Where They Stand: The Candidates on Economic Development

To help voters choose among the four candidates for the 113th District House seat representing Oconee and parts of Clarke County, Patch asked candidates to respond to questions on the , , ,  economic development, and . Below are their unedited anwers on economic development.  Election Day is June 21, and runs through June 17.

Question 1: What are the major economic development challenges facing the 113th District?

: JOBS, JOBS, JOBS.

Outside of the current general economic malaise, the 113th District is dealing with areas of strength and areas of weakness.  Among our strengths:  our proximity to UGA, other post-secondary institutions, and Atlanta; our strong and vibrant communities; our strong public and non-public K-12 school systems; our "quality of life" factors; the presence of effective local Chambers of Commerce; our proximity to excellent health care facilities; our proximity to varied recreation opportunities.  Our challenges include: the lack of a cohesive regional economic development program; the constraints of Hwy 316 due to its inherent design weaknesses;   and, the lack of effective infrastructure (water, sewer, roads) in some areas of the District.

: Those which are common to the rest of the State and nation are plaguing us: loss of jobs, loss of value of property and the tax digest, loss of sales revenues, lack of new businesses.  We must reverse these trends.  I believe that we can.  One advantage will be the new president to be elected in 2012.  Any Republican will be better than what we have now in terms of business and jobs and progress. Our District, however, has special challenges.  We need growth and new industries.  But we want to preserve our agricultural heritage and quality of life, especially in Oglethorpe, Morgan, and Oconee.  As I have said before, we want new businesses and industry, but we do not want to become Gwinnett County!  Managing the growth and directing the kind and number of business opportunities is the challenge here.  And we want a balance too:  not all one kind of business nor one county or location having all the development, to the exclusion of the others. Many want to live in our District for its multi-faceted quality of life.  We will need to preserve that as we develop and grow.

: The 113th District and the rest of our state will need to continue to place more emphasis on knowledgable worker jobs, those jobs that require critical thinking skills. The importance of developing human capital in an innovation-based economy will be a big challenge for our state and local agencies. This brings us right back to our state and local school systems. The quality of public education in our region is a huge problem. And this can be the single most important impediment for economic development. But there is good news. We are seeing many of our state universities implementing strong comprehensive economic strategies to help fill these needs. Just “next door” – the University of Georgia has already started many new educational programs that will provide many long term solutions.

Question 2: How can or should a state representative foster local economic development?

: By helping to facilitate economic growth by showcasing the area for prime development such as the Orkin Tract and helping attract sustainable development with tax incentives.

By ensuring that state-level economic development professionals are aware of the attributes found within the District; by working on a collaborative basis with other legislators from the area on regional-scope economic development opportunities; by ensuring that State laws, rules and regulations foster and encourage, rather than inhibit and discourage, economic development and job creation.  Also, a Legislator should ensure that local governments are aware of State resources available to assist with job creation.

: While I am not sure about all the possibilities, I know that a State Representative has many resources to draw from.  There is increased research into businesses looking for new homes, a wider cooperation with others to get them here (no District would operate completely independently), and new connections with business leaders and groups of businessmen with their connections.  I would use all of these to help, with the cooperation of local governments, new opportunities for District 113. Although a State Representative is only one person with many limitations, sometimes the perception is that he or she can work wonders.  This perception sometimes can sway a company or a local group to work together to bring desirable new business into the area.  If that influence can help, I will use it.

: By first listening and then by responding to overtures from enterprises as they are made known and presented, and then by working in tandem with local governments in addressing and responding to the expressed concerns and needs. I also feel that opportunity exists for liaison between local government and available grants and local developmental from federal funding. Let’s bring some of our tax money BACK to our District. We have just finalized the “Crawford Sewer and Water” project, which was made possible by a 7.5 million dollar grant/loan funded by the U.S.D.A. I was (an am) the City Attorney for Crawford, Ga. and am proud of my part in this venture. Another thought that comes to mind is to join and get involved with our many local Chambers of Commerce who have active plans in place to help established industries stay in our area, bring new businesses into our area, and work with our local and state governments as partners in these endeavors. It is going to take everyone working together to start us down the road to economic recovery.

Question 3: Name one project or initiative you would introduce or support to bring more business to the area.

: Granting tax credits for new businesses that build in the 113th.

More initiative than specific project:  I would support a collaborative effort between UGA and the counties of the 113th District to foster an environment conducive to creating clean, well-paying jobs in the life sciences, health sciences and biosciences areas.  We have the natural resources, the workforce, the location and the desire to create a unique environment for such job creation.

: One of the situations hampering new development in Oconee County is its lack of ready infrastructure (water, sewer, roads) to open the door to new business and industry.  Planning for this infrastructure is one suggestion I would make for District 113.  If all the counties can work together to prepare for new business, then the likelihood of it coming will be greater.  The idea is simple; working together is a challenge. As I have suggested elsewhere, we need a comprehensive statewide water strategy; this infrastructure planning is similar.  Perhaps we do not need to plan statewide, but certainly we do regionally and District-wide.  If we can see the long-range need and get started on supplying it now, then we will be ready when businesses come calling to experience our wonderful quality of life.  Otherwise, they will pass us by and go elsewhere.

:  I want to work on a regional approach when it comes to this next economic development. To go beyond working with districts, counties, and states and to work cooperatively with regional resources for a better outcome. The project I want to focus on is water. There is no alternative to water. We must protect ourselves today for the long term water challenges of tomorrow. This challenge is huge and it will take as many players as we can find to work together and address this task.