We need to be laying a foundation now for the future.

There are many people who believe that the problem with the economy locally is that the national economy is bad and as soon as the national situation improves our problems will be over. While I agree that the national situation is the main culprit currently, we have structural problems here in Hickory that go beyond the national picture. And for the mayor, with the tacit approval of the City Council, to encourage our citizens to just wait apathetically until Obama delivers a healthy economy to us is irresponsible and just plain wrong.

Since the furniture and textile industries shed massive amounts of jobs at the turn of the millennium, our City has failed to recognize that we have to fundamentally restructure the economy of this area. Our leaders have been passive, just hoping that this may be the year things turn around for us. But the facts are that in the good years, Hickory ’s economy didn’t grow as fast as the U.S. as a whole. And when we had down years Hickory’s economy fell further than the U.S. as a whole. This is telling us all the story is not to be found in Washington D.C. And when the nation does rebound there is no reason to believe it will be any different.

I would like to point out some economic challenges we are going to face. First, our tax base has shrunk. Real estate values have dropped and a lot of machinery is no longer here. Our City budget has been cut and we have not filled some positions. Since there are fixed costs that can’t be cut, we don’t have a lot more room to cut, so there is an increasing threat that tax rates will have to go up to pay the bills we have to pay.

While our leaders crow about Target coming to Newton, Google coming to Lenoir, and Apple coming to Maiden, Hickory got a couple of call centers and it looks like one of them, a start up, is in trouble and it may not make it. It’s good for the area as a whole to attract businesses, but if they are not in Hickory , WE DON’T GET ANY TAX REVENUES. We have to rebuild our tax base and with the inconsistent attitude toward businesses, like my opponent, Mrs. Patton, who was against Lowes and initially against the Zagaroli project beside Clark Tire, we have sent mixed signals to the business community. WE NEED TO BE OPEN FOR BUSINESS IN HICKORY .

Secondly, our sales tax base in under threat. More products are being purchased on the internet. We don’t get sales taxes for that. Conover and Granite Falls now have Wal-Marts and are developing their retail business areas. Other communities near us can be expected to do the same. Unless we act we can expect a steady decline in the number and frequency of shoppers coming to Hickory and sales taxes will decline as well.

Thirdly, and maybe most sadly, our kids are leaving. As Thom Shell pointed out in a study posted on the Hickory Hound blog, the number of young folks in Hickory has only increased by approximately 100 in the last decade while the population of older residents has gone up by over 10%. Young people are the ones who bring energy, buy more goods and services and have children, so our future vibrancy is leaving Hickory for greener pastures.

Looking at these trends facing us, I think it is irresponsible, morally disgusting, and dangerous for City leaders to be encouraging apathy and passivity in the face of the known challenges we face, to say nothing of the unknown situations that will inevitably arise. We have to shout the alarm and wake this area up before we deteriorate any further.

We need to be laying a foundation now for the future. I don’t have the room to flesh out every idea but some of my ideas include:

* Develop an entertainment industry to attract people to visit Hickory. This would enhance our restaurant and retail as well as appeal to young people. Facilitate a water park, like Concord and Greensboro have, encourage a go-cart track, and maybe a mid-sized concert venue are possibilities.

* Encourage the development of broadband and tech based services.

* Try to develop relationships with the emerging new energy businesses in Charlotte. We should also partner with the County since they are already moving into biodiesel.

* Encourage local entrepreneurs. Help our local citizens who have ideas, but need mentoring in areas they don’t have skills in, like raising capital or market research.

We can’t be lulled into a false sense that all will be well when the recession is over. Our current leaders blame Obama and Perdue for our problems because they don’t want to be blamed for our malaise. But the U.S. didn’t build Hickory and the U.S. won’t revitalize and rebuild Hickory . We need new leadership and hard work.

Harry Hipps for Council