Opinion 4
THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY MUST STEP UP
According to the most recent Quality of Life Survey conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, the leading concerns among local citizens are the “economy and job security.†The overwhelming majority of local citizens gave the economy a negative rating, with 35% saying it is “poor,†and 50% saying it’s “just fair.†Only 10% of those surveyed gave the local economy a “good†rating, and none considered it excellent.
I don’t think the negative numbers surprise anyone, but it is surprising to note that local reformers believe that changing the city’s governance structure will dramatically change our economic conditions. I believe their hopes and expectations are misplaced.
Consider these facts: The city of Pensacola is about the 4th or 5th smallest governmental body in the area behind federal, state, and county governments. If you merely consider populations served, taxes generated, or revenues collected, the Escambia County School District and the Emerald Coast Utility Authority may also be bigger. The residents of Pensacola comprise less than 25% of the county’s population.
Rebuttal: Is size the issue with economic development? Avalex is moving from Pensacola to a much smaller Gulf Breeze. Baptist Hospital, where Maygarden was a senior vp, built the Andrews Institute in Gulf Breeze, not Pensacola. Gulf Breeze with its limited commercial area is more inviting than Pensacola for these businesses.
Also as I have pointed out on this blog, the City of Pensacola may be the smallest government entity in Escambia County (not including Century) but it is spending more than twice per employee on pensions and retirement: 2008 Pensacola: $14,187, County: $5,744, ECUA: $4,153; School: $3,286.
I think it would be fair to ask: Is it reasonable to expect the city, with or without a strong mayor, to provide the grist necessary to drive economic development throughout the region, or the county? Previous generations didn’t think so. In fact, past business leaders established umbrella organizations with names like the Committee of 100, or Pensacola-Escambia Development Commission to carry on the work of economic development.
Rebuttal: A common debate technique is to exaggerate the opposition’s position. No one, other than NBM, has said that the City should drive economic development throughout the region or county. However, that being said, there was a time in which the City of Pensacola was seen as leader in the region. With its airport, port and other assets it still could be.
They understood a single municipal government couldn’t bear that burden alone, and they insisted that local governments interface with the private sector to get the job done. They believed that city and county governments should make a major contribution to the effort, but they also knew it would take a cooperative relationship for it to work. What happened to that business-driven initiative?
Rebuttal: The business community has tried to work with the City, only to see its input ignored. Maygarden headed a task force in 2004 that was filled with business leaders to study the Port of Pensacola. It recommended mixed uses that would be gradually phased in. The City staff and council have yet to implement—five years later.
Another task force was formed three years earlier on the library. The same result, another shelved set of recommendations. In 2005 another task force was formed on the disparities between the white and black communities in Pensacola. Nothing came of that either.
When Ray Gindroz was brought in to study downtown and the historic district, businessman Jim Cronley offered to pay for Gindroz to include the Port property in the study so that the City would have more comprehensive study. Staff and council rejected the offer.
In 2002 and 2003, business leaders asked the staff and council to reexamine its plans for a new auditorium and 650-plus parking lots on the Trillium property. Their input was also ignored. The plan, known as Trillium 1, was defeated in a referendum.
The business community has reached out. Could it do a better job? Yes, but the city has earned a reputation for forming citizen committees and paying for studies and then ignoring their input.
In those days, the city was actually encouraged to do what cities do best – provide quality municipal services at reasonable rates to local businesses and individual taxpayers. The city of Pensacola provides a broad range of public services that compliment economic initiatives today. Good public safety, police and fire, are essential to being an attractive community in which to live, work and play. Our parks and recreational opportunities are outstanding for a community of our size. A person can traverse the city in less than 15 minutes by automobile, and there is reasonable access to rail and interstate highways. The city’s sanitation department, now that we curbside recycle, is a modern operation, and the arts and entertainment facilities are quite good.
Rebuttal: I have no argument here, but how can a shrinking city that is losing people and businesses afford to maintain them? The City has been able to hide the rising costs because of the nearly 60 percent jump in property taxes for businesses, while the residents have seen decreases. The bubble will burst without a concerted effort to build the tax base….which is economic development.
The city of Pensacola actually goes a step or two further assisting with economic development. It is highly unusual for a city the size of Pensacola to sponsor a regional airport – a major contributor to the economic health and well-being of the area. Like it or not, the city also underwrites a seaport, providing water-borne transportation for the entire region.
Rebuttal: This counters Maygarden’s earlier argument that the City shouldn’t drive economic development throughout the region. When the City controls these two major regional assets, it has a vested interest in the region’s economy.
Some years ago, the city of Pensacola adopted a strategic plan that described its role in economic development. The plan called for partnering with other local governments and the business community in developing a unified approach to recruiting new jobs and opportunity for the greater Pensacola area. It also emphasized the importance of providing quality municipal services as a fundamental precursor to becoming the kind of community that will attract newcomers. Somewhere along the way the community abandoned that model and today we hear people clamoring for more government intervention to fill the gap.
Rebuttal: Maygarden blames the community for wanting more. Not the City staff, Not the City Council. It is the fault of the citizens to expect Pensacola government to do what the city governments of Mobile, St. Petersburg, Charleston, Savannah and other cities do.
I strongly believe that would be an expensive mistake. Substantive economic leadership must come from a unified effort coordinated by the captains of business and industry. I concur with my friend Mort O’Sullivan, immediate past-chairman of the Pensacola Area Chamber of Commerce; it’s time for the business community to rethink its role in economic development?
Jerry Maygarden,
former mayor and state legislator from Pensacola.
Rebuttal: The City has to be at the table for any retooling of economic development. The City controls the ordinances and many of the resources need to grow the economy.