A recent column critical of me that appeared in the local papers got one thing right – I am against corporate welfare and proud to be so.
Unfortunately, the rest of the column is filled with the same old falsehoods that have been put out for years by the special interests who want you to believe that letting them put their sticky fingers into the taxpayer’s cookie jar is somehow good for you!
The most dangerous of these is the myth that South Scottsdale is such a blighted mess that no retail will locate there unless it is subsidized. Here are the facts:
Since 2003 the residents of Scottsdale south of Chaparral Road (who have a median income level of $65,361, by the way) have spent over $108 million remodeling and improving their homes.
The private sector (not government subsidies) has invested over $2.7 billion in Scottsdale south of Chaparral Road since the start of 2003.
To accommodate the increasing number of families with children in this area the public schools have invested almost $85 million since January 2003 in school improvements.
Crime rates are down and educational test scores are up in this part of Scottsdale.
Lowe’s built their new store at McDowell & Hayden without any subsidy.
The bottom line is that the claim that South Scottsdale is a blighted mess is just another scare tactic to frighten you into supporting corporate welfare.
As with any city there are some individual properties in all parts of town that need revitalizing. But to see what really works to achieve this goal you have only to look at the recent history of Scottsdale’s Downtown. In 1996 the City officially declared Downtown “blighted,” supposedly to encourage the “redevelopment” of this area. Instead, the “blighted” designation made things worse, so much so that when I first ran for City Council in 2002 the big issue in the election was “what should the city do about Downtown.”
Today Scottsdale’s Downtown is a success story. How did we do it? The first thing that we did was to get rid of the “blighted” designation, which had actually discouraged revitalization – what lender wants to lend a business owner money to remodel or improve a building in an area that is officially “blighted” and might be condemned? Next, we invested in improved infrastructure, especially parking garages – merchants need places for customers to park so that they can get to the stores to buy things. We also stepped up code enforcement and cleanup efforts to keep the area looking good. Where we have individual properties anywhere in Scottsdale that need to be revitalized this is the formula that works, not subsidies to enrich private developers.
The $2.7 billion in private investment in Scottsdale south of Chaparral Road since the start of 2003 proves that there is no shortage of developers who are anxious to do business in this part of our city without being subsidized, and that developers do not need subsidies to create successful and profitable projects in South Scottsdale. Just as was the case in Scottsdale’s Downtown, those who call the area “blighted” are the real enemies of revitalization, not those of us who oppose subsidies.