You Vote….Your Call…..the Real Issues
In a few days, you vote. The national situation is well known, but what about issues here in Redding? The real issues, not just the campaign “tell you what you want to hear” stuff from the candidates. The real question for me is “which candidate has the ability and determination to make a hard decision on issues and stand by it?” We have some major things going on right now, and we have to make decisions now. #1. Cut expenses or increase revenue, and #2. Get jobs. Simple. Sure, we hear that we need this and that but in reality, we need to face our current local economic situation head on. Redding could be in trouble if we don’t.
First, we have a current situation where we are losing businesses and jobs, thus income to the city is going to be decreasing. In the past few months, a number of companies have closed, the most recently Mervin’s, with a loss of several good jobs. Before that it was Maui Wowi , along with 2 local Starbucks, and a number of other small businesses, each with a loss of vital jobs and loss of income to the City. Still, the City is spending money as if it was “business as usual”. Is this a wise thing to do? And with this spending the City may require a needed additional source of income. If it isn’t from sales tax, where will it come from? Will it be by increasing taxes? Shouldn’t the City be thinking about cutting expenses, one way or the other, rather than looking for taxes to “bail them out? This is not the time to add expenses to the typical household in Redding. This is an issue. An alternative for the City would be to raise development impact fees. No way. The WalMart expansion called for huge development and impact fees of over $1,000,000 before construction. How many businesses that are considering coming to Redding can afford this amount in fees before they break ground? Fiscal conservativeness for the City for 2009 is an issue that will have to be addressed by the Council.
Secondly, and maybe this is priority #1, Get jobs. We have a City Economic Development Office and we are losing employers. What’s the story should be the issue. Is anything happening? Isn’t it time to quit talking and act? Let’s have some Council leadership to convene a multi-jurisdictional “committee”, if you will, made up of the brightest and most creative minds in our area. In fact, make it open to volunteers, not “appointed or anointed ones”. Throw it out on the table asking “what kind of business can we bring to the north state?” Naturally have the pros there, for they have the contacts, but in our community we have some very bright folks that are well educated, have been around and lived in other areas, and participated in growth and development issues in various locations. Solicit their ideas and follow the Disneyland model of “no bad ideas when you are creating”. What do we have to lose? From high tech to recreation and tourism, from transportation to basic manufacturing, from our natural resources to our natural labor force, we should be open to it all. Are we going after it, or are we just doing “more of the same, over and over?’. This is the issue, and we need strong leadership that will say “Time to act and I will now”.
Our national mess is the result of “failure to act” on the part of legislators, in my opinion. In Redding, let’s not let this happen, and by holding our elected officials accountable, by constantly supporting them by constructive criticism and positive suggestions, and by letting them know regularly that we want action not just words, we can change things for the better in Redding. After all, with good jobs, low taxes, and controlled expenses, Redding will be what we all want…the best place in the world to live, work, and play. Your call and your vote.
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