Thursday, June 21, 2007
In the new world of economic development, transparency matters.
In Cleveland, the County Commissioners are quietly engineering a "cram down", a quiet political move to bail out the private sector.
The failed Tower City investment has dominated the downtown business development agenda since the opening of Cleveland's baseball and football stadiums.
To rescue Tower City, the business community has been pushing a convention center for over a decade, but the citizens have said "No". (The latest effort came last November, when Ohio voters turned their back on a gambling proposition that would have given Cleveland developers a monopoly position.)
Now the situation is deteriorating even further. Two members of the three member County Commission want to build a new convention center without submitting the project to a public vote.
You know the situation is bad when the local newspaper blogs about the impending fiasco. Read more.
In an important lesson on the growing power of the Internet, the blog, Brewed Fresh Daily, broke the story.
Cleveland's revival -- once the proud story of a national turnaround -- is now threatened by incompetent business and political leadership.
posted by Ed Morrison |
links
Some Background on EDPro Weblog
The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it.
One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information.
If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site:
Here's the link if you are a bloglines subscriber:
Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development
As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking.
Background on Ed Morrison
Download some background information on me here.
Don't do this at home: A cram down
