So you may think that investing in a medical mart is something Cleveland just has to do. That’s what they said about so many things that I’m not going to list here but you know the money that’s been expended on downtown this and that over the last 20 years in Cleveland. Cleveland wasn’t alone. Other cities did the same. Now here’s a study of the same kind of “investments” made in St. Louis and how much it has helped that city. How many jobs, how much economic activity did it produce? Who actually benefited from the public give-away of our money? For $2 billion in public money, the study says, since 1990 it has “created a handful of jobs, few of them long-term or high-paying.” Neither was discernable increase in retail sales realized, nor has it “sparked any other economic activity.” The study was done by the East-West Gateway (not kidding) Council of Governments. Did anyone make out with this flush of public dough? Yes, they say national retail outlets, real estate developers (no kidding!), lobbyists and public finance lawyers (Go Fred Nance!). Read it and weep: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/editorialcommentary/st... [1]
Links:
[1] http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/editorialcommentary/story/8D4C4CED7D7080598625754800066DE1?OpenDocument
[2] http://smtp.realneo.us/content/bill-mason-drops-50000-climaco-lap
[3] http://smtp.realneo.us/content/roldo-bartimole-0
[4] http://smtp.realneo.us/content/boycott-channel-3-wkyc-slashing-workers-pay