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brilliant article!! i have heard many business people make similar claims, including one on a radio talk show where he outlined his issues with trying to start up a new business here. he bought a property that cost him four million dollars, and then had to deal with two years of submitting not just one set of plans, but rather several sets, and all had to be run through the various government agencies. in the end, the original set of plans was approved, but during the time it took to approve them, the guy lost his original source of financing, and spent $750,000. we really need to cut out all the red tape, with all its attendant costs, and make the business environment here in tucson far better. until that happens, we are not going to attract the kinds of business we both want and need.
My observations: no thinking outside the box, little appreciation for creativity beyond crafts, an under-educated workforce, and suspicion of everyone who isn't a native.
But the most insurmountable problem I see: Pima's million people are scattered over an area the size of many states, half of them are too old to need much of anything, and the other half aren't making enough money to buy even the things they need. Where's your customer base?
Tucson is also suffering from the ever-growing gap between the rich and the poor.
Last edited by Jukesgrrl; 03-09-2011 at 11:44 PM..
Reason: Added something
I think the article was exactly right. I said a couple of years ago or so on this forum that Tucson was doing everything it could to drive businesses away. Voters routinely turn down tax increases, City Council and the Mayor think that they have as long as they please to decide business issues; ex., Spring Training, where they knew at least two or three years before the teams left that major improvements were needed at Kino and Hi Corbett, yet they hemmed, hawed, voters rejected taxation, and the next thing you know, Spring Training teams are taking their Mayflower moving vans up I-10 to brand, spanking new state-of-the-art facilities in Maricopa County. Tourism dollars anyone? I have cited Denver's rejuvenation of an area of town now called Lo-Do (lower downtown). 25 years ago, it was empty lots, homeless camps, crumbing, vacant warehouses and deserted back alleys. Now, thanks to voters, public support, a mayor and city council who actively courted businesses, it is a bustling, thriving, vibrant area of shops, restaurants, bars, entertainment and theater. It is the heart of a totally refurbished downtown area that includes Coors Field, The Pepsi Center, Invesco Field at Mile Hi, The University of Colorado at Denver, Denver State University, the 16th Street Pedestrian Mall, and the heart of the Denver business area. Denver city government had to really sell the voters on supporting tax increases, and they did it by explaining (in town hall meetings) what the development of Lo-Do would do to benefit the city and its resources; the improvements existing businesses, shops, hotels and restaurants would undergo, repaving of streets, drawing people from the six county metro area to downtown and especially the conventions the Convention Center could handle (like the Democratic National Convention). That all brings in money for the city. The mayor, business leaders, school districts, and retail shops pushed and pushed through a massive advertising campaign, and got the voters on the side of development and tax increases through solid salesmanship. By the time the mill levy increases were voted on, they passed overwhelmingly.
Tucson doesn't push the benefits of growth on the voters, so all they see are tax increases, not what those increases will do to improve the quality of their life in Tucson. Tucson city government has no vision, no incentive to promote growth, and seems incapable of taking a stand on much of anything. From what I've seen, they are a totally ineffective, wishy-washy, unmotivated group of people.
So much of Tucson's problems also come from people who are constantly crying NIMBY, and a mayor and city council who cannot see that investiture in new business is a boon to the economy, not a destruction of Tucson's homey image. Without new blood in our economy, our schools will continue to decline; social services, hospitals, law enforcement and fire/ambulance will be cut drastically, and the overall quality of life that drew so many people to Tucson in the first place will deteriorate to the point that people considering retiring in our state will choose to go north to Phoenix.
No one wants more freeways, sprawing industrial parks or overcrowded schools, but for Tucson to thrive, there is no choice but to embrace business growth and expansion and look forward rather than trying to keep Tucson the way it was 20 years ago.
It really irks me to no end that Tucsonans have knee-jerk reactions to tax increases without considering their benefits, and that the city government is so lazy and unmotivated to search out and actively recruit new business with incentives that make Tucson attractive. The red tape they put prospective businesses through is medieval and should be streamlined so that developers are drawn to our city. I do understand that there is a significant portion of the population for whom tax increases really would impact their lives, but for most of us, one cent on a dollar in retail sales, and an entertainment/hospitality tax increase isn't going to break us at all. Tucson has no one speaking up and demanding that restrictions on incoming businesses be lifted, and no one extolling the benefits of bringing in business, raising taxes minimally, and touting the increased quality of life for most citizens. Sad. And very detrimental to the future of Tucson.
You're right, I would be inclined to voted for a tax increase if I was told how it would benefit the community as a whole, not just specific groups. As it stands, I don't trust our city government to do anything they so called 'promise' to do. Every move towards a community improvement has fell short and nobody in the city officials can tell us where our well intentioned money went and why we do not have the improvements promised.
Look at Rio Nuevo. A shining example of our city officials' failure to manage any money effectively. Major fail.
I feel like the author loses tremendous credibility by equating the faults of bureaucratic red tape and neighborhood association NIMBYs in the city with nothing to do but complain, with the Rosemont Mine opposition.
It's easy to throw out the hypothetical "I would do this" and there are a lot of cities where successes in a Downtown area could be benchmarked (anyone been to Boise?) for Tucson, but it's really all just talk in the end.
Also, there's a big difference between new business and new construction. I know they're often related, but the sensitive environment we live in and care for in Tucson dictates that we not take, say, 500,000 sf new construction with tremendous industrial and noise pollution (like the Apache facility would have created) lightly at any time, regardless of how many jobs it creates. It's the difference between quality of life and quality of jobs. I would rather the former, and I've always felt that those who wanted the latter would be happier in Phoenix. I think you can have both, but a lot of companies seem to not be willing to work through what it takes to have both, particularly the environmental studies and community meetings required to do it properly.
Marcy, Subie, and Coati, you all have excellent points (Coati, I agree Rosemont is a justified NIMBY issue). We DO need civic improvement pushed forward by local government and funded by tax dollars. And it's a justifiable expense because everyone has something to gain from growth. NIMBY complaints CAN be overcome if the people in charge are well-prepared and educated. But so many people here think growth will come about solely through investments from the private sector -- and it ain't gonna happen (e.g., why growth of Phoenix's downtown is so slow). There's lots of private investment in Denver (great example, Marcy), but it happened as a response to government leadership and snowballed as one civic success led to another. Now they have a place where YOUNG people want to live and raise their families. In spite of sometimes crippling weather, imagine that!
Rio Nuevo is the utmost example of how even well-meaning growth and improvement efforts crash and burn when the attitude is "what's in it for me" instead of "a rising tide raises all boats." It's probably ruined tax collection for decades to come. Who can trust that collected taxes will be used for what they were supposed to be used for when they're staring that disaster in the face.
I've told the story here before about how I was hired by an entity (that shall remain nameless) to do a job I am exceptionally qualified to do. But the Rio Nuevo Board had the legal right to over-ride the hiring entity's decision and they kicked yours truly to the curb (after I had negotiated a salary and start-date) and appointed the relative of a board member. The job never was done at all, let alone properly, and the entity in question is now teetering on the brink of bankruptcy/foreclosure. Why didn't they want me despite my proven qualifications, aside from the fact that Mrs. Gotrocks wanted a hobby-job? My pertinent experience was all gained back east, which is where my references were. The word of the City Council President of a city bigger and more successful than Tucson wasn't of any interest to them.
Again, we're back to what Bush I called "that vision thing."
Look at Rio Nuevo. A shining example of our city officials' failure to manage any money effectively. Major fail.
I thought of this very thing when I saw this topic and read the article. I'm not opposed to taxes, but I am when my money is being thrown away into sinkholes like that. Sadly, I think folk just about everywhere hear "tax" and automatically think of the government squandering money, not government putting it to good use.
Sadly, I think folk just about everywhere hear "tax" and automatically think of the government squandering money, not government putting it to good use.
Why do you need higher taxes to bring businesses to Tucson?
My observations: no thinking outside the box, little appreciation for creativity beyond crafts, an under-educated workforce, and suspicion of everyone who isn't a native.
But the most insurmountable problem I see: Pima's million people are scattered over an area the size of many states, half of them are too old to need much of anything, and the other half aren't making enough money to buy even the things they need. Where's your customer base?
Tucson is also suffering from the ever-growing gap between the rich and the poor.
JG, you do have a point, but if the leadership in tucson and pima county would do what was needed to entice business to relocate here, the level of education would be forced to improve. we have an excellent university, and a good community college(much better than when i went to pima, though the program i went through was one of the top programs in the country). if tucson can attract manufacturing to the area, that will bring other businesses here, but we need to eliminate the red tape that business has to wade through.
marcy, as to tax increases, we need to avoid those as much as possible. remember business is going to go where the tax rates are lower, witness businesses leaving california for nevada and texas. if the city and county would spend the money they take in wisely, there would be no need for new taxes. what we need for tucson is private industry investment not government investment.
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