More News

Too late for an economic jump-start?

County Council President Nancy Floreen's letter, "Getting Montgomery County back on track" may be well meant, but a day late and more than a dollar short.

There are a number of first-termers on council who seem to wait until the train wreck has taken place before anticipating such an event. There have been plenty of economic warning signs that this county has ignored for years, basking in the light of government and government-related jobs abounding, along with seeming endless growth in the biotech field.

Now, all of a sudden, our economic engine seems in need of a jump-start. Without pointing special fingers, the council ought to own up to past growth thinking errors and one-by-one present viable alternatives to correct them. Such admissions offer the jump-start. But, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, as the saying goes.

There is just so much money to go around these days, yet there are jurisdictions that have had the foresight to have a Plan B. (Does that sound familiar? This writer has called for one for years no avail.)

The answer to some of our economic problems is the easy way out — cut jobs, cut costs, cut services; yet, at the same time, push ahead with certain development without a future rationale. The justification is that all we have to do is wait out this economic dilemma we are in, and then we can spurt ahead. Sure, bank your money on that, and the odds in your favor about the same as beating the house in Las Vegas.

The council might do better for starters to rely on non-political input to get this county's economic house in order. Those who look at the future through rose-tinted glasses will soon find out they are very nearsighted.

If being on council is a full time job that pays a lot of money, then this county should demand it get its money's worth. There are too many county residents who work two jobs and still don't make what members of council earn.

Adding more bureaucracy is not an answer. Taking an honest look at the past and present a bold approach to the future is an answer is where to start. We need to pull through this together, not on the backs of the less fortunate but who still are Montgomery County residents.

Careful, or this county may join the ranks of haves and have-nots, with the middle class disappearing in favor of gradations of haves and have-nots.

Council members, share the pain, but only if you truly understand the pain. And, that goes for all political entities in the county.

David H. Brown, North Bethesda

Government not the answer

to economic woes

Montgomery County Council President Nancy Floreen is to be commended for recognizing the urgent need to slow job loss ("Getting Montgomery County back on track," Jan. 6). We're all familiar with the potential devastation when that first domino falls. Discretionary income evaporates, businesses fail, bills go unpaid, homes go to foreclosure and government revenues diminish.

And yet, Floreen proposes "a completely new" Economic Development Authority. How will this agency be funded? Is it not redundant? Steering initiatives toward hand-chosen sectors facilitates an artificial economic system which dismisses the needs of the community expected to support it.

When will our elected officials begin to listen to those of us conducting business on Main Street America when we say that the solution to a failed economy lies not in continuing to feed a bloated government bureaucracy but instead in allowing free market forces to prevail? Nowhere, nowhere in the "Community Forum" was there mention of the laws of supply and demand, or the proven benefit of lower taxes and reduced regulation.

The current notion, held by both federal and local officials, that only government programs can solve our national dilemma ignores the resourcefulness and the genius that built this country in the first place. The financial burden of a distended government bureaucracy is not sustainable. Every vote I cast will be in consideration of the candidate who best represents a more efficient balance between the public and the private sectors.

Kim Carlisle, Rockville

Floreen chasing

economic ‘pot of gold'

In her letter to the editor on Jan. 6, "Getting Montgomery County back on track," County Council President Nancy Floreen bemoaned the fact that 14,000 county residents lost their jobs last year. That is truly deplorable, but Floreen failed to mention that unemployment in the county was much less than many neighboring jurisdictions and the nation as a whole. The recession didn't start in Montgomery County; it was engineered by Wall Street and people all over the world are suffering from it. We are not alone in this, although from Floreen's comments one would think so.

To counter our unemployment problem, Floreen proposes the creation of a completely new Economic Development Authority: "Dire times require bold solutions," she writes. What this has always meant is giving tax and other incentives for businesses to locate here. Unfortunately, studies show that most of these efforts to outdo other localities seldom result in economic benefits to those places that "win" the company. The county loses tax revenue while the jobs don't materialize as promised or the company closes shop in a couple of years.

Most of us know almost instinctively that the economic engine for this area is down the road in Washington, along with government offshoots in the form of NIH, FDA, et al. We would do far better to eliminate our current economic development office and use the money to save transit jobs at Ride-On and WMATA, not to mention the jobs of teachers, police and firefighters.  Before chasing an economic "pot of gold" let's save the jobs we have and grow from within.

John Fay, Wheaton

Floreen's plan lacks substance

The letter, ["Getting Montgomery County back on track," Jan. 6] by County Council President Nancy Floreen is difficult to comprehend. She begins with the fact that 14,000 county residents have lost their jobs during the recession, and that sad situation indeed requires remedies. But she then launches into a series of proposals that read more like slogans than real-world solutions.

There are several examples of this, but two will suffice. She wrote, "Our universities need to align their research and applied enterprises with the county's long-term economic priorities." How many research universities are there in this county? And what does that curious statement mean? Also, "Our scientific laboratories should be ahead of the curve in uncovering the next wave of cutting-edge and market-ready technology." Another bold statement, in which she seems to be telling scientists to shape up. But how can she judge whether or not what she demands is not already going forward?

Her article is remarkably devoid of practical solutions and has the flavor of an empty drum beat.

Anthony Mauger, Kensingtons