On Saturday the Gazette covered a story regarding the Green Street Cafe and Smith College. Unfortunately I am misquoted in the article, but no matter. In response to the article, "dwight," posted the following comment on Gazette's Talkback.
I don't want to pay rent eitherWhat a crock, The restaurant should pay their rent or move on. It is not smith colleges responsibility to support this restaurant. If they have a problem with their landlord they could move to strong ave. where the old bbq joint was or any of the other vacant properties in town. I do not want my tax dollars going into this fight. It is between the college and the restaurant. How dare they drag the city into this!!!
dwight has a point about how his/her tax dollars are spent. At times I find myself disagreeing with how elected and appointed officials at various levels of government spend my tax dollars directly or through the use of staff time. In this case I support the city expending staff time to mediate the situation and assist a local business.
Why? Well, why not? The city has moved to support other local businesses through the years through optional activities so why not here? The city's support of local entities through a variety of means is nothing new and will continue into the forseeable future as will disagreements regarding the means the city utilizes to achieve selected ends. I argue this type of dialog is healthy for the city.
Are decision-makers always right when making these calls? No, not always. There is definitely some risk involved. For example, on a scale beyond the local level Governor Deval Patrick and the state legislature frequently expend taxpayer dollars through tax programs designed to help commerce. The idea is to create or save jobs which will hopefully boost or preserve the economy. Sometimes these programs work as planned and sometimes they do not. Notably, in our current system politicians and appointed officials are generally not personally liable for decisons they make on behalf of the public. When they choose wrongly the taxpayers can lose.
Here is one example. The Boston Globe ran a story recently regarding Evergreen Solar, a firm that has received millions of dollars in tax benefits from the state at the behest of Governor Deval Patrick. Here are some excerpts.
Little more than a year after cutting the ribbon at a new factory in Devens built with more than $58 million in state aid, Evergreen Solar today said it will shift its assembly of solar panels from there to China.
About half of the 577 full-time and 230 contract employees at the Devens factory are involved in putting the panels together. However Evergreen declined to say about how many of those jobs would disappear with the scheduled transfer next year to China, where it is expanding because of lower costs.
In exchange for receiving $58.6 million in grants, loans, land, tax incentives and other aid to build in Massachusetts, Evergreen pledged that it would add 350 new jobs, a goal that it has, to date, far surpassed. However, the company disclosed in a financial filing today that it would write off $40 million worth of equipment at Devens because of the production shift to China.
The company has been a poster child of the Patrick administration's efforts to develop a "green energy" industry cluster in Massachusetts. But it has been struggling financially because of increased competition from overseas producers and rapidly falling prices for solar products. It recently persuaded the state to lend it another $5 million to cover equipment purchases, though the state has not yet released the funds.
To read the rest of the article click on the link below:
Here are additional links for more background including noise problems Evergreen has caused the locals and an editorial on politicians as capitalists and risk-takers:
Mass_has_bet_millions_on_evergreen_solar_which_is_now_facing_financial_uncertainty/
As Northampton moves on the proposed Bean Farm purchase we would do well to contact our appointed and elected officials and let them know why or why not a certain action should be taken. After that, let the chips fall where they may. In the long run Evergreen Solar may prove beneficial to citizens as might the proposed purchase of the Bean Farm. In the short term we can only weigh in with productive commentary based on available information to help the process along. In that way we can all do our part to share in the burden of risk that rests on the shoulders or our decision makers. I'm sure they appreciate the help.
