Last week I had the pleasure of being a guest speaker at the Merrillville Rotary Club Monthly Meeting. They are a very nice and well informed group of people as I have always found the various Rotary Club Members to be around NWI.
One of the central points that I made during my talk is that the people responsible, or claim responsibility, for economic development in NWI do not the slightest idea of how to go about it or even what it truly means and entails. That is they have no conception of what the problem is as to why NWI lags in economic development nor do they have an idea of how to move NWI into self sustaining economic development.
The first poster-child of this state of affairs is Paul Karras, the executive director of the Gary/Chicago International Airport. The title itself is an oxymoronic statement giving over importance to Gary and its airport. The sole value economically of the airport is to provide wealth to a group of people associated with Paul Karras. Competency is not an issue; it is an empirical proof that he has none. The airport is a failure, who is in charge? But, Karras does get over $150,000 per year as a consultant; not employee, from the airport. This is a collusion on the part of the City of Gary and the Airport Board at unadulterated tax evasion. This is not only unethical but criminal. When you act as an employee you are an employee according to the IRS.
So kiss off the airport. It will be nothing more than a method for Mayor Daley to keep pumping money into O'hare, as he should and the area should. O'hare is the big transportation draw in this part of the Country and nothing is going to change that. Just because NWI is not attractive to any business period; don't blame it on the airport but on the economic and political leadership that is failing all of us. The fact is there is no down side to not having an airport; no serious business or any other institution will ever reject NWI if the Gary/Chicago International Airport was turned into a huge shuffle board with Karras as the shuffle board pro.
The moronic "tribe" called NWI citizens cannot learn that competence and performance is what counts in the 21st Century not smoke and mirrors. In the end, smoke and mirrors, like gambling taxes and know-nothing school boards will be shown for what they are none performing entities when it comes to economic development for the citizenry. Then it is always too late and everyone wonders how did we get fooled and why did not anyone tell us? Well I have been telling you for fifteen years -- now listen.
The worse development showing the total lack of competence and performance criteria is the creation of the Regional Development Authority to "permit" NWI to spend its own funds. On top of that insult is the appointment of the true collection of tribal individuals who were appointed because of their loyalty and ability to perform the necessary tribal dance rather than for any demonstrable capability in the arena of economic development.
The RDA Board is made up of a lawyer, a philosopher, two former bank gophers, a charity fund raiser, and a small business man (no women by the way). Not a single one of these individuals can make any claim for developing anything, especially in the private sector. The sole businessman is a small business owner with no knowledge of the workings of economics. The bankers are lobbyists and back slappers. Not a single individual has any unique knowledge or experience, scholarly or practically, about economic development.
The result is that the RDA will be allowed to spend NWI's own funds on useless projects, which they are. The scary part is that they have the authority to bond, i.e. get us into debt for generations to come with no discernible economic value. In the same way that at bottom line the airport has no demonstrable economic value, except for the Gary Tribalism, none of the other projects that the RDA is involved with has either.
Well, except for getting Congressman Visckloskey a position at Notre Dame when he retires -- the tribal dance continues.
There is no demand for the buses or the trains -- only in the minds of tree hugging Democrats and the unions doing the work. But the members of the RDA cannot even form the proper questions to ask as to where they are going, because none have any experience and they are only listening to the "tribes" with a vested interest in the money being spent -- effectively or otherwise on their pet project.
These pet projects have been shown consistently not to bear fruit for the population of NWI. Yet, all of you seem to keep on listening to the same leadership or now their children as though these people know something. According to the standard definition of insanity -- guess, in this case, who is insane by even giving lip service to these tribal chieftains.
Dr. Eisenstein,
While I agree with you on your assessment on the busing proposals concerning the RDA, I'd like to ask you a few questions concerning your hypothesis on South South expansion. On what evidence have you determined that South Shore expansion is not demanded? Additionally, how would expanding the commuter rail system not improve county economics?
I've been commuting to Chicago for the last 4 years and I can assure you that many, if not all, of my fellow commuters would welcome the proposed rail lines into Lowell and Valparaiso.
"AS A BROAD CATAGORY I DON'T OPPOSE TRANSPORTATION. I AM ALSO SURE THAT MANY PEOPLE NOW RIDING THE SOUTH SHORE WOULD BE HAPPY TO PAY THE SAME AND LEAVE FROM VALPO.
FROM AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT POINT OF VIEW, THE QUESTION IS SO WHAT? AFTER SPENDING $300MILLION + OVER TEN YEARS PLUS YEARLY TAX SUPPORTED OPERATING COSTS, I CAN GIVE EACH OF YOU A LIMOUSINE TO GO TO WORK IN.
WHAT WOULD MAKE SENSE IS TO UPGRADE THE CURRENT SOUTHSHORE INFRASTRUCTRUE AND PARKING ETC. TO ACCOMODATE A LARGER RIDERSHIP TO TRY TO MAKE IT AT LEAST APPROACH BREAKING EVEN.
WHAT YOU ARE ALL BEING LIED ABOUT IS THAT THIS HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT; OR THAT IT WILL IN ANY WAY IMPROVE BUSINESS STRUCTURE IN NWI. THIS WILL ONLY IMPROVE THE PROPERTY VALUE OF LARGE DEVELOPERS WHO ARE ALREADY PART OF THE INCROWD AND WE WILL BE UNDERWRITING THIS COST FOR DECADES THROUGH TAXES."
Posted by: DonTomas | Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 01:29 PM