N&R front-pager on the Greensboro City Council’s ‘year of the open wallet’—-$4.35 million in incentives handed out for everything from shopping centers to sitcoms (although –thank goodness—the sitcom deal was rescinded when—thank goodness—-someone did a little due diligence):
This has become the year of the open wallet.
“What you’ve seen happen is a migration from pretty reasonable economic development practices to one that is led by sheer desperation,” said Rob Bencini, a consultant and former economic development director for Guilford County. “Every time someone suggests they want to do something, especially downtown, the check book opens up because they want to see something happen. This wasn’t the case seven, eight years ago.”
….“It feels like we hit the ground running and didn’t stop,” City Manager Denise Turner Roth said. “We can’t do this every year.”
The council has a slightly different makeup after the November election, the biggest obviously being the absence of Robbie Perkins in the mayor’s chair. Perkins never saw an incentive he didn’t like. Most interesting will be the reaction of newcomers Sharon Hightower and Jamal Fox to incentive requests.
And just because a public official says ‘we can’t do this every year’ doesn’t mean they won’t try.
