In the Hickory Daily Record this morning, an article was written in their Our Voice Editorial section, the article entitled More people needed in downtown Hickory has some good points to it and in my book goes a long way towards balancing out the PR piece from Sunday morning's paper.
I would like to thank the HDR for coming around to the fact that we do have problems with the Downtown area and the same ole, same ole isn't addressing the key issues needed to resolve the problems. We don't need any more Shakedowns by the Downtown Development Association, as Harry addressed in the article below. We need to review the process annually and there must be accountability towards Hickory tax dollars invested in Downtown.
Once the HDR comes around to the fact that "Downtown" is more than just Union Square and a couple of blocks surrounding it, then the paper will be well on the way to being on the same page as The Hound. We cannot have upscale anything downtown, until the blighted areas surrounding the epicenter of Hickory are addressed. The last Downtown grocery store was robbed out of business.
The Hound doesn't expect anyone to march in lockstep with our philosophy. Harry and I have only wished to see this paper give independent observations that address the key issues facing Hickory and the surrounding area. This article suggests that there is something awry with Downtown and much of it has to do with a lack of leadership, vision, and focus.
Thank You Hickory Daily Record for giving the people a voice, because residents of this area have been saying that for years. We appreciate when you represent our interests.
***Hickory's Downtown Boondoggle
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
SHAKEDOWN BY DOWNTOWN COMING
During City Council meetings you can often hear trains pass by just outside the meeting room. It's loud enough to stop the meeting temporarily. Sadly, this is not the only railroading going on. Tuesday night, Council is set to give $53000 to downtown interests. I can only assume Sally Fox will vote on this even though she has a downtown business, is a member of the Hickory Downtown Development Association, and has an obvious conflict of interest.
First, $50,000 is requested for the HDDA. While there is money for the Economic Development Association, which promotes the whole City, HDDA doesn't work for the whole community, just downtown. Personally I think the traditionally thought of boundaries of downtown aren't really accurate, 127 and some adjacent streets should be included as well, but this is not what they are talking about. And you can be sure that the Ridgeview area, which is downtown as well hasn't even been thought of. There is no review process for seeing that the taxpayer will get any value out of this other than a nebulous "downtown is good" slogan. There is no accountability. How about seeing if our sales tax revenues are increasing as a result of this so called investment. What did we get for last year's appropriation of money? Where is any accountabilty?
The next appropriation is $3,000 for the city to help to pay for vandalism by graffiti. I detest vandalism and would like to see them caught, but why is the City paying for a private business's costs in the name of appearance? The City does not buy me a sign or pay to clean my business. It's a shame when businesses have to bear unbudgeted costs but welcome to the business world. If we as a City are going to start insuring against damages from crimes, then we would have a line of business owners stretched around the block waiting for our reimbursement checks. We should not be like Washington DC and subsidize politically connected interests with taxpayer dollars. This is what led to the fiscal mess we have at the Federal level and creates a lot of the cynicism and disenfranchisement we have in this country today. The City should not be in the disaster insurance business or promote some selected businesses at the expense of others. I urge Council not to do this.
Here is a link of investments made by the City of Hickory in "Downtown Hickory" since 2002.
First, $50,000 is requested for the HDDA. While there is money for the Economic Development Association, which promotes the whole City, HDDA doesn't work for the whole community, just downtown. Personally I think the traditionally thought of boundaries of downtown aren't really accurate, 127 and some adjacent streets should be included as well, but this is not what they are talking about. And you can be sure that the Ridgeview area, which is downtown as well hasn't even been thought of. There is no review process for seeing that the taxpayer will get any value out of this other than a nebulous "downtown is good" slogan. There is no accountability. How about seeing if our sales tax revenues are increasing as a result of this so called investment. What did we get for last year's appropriation of money? Where is any accountabilty?
The next appropriation is $3,000 for the city to help to pay for vandalism by graffiti. I detest vandalism and would like to see them caught, but why is the City paying for a private business's costs in the name of appearance? The City does not buy me a sign or pay to clean my business. It's a shame when businesses have to bear unbudgeted costs but welcome to the business world. If we as a City are going to start insuring against damages from crimes, then we would have a line of business owners stretched around the block waiting for our reimbursement checks. We should not be like Washington DC and subsidize politically connected interests with taxpayer dollars. This is what led to the fiscal mess we have at the Federal level and creates a lot of the cynicism and disenfranchisement we have in this country today. The City should not be in the disaster insurance business or promote some selected businesses at the expense of others. I urge Council not to do this.
Here is a link of investments made by the City of Hickory in "Downtown Hickory" since 2002.
Hickory's Downtown Boondoggle
Here is a link to an article in Sunday's Hickory Daily Record:
Downtown Vital to Hickory's Identity
Take a good whiff of the aroma of your morning coffee to disguise the smell of this manure laden article. It is time to get real. Downtown is a Boondoggle. Look at definitions 2 and 3 of Boondoggle below. That is exactly what our downtown area is. I have linked to the posts that I have written about downtown at the bottom of this article. You make the choice. In these trying economic times, I feel that it is not only time to reign in the power the Downtown Development Association has within this city, it is time for it to be self sustaining and stand on its own two feet.
Boondoggle:
1) a product of simple manual skill, as a plaited leather cord for the neck or a knife sheath, made typically by a camper or a scout.
2) work of little or no value done merely to keep or look busy.
3) a project funded by the federal government out of political favoritism that is of no real value to the community or the nation.
Our downtown has been mismanaged and good money has been thrown after bad for over 20 years. Here come the same ole people, Fox, Kincaid, Yates, et al, waddling up to the trough looking for more of OUR MONEY. I guarantee that this article is the precursor to that.
Connie Kincaid's salary comes from funds furnished by Hickory Tax dollars approved by the Hickory City Council. Mrs. Fox has conflicts of interest by sitting on the Downtown Development Association Board that receives funds that are directly approved by the Hickory City Council. She needs to step down from one or the other. Mr. Yates group bought the Hickory Station two years ago and it continues to rot. When is that restaurant ever going to open?
Mrs. Patton and Mrs. Fox were directly responsible for the Hickory Drinking Establishment Moratorium issue that was basically smoke and mirrors to keep a couple of Hispanic-American brothers, who are citizens of this country, from opening up a dance club near downtown. They have tried to micromanage every facet of our city's economy. Haven't they done a wonderful job?
It is high time to get responsible and accountable people in decision making positions in our city and it is time to get these people out of our pockets.
Links from the Hound that have valid points about our Downtown issues:
An All-American City deserves first-class leadership
Building the Bridge to Hickory’s Future
Newsletter about the City Council meeting of September 16, 2008
This Ain't Podunkville Anymore
Newsletter about the City Council meeting of October 7, 2008
Nuisance Law is a Nuisance
Newsletter about the Moratorium Workshop on November 4, 2008
Watch Out Folks -- Taxpayer Alert -- Downtown Parking Deck
A New Equation!!!
Newsletter about the City Council meeting of November 18, 2008
TIME TO CHANGE WEAK ETHICS RULE by Harry Hipps
Tax Money Spent on Downtown Interests from 2002 to Present
Downtown Vital to Hickory's Identity
Take a good whiff of the aroma of your morning coffee to disguise the smell of this manure laden article. It is time to get real. Downtown is a Boondoggle. Look at definitions 2 and 3 of Boondoggle below. That is exactly what our downtown area is. I have linked to the posts that I have written about downtown at the bottom of this article. You make the choice. In these trying economic times, I feel that it is not only time to reign in the power the Downtown Development Association has within this city, it is time for it to be self sustaining and stand on its own two feet.
Boondoggle:
1) a product of simple manual skill, as a plaited leather cord for the neck or a knife sheath, made typically by a camper or a scout.
2) work of little or no value done merely to keep or look busy.
3) a project funded by the federal government out of political favoritism that is of no real value to the community or the nation.
Our downtown has been mismanaged and good money has been thrown after bad for over 20 years. Here come the same ole people, Fox, Kincaid, Yates, et al, waddling up to the trough looking for more of OUR MONEY. I guarantee that this article is the precursor to that.
Connie Kincaid's salary comes from funds furnished by Hickory Tax dollars approved by the Hickory City Council. Mrs. Fox has conflicts of interest by sitting on the Downtown Development Association Board that receives funds that are directly approved by the Hickory City Council. She needs to step down from one or the other. Mr. Yates group bought the Hickory Station two years ago and it continues to rot. When is that restaurant ever going to open?
Mrs. Patton and Mrs. Fox were directly responsible for the Hickory Drinking Establishment Moratorium issue that was basically smoke and mirrors to keep a couple of Hispanic-American brothers, who are citizens of this country, from opening up a dance club near downtown. They have tried to micromanage every facet of our city's economy. Haven't they done a wonderful job?
It is high time to get responsible and accountable people in decision making positions in our city and it is time to get these people out of our pockets.
Links from the Hound that have valid points about our Downtown issues:
An All-American City deserves first-class leadership
Building the Bridge to Hickory’s Future
Newsletter about the City Council meeting of September 16, 2008
This Ain't Podunkville Anymore
Newsletter about the City Council meeting of October 7, 2008
Nuisance Law is a Nuisance
Newsletter about the Moratorium Workshop on November 4, 2008
Watch Out Folks -- Taxpayer Alert -- Downtown Parking Deck
A New Equation!!!
Newsletter about the City Council meeting of November 18, 2008
TIME TO CHANGE WEAK ETHICS RULE by Harry Hipps
Tax Money Spent on Downtown Interests from 2002 to Present
Friday, February 13, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
41.3% of the Unifour's Population Works (Revised with December data)
When I did these numbers originally I compared Workforce versus Population. I should have compared Employed versus Total Population. The actual number of employed vs Total Population in Catawba County is right at 42.5%.
I have done some more statistical analyzes of our area. These numbers do have some extrapolations, since our last guesstimates on population were presented for January 1, 2007. But, by rounding the numbers I feel that it is safe to say that we are very close to the numbers represented in this analysis.
The latest unemployment data presented by the St Louis Federal Reserve was for December 1, 2008. New data should be coming out in the next couple days. The last data was released on February 12, 2009. The population of the Unifour area is right around 367,000 people, up from 293,000 people in 1990
Look at the numbers of total citizens versus those that are actually employed. As of 12/1/2008, the population has increased by 20.24% in the Unifour since 1990, but we have lost 7% of our jobs during that time period.
In July 2000 the Unifour hit its Zenith as far as Employed Workforce Population is concerned. There were 183,838 people employed in the workforce, since then we have seen our area's workforce fall by nearly 29,000 people. From 1990 to 2000 we had added over 21,000 people to local payrolls. Our reversal in fortunes is directly attributable to the dismantling of our manufacturing based economy, especially after the decimation brought about after the dot.com-cable bust.
Look at the numbers and see that Alexander County is the only County whose employment numbers have grown over the last 19 years. I believe that is because these people want to be near the heart of the Hickory Metro without having to pay the taxes. I believe a lot of this growth is from the Bethlehem area, but that is an anecdotal interpretation.
It is terrible to see what Burke and Caldwell County have gone through since 1990. Burke County has lost 13.6% of its jobs, while Caldwell County has lost over 15% of its jobs. Burke County is struggling to show any signs of population growth over the last few years and Caldwell County isn't fairing much better. According to employment statistics, Caldwell County is the worst off in the region, the only bright spot being the Grace Chapel area near Hickory, which seems to be doing fairly well. But once again, I have to say that is anecdotal evidence.
What do these numbers show? Well, one interpretation is pretty much self explanatory. We have seen our traditional manufacturing job base devastated without question. But, I also believe we have seen a perfect storm of circumstances that are leading us down a path that honestly could send us into third world status. We must reinvent this community to survive and there are right ways and wrong ways to go about doing so.
The Unifour's population has increased by nearly 74,000 people and most of that is attributable to the growth of Catawba County. It is just too bad that there hasn't been the growth in industry to keep pace with population growth.
Harry Hipps makes some excellent points about the demographics of our population growth issue, in the article 47% (really 42.5%) of Catawba County's Population Works:
"First, the average household income (last statistics I saw was 2006) showed that we had a two income household making $67,000 a year. Catawba County recently stated that by 2025 six out of ten people in Catawba Co. will be over 65. The average Social Security check is $1000 per month so you can see that the income for 60% of us is going to drop by almost 2/3s. In addition, health care is rising more than general inflation and taking our disposable income and the strength of our Federal gov't and the future of the SS system is questionable. If there is a crisis in Social Security where does that leave us? And what does our economy look like when 60% of us are living on this reduced income?"
We cannot build our Economy on Fixed Income Economics. We have to attach ourselves to growth industries and we all know that the elderly are naturally risk-averse and not looking toward long-term investment or what might be termed as somewhat risky.
We must diversify our economy, especially demographically. Let's challenge ourselves to bring in a younger demographic. Once we do develop some new industry, we need to recruit young people who will not look at our community as a stepping stone, but will be willing to grow with it. That is the reason why we need to retain the best and the brightest that have been raised in this area.
What good does it do to develop youth as gifted students and then watch them gravitate to other communities? We must do something to get these young up and comers to stay at home. We must develop industries that challenge these young people to give the Unifour a look when choosing where they want to advance their professional careers. That, my friends, is the key to turning our community around.
Unifour Employed vs Total Population - Click the link to see the spreadsheet
I have done some more statistical analyzes of our area. These numbers do have some extrapolations, since our last guesstimates on population were presented for January 1, 2007. But, by rounding the numbers I feel that it is safe to say that we are very close to the numbers represented in this analysis.
The latest unemployment data presented by the St Louis Federal Reserve was for December 1, 2008. New data should be coming out in the next couple days. The last data was released on February 12, 2009. The population of the Unifour area is right around 367,000 people, up from 293,000 people in 1990
Look at the numbers of total citizens versus those that are actually employed. As of 12/1/2008, the population has increased by 20.24% in the Unifour since 1990, but we have lost 7% of our jobs during that time period.
In July 2000 the Unifour hit its Zenith as far as Employed Workforce Population is concerned. There were 183,838 people employed in the workforce, since then we have seen our area's workforce fall by nearly 29,000 people. From 1990 to 2000 we had added over 21,000 people to local payrolls. Our reversal in fortunes is directly attributable to the dismantling of our manufacturing based economy, especially after the decimation brought about after the dot.com-cable bust.
Look at the numbers and see that Alexander County is the only County whose employment numbers have grown over the last 19 years. I believe that is because these people want to be near the heart of the Hickory Metro without having to pay the taxes. I believe a lot of this growth is from the Bethlehem area, but that is an anecdotal interpretation.
It is terrible to see what Burke and Caldwell County have gone through since 1990. Burke County has lost 13.6% of its jobs, while Caldwell County has lost over 15% of its jobs. Burke County is struggling to show any signs of population growth over the last few years and Caldwell County isn't fairing much better. According to employment statistics, Caldwell County is the worst off in the region, the only bright spot being the Grace Chapel area near Hickory, which seems to be doing fairly well. But once again, I have to say that is anecdotal evidence.
What do these numbers show? Well, one interpretation is pretty much self explanatory. We have seen our traditional manufacturing job base devastated without question. But, I also believe we have seen a perfect storm of circumstances that are leading us down a path that honestly could send us into third world status. We must reinvent this community to survive and there are right ways and wrong ways to go about doing so.
The Unifour's population has increased by nearly 74,000 people and most of that is attributable to the growth of Catawba County. It is just too bad that there hasn't been the growth in industry to keep pace with population growth.
Harry Hipps makes some excellent points about the demographics of our population growth issue, in the article 47% (really 42.5%) of Catawba County's Population Works:
"First, the average household income (last statistics I saw was 2006) showed that we had a two income household making $67,000 a year. Catawba County recently stated that by 2025 six out of ten people in Catawba Co. will be over 65. The average Social Security check is $1000 per month so you can see that the income for 60% of us is going to drop by almost 2/3s. In addition, health care is rising more than general inflation and taking our disposable income and the strength of our Federal gov't and the future of the SS system is questionable. If there is a crisis in Social Security where does that leave us? And what does our economy look like when 60% of us are living on this reduced income?"
We cannot build our Economy on Fixed Income Economics. We have to attach ourselves to growth industries and we all know that the elderly are naturally risk-averse and not looking toward long-term investment or what might be termed as somewhat risky.
We must diversify our economy, especially demographically. Let's challenge ourselves to bring in a younger demographic. Once we do develop some new industry, we need to recruit young people who will not look at our community as a stepping stone, but will be willing to grow with it. That is the reason why we need to retain the best and the brightest that have been raised in this area.
What good does it do to develop youth as gifted students and then watch them gravitate to other communities? We must do something to get these young up and comers to stay at home. We must develop industries that challenge these young people to give the Unifour a look when choosing where they want to advance their professional careers. That, my friends, is the key to turning our community around.
Unifour Employed vs Total Population - Click the link to see the spreadsheet
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