians were never the desire of those who designed the greatest democracy on earth. Accordingly reform #1 provides that members of Congress not be granted tenure nor receive a pension. A Congressman should collect a salary while in office but receive no pay once out of office. And their service should be limited to two terms for a Senator and six terms for a member of the House of Representatives.
I have not always been an advocate for term limits on the basis that it is hard enough to get qualified people to run – why would you want someone who is doing a good job to be term limited arbitrarily? But given that members of Congress have become so entrenched in a system that overly advantages incumbents, now may be the time to guarantee citizen-statesman by instituting term limits.
Reform #2 would allow a Congressman to participate in the Social Security system just like all other Americans. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund upon the successful approval of the legislation would move to the Social Security system. All future funds would flow into the Social Security system. These funds would not be allowed to be used for any other purpose. If members of Congress want more retirement coverage, they could purchase their own just as all Americans do.
Even during the last three to four years in an economic recession not seen since the Great Depression, members of Congress have continued to receive generous pay increases. While Americans are losing their jobs and suffering pay cuts, our members of Congress have insured that their pay continue to rise. Reform #3 would prohibit Congress from voting themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay would rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.
I would further advocate that certain minimum standards be adopted that establish if they get paid at all. For instance, the primary responsibility of most Boards of Directors is to insure the financial solvency of the organization they serve. Similarly, I feel Congress” number one priority should be establishing a budget and living within it. Our current elected members of Congress have operated our country for over two and a half years without a budget. By the end of this year, we will once again face a government shut-down due to politics. For every month beyond the budget deadline that a budget is not passed, I would propose Congress receive no pay.
One of President Obama’s major legislative successes was his passage of the Affordable Healthcare Act. He and the Democratic controlled Congress wanted all Americans covered by health insurance. Ironically, the healthcare plan approved for all Americans is not the same healthcare plan that covers them. Reform #4 would require Congress to lose their current health care system and that they be required to participate in the same health care system as the American people. They should not have a plan that is dramatically better than that which protects its citizens.
Recently in the news it is alleged that members of Congress have profited from key investments based on their access to insider information. Why is it that a business leader, stock broker, or an individual investor can be imprisoned for such (remember Martha Stewart) but not members of Congress. And now that these activities have surfaced, Congress agrees to investigate itself. Why not the Security and Exchange Commission? Reform #5 - Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people. This one just seems obvious.
And finally, reform #6 - All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective
immediately upon the passage of the Congressional Reform Act and signed by the President. Unless these measures are immediately enacted, the very same members who approved them would be tempted to work the system to their benefit during any grace period or waiting period.
The cynic in me says that even these simple, yet reasonable reforms have little chance of being enacted and being allowed to reshape our democratic process back to one of honor and built on trust between the elected and the governed. But given the absurdly low approval ratings the American people give the current members of Congress, maybe with enough awareness and publicity we can get some traction behind this movement.
It used to be that most Americans disliked Congress, but loved their member of Congress. It would seem that even individual members have lost the trust of the citizens they represent. The bickering and division along party lines have become the norm, not doing what is right and moving our country forward. We deserve better!
If you agree with these simple reform measures, send them to your members of Congress and demand they pass the Congressional Reform Act. If enough of us demand action, maybe we can improve Congress and our Nation.
Voter Apathy and Civic Disengagement
Regardless of the news medium (especially if it’s the national media), cynicism and negativity seem to dominate the headlines. With America reeling from three-plus years of economic demise, it is hard for most of us to feel good about the institutions that made us the envy of the world.
Robert Putnam in his best-selling book, Bowling Alone, discusses at length the issues of the collapse and revival of the American Community. His discussion on Civic Engagement was especially interesting to me. I am not sure if it’s the economy or if my concern in this area began before the start of the Great Recession. It may be the fact that my role at the Chamber and the work of the Chamber in general causes a real up-close and personal interaction with civic engagement.
Bill Vaughan is credited with saying, “A citizen of America will cross the ocean to fight for democracy, but won't cross the street to vote in a national election.” We have had marketing campaigns locally to encourage better turnout in elections. Even communities with good voter turnout rarely achieve turnout greater than 50% of registered voters. And the registered voters are typically less than half of the eligible voters.
Although citizens / voters seem to be more and more dissatisfied with the actions / inaction of their elected officials, voter apathy seems rampant. In our community, over the last few election cycles, more races for public office are uncontested vs contested. How do we get good, honest and effective leadership if few answer the call to serve?
Putnam attributed our decline in civic engagement to: the pressures of time and money, suburbanization, electronic entertainment, and generational change. Although Putnam makes a strong argument as to how each has affected America and the individual and collective civic engagement of Americans, he is quick to point out that these are complex subjects and we do not know exact causes or the precise impact each has had on the broader topic.
Most would agree that in a world dominated by workers who are constantly pressured to do more with and for less, and in an economy where most families are comprised of two-parent earners – it should be no surprise that these citizens would be less civically engaged than in other historical time periods. Every school administrator and teacher routinely acknowledges that educating young people is harder today than ever because parents are not as involved or engaged as they once were.
Who can argue that time and money can be negative influences on citizens engaging in community activities? If someone is gainfully employed, their work demands more of them than ever. And if not employed, it is difficult to give to your community when you do not have money for providing for your family much less gas to go to community meetings. It seems that most community volunteers are either retired or are employed young people who have not married or started their families. Time and money pressures certainly affect how much someone can give back and get involved.
During her visit / presentation a few weeks ago, acclaimed community engagement consultant and best-selling author Rebecca Ryan spoke to the issue of suburbanization. Again, few of us would argue that long commutes between home and work adversely affect our time for and desire for civic engagement. Ms. Ryan claims that young professionals are seeking communities to make their home that enable short commutes. They would rather spend time doing things they enjoy vs. driving long commutes between the suburbs where they live and to their jobs in the “big city.” Putnam states that Americans have always been nomadic. We tend to move more often than most other societies.
Prior to the electronic age, people actually got involved in their communities for entertainment and social networking. Today, we have every electronic gadget and technology at our disposal for entertainment. And young people will argue that they are networking through electronic means. I am still not sure how you get to know someone through Twitter or Facebook.
And the last remaining negative influence on civic engagement is generational change. Our grandparents (those before the Baby-boomers) not only worked hard – they saved their money, gave back to their communities, and not only survived but enabled our success in waging world war.
Generations since the “greatest” have rarely been tested like those before us. Small special interest groups have been heavily engaged in certain movements (civil rights, Vietnam War protests, etc.). I do not mean to demean or lesson the extraordinary outcomes of movements like the Civil Rights movement, but only to clarify that nothing sense WWII has required US citizens be all in. All of us who are baby-boomers and those that are following us have not had a pivotal historic event (or threat) that created the necessary zeal for community / civic engagement.
Some might argue that the current “occupy X” movement could create such a moment or the economic times we are in might be the rallying cry. But given the low turnout by American voters and the overall disinterest in public service, I am not convinced that we will suddenly see the tide turn toward citizen re-engagement.
As Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” My hope is we will once again heed the call and serve our communities and each other like those from the greatest generation did before us.
Robert Putnam in his best-selling book, Bowling Alone, discusses at length the issues of the collapse and revival of the American Community. His discussion on Civic Engagement was especially interesting to me. I am not sure if it’s the economy or if my concern in this area began before the start of the Great Recession. It may be the fact that my role at the Chamber and the work of the Chamber in general causes a real up-close and personal interaction with civic engagement.
Bill Vaughan is credited with saying, “A citizen of America will cross the ocean to fight for democracy, but won't cross the street to vote in a national election.” We have had marketing campaigns locally to encourage better turnout in elections. Even communities with good voter turnout rarely achieve turnout greater than 50% of registered voters. And the registered voters are typically less than half of the eligible voters.
Although citizens / voters seem to be more and more dissatisfied with the actions / inaction of their elected officials, voter apathy seems rampant. In our community, over the last few election cycles, more races for public office are uncontested vs contested. How do we get good, honest and effective leadership if few answer the call to serve?
Putnam attributed our decline in civic engagement to: the pressures of time and money, suburbanization, electronic entertainment, and generational change. Although Putnam makes a strong argument as to how each has affected America and the individual and collective civic engagement of Americans, he is quick to point out that these are complex subjects and we do not know exact causes or the precise impact each has had on the broader topic.
Most would agree that in a world dominated by workers who are constantly pressured to do more with and for less, and in an economy where most families are comprised of two-parent earners – it should be no surprise that these citizens would be less civically engaged than in other historical time periods. Every school administrator and teacher routinely acknowledges that educating young people is harder today than ever because parents are not as involved or engaged as they once were.
Who can argue that time and money can be negative influences on citizens engaging in community activities? If someone is gainfully employed, their work demands more of them than ever. And if not employed, it is difficult to give to your community when you do not have money for providing for your family much less gas to go to community meetings. It seems that most community volunteers are either retired or are employed young people who have not married or started their families. Time and money pressures certainly affect how much someone can give back and get involved.
During her visit / presentation a few weeks ago, acclaimed community engagement consultant and best-selling author Rebecca Ryan spoke to the issue of suburbanization. Again, few of us would argue that long commutes between home and work adversely affect our time for and desire for civic engagement. Ms. Ryan claims that young professionals are seeking communities to make their home that enable short commutes. They would rather spend time doing things they enjoy vs. driving long commutes between the suburbs where they live and to their jobs in the “big city.” Putnam states that Americans have always been nomadic. We tend to move more often than most other societies.
Prior to the electronic age, people actually got involved in their communities for entertainment and social networking. Today, we have every electronic gadget and technology at our disposal for entertainment. And young people will argue that they are networking through electronic means. I am still not sure how you get to know someone through Twitter or Facebook.
And the last remaining negative influence on civic engagement is generational change. Our grandparents (those before the Baby-boomers) not only worked hard – they saved their money, gave back to their communities, and not only survived but enabled our success in waging world war.
Generations since the “greatest” have rarely been tested like those before us. Small special interest groups have been heavily engaged in certain movements (civil rights, Vietnam War protests, etc.). I do not mean to demean or lesson the extraordinary outcomes of movements like the Civil Rights movement, but only to clarify that nothing sense WWII has required US citizens be all in. All of us who are baby-boomers and those that are following us have not had a pivotal historic event (or threat) that created the necessary zeal for community / civic engagement.
Some might argue that the current “occupy X” movement could create such a moment or the economic times we are in might be the rallying cry. But given the low turnout by American voters and the overall disinterest in public service, I am not convinced that we will suddenly see the tide turn toward citizen re-engagement.
As Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” My hope is we will once again heed the call and serve our communities and each other like those from the greatest generation did before us.
“United We Stand – Divided We Fall”
The phrase “United we stand – Divided we fall” may be overused but is as true today as when first used by Aesop in his famous fables and Patrick Henry in 1799. And in today’s economic climate, working together should be an imperative not a choice.
Any sports fan knows that an average team playing together can beat a more talented team that does not play together. Communities are no different. And given the difficult economic headwinds that continue to affect us, working together is a must for us to succeed.
Since 2005, our community has rallied around a unified economic development team / process. Steady progress is being made in the area of economic development. Our elected leadership for Whitfield County has invested in the Carbondale Business Park and instituted a 100% Freeport Tax Exemption. Our elected leaders for the City of Dalton and Whitfield County have agreed on an incentives process that is fair and competitive in the economic development marketplace. Through public and private funding raised through the Grow Greater Dalton campaign; our community’s economic development team has the resources to market our community globally for new investment and the creation of new jobs.
But even with so much going well, we are not as successful as we could and should be. All the good efforts are being impaired by division amongst our elected government entities. The current proposed SPLOST is a prime example that our elected leaders are not on the same page and do not collaborate on key issues such as tax policy.
A SPLOST is a useful, and most of the time preferred, tax instrument. A SPLOST allows all people to share the tax burden, residents and visitors alike. They allow us, the voters, to actually see something that our money went to build or to purchase. And properly used, they allow for us to maintain some of the lowest property tax rates in the state. They also demand a level of trust between the elected officials proposing them and the voters. The projects should be needed or validated through dialogue with the citizens. At a minimum, the participating governments should partner and collaborate in generating a recommended “Special Purpose” project list.
Because of more than a few examples in recent years of projects not being fully vetted or the citizens not feeling the right projects were delivered, the SPLOST instrument has been tarnished. On Nov. 8th, all of us will choose if the proposed projects are all necessary in these times. Few seem supportive of everything proposed. The success or failure will depend on how each voter weighs the overall good of the total vs. each individual project. The Chamber and its member businesses will continue to support a fair and balanced tax strategy that delivers public services at the most affordable cost.
The Chamber of Commerce and its members are grateful for those who stand up to serve our community. We recognize the sacrifice public service requires. And we will continue to work with all our elected officials for the betterment of our community.
The Great Recession has created tremendous budget pressures for all of our elected bodies. You would assume that this climate would create real desire among our officials to partner and work together. Examples of this have occurred. During the final days of working through the SPLOST referendum decisions, the Whitfield County School Board agreed to postpone placing an ESPLOST on the Nov. 8th ballot in order for the County Commissioners and City Councils to place one thus keeping the current sales tax rate at 6% and not going to 7%.
This action was encouraged by many hoping that the current penny could be maintained for one year to help fund the greatest capital needs of the County Commission and City Councils. And in 2013, our school officials could ask the citizens for a short-term debt focused ESPLOST that would follow the one year SPLOST. Given the County Commission chose a two-year, the county school board now has to seek an ESPLOST that is needed to retire debt with it being an additional one cent at least for one year.
The SPLOST that is being proposed was created haphazardly such that it is the first in our community’s history not to be backed by an intergovernmental agreement specifying the collaboration and agreement by those proposing it.
In many areas, our elected officials work hard to serve us and to make policies that will benefit our community. But in just as many instances, the lack of cooperation and collaboration is creating division between factions and prevents us from reaching our greatest potential.
The Charter Commission is working hard to identify greater ways we can restructure our local government in a way that increases the services we desire and need and provided at the lowest possible cost. And while they are doing their work, our current elected entities can and should work just as hard to understand the role each play and to collaborate in as many areas as possible.
It has been said that businesses don’t vote. But business does pay a very large portion of the property tax burden. As a major funding source for local government services, we not only encourage better cooperation and collaboration, we expect the best of our local officials just as they expect the best of our business community.
Given the commendable work of many local elected officials over the last 15-20 years, we can be proud that our community has over 20 services that are consolidated between our County government and our cities. The Charter Commission, if given the opportunity, could identify further ways we can consolidate public services and reduce duplication. But only if we as citizens and our local officials remain open-minded and committed to doing what is right and not being deterred by past prejudices or biases. When all is said and done, the business tax payer just like the residential taxpayer, simply wants the best public services for the most affordable cost.
In good times and bad, working together usually delivers better results than not working together. So as we face some of the worst economic times our community has faced in decades, and in a time when competition for new investment is as fierce as ever - we should be moving down a convergent path of partnership not a divergent path of isolation.
Any sports fan knows that an average team playing together can beat a more talented team that does not play together. Communities are no different. And given the difficult economic headwinds that continue to affect us, working together is a must for us to succeed.
Since 2005, our community has rallied around a unified economic development team / process. Steady progress is being made in the area of economic development. Our elected leadership for Whitfield County has invested in the Carbondale Business Park and instituted a 100% Freeport Tax Exemption. Our elected leaders for the City of Dalton and Whitfield County have agreed on an incentives process that is fair and competitive in the economic development marketplace. Through public and private funding raised through the Grow Greater Dalton campaign; our community’s economic development team has the resources to market our community globally for new investment and the creation of new jobs.
But even with so much going well, we are not as successful as we could and should be. All the good efforts are being impaired by division amongst our elected government entities. The current proposed SPLOST is a prime example that our elected leaders are not on the same page and do not collaborate on key issues such as tax policy.
A SPLOST is a useful, and most of the time preferred, tax instrument. A SPLOST allows all people to share the tax burden, residents and visitors alike. They allow us, the voters, to actually see something that our money went to build or to purchase. And properly used, they allow for us to maintain some of the lowest property tax rates in the state. They also demand a level of trust between the elected officials proposing them and the voters. The projects should be needed or validated through dialogue with the citizens. At a minimum, the participating governments should partner and collaborate in generating a recommended “Special Purpose” project list.
Because of more than a few examples in recent years of projects not being fully vetted or the citizens not feeling the right projects were delivered, the SPLOST instrument has been tarnished. On Nov. 8th, all of us will choose if the proposed projects are all necessary in these times. Few seem supportive of everything proposed. The success or failure will depend on how each voter weighs the overall good of the total vs. each individual project. The Chamber and its member businesses will continue to support a fair and balanced tax strategy that delivers public services at the most affordable cost.
The Chamber of Commerce and its members are grateful for those who stand up to serve our community. We recognize the sacrifice public service requires. And we will continue to work with all our elected officials for the betterment of our community.
The Great Recession has created tremendous budget pressures for all of our elected bodies. You would assume that this climate would create real desire among our officials to partner and work together. Examples of this have occurred. During the final days of working through the SPLOST referendum decisions, the Whitfield County School Board agreed to postpone placing an ESPLOST on the Nov. 8th ballot in order for the County Commissioners and City Councils to place one thus keeping the current sales tax rate at 6% and not going to 7%.
This action was encouraged by many hoping that the current penny could be maintained for one year to help fund the greatest capital needs of the County Commission and City Councils. And in 2013, our school officials could ask the citizens for a short-term debt focused ESPLOST that would follow the one year SPLOST. Given the County Commission chose a two-year, the county school board now has to seek an ESPLOST that is needed to retire debt with it being an additional one cent at least for one year.
The SPLOST that is being proposed was created haphazardly such that it is the first in our community’s history not to be backed by an intergovernmental agreement specifying the collaboration and agreement by those proposing it.
In many areas, our elected officials work hard to serve us and to make policies that will benefit our community. But in just as many instances, the lack of cooperation and collaboration is creating division between factions and prevents us from reaching our greatest potential.
The Charter Commission is working hard to identify greater ways we can restructure our local government in a way that increases the services we desire and need and provided at the lowest possible cost. And while they are doing their work, our current elected entities can and should work just as hard to understand the role each play and to collaborate in as many areas as possible.
It has been said that businesses don’t vote. But business does pay a very large portion of the property tax burden. As a major funding source for local government services, we not only encourage better cooperation and collaboration, we expect the best of our local officials just as they expect the best of our business community.
Given the commendable work of many local elected officials over the last 15-20 years, we can be proud that our community has over 20 services that are consolidated between our County government and our cities. The Charter Commission, if given the opportunity, could identify further ways we can consolidate public services and reduce duplication. But only if we as citizens and our local officials remain open-minded and committed to doing what is right and not being deterred by past prejudices or biases. When all is said and done, the business tax payer just like the residential taxpayer, simply wants the best public services for the most affordable cost.
In good times and bad, working together usually delivers better results than not working together. So as we face some of the worst economic times our community has faced in decades, and in a time when competition for new investment is as fierce as ever - we should be moving down a convergent path of partnership not a divergent path of isolation.
The Scarcity vs Abundance Mentality
Dr. Stephen Covey coined the terms Scarcity Mentality and Abundance Mentality in his highly acclaimed work – The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. He says “People with a scarcity mentality tend to see everything in terms of win-lose. There is only so much; and if someone else has it, that means there will be less for me. The more principle-centered we become, the more we develop an abundance mentality, the more we are genuinely happy for the successes, well-being, achievements, recognition, and good fortune of other people. We believe their success adds to...rather than detracts from...our lives.”
It is my opinion that many in our world see the world through a paradigm of scarcity. And those that have lost their jobs or homes (or worse), their view on the world is probably justified. But I would also argue that the resources we have been graciously blessed with have not diminished substantially. We just perceive that resources are becoming scarcer because of the difficult macroeconomic times we live in.
This week, Tom Cunningham, Vice President, Senior Economist, and Regional Executive for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, spoke at the Dalton Rotary Club. He provided an easy to understand overview of what has happened and what continues to affect us economically. Although his overview of the economic conditions facing our nation were not positive, his explanation was easy to understand and made sense as to why we are not seeing improvements.
Mr. Cunningham described the conditions that caused the financial collapse / crisis, the housing collapse, and the profound unemployment that continues today. He explained the actions of the Federal Reserve Bank that have been implemented to counter the negative economic influences facing the United States. His explanation of the monetary policy tools and the actions taken by the Fed seemed reasonable.
Basically the Fed has used its investment portfolio to stabilize pricing and output as much as possible. And the steps taken have had the desired effects on our US economy. That is the good news. Pricing for goods and services in the US have remained fairly constant throughout the great recession (excluding housing).
The remaining elephant sitting on the chest of the American economy is our pervasive and extremely high unemployment. Mr. Cunningham explained the natural interaction between consumption in the US economy and job growth. Given that over 70% of the US economy is driven by our purchase and consumption of stuff, as we buy / consume more, the companies that produce things expand and hire workers. And as more people are employed, their incomes drastically improve driving even more consumption.
Our current economic situation is not reacting the way a normal recovery might react. Because of how deep the recent recession was and because it lasted a long time, those with jobs still are not consuming like would be normally seen in a recovery. The average US saving rate pre-recession was less than 1%. Today Americans are saving between 7-8% of their income.
Businesses have also invested dramatically in new technology and equipment during the downturn. These investments have led to significant increases in US productivity. An increase in productivity is also an increase in our standard of living. But it also means a company can do more with less people.
Mr. Cunningham also mentioned two other issues that are negatively influencing our economy – the size of our national debt and the uncertainty that US businesses have in regard to tax policies and regulation. The US has to lay out a plan for managing its debt. But Congress and the President must do so without cutting spending so deeply and quickly that the economy takes additional hits. That is a tough balancing act and may signal why no plans have been approved or implemented. Gridlock may be beneficial in these times.
The uncertainty surrounding tax policy and regulations must also be worked out. The future tax rates that are eventually enacted are probably impacting the economy more negatively than the uncertainty that persists today. Most businesses are accustomed to paying taxes and expect to pay their fair share. Congress would be better off developing a tax reform package and implementing it now than ignoring it for another year while our economy drags along.
And finally, a regulation moratorium needs to be enacted until we recover fully from the economic doldrums that are affecting us. No new regulations should be enacted without a full jobs impact study completed. And when we are back on track with more people working, we can revisit those few areas where regulations are needed or existing regulations modified.
Dr. Covey’s Scarcity Mentality was introduced primarily in discussing the interaction between individuals and their relationships with others. Given the conversation around our current economic environment, I would broaden his concept. It is my opinion that the great recession has been so deep and pervasive, we as Americans have developed a crippling Scarcity Mentality. This mentality has created in many an anti-anything outlook. Some are or have been so negatively affected by the last 3-4 years, they have retreated into a glass half empty society.
The America we have always been – optimistic, proud, fearless, confident – is in jeopardy. The policies over the last many years that picked winners and losers, rewarded risky behavior (as long as you did not get caught), incentivized people to get it today without paying for it, have all played into the current national psyche.
Hopefully, some have learned from our past mistakes, and are willing to work diligently in correcting these failed policies. And if we will elect leaders who seek win-win solutions and not win-lose propositions, we can become a nation built on an Abundance Mentality once again.
It is my opinion that many in our world see the world through a paradigm of scarcity. And those that have lost their jobs or homes (or worse), their view on the world is probably justified. But I would also argue that the resources we have been graciously blessed with have not diminished substantially. We just perceive that resources are becoming scarcer because of the difficult macroeconomic times we live in.
This week, Tom Cunningham, Vice President, Senior Economist, and Regional Executive for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, spoke at the Dalton Rotary Club. He provided an easy to understand overview of what has happened and what continues to affect us economically. Although his overview of the economic conditions facing our nation were not positive, his explanation was easy to understand and made sense as to why we are not seeing improvements.
Mr. Cunningham described the conditions that caused the financial collapse / crisis, the housing collapse, and the profound unemployment that continues today. He explained the actions of the Federal Reserve Bank that have been implemented to counter the negative economic influences facing the United States. His explanation of the monetary policy tools and the actions taken by the Fed seemed reasonable.
Basically the Fed has used its investment portfolio to stabilize pricing and output as much as possible. And the steps taken have had the desired effects on our US economy. That is the good news. Pricing for goods and services in the US have remained fairly constant throughout the great recession (excluding housing).
The remaining elephant sitting on the chest of the American economy is our pervasive and extremely high unemployment. Mr. Cunningham explained the natural interaction between consumption in the US economy and job growth. Given that over 70% of the US economy is driven by our purchase and consumption of stuff, as we buy / consume more, the companies that produce things expand and hire workers. And as more people are employed, their incomes drastically improve driving even more consumption.
Our current economic situation is not reacting the way a normal recovery might react. Because of how deep the recent recession was and because it lasted a long time, those with jobs still are not consuming like would be normally seen in a recovery. The average US saving rate pre-recession was less than 1%. Today Americans are saving between 7-8% of their income.
Businesses have also invested dramatically in new technology and equipment during the downturn. These investments have led to significant increases in US productivity. An increase in productivity is also an increase in our standard of living. But it also means a company can do more with less people.
Mr. Cunningham also mentioned two other issues that are negatively influencing our economy – the size of our national debt and the uncertainty that US businesses have in regard to tax policies and regulation. The US has to lay out a plan for managing its debt. But Congress and the President must do so without cutting spending so deeply and quickly that the economy takes additional hits. That is a tough balancing act and may signal why no plans have been approved or implemented. Gridlock may be beneficial in these times.
The uncertainty surrounding tax policy and regulations must also be worked out. The future tax rates that are eventually enacted are probably impacting the economy more negatively than the uncertainty that persists today. Most businesses are accustomed to paying taxes and expect to pay their fair share. Congress would be better off developing a tax reform package and implementing it now than ignoring it for another year while our economy drags along.
And finally, a regulation moratorium needs to be enacted until we recover fully from the economic doldrums that are affecting us. No new regulations should be enacted without a full jobs impact study completed. And when we are back on track with more people working, we can revisit those few areas where regulations are needed or existing regulations modified.
Dr. Covey’s Scarcity Mentality was introduced primarily in discussing the interaction between individuals and their relationships with others. Given the conversation around our current economic environment, I would broaden his concept. It is my opinion that the great recession has been so deep and pervasive, we as Americans have developed a crippling Scarcity Mentality. This mentality has created in many an anti-anything outlook. Some are or have been so negatively affected by the last 3-4 years, they have retreated into a glass half empty society.
The America we have always been – optimistic, proud, fearless, confident – is in jeopardy. The policies over the last many years that picked winners and losers, rewarded risky behavior (as long as you did not get caught), incentivized people to get it today without paying for it, have all played into the current national psyche.
Hopefully, some have learned from our past mistakes, and are willing to work diligently in correcting these failed policies. And if we will elect leaders who seek win-win solutions and not win-lose propositions, we can become a nation built on an Abundance Mentality once again.
America’s Economic Crisis is also a Faith Crisis
It is the time of year when most Methodists (and maybe other protestant faiths) plan and conduct their annual stewardship campaigns. It is typically a multi-week process of study and reflection on the subjects of generosity, giving, and tithing. In the words of our Senior Pastor, no one really enjoys the season primarily because it involves discussing money. Discussing money is never easy, but it is even more challenging and sensitive given our economic struggles.
I applaud our church and more specifically, our Stewardship Committee, for finding interesting books to study that make the conversation easier and enables the process to become a blessing in and of itself. This year’s campaign is based on the book, Enough, by Adam Hamilton. Pastor Hamilton is the Senior Pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas.
In February of 2008, NY Times columnist and noted economist, Paul Krugman, wrote a column, “A Crisis of Faith.” If you read much of Mr. Krugman’s columns, you immediately know that he is not using the word faith in a religious context. But in this particular column, he is discussing the collapse of faith Americans have in our financial institutions. Basically over the last 10-12 years, as different financial instruments have shown to be vulnerable or not credible, the “faith” of the American borrower and investor has been shaken.
It is my belief that our latest economic crisis has created a much broader faith crisis that has become a strangle hold on our nation and in some cases the global market. There has always been some level of distrust in any and all institutions. Our banks, the stock market, every form and level of government, even sports organizations have had moments throughout history that was less than stellar. Scandals come and go …some bigger, more severe, and last longer than others.
Remember Watergate, Enron, Iran-Contra, gas rationing in the seventies, the Savings and Loan crisis? And these are just a few. Why then are our more recent struggles causing so much more insecurity, hardship, distrust, and anger? I am sure the Sociologists, Psychologists, and Historians will study these times exhaustively. But even in the midst of all that is going on some key observations are worth noting.
Although our financial infrastructure in America is far from perfect, for most of our history our banks stood for integrity, honesty, and our currency was backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government. And our government as a leading world power could back up our currency and al that made America great. Our values, our freedom, our strength (militarily and otherwise), and the esteem others held for us – all gave credence that our money and our word meant something.
Fast forward to the last ten years, and the sub-prime mortgage debacle not only cost Wall Street, our entire banking system, and individuals who borrowed and invested – it shook our entire financial core. Banks failed not because of a few (or many) bad loans, they failed because the culture that brought us sub-prime mortgages indicated that many if not most were willing to throw all caution to the wind and pursue the American Dream built on Affluenza and Credititus.
How can we teach our children that living within our means and saving for the things we want are important values when the US Government has vilified those values for decades? If the full faith and credit of the United States means decades of spending more than you have, and that hard-work isn’t necessary because the latest and greatest entitlement program is just around the corner - why are we shocked when the American Dream is no longer relevant in a global economy.
If Americans are individually affected with Affluenza (the constant need for more and bigger stuff and the resulting effect that this need has on us), a strong argument can be made that our nation also suffers from the same. Because building an economy on fairness, hard-work, and sound principles take to long or prevent us from keeping up with the Joneses. We play fast and free with our free market economy.
We create burdensome regulations that pick winners and losers. We allow (and in some cases encourage) labor unions to artificially inflate the costs of American goods eventually causing US companies to move to other countries. We lower the cost of entrance to home ownership while enslaving our most vulnerable with mortgages they cannot afford for years often ending in complete financial ruin.
Credit has a place in a free market economy. But it must be fairly employed and conservatively utilized. All must borrow only what is reasonable and affordable. And returns on investment must be commensurate with sound financial planning and risks. But if overly extended, government or individual, the consequences touch and weaken all facets of life. Creditus (buying now – paying later) is a second disease caused by Affluenza.
Both Affluenza and Credititus are curable. But just as our culture and our values did not change overnight for the worse, they will not improve any quicker. It has been said that a good crisis should never be wasted. Although these times are extremely painful, we can learn valuable lessons from them. America and many other nations needed an economic day of reckoning. Just as we rebuild property after a devastating hurricane passes, we will need to rebuild our faith and confidence once this economic hurricane passes.
Our grandparents built much of this nation after suffering through the Great Depression. And we along with our children and grandchildren have an obligation to rebuild it once again.
I applaud our church and more specifically, our Stewardship Committee, for finding interesting books to study that make the conversation easier and enables the process to become a blessing in and of itself. This year’s campaign is based on the book, Enough, by Adam Hamilton. Pastor Hamilton is the Senior Pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas.
In February of 2008, NY Times columnist and noted economist, Paul Krugman, wrote a column, “A Crisis of Faith.” If you read much of Mr. Krugman’s columns, you immediately know that he is not using the word faith in a religious context. But in this particular column, he is discussing the collapse of faith Americans have in our financial institutions. Basically over the last 10-12 years, as different financial instruments have shown to be vulnerable or not credible, the “faith” of the American borrower and investor has been shaken.
It is my belief that our latest economic crisis has created a much broader faith crisis that has become a strangle hold on our nation and in some cases the global market. There has always been some level of distrust in any and all institutions. Our banks, the stock market, every form and level of government, even sports organizations have had moments throughout history that was less than stellar. Scandals come and go …some bigger, more severe, and last longer than others.
Remember Watergate, Enron, Iran-Contra, gas rationing in the seventies, the Savings and Loan crisis? And these are just a few. Why then are our more recent struggles causing so much more insecurity, hardship, distrust, and anger? I am sure the Sociologists, Psychologists, and Historians will study these times exhaustively. But even in the midst of all that is going on some key observations are worth noting.
Although our financial infrastructure in America is far from perfect, for most of our history our banks stood for integrity, honesty, and our currency was backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government. And our government as a leading world power could back up our currency and al that made America great. Our values, our freedom, our strength (militarily and otherwise), and the esteem others held for us – all gave credence that our money and our word meant something.
Fast forward to the last ten years, and the sub-prime mortgage debacle not only cost Wall Street, our entire banking system, and individuals who borrowed and invested – it shook our entire financial core. Banks failed not because of a few (or many) bad loans, they failed because the culture that brought us sub-prime mortgages indicated that many if not most were willing to throw all caution to the wind and pursue the American Dream built on Affluenza and Credititus.
How can we teach our children that living within our means and saving for the things we want are important values when the US Government has vilified those values for decades? If the full faith and credit of the United States means decades of spending more than you have, and that hard-work isn’t necessary because the latest and greatest entitlement program is just around the corner - why are we shocked when the American Dream is no longer relevant in a global economy.
If Americans are individually affected with Affluenza (the constant need for more and bigger stuff and the resulting effect that this need has on us), a strong argument can be made that our nation also suffers from the same. Because building an economy on fairness, hard-work, and sound principles take to long or prevent us from keeping up with the Joneses. We play fast and free with our free market economy.
We create burdensome regulations that pick winners and losers. We allow (and in some cases encourage) labor unions to artificially inflate the costs of American goods eventually causing US companies to move to other countries. We lower the cost of entrance to home ownership while enslaving our most vulnerable with mortgages they cannot afford for years often ending in complete financial ruin.
Credit has a place in a free market economy. But it must be fairly employed and conservatively utilized. All must borrow only what is reasonable and affordable. And returns on investment must be commensurate with sound financial planning and risks. But if overly extended, government or individual, the consequences touch and weaken all facets of life. Creditus (buying now – paying later) is a second disease caused by Affluenza.
Both Affluenza and Credititus are curable. But just as our culture and our values did not change overnight for the worse, they will not improve any quicker. It has been said that a good crisis should never be wasted. Although these times are extremely painful, we can learn valuable lessons from them. America and many other nations needed an economic day of reckoning. Just as we rebuild property after a devastating hurricane passes, we will need to rebuild our faith and confidence once this economic hurricane passes.
Our grandparents built much of this nation after suffering through the Great Depression. And we along with our children and grandchildren have an obligation to rebuild it once again.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Neighbors Helping Neighbors
With a quick click of the mouse, a Google search netted ten scripture passages that encourage us that we should love our neighbor just as we love ourselves. My favorite is James 2:8, “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right.”
Over the last few days, it has been refreshing to see abundant examples of this scripture alive and well in our community. The concept of this column came to mind as I attended the United Way Campaign Kick-off meeting on Tuesday of this week. As I sat there listening to the various speakers outlining all that is done for each of us through United Way, the many other events that occurred over this past weekend also illustrated the loving and caring character of our community.
Let me start by congratulating Brian Ramsey, Chairman of the United Way Board, and Bill Davies, this year’s Campaign Chairman, for a wonderful kick-off meeting. I have been a United Way supporter for many years and our community’s United Way team and its agencies are extraordinary and doing amazing work under the leadership of Amanda Burt.
The goal for the campaign is reasonable and achievable for our community. But raising $3.25 million dollars is no easy task even in good times. But given the resilient nature of our community and the caring character that is part of who we are, we will once again do the right thing. Despite the challenging and continued economic headwinds, each of us that are able can and will help our neighbors through our United Way.
JT Finley, a local businessman and Big Brother through the Big Brother and Big Sister program, gave a moving testimonial about how lives can be changed through the simple act of caring and doing. He and his little brother have been together for 12 years with both being blessed by their relationship. Everyone may not be suited for such a commitment, but JT’s story is a wonderful example of how doing a little can achieve and grow into so much more.
Bill Davies gave the keynote speech with the theme being “Fight or Flight.” He told a story about an unplanned and frightening encounter with a black bear while hiking the Appalachian Trail. He had two choices – run or stay and fight. Thankfully for Bill and our community, he chose to run and leave the bear alone.
He went on to say, we have a similar choice as we face these difficult economic times. We can stay and fight by strengthening our community through all means possible. Or we can leave. A few may leave in pursuit of employment. And if that enables them to provide for their families, leaving is in their best interest. But the majority of us are here because we love this community. And by pulling together, we can not only survive the downturn affecting us, we can come out of this stronger than before.
Last Saturday, I attended Kids Day in our beautiful downtown. Kids Day is organized by the Boys and Girls Clubs of Whitfield, Murray, and Gordon Counties. In addition to having many fun games and activities for kids, they had partner agencies on hand for people to get information.
I spent a little time talking to the volunteers manning the Northwest Georgia Humane Society tent. They were there, with their dogs, offering information on the many services the Humane Society offers in our community. We have a terrible situation in our community where thousands of good animals are euthanized annually because our pet population is not controlled through more proactive measures. The volunteers for the Humane Society volunteer countless hours trying to improve our situation. If only we could assist them in providing a larger facility, more animals could be spared and adopted.
And finally, let me thank Sheriff Chitwood, Chairman Babb, and Mayor Pennington for a wonderful Remembrance Celebration held at our Courthouse after church on Sunday. The ceremony was a moving and appropriate tribute to the members who serve in our local public safety agencies. The members of our law enforcement community, our firefighters, and our emergency medical responders serve us unconditionally and with passion. Just as the victims of 911 in New York, at the Pentagon, and in Pennsylvania were served so valiantly by first responders in those communities, we are blessed by ours daily. THANK YOU!
We are a caring community. More often than not, neighbor is serving neighbor and taking care of those in need. It has been a few good days to see ministry in action despite difficult economic times. Anyone who has ever served their neighbor can testify to the amazing benefits the giver receives in addition to the one served.
Over the last few days, it has been refreshing to see abundant examples of this scripture alive and well in our community. The concept of this column came to mind as I attended the United Way Campaign Kick-off meeting on Tuesday of this week. As I sat there listening to the various speakers outlining all that is done for each of us through United Way, the many other events that occurred over this past weekend also illustrated the loving and caring character of our community.
Let me start by congratulating Brian Ramsey, Chairman of the United Way Board, and Bill Davies, this year’s Campaign Chairman, for a wonderful kick-off meeting. I have been a United Way supporter for many years and our community’s United Way team and its agencies are extraordinary and doing amazing work under the leadership of Amanda Burt.
The goal for the campaign is reasonable and achievable for our community. But raising $3.25 million dollars is no easy task even in good times. But given the resilient nature of our community and the caring character that is part of who we are, we will once again do the right thing. Despite the challenging and continued economic headwinds, each of us that are able can and will help our neighbors through our United Way.
JT Finley, a local businessman and Big Brother through the Big Brother and Big Sister program, gave a moving testimonial about how lives can be changed through the simple act of caring and doing. He and his little brother have been together for 12 years with both being blessed by their relationship. Everyone may not be suited for such a commitment, but JT’s story is a wonderful example of how doing a little can achieve and grow into so much more.
Bill Davies gave the keynote speech with the theme being “Fight or Flight.” He told a story about an unplanned and frightening encounter with a black bear while hiking the Appalachian Trail. He had two choices – run or stay and fight. Thankfully for Bill and our community, he chose to run and leave the bear alone.
He went on to say, we have a similar choice as we face these difficult economic times. We can stay and fight by strengthening our community through all means possible. Or we can leave. A few may leave in pursuit of employment. And if that enables them to provide for their families, leaving is in their best interest. But the majority of us are here because we love this community. And by pulling together, we can not only survive the downturn affecting us, we can come out of this stronger than before.
Last Saturday, I attended Kids Day in our beautiful downtown. Kids Day is organized by the Boys and Girls Clubs of Whitfield, Murray, and Gordon Counties. In addition to having many fun games and activities for kids, they had partner agencies on hand for people to get information.
I spent a little time talking to the volunteers manning the Northwest Georgia Humane Society tent. They were there, with their dogs, offering information on the many services the Humane Society offers in our community. We have a terrible situation in our community where thousands of good animals are euthanized annually because our pet population is not controlled through more proactive measures. The volunteers for the Humane Society volunteer countless hours trying to improve our situation. If only we could assist them in providing a larger facility, more animals could be spared and adopted.
And finally, let me thank Sheriff Chitwood, Chairman Babb, and Mayor Pennington for a wonderful Remembrance Celebration held at our Courthouse after church on Sunday. The ceremony was a moving and appropriate tribute to the members who serve in our local public safety agencies. The members of our law enforcement community, our firefighters, and our emergency medical responders serve us unconditionally and with passion. Just as the victims of 911 in New York, at the Pentagon, and in Pennsylvania were served so valiantly by first responders in those communities, we are blessed by ours daily. THANK YOU!
We are a caring community. More often than not, neighbor is serving neighbor and taking care of those in need. It has been a few good days to see ministry in action despite difficult economic times. Anyone who has ever served their neighbor can testify to the amazing benefits the giver receives in addition to the one served.
Fulfilling Needs with Scarce Resources
This Spring Governor Deal announced his Georgia Competitiveness Initiative. He asked the Georgia Chamber and the Georgia Department of Economic Development to lead this initiative. Last week, our region held a public input meeting where participants provided input as to areas we could improve Georgia’s ability to compete.
According to Chris Clark, President of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the process has been a multi-faceted approach. First, the Georgia Chamber sent a survey to a wide array of stakeholders seeking input on the priorities that would improve our competitiveness. Then a series of twelve regional meetings have been held in all twelve service delivery regions in Georgia. These meetings, like the one in Rome last week, included a review of the survey results and then a lengthy work session where input was solicited on a variety of topics. The GCI Task Force will now compile the key takeaways from these sessions and the surveys and forward their recommendations to our state elected leaders.
Six core areas were considered in framing the conversation around competitiveness: 1. Global Commerce, 2. Business Climate, 3. Workforce Development, 4. Infrastructure, 5. Innovation, and 6. Government Efficiency. Georgia, as a state, has generally received fair to good scores in each of these areas. From those surveyed, workforce development was the number one priority that the respondents said we need to improve in. Transportation and infrastructure scored fourth as a priority.
Interestingly although the survey results illustrated that the number one priority for improving our competitiveness should be education / workforce development, those facilitating the meeting provided a 30 minute commercial on the importance of passing the Regional Transportation SPLOST. There has been ample news around the Regional Transportation SPLOST that each of us will have the opportunity to vote on next summer. But the drastic reduction in funding for education has not been as newsworthy.
Anyone who has traveled to Atlanta in recent years would argue that we have a congestion problem in the Atlanta Metropolitan area. And transportation infrastructure will always demand tremendous resources for upkeep and new capacity. The questions to be debated between now and next July include: is a regional approach the best approach? Is a penny the right amount over ten years; is it too much or not enough? Are the transportation projects to be completed the most critical in addressing our transportation needs?
And if the feedback from those solicited about our ability to compete resoundingly stated that education and workforce development should be our number one priority, what is the plan for improving education? A new State School Superintendent and University Chancellor will not impact education favorably on their own and certainly not without the necessary resources to do their job.
Over the last 8 to 10 years, our state elected leaders have balanced the state’s budget on the backs of its citizens through reduced funding support for education. In every segment of education, our state government has reduced its contribution thus requiring greater and greater contributions from parents and students either in the form of higher local taxes (property and sales taxes), direct costs like tuition increases, book expenses, etc. Or in cases where local school boards did not increase taxes to make up the difference, education delivery has suffered in the form of larger classroom sizes, reduced programs for gifted students and those needed remediation.
Consider former Governor Zell Miller’s goal of providing pre-k education for all of Georgia’s 4-year-olds. Not only did we never reach that goal, we continue to struggle to maintain the program at best. Even though we have ample data that illustrates the value in getting our children started in formal education as soon as possible, we consistently under invest at the front-end of the education continuum while spending more and more of our scarce resources on remediation programs late in the education continuum. Although I cannot prove it, I would argue that every dollar invested in teaching a child to read by the third grade provides a multiple of ten in savings in both education remediation costs and the costs associated with criminal acts associated with an illiterate / ill-prepared citizen.
I was taught early in my working life not to bring up a problem without a solution or at least ideas of how to solve the problem. If the survey results presented at the Georgia Competitiveness Initiative are valid and workforce development (aka – education) is our highest leveraged opportunity, maybe we should re-think HB 277 (the Transportation Improvement Act). Maybe we should authorize the one cent sales tax increase statewide but split the money between investing in education and transportation. In addition to increasing the state sales tax, other tax reforms already identified last year by the Special Tax Reform Council could also be implemented providing for better tax policy and more resources for the most critical needs of our state.
Unfortunately political ideology will likely prevent any course correction. Those in the majority have backed themselves into a political corner by vowing to never raise taxes (or reform them). As the global economy that all of us compete in continues to become more and more competitive, we must continuously reinvent ourselves and re-invest in ourselves. We must have universal pre-k, first-class k-12 public education, and cutting- edge technical colleges and universities. Georgia has at times been able to boast about its forward-thinking educational initiatives. But as state support for education continues to lag behind and local communities and parents struggle to make up the difference, our state will not be able to compete on the global stage.
Your Chamber will continue to advocate for adequate funding for education and workforce development. As a former Chancellor of our University system once said, “ask me any question and the answer is education, education, educ
According to Chris Clark, President of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the process has been a multi-faceted approach. First, the Georgia Chamber sent a survey to a wide array of stakeholders seeking input on the priorities that would improve our competitiveness. Then a series of twelve regional meetings have been held in all twelve service delivery regions in Georgia. These meetings, like the one in Rome last week, included a review of the survey results and then a lengthy work session where input was solicited on a variety of topics. The GCI Task Force will now compile the key takeaways from these sessions and the surveys and forward their recommendations to our state elected leaders.
Six core areas were considered in framing the conversation around competitiveness: 1. Global Commerce, 2. Business Climate, 3. Workforce Development, 4. Infrastructure, 5. Innovation, and 6. Government Efficiency. Georgia, as a state, has generally received fair to good scores in each of these areas. From those surveyed, workforce development was the number one priority that the respondents said we need to improve in. Transportation and infrastructure scored fourth as a priority.
Interestingly although the survey results illustrated that the number one priority for improving our competitiveness should be education / workforce development, those facilitating the meeting provided a 30 minute commercial on the importance of passing the Regional Transportation SPLOST. There has been ample news around the Regional Transportation SPLOST that each of us will have the opportunity to vote on next summer. But the drastic reduction in funding for education has not been as newsworthy.
Anyone who has traveled to Atlanta in recent years would argue that we have a congestion problem in the Atlanta Metropolitan area. And transportation infrastructure will always demand tremendous resources for upkeep and new capacity. The questions to be debated between now and next July include: is a regional approach the best approach? Is a penny the right amount over ten years; is it too much or not enough? Are the transportation projects to be completed the most critical in addressing our transportation needs?
And if the feedback from those solicited about our ability to compete resoundingly stated that education and workforce development should be our number one priority, what is the plan for improving education? A new State School Superintendent and University Chancellor will not impact education favorably on their own and certainly not without the necessary resources to do their job.
Over the last 8 to 10 years, our state elected leaders have balanced the state’s budget on the backs of its citizens through reduced funding support for education. In every segment of education, our state government has reduced its contribution thus requiring greater and greater contributions from parents and students either in the form of higher local taxes (property and sales taxes), direct costs like tuition increases, book expenses, etc. Or in cases where local school boards did not increase taxes to make up the difference, education delivery has suffered in the form of larger classroom sizes, reduced programs for gifted students and those needed remediation.
Consider former Governor Zell Miller’s goal of providing pre-k education for all of Georgia’s 4-year-olds. Not only did we never reach that goal, we continue to struggle to maintain the program at best. Even though we have ample data that illustrates the value in getting our children started in formal education as soon as possible, we consistently under invest at the front-end of the education continuum while spending more and more of our scarce resources on remediation programs late in the education continuum. Although I cannot prove it, I would argue that every dollar invested in teaching a child to read by the third grade provides a multiple of ten in savings in both education remediation costs and the costs associated with criminal acts associated with an illiterate / ill-prepared citizen.
I was taught early in my working life not to bring up a problem without a solution or at least ideas of how to solve the problem. If the survey results presented at the Georgia Competitiveness Initiative are valid and workforce development (aka – education) is our highest leveraged opportunity, maybe we should re-think HB 277 (the Transportation Improvement Act). Maybe we should authorize the one cent sales tax increase statewide but split the money between investing in education and transportation. In addition to increasing the state sales tax, other tax reforms already identified last year by the Special Tax Reform Council could also be implemented providing for better tax policy and more resources for the most critical needs of our state.
Unfortunately political ideology will likely prevent any course correction. Those in the majority have backed themselves into a political corner by vowing to never raise taxes (or reform them). As the global economy that all of us compete in continues to become more and more competitive, we must continuously reinvent ourselves and re-invest in ourselves. We must have universal pre-k, first-class k-12 public education, and cutting- edge technical colleges and universities. Georgia has at times been able to boast about its forward-thinking educational initiatives. But as state support for education continues to lag behind and local communities and parents struggle to make up the difference, our state will not be able to compete on the global stage.
Your Chamber will continue to advocate for adequate funding for education and workforce development. As a former Chancellor of our University system once said, “ask me any question and the answer is education, education, educ
“The Darkest Hour Is Just Before Dawn”
A couple of weeks ago, the Dismembered Tennesseans performed the song, “The Darkest Hour is Just before Dawn” during our church service. It struck me how appropriate this song was for the times we are living in. As one who worked the 5pm to 5am shift in my days in the Army, the hour just before dawn is the darkest and also the coldest.
The meaning of the phrase according to an internet search is there is hope, even in the worst of circumstances. Just as those who experienced the Great Depression, WWII, Vietnam, or the Civil Rights Movement - today we are living in very difficult times. Someone recently described the current economic crisis as the longest and deepest in their lifetime.
But even in the worst of times, Americans have traditionally remained hopeful. We are a resilient people. Thomas Jefferson said it this way, “We shall never give up our Union, the last anchor of our hope… I had rather be deceived than live without hope. It is so sweet! It makes us ride so smoothly over the roughness of life. My theory has always been, that if we are to dream, the flatteries of hope are cheap, and pleasanter than the gloom of despair.”
America and our sister nations are encountering a global economic reset that is much different than those in our past. Unfortunately our history of wars and injustice has not taught us much. Or is it that our progress made possible by our history teaches us so slow, it is hard to measure over long periods of time. Maybe we cannot fully comprehend our progress through the time dimension we understand.
The world is forever changing. Some will argue for the worse and others will argue for the better. Each of us sees our world through our own paradigms. And at least in America, we can freely argue for what will bring about the best possible outcomes. Our freedom is unlike any known in the world. But with it comes the right and obligation to argue for what each desires. And over time, our republic evolves because of the individual and collective desires of Americans.
This week the Dalton Rotary Club had the pleasure of our local football coaches discussing the upcoming football season. This program is always a highlight of the Rotary Year. And as one who is counting down the days to the first snap of Friday night and Saturday football, the program heightened my anticipation.
Although the discussion of Xs and Os was enjoyed and the perspective each coach presented about their season was very entertaining, something totally unexpected got my attention. Each coach discussed much more than football as they discussed their programs. Each coach emphasized the love of helping their players grow into responsible young men. They discussed the importance of academics and service and faith. These amazing coaches were more concerned about their players developing into good people than superstar athletes. Imagine that …
This past weekend, my wife and I, and my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, threw a party for my in-laws in honor of and in celebration of their 50 years of marriage. What an accomplishment. And the Saturday before, we attended the wedding of the daughter of friends of ours. Both events spoke to the promise of and hope for all that is good. Hope is alive.
On a sign-up sheet for the guestbook at my in-laws celebration, my daughter chose the verse, Corinthians 13:13, “And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.” Regardless of the circumstances facing us, we have at our disposal these three amazing gifts.
Even in these challenging times, we can be faithful that He who created us is with us. Although we may not fully understand all that is happening to us, we can be faithful He has a plan and that ultimately good will triumph. Nothing will happen to us that we are not empowered to handle. I am so grateful that while football fundamentals and strategy are being taught by our football coaches, they are also instilling the power of faith in the young men of our community. And that they, the coaches, exemplify their faith.
Hope is eternal. Hope is free. Hope is powerful. Hope can be productive and useless depending upon the energy and passion behind it. Christopher Reeve said, “Once you choose hope, anything's possible.” And Vincent McNabb said, “Hope is some extraordinary spiritual grace that God gives us to control our fears, not to oust them.” And my favorite quote on hope comes from Anne Lamott, “Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come.”
And finally the greatest of these is love. On any given day, the news is full of violence. It can range from the Syrian or Libyan government against its citizens to individuals hurting others for various reasons. We even hear of stories of Mothers and Fathers hurting their children for reasons known and unknown.
We are challenged to love God with all thy heart and thy neighbor as thyself. Jefferson called this commandment the sum of all religion. What would our world be like if love were universally expressed? What would be possible if we truly loved our neighbor as we love ourselves?
I hope that as we all grapple with a myriad of very challenging headwinds, we will reach for all that is possible. That we will work as hard at uplifting our neighbor as some have worked to tear down their neighbor. There is nothing wrong with holding those in elected position accountable – but we must be respectful and honorable in our discourse. Let’s stop the name calling and personal attacks and vigo
The meaning of the phrase according to an internet search is there is hope, even in the worst of circumstances. Just as those who experienced the Great Depression, WWII, Vietnam, or the Civil Rights Movement - today we are living in very difficult times. Someone recently described the current economic crisis as the longest and deepest in their lifetime.
But even in the worst of times, Americans have traditionally remained hopeful. We are a resilient people. Thomas Jefferson said it this way, “We shall never give up our Union, the last anchor of our hope… I had rather be deceived than live without hope. It is so sweet! It makes us ride so smoothly over the roughness of life. My theory has always been, that if we are to dream, the flatteries of hope are cheap, and pleasanter than the gloom of despair.”
America and our sister nations are encountering a global economic reset that is much different than those in our past. Unfortunately our history of wars and injustice has not taught us much. Or is it that our progress made possible by our history teaches us so slow, it is hard to measure over long periods of time. Maybe we cannot fully comprehend our progress through the time dimension we understand.
The world is forever changing. Some will argue for the worse and others will argue for the better. Each of us sees our world through our own paradigms. And at least in America, we can freely argue for what will bring about the best possible outcomes. Our freedom is unlike any known in the world. But with it comes the right and obligation to argue for what each desires. And over time, our republic evolves because of the individual and collective desires of Americans.
This week the Dalton Rotary Club had the pleasure of our local football coaches discussing the upcoming football season. This program is always a highlight of the Rotary Year. And as one who is counting down the days to the first snap of Friday night and Saturday football, the program heightened my anticipation.
Although the discussion of Xs and Os was enjoyed and the perspective each coach presented about their season was very entertaining, something totally unexpected got my attention. Each coach discussed much more than football as they discussed their programs. Each coach emphasized the love of helping their players grow into responsible young men. They discussed the importance of academics and service and faith. These amazing coaches were more concerned about their players developing into good people than superstar athletes. Imagine that …
This past weekend, my wife and I, and my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, threw a party for my in-laws in honor of and in celebration of their 50 years of marriage. What an accomplishment. And the Saturday before, we attended the wedding of the daughter of friends of ours. Both events spoke to the promise of and hope for all that is good. Hope is alive.
On a sign-up sheet for the guestbook at my in-laws celebration, my daughter chose the verse, Corinthians 13:13, “And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.” Regardless of the circumstances facing us, we have at our disposal these three amazing gifts.
Even in these challenging times, we can be faithful that He who created us is with us. Although we may not fully understand all that is happening to us, we can be faithful He has a plan and that ultimately good will triumph. Nothing will happen to us that we are not empowered to handle. I am so grateful that while football fundamentals and strategy are being taught by our football coaches, they are also instilling the power of faith in the young men of our community. And that they, the coaches, exemplify their faith.
Hope is eternal. Hope is free. Hope is powerful. Hope can be productive and useless depending upon the energy and passion behind it. Christopher Reeve said, “Once you choose hope, anything's possible.” And Vincent McNabb said, “Hope is some extraordinary spiritual grace that God gives us to control our fears, not to oust them.” And my favorite quote on hope comes from Anne Lamott, “Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come.”
And finally the greatest of these is love. On any given day, the news is full of violence. It can range from the Syrian or Libyan government against its citizens to individuals hurting others for various reasons. We even hear of stories of Mothers and Fathers hurting their children for reasons known and unknown.
We are challenged to love God with all thy heart and thy neighbor as thyself. Jefferson called this commandment the sum of all religion. What would our world be like if love were universally expressed? What would be possible if we truly loved our neighbor as we love ourselves?
I hope that as we all grapple with a myriad of very challenging headwinds, we will reach for all that is possible. That we will work as hard at uplifting our neighbor as some have worked to tear down their neighbor. There is nothing wrong with holding those in elected position accountable – but we must be respectful and honorable in our discourse. Let’s stop the name calling and personal attacks and vigo
The Power of Positive Thinking
“The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.” (Author Unknown)
If there ever was I time that positive thinking and positive actions were needed, it is now. I know that we are being bombarded with negative news on the economy, unemployment, and hundreds of other issues that justify our having a negative outlook. But being negative and thinking negative will not produce successful outcomes.
Adversity makes us stronger. It builds character. And hopefully, it will cause us to work harder and work smarter given the challenges facing us. Ideally times of limited resources cause people and organizations to work more collaboratively and to partner on joint solutions to complex issues. We are definitely in times of limited resources. And working together has never been more important.
Just thinking positively instantly changes our attitude and the way in which we see the world. While negative thoughts drain our energy and reduce our creativity, positive thinking increases our energy level and our creativity. In the toughest of times or when we face the most complex issues, we need every ounce of energy and creativity available to us.
Those of you that have read my columns in the past know that I am a big fan of Dr. Stephen Covey who wrote the book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Dr. Covey touches on positive thinking in the discussion on proactive and reactive behaviors. He challenges the reader to listen to the language in a conversation. If the language is negative the behavior will be reactive in most cases. If the language is positive, the action will be proactive.
He further challenges students of his famous work to focus on that which one can control and to minimize the focus of that which one cannot control. The areas of our lives that we can control reside in our personal circle of influence. Those areas we cannot control should reside in our circle of concern.
For instance, I can control much in the area of my health. I can eat better and have a better diet, I can exercise regularly, and I can see my doctor regularly for a physical. The dimension of my health that I can control would be in my circle of influence.
I cannot control the stock market. If I am near retirement and my retirement income is in a 401k account, I should be concerned with the market and the value of my portfolio. A bad day on the stock market can ruin my attitude only if I choose to let it. My health can deteriorate if I ignore not to do those things I can control. My 401k or stock portfolio should be in my circle of concern (at least in the short-term).
Obviously we are in difficult times. And it looks like the challenges facing us individually and corporately are not going to magically improve overnight. But we can choose to focus on those things we can control and positively work toward collaboration and partnership. Even when we disagree, it would be more beneficial in the long-run to do so agreeably.
Before I get accused of saying do as I say and not as I do, I know that I can be just as negative as the next guy. My column last week was received by some that I was taking a position on the upcoming SPLOST votes, when I thought I was simply challenging all of us to get engaged and to become educated on the choices facing us. In hindsight, I agree my column was biased to a degree.
So this week, my message on the power of positive thinking is for me first and you the reader second. In my role (which I am grateful for each and every day) I see community issues up close and personal. I cannot be effective working with community leaders if my thinking and attitude are negative. And if most of us are having negative thoughts and negative attitudes more often than not, our community will suffer.
We have many positive initiatives underway in our community and potential for many more. The leaders of our community and each of us as citizens have to do our part to bring about positive community change. Washington will not do it for us nor will Atlanta … but we have the capacity to win if we so choose.
May God bless our great nation and our wonderful community!
If there ever was I time that positive thinking and positive actions were needed, it is now. I know that we are being bombarded with negative news on the economy, unemployment, and hundreds of other issues that justify our having a negative outlook. But being negative and thinking negative will not produce successful outcomes.
Adversity makes us stronger. It builds character. And hopefully, it will cause us to work harder and work smarter given the challenges facing us. Ideally times of limited resources cause people and organizations to work more collaboratively and to partner on joint solutions to complex issues. We are definitely in times of limited resources. And working together has never been more important.
Just thinking positively instantly changes our attitude and the way in which we see the world. While negative thoughts drain our energy and reduce our creativity, positive thinking increases our energy level and our creativity. In the toughest of times or when we face the most complex issues, we need every ounce of energy and creativity available to us.
Those of you that have read my columns in the past know that I am a big fan of Dr. Stephen Covey who wrote the book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Dr. Covey touches on positive thinking in the discussion on proactive and reactive behaviors. He challenges the reader to listen to the language in a conversation. If the language is negative the behavior will be reactive in most cases. If the language is positive, the action will be proactive.
He further challenges students of his famous work to focus on that which one can control and to minimize the focus of that which one cannot control. The areas of our lives that we can control reside in our personal circle of influence. Those areas we cannot control should reside in our circle of concern.
For instance, I can control much in the area of my health. I can eat better and have a better diet, I can exercise regularly, and I can see my doctor regularly for a physical. The dimension of my health that I can control would be in my circle of influence.
I cannot control the stock market. If I am near retirement and my retirement income is in a 401k account, I should be concerned with the market and the value of my portfolio. A bad day on the stock market can ruin my attitude only if I choose to let it. My health can deteriorate if I ignore not to do those things I can control. My 401k or stock portfolio should be in my circle of concern (at least in the short-term).
Obviously we are in difficult times. And it looks like the challenges facing us individually and corporately are not going to magically improve overnight. But we can choose to focus on those things we can control and positively work toward collaboration and partnership. Even when we disagree, it would be more beneficial in the long-run to do so agreeably.
Before I get accused of saying do as I say and not as I do, I know that I can be just as negative as the next guy. My column last week was received by some that I was taking a position on the upcoming SPLOST votes, when I thought I was simply challenging all of us to get engaged and to become educated on the choices facing us. In hindsight, I agree my column was biased to a degree.
So this week, my message on the power of positive thinking is for me first and you the reader second. In my role (which I am grateful for each and every day) I see community issues up close and personal. I cannot be effective working with community leaders if my thinking and attitude are negative. And if most of us are having negative thoughts and negative attitudes more often than not, our community will suffer.
We have many positive initiatives underway in our community and potential for many more. The leaders of our community and each of us as citizens have to do our part to bring about positive community change. Washington will not do it for us nor will Atlanta … but we have the capacity to win if we so choose.
May God bless our great nation and our wonderful community!
Rome-Floyd Win Economic Development Project
Given the news coming out of Rome, I know the question that will be asked of me, our elected officials, and everyone involved in economic development – why did Lowe’s choose Rome. Why not Dalton-Whitfield? It is a fair question, especially given all that we are doing to promote job growth and capital investment for our community. And in this case, the answer is somewhat simple.
Our community was never submitted for this project. The initial project requirements called for two provisions that we could not deliver. The site had to be approximately a minimum of 100 acres 200 acres in size and be ready to build on. Even with all the work that has been done to get sites ready for development, we do not have one that is 100 contiguous acres 200 or more acres and ready for construction.
The second requirement for a community to be considered required 100% Freeport tax exemption on inventory taxes. Although our community passed a referendum allowing for a Freeport exemption a couple of years ago, we have only reduced the percentage of inventory tax 20%. In other words we still tax inventory at 80%.
Economic Development in these economic times is as competitive as any atmosphere known to man. Competition between communities, states, and nations for jobs and capital investment is fierce. It makes the cola wars that I was a part of for many years look like a checkers match at the Cracker Barrel.
And until the economy improves (and improves drastically), the competition for the few projects that occur will remain tough. When asked about the Lowes project, Nancy Smith, chairwoman of the Development Authority of Floyd County thanked the citizens of her community. “Everybody needs to remember that one of the keys to this is the citizens who went to the polls in 2009 and voted for the 1 cent sales tax to buy this property.” Smith said the special purpose local option sales tax vote sent a big signal to Lowe’s executives that the community was serious about developing the new industrial park.
I would agree with the chairwoman. All communities that are serious about economic development must have citizens, elected officials, and professional economic developers working together and on the same page. Although the strategies may be different given the needs of the different jurisdictions, we have most of that formula in place.
Specifically, our citizens understood the importance of jobs and capital investment and voted to allow for phasing out the double tax on inventory. Our elected officials immediately lowered the rate by 20%. But that is where we stopped. We need to be 100% today. The growth coming from new investment would offset the loss in tax revenue from the current inventory tax. The jurisdiction that takes the biggest risk in completely eliminating the inventory tax will have a definitive advantage over those that do not.
All of our elected officials are working hard to provide the ingredients for successful economic development. Our county officials have aggressively supported the Joint Development Authority in acquiring the land at the Carbondale interchange and building a first-class business park. Before Carbondale, the community had no land that we could market to prospects. And land not ready for purchase and development is useless for driving economic development in a community.
All of our City elected leaders have reduced taxes or maintained low to non-existent property tax rates to be more competitive with other communities that we compete against. They have invested in quality of life projects that make a community more attractive to prospects looking to invest (even in these difficult economic and budgetary times).
Even though many people have worked very hard collaborating on improving our economic development competitiveness, we still have work to do. We can wait on budgets to improve and reduce the inventory tax while we continue to lose projects, we can criticize our elected officials who invest in the necessary economic development tools needed for recruiting jobs and capital investment, or we can continue come together and collaborate in those areas where we are uncompetitive and make improvements.
Rome and Floyd County deserves a round of applause for bringing jobs to Georgia and our region. They put in place the tools that enabled them to recruit a very large project that will be good for them, our region, and our state. We will congratulate them today, and go back to competing against them tomorrow. As Chairman Babb recently stated,” there is nothing like having a job.”
Our community was never submitted for this project. The initial project requirements called for two provisions that we could not deliver. The site had to be approximately a minimum of 100 acres 200 acres in size and be ready to build on. Even with all the work that has been done to get sites ready for development, we do not have one that is 100 contiguous acres 200 or more acres and ready for construction.
The second requirement for a community to be considered required 100% Freeport tax exemption on inventory taxes. Although our community passed a referendum allowing for a Freeport exemption a couple of years ago, we have only reduced the percentage of inventory tax 20%. In other words we still tax inventory at 80%.
Economic Development in these economic times is as competitive as any atmosphere known to man. Competition between communities, states, and nations for jobs and capital investment is fierce. It makes the cola wars that I was a part of for many years look like a checkers match at the Cracker Barrel.
And until the economy improves (and improves drastically), the competition for the few projects that occur will remain tough. When asked about the Lowes project, Nancy Smith, chairwoman of the Development Authority of Floyd County thanked the citizens of her community. “Everybody needs to remember that one of the keys to this is the citizens who went to the polls in 2009 and voted for the 1 cent sales tax to buy this property.” Smith said the special purpose local option sales tax vote sent a big signal to Lowe’s executives that the community was serious about developing the new industrial park.
I would agree with the chairwoman. All communities that are serious about economic development must have citizens, elected officials, and professional economic developers working together and on the same page. Although the strategies may be different given the needs of the different jurisdictions, we have most of that formula in place.
Specifically, our citizens understood the importance of jobs and capital investment and voted to allow for phasing out the double tax on inventory. Our elected officials immediately lowered the rate by 20%. But that is where we stopped. We need to be 100% today. The growth coming from new investment would offset the loss in tax revenue from the current inventory tax. The jurisdiction that takes the biggest risk in completely eliminating the inventory tax will have a definitive advantage over those that do not.
All of our elected officials are working hard to provide the ingredients for successful economic development. Our county officials have aggressively supported the Joint Development Authority in acquiring the land at the Carbondale interchange and building a first-class business park. Before Carbondale, the community had no land that we could market to prospects. And land not ready for purchase and development is useless for driving economic development in a community.
All of our City elected leaders have reduced taxes or maintained low to non-existent property tax rates to be more competitive with other communities that we compete against. They have invested in quality of life projects that make a community more attractive to prospects looking to invest (even in these difficult economic and budgetary times).
Even though many people have worked very hard collaborating on improving our economic development competitiveness, we still have work to do. We can wait on budgets to improve and reduce the inventory tax while we continue to lose projects, we can criticize our elected officials who invest in the necessary economic development tools needed for recruiting jobs and capital investment, or we can continue come together and collaborate in those areas where we are uncompetitive and make improvements.
Rome and Floyd County deserves a round of applause for bringing jobs to Georgia and our region. They put in place the tools that enabled them to recruit a very large project that will be good for them, our region, and our state. We will congratulate them today, and go back to competing against them tomorrow. As Chairman Babb recently stated,” there is nothing like having a job.”
Difficult Decisions Ahead
In addition to enjoying football on Friday nights and Saturdays this fall, we will also be subjected to passionate dialogue surrounding many key decisions requiring our vote. By the time the November election arrives, it looks like we will be voting on a number of referendums and key important elected positions. The ballot will look like an alphabet soup with referendums going by acronyms like SPLOST, ESPLOST, TSPLOST, and TADs. Each and every decision that voters will consider is extremely important.
Normally this election cycle is primarily one for electing representatives for the various municipal governments and school board members for Dalton Public Schools. But given the additional referendum questions that affect all who live in Whitfield County (incorporated and unincorporated); this November will require a county wide vote. Through this column, it is not my intention to take a side on these issues (I hope), but to offer perspectives that might create further thought as you the voter consider the questions.
Of all the votes you will caste this fall, those for who you elect to represent you are the most important in my opinion. Because all the other votes are to ratify or defeat decisions that the elected representatives have made. Consider the recent article by Rachel Brown of the Daily Citizen detailing the new Coahulla Creek High School. It sounds like it will be the most technologically advanced high school in our region. The school board members who served over the last four or five years made the decision to build this new comprehensive high school, to ask county voters to support that decision with an EPLOST to pay for most of it, and to plan to vote for another EPLOST to finish paying for it.
Similarly, members of the DPS school board used proceeds from the current EPLOST to add a very nice wing onto Dalton High School. DHS was originally built to accommodate 1800 students and now can accommodate over 2000 with the new addition. Yet a recent story in the Daily Citizen on the Morris Street Innovative High School suggested the current 100 DPS students could grow to over 500 students. Those students will come from the main Dalton High School campus. But the Principal for Morris School states that they need another building for the Morris Street population.
Who we elect is crucial to the success or failure of our community. The decisions made by these representatives have long lasting effects on our community. We as citizens must continually ask the hard questions about the decisions affecting our children in our schools, the financial burdens we are asked to assume, and most importantly what is the vision for the organizations our representatives serve.
Fast-forward five years and our current school boards have chosen to pursue another fully loaded EPLOST. The project list includes paying off debt from recent capital projects, adding additional classrooms across both systems, technology improvements / upgrades, and everyday capital projects like roof repairs, HVAC replacements / repairs, etc.
On the heels of the school boards deciding for an ESPLOST, City and County leaders are also considering a general SPLOST. Capital needs like recreational facilities, fire and police vehicles, road improvements, and technology / information system upgrades have been presented. In making its case, the Board of Commissioners of Whitfield County presented evidence that its extremely low property tax rate (tied for lowest in the state) is the primary reason to use a SPLOST to pay for capital projects. There presentation was very good and well thought out.
Unfortunately, the missing variable in these decisions on SPLOSTs and ESPLOSTs is would there be a need for both and for them to be continuous in nature if we had consolidated organizations for education and general government. Again it is not my place to recommend consolidation, but a valid argument could be made that capital needs across a single organization could be more efficiently provided for than across multiple entities.
Consider law enforcement … outside of our incorporated cities, law enforcement / patrols are considerably less frequent than inside the city limits of our municipalities. If we had a consolidated police department, could we enjoy better patrolling, better investigations, and better capability against the bad guys, and do so more efficiently than we currently do through two organizations.
And last but not least, let’s look ahead further to next fall when we will be asked to vote on a regional TSPLOST. Our state elected representatives have determined that The Georgia Dept. of Transportation (GDOT) needs more funding to maintain our transportation infrastructure. As an economic development professional, I can appreciate that. Given this suggested need, our representatives could have simply increased income taxes, added an additional penny to the state’s sales tax (from 4% to 5%), or raised the revenue in any number of other ways.
But because so many of them have pledged to never raise taxes, they passed legislation that allows you and me and millions of other Georgians to tax ourselves through a SPLOST. They further passed the burden of deciding which projects would get funded down to local leaders (with GDOT final approval). This passing of the buck is disconcerting to me. Leaders are elected to study the issues, deliberate the options, propose solutions, and ultimately make decisions. Instead, we the average voter are supposed to educate ourselves on transportation planning, and vote to tax ourselves so our state representatives can claim to be anti-tax.
Recently on vacation, I drove over five hundred miles through Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. The medians along the interstate in SC and NC looked great – grass cut and free of litter. Our medians on the other hand look horrible. I was not proud to be a Georgian. If you cannot take care of the little stuff, how can you expect me / you to pay billions more for the big stuff?
Yes, many difficult decisions are ahead of us all…
Normally this election cycle is primarily one for electing representatives for the various municipal governments and school board members for Dalton Public Schools. But given the additional referendum questions that affect all who live in Whitfield County (incorporated and unincorporated); this November will require a county wide vote. Through this column, it is not my intention to take a side on these issues (I hope), but to offer perspectives that might create further thought as you the voter consider the questions.
Of all the votes you will caste this fall, those for who you elect to represent you are the most important in my opinion. Because all the other votes are to ratify or defeat decisions that the elected representatives have made. Consider the recent article by Rachel Brown of the Daily Citizen detailing the new Coahulla Creek High School. It sounds like it will be the most technologically advanced high school in our region. The school board members who served over the last four or five years made the decision to build this new comprehensive high school, to ask county voters to support that decision with an EPLOST to pay for most of it, and to plan to vote for another EPLOST to finish paying for it.
Similarly, members of the DPS school board used proceeds from the current EPLOST to add a very nice wing onto Dalton High School. DHS was originally built to accommodate 1800 students and now can accommodate over 2000 with the new addition. Yet a recent story in the Daily Citizen on the Morris Street Innovative High School suggested the current 100 DPS students could grow to over 500 students. Those students will come from the main Dalton High School campus. But the Principal for Morris School states that they need another building for the Morris Street population.
Who we elect is crucial to the success or failure of our community. The decisions made by these representatives have long lasting effects on our community. We as citizens must continually ask the hard questions about the decisions affecting our children in our schools, the financial burdens we are asked to assume, and most importantly what is the vision for the organizations our representatives serve.
Fast-forward five years and our current school boards have chosen to pursue another fully loaded EPLOST. The project list includes paying off debt from recent capital projects, adding additional classrooms across both systems, technology improvements / upgrades, and everyday capital projects like roof repairs, HVAC replacements / repairs, etc.
On the heels of the school boards deciding for an ESPLOST, City and County leaders are also considering a general SPLOST. Capital needs like recreational facilities, fire and police vehicles, road improvements, and technology / information system upgrades have been presented. In making its case, the Board of Commissioners of Whitfield County presented evidence that its extremely low property tax rate (tied for lowest in the state) is the primary reason to use a SPLOST to pay for capital projects. There presentation was very good and well thought out.
Unfortunately, the missing variable in these decisions on SPLOSTs and ESPLOSTs is would there be a need for both and for them to be continuous in nature if we had consolidated organizations for education and general government. Again it is not my place to recommend consolidation, but a valid argument could be made that capital needs across a single organization could be more efficiently provided for than across multiple entities.
Consider law enforcement … outside of our incorporated cities, law enforcement / patrols are considerably less frequent than inside the city limits of our municipalities. If we had a consolidated police department, could we enjoy better patrolling, better investigations, and better capability against the bad guys, and do so more efficiently than we currently do through two organizations.
And last but not least, let’s look ahead further to next fall when we will be asked to vote on a regional TSPLOST. Our state elected representatives have determined that The Georgia Dept. of Transportation (GDOT) needs more funding to maintain our transportation infrastructure. As an economic development professional, I can appreciate that. Given this suggested need, our representatives could have simply increased income taxes, added an additional penny to the state’s sales tax (from 4% to 5%), or raised the revenue in any number of other ways.
But because so many of them have pledged to never raise taxes, they passed legislation that allows you and me and millions of other Georgians to tax ourselves through a SPLOST. They further passed the burden of deciding which projects would get funded down to local leaders (with GDOT final approval). This passing of the buck is disconcerting to me. Leaders are elected to study the issues, deliberate the options, propose solutions, and ultimately make decisions. Instead, we the average voter are supposed to educate ourselves on transportation planning, and vote to tax ourselves so our state representatives can claim to be anti-tax.
Recently on vacation, I drove over five hundred miles through Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. The medians along the interstate in SC and NC looked great – grass cut and free of litter. Our medians on the other hand look horrible. I was not proud to be a Georgian. If you cannot take care of the little stuff, how can you expect me / you to pay billions more for the big stuff?
Yes, many difficult decisions are ahead of us all…
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