A brief (600+ words) letter to the editor in todays Sentinel from hizzoner the mayor: Mayor: Why would we want to change what is working? To the editor: The City of Douglasville Development Authority (CDDA) had its best year ever in 2013, both from the standpoint of exciting announcements of new investment and new job growth in Douglasville and from the standpoint of the City Development Authority’s 2013 activities, which are expected to result in very significant new announcements during 2014. In my State of the City address during the Jan. 21 city council meeting, I pointed out that the results of the city’s economic development initiatives are expected to result in 2014 in a capital investment of some $210 million and ultimately in approximately 900 new well-paying jobs in our municipality. (And when you then add the new jobs and capital investment announced in 2013 for unincorporated Douglas County, we have had a marvelous year.) I reported the new construction announcements of McMaster-Carr, Gordon Foods and Bio Life in 2013 of new facilities to be built within the city of Douglasville, as well as Med-Line’s announcement of a new addition to its existing buildings, helped place the City’s Development Authority “on the map” in this state when it comes to excellent economic development and job creation. The CDDA worked effectively in 2013 with the parallel economic development organization in the county (the Development Authority of Douglas County) to attract prospects to this community. Previously, there had been a lack of cooperation between the two authorities. The basis for this positive working relationship is a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which was adopted some months ago by the city and county governments, and which will expire on Feb. 28 unless renewed. On Jan. 14, the Board of Directors of the City Development Authority approved a resolution in support of a new MOU that would continue the current working relationship of the two development organizations; and in the resolution, the CDDA Board of Directors pointed to these authorities’ success in 2013 in competing for projects on a regional basis as they worked together. Also, the resolution noted that by working cooperatively, the city and county governments and our development authorities adopted a unified Property Tax Abatement Plan, which provides consistency and that places an emphasis on a business’ capital investment and higher paying jobs. We have very firm and fixed criteria for tax incentives to ensure both our community and our property taxpayers realize a real quantifiable value for whatever tax incentives are granted. I firmly believe the existing working relationship that we have under the current MOU is successful, and that there is every reason to continue with a cooperative arrangement that works and that has produced positive results. Someone asked me a few days ago about my reaction to a very different arrangement that might be considered for economic development in Douglasville and Douglas County. My comment was: Why would you want to change what has produced perhaps the best year of economic development in the history of the Douglasville/Douglas County community for something that would not have solid community support. While not being the best use of the English language, there probably is not a wiser saying that this: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” What we have under the current MOU works very well and it is not broken. I believe the results of 2013 and the expectations of 2014 under provisions of the current MOU provide a great road map for us to follow for the future. Certainly, the city of Douglasville looks forward to the City Development Authority (CDDA) and the Development Authority of Douglas County (DADC) continuing to work together to bring more and more good paying jobs, capital investment and overall economic growth to our community. Harvey Persons Mayor, City of Douglasville
Posted on: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 12:48:26 +0000